Week 13
We got a lot more of you eggplant than I expected last week. Mainly, because as it turns out many of you didn't want it. Which is fine, I know many people find it bland and/or dislike the texture. I really like it, but only eat it once or maybe twice a season because I have a small allergic reaction to it. I did cook some up last week though and it was fantastic. I sliced it long ways and grilled it with some zucchinis and orange peppers. I then roughly chopped everything and tossed it together. We had it with roasted potatoes, grilled chicken and this amazing herby sauce called zhug I just discovered. A friend had encouraged me to make it earlier this summer and I just got around to it last week. It is so delicious. I looked at a bunch of recipes and then just winged it. I used less cardamon than the link above and added some lemon juice. I also used jalapenos which for me had just the right amount of spice. It is so delicious, I can't wait to eat some more. I also wasn't bothered by the eggplant which means I will go for twice this summer and eat it again since there is another recipe on my summer bucket list with eggplant. We are growing a beautiful red pepper from Uprising Seeds that they say is used to make a roasted pepper and eggplant spread in the Balkans called ajvar. In addition to all the veggies we have been eating I have been loving the arroz con leche palletas from the corner store. It tastes like an horchata popsicle with raisins in it! Probably a lot like eggplant, not for everyone, but loved by a few.
We will be continuing the onion haul and trudging through the fall carrots this week, hopefully with some cleaner air. I am happy to have the doors and windows open again. It is also fun to be back to wearing a winter hat all day, but that might just be me!
Carrots
Lettuce - We have a nice variety at the moment but not a lot of one in particular and the weather looks mild for Monday so you will choose your own from the selection on the stand.
Broccoli
Cabbage
Potatoes
Tomato - Cherry toms for everyone and a slicer for the large shares.
Garlic - Large Only
Eggplant - Hope to get it to all of you who didn't have it last week.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Week 12
Despite the sunny days, I am starting to feel a shift in seasons. For me the first sign is when it is no longer light out when I get up. Another sign is that zucchini sales are starting to pick up. Our zucchini sales dip when zucchinis are abundant in people's gardens, but as summer starts to fade as does the productivity of a zucchini planted in May. Regardless of how I might be feeling, the forecast has some very nice weather in it this week. We will try to make a dent in weeding and thinning the fall carrots and hopefully get most of our onions out of the field and drying down this week.
Lil Gem Lettuce - I know I have said it before but I love this stuff!
Eggplant - Because we don't grow a lot of eggplant this is always a multi-week process to get them for everyone.
Cherry Tomatoes
Some sort of Melon - not sure if it will be dealer's choice or if we will have a display out for you to choose from but melon season is going fast this year.
Sweet Bell Peppers
Red Onion
Collards - Large Only - If you have never had the collards and black eyed peas from Our Table you are missing out. There isn't anything fancy about it. Sauteed onions, garlic, collards black eyed peas and some seasoning. It is delicious.
A CSA member told me of Mennonite tradition in her house. Watermelon is eaten with small pieces of fried dough called roll kuchen. She gave me a photo copy out of her cookbook with the recipe her mother always made. I read a bit about it because I love food traditions and there are lots of similar but different recipes out there. Hers uses sour cream, some call for oil, some margarine, some have cream. Some people like them crispy and others soft. I didn't get a chance to try it last week, but hopefully this week. Since I have yet to make it, I won't include a recipe but I googled roll kuchen and tons of recipes came up. Let me know if you try one.
Despite the sunny days, I am starting to feel a shift in seasons. For me the first sign is when it is no longer light out when I get up. Another sign is that zucchini sales are starting to pick up. Our zucchini sales dip when zucchinis are abundant in people's gardens, but as summer starts to fade as does the productivity of a zucchini planted in May. Regardless of how I might be feeling, the forecast has some very nice weather in it this week. We will try to make a dent in weeding and thinning the fall carrots and hopefully get most of our onions out of the field and drying down this week.
Lil Gem Lettuce - I know I have said it before but I love this stuff!
Eggplant - Because we don't grow a lot of eggplant this is always a multi-week process to get them for everyone.
Cherry Tomatoes
Some sort of Melon - not sure if it will be dealer's choice or if we will have a display out for you to choose from but melon season is going fast this year.
Sweet Bell Peppers
Red Onion
Collards - Large Only - If you have never had the collards and black eyed peas from Our Table you are missing out. There isn't anything fancy about it. Sauteed onions, garlic, collards black eyed peas and some seasoning. It is delicious.
A CSA member told me of Mennonite tradition in her house. Watermelon is eaten with small pieces of fried dough called roll kuchen. She gave me a photo copy out of her cookbook with the recipe her mother always made. I read a bit about it because I love food traditions and there are lots of similar but different recipes out there. Hers uses sour cream, some call for oil, some margarine, some have cream. Some people like them crispy and others soft. I didn't get a chance to try it last week, but hopefully this week. Since I have yet to make it, I won't include a recipe but I googled roll kuchen and tons of recipes came up. Let me know if you try one.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Week 11
When tomatoes first started to appear in abundance I spent an entire week eating tomatoes and mozzarella daily. Sometimes on their own, sometimes in pasta, on bread or on pizza. I won't even admit how much olive oil I went through that week! I have slowed down a bit although I really never tire of tomatoes. We had shakshuka for dinner last night which is an easy meal and a great way to use up the tomatoes that were almost too ripe for anything other than pig treats on my counter. So while tomatoes are still finding their way into many of our meals we have a bit more variety going on now that I am done binging. I have been looking over my summer bucket list of recipes and I realize I am getting a little behind. The mild panic began when I found a picture on my phone for a recipe for squash blossom soup from a cookbook I saw in Mexico and realized I didn't even have it on my list. Tonight we are having an old favorite that is on the list, a Rick Bayless recipe for zucchini tacos and if I am feeling ambitious a peach cobbler. Hopefully I will find some time this week to explore new recipes as well.
Things feel refreshed on the farm after the expected, but also unexpected (it down poured here) rain over the weekend. The rain waters things in a way our limited irrigation just can't do. Although rain was predicted all week and we only accepted the forecast around 5pm on Friday when we decided that we should probably get the onions that had fallen down, a sign of maturity, out of the field. It was only small portion of them but I imagine many more will fall this week.
Those of you who didn't get Sun Jewel melons will get them this week.
Carrots
Potatoes
Green Beans
Herb Choice - Lots of basil, dill, parsley and a little cilantro to choose from.
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Slicing Tomato
Tomatillos - Small Only
Watermelon - Large Only
When tomatoes first started to appear in abundance I spent an entire week eating tomatoes and mozzarella daily. Sometimes on their own, sometimes in pasta, on bread or on pizza. I won't even admit how much olive oil I went through that week! I have slowed down a bit although I really never tire of tomatoes. We had shakshuka for dinner last night which is an easy meal and a great way to use up the tomatoes that were almost too ripe for anything other than pig treats on my counter. So while tomatoes are still finding their way into many of our meals we have a bit more variety going on now that I am done binging. I have been looking over my summer bucket list of recipes and I realize I am getting a little behind. The mild panic began when I found a picture on my phone for a recipe for squash blossom soup from a cookbook I saw in Mexico and realized I didn't even have it on my list. Tonight we are having an old favorite that is on the list, a Rick Bayless recipe for zucchini tacos and if I am feeling ambitious a peach cobbler. Hopefully I will find some time this week to explore new recipes as well.
Things feel refreshed on the farm after the expected, but also unexpected (it down poured here) rain over the weekend. The rain waters things in a way our limited irrigation just can't do. Although rain was predicted all week and we only accepted the forecast around 5pm on Friday when we decided that we should probably get the onions that had fallen down, a sign of maturity, out of the field. It was only small portion of them but I imagine many more will fall this week.
Those of you who didn't get Sun Jewel melons will get them this week.
Carrots
Potatoes
Green Beans
Herb Choice - Lots of basil, dill, parsley and a little cilantro to choose from.
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Slicing Tomato
Tomatillos - Small Only
Watermelon - Large Only
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Week 10
When something is important to you it is often tied up in a lot of emotion: joy, frustration, worry, etc. Since the farm is so important to me, I ride a roller coaster of emotion through the season. The highs are fantastic, the lows equally extreme in the other direction. Over time I have gotten better at not getting too caught up in the lows. It is rare that there is a complete loss of a crop. Today I was reminded twice that often things can turn around and end up not being that bad. Kelly and I walked through the onions when we were making your box list this morning. In late May the onions were a disaster. We grew beautiful starts, but after transplant they started dying. Onions always suffer from transplant shock, but usually after looking like they aren't growing or even looking like they are shrinking for a few weeks they start to take off. They don't usually die. After a lot of freaking out and a bit of investigation we discovered we had onion maggots. Unattractive as they are destructive, they eat the inside of the onion plant until it dies and then move on to the next one in the line. I read that there can be three generations in a season, but it appears that so far we have only been effected by the first one. Although it felt like we were loosing onion after onion, in the end it was probably about 15 percent. The onions that are left look great. Perhaps the little extra space helped. Perhaps all the water we pounded them with because we didn't know what else to do and needed to feel like we were doing something helped. I don't know. Anyway, you will be getting one of those nice onions in your box this week. More recently the deer got into our cucumber house and ate the tops off the plants. These are the Japanese cukes and Persian cukes that we trellis. In other words there was already a lot of labor and time invested in these plants. It was probably the low point of my summer. Most of the cucumbers had another growth point that was just starting (we prune larger growth points to keep the plants to one leader) and while it set us back a couple weeks almost all of them have made a comeback and are starting to produce cucumbers. You have cucumbers out of this house in your box today. When it comes to joy it is great to savor the moment, but when things aren't going well it is much better to look towards the future and keep the big picture in mind.
Cheers to a great week and good food.
Lettuce
Corn
Japanese Cucumber
Sun Jewel Korean Melon - The melon I mentioned last week that always kicks off our season. It is mild, sweet and refreshing. There is a chance that we won't have enough for everyone, in which case you will get one next week.
Cherry Tomatoes
Walla Walla Onion
Garlic
Tomatillos - Large Only - Small shares will get them next week.
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
When something is important to you it is often tied up in a lot of emotion: joy, frustration, worry, etc. Since the farm is so important to me, I ride a roller coaster of emotion through the season. The highs are fantastic, the lows equally extreme in the other direction. Over time I have gotten better at not getting too caught up in the lows. It is rare that there is a complete loss of a crop. Today I was reminded twice that often things can turn around and end up not being that bad. Kelly and I walked through the onions when we were making your box list this morning. In late May the onions were a disaster. We grew beautiful starts, but after transplant they started dying. Onions always suffer from transplant shock, but usually after looking like they aren't growing or even looking like they are shrinking for a few weeks they start to take off. They don't usually die. After a lot of freaking out and a bit of investigation we discovered we had onion maggots. Unattractive as they are destructive, they eat the inside of the onion plant until it dies and then move on to the next one in the line. I read that there can be three generations in a season, but it appears that so far we have only been effected by the first one. Although it felt like we were loosing onion after onion, in the end it was probably about 15 percent. The onions that are left look great. Perhaps the little extra space helped. Perhaps all the water we pounded them with because we didn't know what else to do and needed to feel like we were doing something helped. I don't know. Anyway, you will be getting one of those nice onions in your box this week. More recently the deer got into our cucumber house and ate the tops off the plants. These are the Japanese cukes and Persian cukes that we trellis. In other words there was already a lot of labor and time invested in these plants. It was probably the low point of my summer. Most of the cucumbers had another growth point that was just starting (we prune larger growth points to keep the plants to one leader) and while it set us back a couple weeks almost all of them have made a comeback and are starting to produce cucumbers. You have cucumbers out of this house in your box today. When it comes to joy it is great to savor the moment, but when things aren't going well it is much better to look towards the future and keep the big picture in mind.
Cheers to a great week and good food.
Lettuce
Corn
Japanese Cucumber
Sun Jewel Korean Melon - The melon I mentioned last week that always kicks off our season. It is mild, sweet and refreshing. There is a chance that we won't have enough for everyone, in which case you will get one next week.
Cherry Tomatoes
Walla Walla Onion
Garlic
Tomatillos - Large Only - Small shares will get them next week.
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Week 9
When I think about the past week I am incredibly thankful for our crew. The hot weather can be exhausting and they all worked hard without any moping or complaining. Staying on top of the irrigation was a full time job and we are looking forward to a break in the weather pattern this week. Ian, who has worked for the past few years, worked his last day on Friday. He was only working Fridays and Wednesday mornings this year, but we will really miss him. He is off to LSU for grad school. It is great to see crew members head off on new adventures, but it also feels a little bit like an end of an era. Ian made our farm a better place to work, both for us and for the crew. I am hoping he might want to come back and work next summer, but I also get sometimes it can just be time to move on.
I assume it was the hot weather that had a lot of people asking about melons on Saturday at the farm stand. I love having people inquire about specific varieties. A melon so good that people remember it from last summer - that makes me smile. I haven't looked at the melon patch this week. The tell tale sign is the Korean melon that we always give the CSA. It is our first melon and it turns bright yellow when it is ripe. We always plant it at the the front of the first bed. When it starts to blush yellow we know melon season is about to kick off.
We started picking Japanese style cucumbers this week and they should be in your boxes next week. They are my favorite and although they are fussy and labor intensive, they are worth it.
Lettuce
Carrot
Cabbage
Zucchini
Celery
Cherry Tomato/Slicing Tomato - Large shares will have both. Small shares will have one or the other.
Beet Greens - Large Share Only - In order to get nice round beets that size up quickly we thin the plants to a three to four fingers between each one. In the spring we will take the time to bunch the thinnings, but in the summer we usually just pull them and drop them in the path as we hand weed because it is much faster. We didn't bunch many this spring because we didn't have fantastic germination and a lot of the greens never looked that good. This is our first planting of beets this year over on Southbay and they look so good we decided to try bunching some. Because they are young, they are incredibly tender and delicious.
I made this this delicious burst cherry tomatoes with pancetta on grilled bread last week. It was so good we are having it again tonight with some grilled vegetables. I love summer food.
When I think about the past week I am incredibly thankful for our crew. The hot weather can be exhausting and they all worked hard without any moping or complaining. Staying on top of the irrigation was a full time job and we are looking forward to a break in the weather pattern this week. Ian, who has worked for the past few years, worked his last day on Friday. He was only working Fridays and Wednesday mornings this year, but we will really miss him. He is off to LSU for grad school. It is great to see crew members head off on new adventures, but it also feels a little bit like an end of an era. Ian made our farm a better place to work, both for us and for the crew. I am hoping he might want to come back and work next summer, but I also get sometimes it can just be time to move on.
I assume it was the hot weather that had a lot of people asking about melons on Saturday at the farm stand. I love having people inquire about specific varieties. A melon so good that people remember it from last summer - that makes me smile. I haven't looked at the melon patch this week. The tell tale sign is the Korean melon that we always give the CSA. It is our first melon and it turns bright yellow when it is ripe. We always plant it at the the front of the first bed. When it starts to blush yellow we know melon season is about to kick off.
We started picking Japanese style cucumbers this week and they should be in your boxes next week. They are my favorite and although they are fussy and labor intensive, they are worth it.
Lettuce
Carrot
Cabbage
Zucchini
Celery
Cherry Tomato/Slicing Tomato - Large shares will have both. Small shares will have one or the other.
Beet Greens - Large Share Only - In order to get nice round beets that size up quickly we thin the plants to a three to four fingers between each one. In the spring we will take the time to bunch the thinnings, but in the summer we usually just pull them and drop them in the path as we hand weed because it is much faster. We didn't bunch many this spring because we didn't have fantastic germination and a lot of the greens never looked that good. This is our first planting of beets this year over on Southbay and they look so good we decided to try bunching some. Because they are young, they are incredibly tender and delicious.
I made this this delicious burst cherry tomatoes with pancetta on grilled bread last week. It was so good we are having it again tonight with some grilled vegetables. I love summer food.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Week 8
I hope everyone knows of a good swimming hole! Hot. Hot. Hot. Melon and tomato weather are predicted this week.
Once again the trade table will be kind of minimal because of the heat, but we will have a walk-in full of veggies so please feel free to ask for stuff, if you don't see something you want. Keeping this short because we need to do a little harvest before it gets too hot. This warm weather will continue to require lots of irrigation and early harvests, but hopefully will bring on the slicing tomatoes like gang busters!
Carrots - Purple Haze
Cherry Tomatoes
Tropea Onions
Potatoes
Cucumber
Green Bell Pepper
Green Beans - Small Only
Salad - Large Only
Broccoli - Large Only
I hope everyone knows of a good swimming hole! Hot. Hot. Hot. Melon and tomato weather are predicted this week.
Once again the trade table will be kind of minimal because of the heat, but we will have a walk-in full of veggies so please feel free to ask for stuff, if you don't see something you want. Keeping this short because we need to do a little harvest before it gets too hot. This warm weather will continue to require lots of irrigation and early harvests, but hopefully will bring on the slicing tomatoes like gang busters!
Carrots - Purple Haze
Cherry Tomatoes
Tropea Onions
Potatoes
Cucumber
Green Bell Pepper
Green Beans - Small Only
Salad - Large Only
Broccoli - Large Only
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Week 7
I try to post the veggie list before I leave on Sunday morning to meet the crew, but often I only get started and then I finish it after harvest and and after getting Derek and Talia off to market. I just came home and read what I wrote and then deleted it because mostly it was me just whining!
The second half of July rages into August and it is the season to push hard and embrace chaos, but apparently this morning that wasn't really suiting me! Lucky for me, most of the time I like it. I also like sleep and I guess I need a bit more of it.
There were lots of things to be grateful for this week on the farm. We got the last of our garlic out of the ground and hung on Friday and it is the nicest garlic we have maybe ever grown. Of course, we aren't in the clear yet. It has to dry down and not rot, but so far so good. Having it all out of the ground and in the barn is such a relief.
Kelly direct seeded our last big round of carrots and I seeded our last round of kale, broccoli and cabbage into plug trays. Getting those done on time is also a relief.
And perhaps what I am most excited about is that we hired an additional person. One of our crew quit a couple weeks ago and keeping up has been difficult. It can be hard to catch up and honestly we let a couple things slip by that we will just have to let go of, but our new hire arrived just in time to keep us moving forward and avoid a nose dive.
I hope you enjoy your veggies this week. Cheers to a week of good meals, productive days and restful nights!
And being grateful of course.
Carrots
Beets - No tops - which for most of you is probably just fine. Beets are susceptible to something called leaf spot and we have it pretty bad this year. Fortunately the beets sized up okay. Some of you will have small beets and some larger ones. If you have a preference let me know.
Cauliflower - yippee
Snap Peas - Last call
Garlic - Inchelium Red
Lettuce
Arugula - Large Only
Additional Item - Large Only I have been waiting on Kelly to text me on his thoughts on this but I think he forgot and his ringer is broken or so he says :).
Carrot and Beet Soba Noodles with Pickled Greens
I enjoy this recipe enough to type it out! Usually I can find what I am looking for on the Internet but no such luck today.
This is an Anna Jones recipe that can be on the table in 30 minutes. She claims 20 minutes, but the recipe only serves two which I need to double. I actually find the dish to be a little sweet so I usually lessen the maple syrup, but that might just be me.
Serves 2
1 large carrot
1 large beet
thumb size piece of ginger
salt
7 ounces soba noodles
3.5 ounces chard or kale (or I would add any green. If using something tender like lettuce don't massage it)
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 lime
1 Tbsp sesame seeds (she calls for black ones)
cilantro
Cut carrot into matchsticks or thin rounds then peel and cut beet in same shape as well. Saute chopped ginger in oil and cook for a minute. Add veggies, pinch of salt and 7 Tbsp of water and cook 5-7 minutes until veggies are tender.
Cook noodles.
Shred greens and mix with vinegar, salt and tsp of maple syrup. Scrunch with hands to soften.
Add sesame oil, other tsp of maple syrup, juice of the lime and sesame seeds to the carrots and beets. Toss in noodles and mix to combine.
Serve with greens and garnish with cilantro.
I try to post the veggie list before I leave on Sunday morning to meet the crew, but often I only get started and then I finish it after harvest and and after getting Derek and Talia off to market. I just came home and read what I wrote and then deleted it because mostly it was me just whining!
The second half of July rages into August and it is the season to push hard and embrace chaos, but apparently this morning that wasn't really suiting me! Lucky for me, most of the time I like it. I also like sleep and I guess I need a bit more of it.
There were lots of things to be grateful for this week on the farm. We got the last of our garlic out of the ground and hung on Friday and it is the nicest garlic we have maybe ever grown. Of course, we aren't in the clear yet. It has to dry down and not rot, but so far so good. Having it all out of the ground and in the barn is such a relief.
Kelly direct seeded our last big round of carrots and I seeded our last round of kale, broccoli and cabbage into plug trays. Getting those done on time is also a relief.
And perhaps what I am most excited about is that we hired an additional person. One of our crew quit a couple weeks ago and keeping up has been difficult. It can be hard to catch up and honestly we let a couple things slip by that we will just have to let go of, but our new hire arrived just in time to keep us moving forward and avoid a nose dive.
I hope you enjoy your veggies this week. Cheers to a week of good meals, productive days and restful nights!
And being grateful of course.
Carrots
Beets - No tops - which for most of you is probably just fine. Beets are susceptible to something called leaf spot and we have it pretty bad this year. Fortunately the beets sized up okay. Some of you will have small beets and some larger ones. If you have a preference let me know.
Cauliflower - yippee
Snap Peas - Last call
Garlic - Inchelium Red
Lettuce
Arugula - Large Only
Additional Item - Large Only I have been waiting on Kelly to text me on his thoughts on this but I think he forgot and his ringer is broken or so he says :).
Carrot and Beet Soba Noodles with Pickled Greens
I enjoy this recipe enough to type it out! Usually I can find what I am looking for on the Internet but no such luck today.
This is an Anna Jones recipe that can be on the table in 30 minutes. She claims 20 minutes, but the recipe only serves two which I need to double. I actually find the dish to be a little sweet so I usually lessen the maple syrup, but that might just be me.
Serves 2
1 large carrot
1 large beet
thumb size piece of ginger
salt
7 ounces soba noodles
3.5 ounces chard or kale (or I would add any green. If using something tender like lettuce don't massage it)
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 lime
1 Tbsp sesame seeds (she calls for black ones)
cilantro
Cut carrot into matchsticks or thin rounds then peel and cut beet in same shape as well. Saute chopped ginger in oil and cook for a minute. Add veggies, pinch of salt and 7 Tbsp of water and cook 5-7 minutes until veggies are tender.
Cook noodles.
Shred greens and mix with vinegar, salt and tsp of maple syrup. Scrunch with hands to soften.
Add sesame oil, other tsp of maple syrup, juice of the lime and sesame seeds to the carrots and beets. Toss in noodles and mix to combine.
Serve with greens and garnish with cilantro.
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