Week 11
We pulled all the onions we were able to last week before the rains came. The ones that got left in the field will be out by tomorrow. It will feel great to have them all out. We were having some fungal issues (downy mildew) and the rain wasn't helpful in that regard but everything else in the garden loved it as did Kelly who had a break from worrying about water. Once the onions are out we will start to think about potatoes and winter squash. Normally we pull squash out of the field right around the time we finish cleaning and bagging onions but the squash looks to be a bit ahead of schedule this year. Also ahead of schedule this year are melons. We had every intention of trying to get home at a reasonable hour on Friday. We left melon harvest for the last chore of the day. I pulled up to the field with a knife for sampling and three crates. We started cutting and eating melons and I quickly realized that we needed way more than the three crates I had grabbed. We piled the truck high with Korean melons, piel de sapo melons, three kinds of watermelon and galia melons. In the garden, there are few things more joyful than standing in the field tasting melon after melon. It feels like summer and this year it actually happened during summer! Typically we harvest watermelons September.
We love our field tasting of melon, covered in juice with sticky fingers and cheeks and we hope you enjoy your melon even if you choose to eat it in a more civilized fashion!
Happy summer, it is fading fast.
Carrots
Lettuce
Bell Pepper - green or purple
Melon - most likely watermelon
Cucumber
Potatoes - purple skin and flesh or red skin and pink flesh
Slicing Tomato
Corn
Eggplant - Small Only, some this week and some next week
Kale - Large Only
Broccoli - Large Only
Monday, August 18, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Week 10
Looks like we have some scrambling to do this morning. The first priority is to harvest before the heat hits. The second is to start pulling onions like mad. A good portion of the onions have tops that have fallen over, a sign of maturity. Last year we pulled the onions out in stages. Once they started falling over we would pull the mature ones out of the field every couple days. After we pull them out of the ground we crate them up and take them to the metal barn at our house to finish drying/curing. We lay them out on pallets and put fans on them. Once they are dry we cut the tops and bag them into 40 pound mesh bags. We grow at least three varieties of sweet onions, storage onions and red onions along with two varieties of shallots and one cipollini. They get sorted by variety when we are setting them out to cure. Last year it was difficult to know just how much space we needed for each variety and it got a little disorganized. That brings us to this year. We decided to leave them in the ground until there was a chance of rain. A few days ago that chance was on Wednesday and then yesterday it was pushed forward to Tuesday and then this morning it is tonight. The forecast looks like it should be for somewhere else - a high of 99 today with a chance of thunderstorms tonight.
Those of you who know Kelly and I well may be surprised to find out we got married yesterday! Those of you who don't know us may be surprised to find out we weren't already married! It was a very low key event. Kelly and a couple friends whipped up a pergola in the back yard last week (why I was running around like a headless chicken among a sea of boxes and produce when you came to pick up your share last Monday). We had a a grand total of four guests, enough food to feed about 20 and tons flowers from the garden. It was great. Today, it is back to work. See you this afternoon.
Lettuce
Summer Squash Medley
Tomatillo
Cilantro
Basil
Garlic
Sun Jewel Melon - Some shares this week, some next week.
Eggplant - Large Only
Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Looks like we have some scrambling to do this morning. The first priority is to harvest before the heat hits. The second is to start pulling onions like mad. A good portion of the onions have tops that have fallen over, a sign of maturity. Last year we pulled the onions out in stages. Once they started falling over we would pull the mature ones out of the field every couple days. After we pull them out of the ground we crate them up and take them to the metal barn at our house to finish drying/curing. We lay them out on pallets and put fans on them. Once they are dry we cut the tops and bag them into 40 pound mesh bags. We grow at least three varieties of sweet onions, storage onions and red onions along with two varieties of shallots and one cipollini. They get sorted by variety when we are setting them out to cure. Last year it was difficult to know just how much space we needed for each variety and it got a little disorganized. That brings us to this year. We decided to leave them in the ground until there was a chance of rain. A few days ago that chance was on Wednesday and then yesterday it was pushed forward to Tuesday and then this morning it is tonight. The forecast looks like it should be for somewhere else - a high of 99 today with a chance of thunderstorms tonight.
Those of you who know Kelly and I well may be surprised to find out we got married yesterday! Those of you who don't know us may be surprised to find out we weren't already married! It was a very low key event. Kelly and a couple friends whipped up a pergola in the back yard last week (why I was running around like a headless chicken among a sea of boxes and produce when you came to pick up your share last Monday). We had a a grand total of four guests, enough food to feed about 20 and tons flowers from the garden. It was great. Today, it is back to work. See you this afternoon.
Lettuce
Summer Squash Medley
Tomatillo
Cilantro
Basil
Garlic
Sun Jewel Melon - Some shares this week, some next week.
Eggplant - Large Only
Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatoes
Monday, August 4, 2014
Week 9
Saturday evening, just after the stand closed, our neighbor rode by on his bike. I thought to myself that I hadn't seen him in a while. A moment later I turned around to see him talking with Kelly. He had spied a large package of sausages and a big bowl of potato salad in his fridge before he left his house and as he was riding by it occurred to him to ask us if we wanted to come over for a bite. Getting to know the neighbors has been one of the best parts of the farm and it is something that may not have happened if we didn't sell directly off the farm. There are three houses on Shincke Road that look out over the pond across the street. It took us a while to get to know the three couples. I am sure they thought we were out of our minds when they saw us trying to grow vegetables. Admittedly we did a lot of ridiculous things when we started but in our defense we were just making do with what we had - limited knowledge and limited resources. I think that after seeing us out there day after day and seeing the mess we started out with slowly improve they realized that we were in it for the long haul. Over time we got to know them and they have all become dear friends. Dinner turned out to be the perfect summer meal. We ate outside. The sausages were great, the potato salad had a little curry powder and peas from their garden in it which reminded me I really need to get out of my potato salad rut (mayo, celery seed, scallion, egg and S&P - boring, right?). I blanched some green and yellow beans, chopped some tomato and doused it with a basil vinaigrette. Sometimes I forget how good green beans are cooked and in a salad. We left around dusk, went back over to the farm to turn off water and as I walked towards the spigot I was reminded of just how lucky we are to do what we do and live where we live. It was a nice feeling because there were a couple times last week in the heat of the day when I was doing a task that was taking me about twice as long as I thought it should that I had the complete opposite feeling. Good company, nice weather and a tasty meal was a happy way to end the week.
Lettuce
Beets
Sweet Onions - big and juicy
Broccoli
Green Beans/Wax Beans
Cucumber
Parsley
Cherry Tomato - Small Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Green Pepper - Large Only
Several herbs taste great with green beans - basil, tarragon and parsley are all good choices. Below is a very simple and easy recipe. If you don't have pine nuts the recipe will still be good.
Green Beans with Parsley, Lemon and Garlic
One of your fellow farm share members mentioned her partner makes a delicious Russian salad with green beans and a walnut dressing. I couldn't wait for her to bring the recipe so I found one on line. I didn't get a chance to make it but it looks interesting. While searching for the recipe I discovered that it is from Georgia which is a region with fantastic food.
Green Bean and Walnut Salad
Saturday evening, just after the stand closed, our neighbor rode by on his bike. I thought to myself that I hadn't seen him in a while. A moment later I turned around to see him talking with Kelly. He had spied a large package of sausages and a big bowl of potato salad in his fridge before he left his house and as he was riding by it occurred to him to ask us if we wanted to come over for a bite. Getting to know the neighbors has been one of the best parts of the farm and it is something that may not have happened if we didn't sell directly off the farm. There are three houses on Shincke Road that look out over the pond across the street. It took us a while to get to know the three couples. I am sure they thought we were out of our minds when they saw us trying to grow vegetables. Admittedly we did a lot of ridiculous things when we started but in our defense we were just making do with what we had - limited knowledge and limited resources. I think that after seeing us out there day after day and seeing the mess we started out with slowly improve they realized that we were in it for the long haul. Over time we got to know them and they have all become dear friends. Dinner turned out to be the perfect summer meal. We ate outside. The sausages were great, the potato salad had a little curry powder and peas from their garden in it which reminded me I really need to get out of my potato salad rut (mayo, celery seed, scallion, egg and S&P - boring, right?). I blanched some green and yellow beans, chopped some tomato and doused it with a basil vinaigrette. Sometimes I forget how good green beans are cooked and in a salad. We left around dusk, went back over to the farm to turn off water and as I walked towards the spigot I was reminded of just how lucky we are to do what we do and live where we live. It was a nice feeling because there were a couple times last week in the heat of the day when I was doing a task that was taking me about twice as long as I thought it should that I had the complete opposite feeling. Good company, nice weather and a tasty meal was a happy way to end the week.
Lettuce
Beets
Sweet Onions - big and juicy
Broccoli
Green Beans/Wax Beans
Cucumber
Parsley
Cherry Tomato - Small Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Green Pepper - Large Only
Several herbs taste great with green beans - basil, tarragon and parsley are all good choices. Below is a very simple and easy recipe. If you don't have pine nuts the recipe will still be good.
Green Beans with Parsley, Lemon and Garlic
One of your fellow farm share members mentioned her partner makes a delicious Russian salad with green beans and a walnut dressing. I couldn't wait for her to bring the recipe so I found one on line. I didn't get a chance to make it but it looks interesting. While searching for the recipe I discovered that it is from Georgia which is a region with fantastic food.
Green Bean and Walnut Salad
Monday, July 28, 2014
Week 8
Sometimes putting up food for the winter becomes as all consuming as farming. We got started early this year in hopes that spreading it out makes it a little easier. We boiled down our first round of crushed tomatoes over the weekend. We will put it in jars and process it tonight. Ruth Matson sums it up well in her August entry in the Cooking by the Garden Calendar.
It sounds wickedly ungrateful to Nature and I hate to confess it, but bountiful August is far from my favorite months in the garden. The kitchen I don't mind so much; it's airy and the house is cool. But the garden! Relentless sun, whirring, biting insects, back and disposition stranded from endless stooping and squatting for interminable picking! I keep wishing so many things wouldn't reach fruition at the same time. April, May, June, July, they're hard work too, but there's always the rich promise of harvest to egg us on. And here it is, the harvest, its thrill beclouded by the urgency of what to do with it all.
She sums it up well although we are fortunate not to have the biting insect problem!
The cauliflower planting is small with several different varieties. As a result there is not gong to be a large single harvest. Everyone will get cauliflower but some of you will get it this week and some of you will get it next week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Cauliflower - Everyone over the next two weeks
Slicing Tomatoes - Small Only
Green Cabbage - Small Only
Basil - Large Only
Green Beans - Large Only
Cherry Tomatoes - Large Only
The following recipe is adapted from the cookbook Jerusalem by Sami Tamini and Yotam Ottolenghi and is simple and delicious. I am going to skip the measurements and just give you a general idea.
Fried Tomatoes with Garlic
Chop some parsley and garlic up. Slice your tomato/tomatoes up into thick slices. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add your tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute then flip over. Sprinkle with garlic and parsley (I used a lot, the recipe also calls for chopped chile pepper but I didn't have any) and cook for a minute. Flip one more time, cook for just a few seconds and then transfer to a plate and poor juices over the top. You want the tomatoes to be warm and soft but not mushy. They suggest serving it with bread. The pan juices are great.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
I love roasted cherry tomatoes. If I have the time, I cut them in half and place them cut side up on a cookie sheet and roast at a lower temperature for a long time so they dehydrate a little. Roasting them whole at a higher temperature is easier. I love to throw these in pasta or toss with grilled veggies. There are many ways to go about roasting cherry tomatoes. Here is one way from the Barefoot Contessa
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Sometimes putting up food for the winter becomes as all consuming as farming. We got started early this year in hopes that spreading it out makes it a little easier. We boiled down our first round of crushed tomatoes over the weekend. We will put it in jars and process it tonight. Ruth Matson sums it up well in her August entry in the Cooking by the Garden Calendar.
It sounds wickedly ungrateful to Nature and I hate to confess it, but bountiful August is far from my favorite months in the garden. The kitchen I don't mind so much; it's airy and the house is cool. But the garden! Relentless sun, whirring, biting insects, back and disposition stranded from endless stooping and squatting for interminable picking! I keep wishing so many things wouldn't reach fruition at the same time. April, May, June, July, they're hard work too, but there's always the rich promise of harvest to egg us on. And here it is, the harvest, its thrill beclouded by the urgency of what to do with it all.
She sums it up well although we are fortunate not to have the biting insect problem!
The cauliflower planting is small with several different varieties. As a result there is not gong to be a large single harvest. Everyone will get cauliflower but some of you will get it this week and some of you will get it next week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Cauliflower - Everyone over the next two weeks
Slicing Tomatoes - Small Only
Green Cabbage - Small Only
Basil - Large Only
Green Beans - Large Only
Cherry Tomatoes - Large Only
The following recipe is adapted from the cookbook Jerusalem by Sami Tamini and Yotam Ottolenghi and is simple and delicious. I am going to skip the measurements and just give you a general idea.
Fried Tomatoes with Garlic
Chop some parsley and garlic up. Slice your tomato/tomatoes up into thick slices. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add your tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute then flip over. Sprinkle with garlic and parsley (I used a lot, the recipe also calls for chopped chile pepper but I didn't have any) and cook for a minute. Flip one more time, cook for just a few seconds and then transfer to a plate and poor juices over the top. You want the tomatoes to be warm and soft but not mushy. They suggest serving it with bread. The pan juices are great.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
I love roasted cherry tomatoes. If I have the time, I cut them in half and place them cut side up on a cookie sheet and roast at a lower temperature for a long time so they dehydrate a little. Roasting them whole at a higher temperature is easier. I love to throw these in pasta or toss with grilled veggies. There are many ways to go about roasting cherry tomatoes. Here is one way from the Barefoot Contessa
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Monday, July 21, 2014
Week 7
We delivered the last of the snap peas to the Co-op Sunday morning. It was a good run. In fact it has been a fantastic season so far. Our stand sales are up significantly as is our whole sale. It feels great. Well, until I look at the tomatoes in our greenhouse on South Bay Road. We have tomatoes in two spots and until a few weeks ago I was so excited about the ones on South Bay. They have thick stalks and are loaded with fruit. The ones on Shincke Road looked far less robust but it can all change in an instant. We just noticed some of the tomatoes at South Bay appear to have some sort of disease. We will send one off to WSU for testing tomorrow. Really, tomato disease two years in a row? Have you ever been sick and looked at the Internet and self diagnosed yourself with some sort of rare, incurable disease? You can get the same kind of paranoia looking up plant diseases on the Internet. If my Internet diagnosis is correct we are going to loose a lot of the plants. Suddenly, I am thankful for our okay looking tomatoes at Shincke and thankful we didn't have all our tomatoes planted in one spot. We tried grafting a few tomatoes this spring. It is similar to grafting apples. You use a root stock that is vigorous and has good disease resistance and then you use a tomato that makes delicious tomatoes for the the top. The seed for the rootstock was pricey so I didn't do very many and then we had a few die due to inexperience. We ended up planting out only about eight plants at South Bay. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
The other two crops we had trouble with last year were garlic and potatoes. All of our garlic is out and hanging and we are really happy with it. You have potatoes in your boxes today and so far so good other than the fact that the deer are eating the heck out of the plants. Potatoes usually don't take a turn for the worse until they get a bit more mature so we are keeping our fingers crossed. These are considered new potatoes and have a thin skin. You don't need to peel them and they taste great no matter how you cook them. Feel free to keep it simple, they are delicious steamed and cook quickly. They won't store so cook them up soon.
Carrots - Purple Haze
Potatoes
Zucchini/Summer Squash
Tropea Onions - Italian sweet onion that has a torpedo shape
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Lettuce - Small Only
Red Cabbage - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
We delivered the last of the snap peas to the Co-op Sunday morning. It was a good run. In fact it has been a fantastic season so far. Our stand sales are up significantly as is our whole sale. It feels great. Well, until I look at the tomatoes in our greenhouse on South Bay Road. We have tomatoes in two spots and until a few weeks ago I was so excited about the ones on South Bay. They have thick stalks and are loaded with fruit. The ones on Shincke Road looked far less robust but it can all change in an instant. We just noticed some of the tomatoes at South Bay appear to have some sort of disease. We will send one off to WSU for testing tomorrow. Really, tomato disease two years in a row? Have you ever been sick and looked at the Internet and self diagnosed yourself with some sort of rare, incurable disease? You can get the same kind of paranoia looking up plant diseases on the Internet. If my Internet diagnosis is correct we are going to loose a lot of the plants. Suddenly, I am thankful for our okay looking tomatoes at Shincke and thankful we didn't have all our tomatoes planted in one spot. We tried grafting a few tomatoes this spring. It is similar to grafting apples. You use a root stock that is vigorous and has good disease resistance and then you use a tomato that makes delicious tomatoes for the the top. The seed for the rootstock was pricey so I didn't do very many and then we had a few die due to inexperience. We ended up planting out only about eight plants at South Bay. It will be interesting to see how they fare.
The other two crops we had trouble with last year were garlic and potatoes. All of our garlic is out and hanging and we are really happy with it. You have potatoes in your boxes today and so far so good other than the fact that the deer are eating the heck out of the plants. Potatoes usually don't take a turn for the worse until they get a bit more mature so we are keeping our fingers crossed. These are considered new potatoes and have a thin skin. You don't need to peel them and they taste great no matter how you cook them. Feel free to keep it simple, they are delicious steamed and cook quickly. They won't store so cook them up soon.
Carrots - Purple Haze
Potatoes
Zucchini/Summer Squash
Tropea Onions - Italian sweet onion that has a torpedo shape
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Lettuce - Small Only
Red Cabbage - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Monday, July 14, 2014
Week 6
We did our weekly farm walk about to make a list for the week last night and I am floored at how much stuff has grown, particularly the weeds. My favorite sighting was a melon already as big as my fist. We are going to go out on a limb and say you are all getting cherry tomatoes tomorrow in celebration of and because of the fantastic weather (if you like hot and sunny) that we have been having. I had my first tomato sandwich of the season today and it was great. I also decided to try a customer's recommendation. He eats cucumber, peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. I bet some of you feel a little nauseous just reading that. Anyway, I love mayonnaise and cucumbers and peanut butter isn't bad so why not give it a try. Well, it wasn't horrible but I wouldn't recommend you using your cucumber to make one! Instead perhaps you should use those beets from last week(I know some of you haven't eaten them yet) and make a cucumber, beet and goat cheese sandwich. A couple slices on some tuna fish or egg salad sounds good to me but if I was you I would leave the peanut butter in the cupboard.
I meant to take another picture of the winter squash. It has also grown an amazing amount in the last week. We have one variety, new to us this year, called Hubba Hubba. It has a hubbard squash shape but is suppose to be smaller. I saw one plant today that had already set 10 fruits. Hopefully it is delicious because it seems to be prolific. Plus, I am getting a kick out of saying hubba hubba in a deep voice every time I walk by the row of squash.
We wish you a week of good eating.
Carrots
Cucumbers
Scallions
Swiss Chard
Green Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Raspberries - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
We did our weekly farm walk about to make a list for the week last night and I am floored at how much stuff has grown, particularly the weeds. My favorite sighting was a melon already as big as my fist. We are going to go out on a limb and say you are all getting cherry tomatoes tomorrow in celebration of and because of the fantastic weather (if you like hot and sunny) that we have been having. I had my first tomato sandwich of the season today and it was great. I also decided to try a customer's recommendation. He eats cucumber, peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. I bet some of you feel a little nauseous just reading that. Anyway, I love mayonnaise and cucumbers and peanut butter isn't bad so why not give it a try. Well, it wasn't horrible but I wouldn't recommend you using your cucumber to make one! Instead perhaps you should use those beets from last week(I know some of you haven't eaten them yet) and make a cucumber, beet and goat cheese sandwich. A couple slices on some tuna fish or egg salad sounds good to me but if I was you I would leave the peanut butter in the cupboard.
I meant to take another picture of the winter squash. It has also grown an amazing amount in the last week. We have one variety, new to us this year, called Hubba Hubba. It has a hubbard squash shape but is suppose to be smaller. I saw one plant today that had already set 10 fruits. Hopefully it is delicious because it seems to be prolific. Plus, I am getting a kick out of saying hubba hubba in a deep voice every time I walk by the row of squash.
We wish you a week of good eating.
Carrots
Cucumbers
Scallions
Swiss Chard
Green Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Raspberries - Large Only
Lettuce - Large Only
Monday, July 7, 2014
Week 5
In my kitchen as a child there was a small antique wood framed slate chalkboard on the wall. I always loved it and when I spotted a small chalkboard at a yard sale when I first moved to town I picked it up and hung it in our kitchen. When I bought it someone had written the word fall and drawn a tree with swirling leaves. I liked it and have kept up the seasonal theme, sort of. At the moment there is still a winter quote on it from Albert Camus.
I wrote it on there during the dreariest days of winter to be taken literally but of course Camus meant it more metaphorically. Spring has come and gone and I need a summer quote. This is most likely the last week of peas in bountiful quantities and it looks like we will be picking beans by the end of the week. Cherry tomatoes are just starting to pick. Tomorrow marks our last seeding of fall cabbages and broccoli for transplant. Sometimes I feel like farming is like riding a train screaming through the countryside with things passing in a blur.
In my kitchen as a child there was a small antique wood framed slate chalkboard on the wall. I always loved it and when I spotted a small chalkboard at a yard sale when I first moved to town I picked it up and hung it in our kitchen. When I bought it someone had written the word fall and drawn a tree with swirling leaves. I liked it and have kept up the seasonal theme, sort of. At the moment there is still a winter quote on it from Albert Camus.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer
I wrote it on there during the dreariest days of winter to be taken literally but of course Camus meant it more metaphorically. Spring has come and gone and I need a summer quote. This is most likely the last week of peas in bountiful quantities and it looks like we will be picking beans by the end of the week. Cherry tomatoes are just starting to pick. Tomorrow marks our last seeding of fall cabbages and broccoli for transplant. Sometimes I feel like farming is like riding a train screaming through the countryside with things passing in a blur.
Last week we uncovered the winter squash which we managed to plant at all three of the gardens we lease. I took this picture of the squash at Shincke road yesterday.
If any of you would like to take a walk around the gardens on Shincke, you are welcome to do so any Monday you pick-up your box. Kelly or I would be happy to join you(if you come after 5:00) if you want company and commentary.
Beets
Head Lettuce
Cilantro - There is a recipe below for a lentil salad we love this time of year that calls for cilantro. I also have been making a dressing that is similar to Caesar but I leave out the mustard, trade the lemon juice for lime juice and add a bunch of cilantro. As with Caesar dressing the egg yolk makes it rich and creamy.
Snap Peas
Onions- Most likely some small Walla Wallas that we are going to bunch
Raspberries
Garlic
Summer Squash - Large Only
Cauliflower - Large Only
Last night we made this salad with wheat bulgar because it it what we had on hand. I always add extra cilantro because we love it. It is really versatile and the lime zest is a nice change of pace from the lemon flavor that one usually finds in lentil salads. It is good warm or cold.
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