Hi farm share members,
Well, last week was a crazy week. It was the first week back at school, and I had to suddenly jump back into my job as a substitute school bus driver (more than I was expecting). A terrible car crash up in Coupeville meant that Bobbi was unable to do the deliveries to the North end, as the whole highway was completely closed down. And we had a bit of confusion on some of our wholesale orders for restaurants and stores. But we survived, managed to get the produce up to North Whidbey on Friday, and all the kids got to school and back.....so I guess it was a success! Hoping that this week goes a bit more smoothly though...
After the very nice return to Summer temperatures over the weekend, it looks we are back into some cool and damp weather in the coming week or two, and Fall is definitely in the air. Over the coming weeks, the Summer crops like tomatoes and peppers will hopefully continue, but they are already slowing down. Meanwhile, the winter squash, storage potatoes and onions, fall carrots, and broccoli are all waiting in the wings to take their spot. The transition begins this week, with the first winter squash in the share, and napa cabbages, the first crop to come out of our Fall cabbage patch.
Here we go!
Red kuri squash- This is a delicious "kabocha" type of Japanese squash. It has a sweet, strong flavor and an unusually dry, crumbly flesh. Maybe my favorite type of winter squash...but it is not a great keeper, so it is at its best from now until Thanksgiving, and then starts to go downhill. The skin is edible, or if you prefer to scoop out the flesh and compost the skin, that works too. They can be cooked a lot like an acorn squash; cut them in half (be careful and use a good knife!), scoop out the seed cavity, put some butter, salt, and spices, brown sugar or maple syrup if you prefer, and then bake them on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees. It's nice now that it's cooler out to have a warm oven in the kitchen and some hot food! Here's a recipe for red kuri soup:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-kuri-squash-soup
Tomatoes- The cherry tomatoes have slowed down quite a bit, and we are getting some split ones from the rains...but the other tomatoes are still yielding a surprising amount and going strong!! There may be both slicer tomatoes and heirlooms in your share this week...the slicers are similar in size to a roma, but rounder and bright red. They are great all purpose tomatoes for cooking, pasta, sandwiches, and as a salad addition. The heirlooms come in all different sizes and colors; purple, green, pink, and red. They are from old fashioned plants that produce less fruit, but the fruit they do produce is super flavorful and sweet. The heirlooms can be used just like other tomatoes, but are especially good enjoyed alone, in slices or in a simple tomato salad that lets their flavor shine.
Lettuce- With tomatoes and lettuce in the share this week, it may be BLT time! The lettuce is looking really great right now and should be perfect for some crunchy salads or sandwiches.
Napa cabbage- Napa cabbage was in the farm share way back in the Spring, and one share member told us she loved it and wanted more, so we planted some for the Fall. It has come along very fast since being planted in early August, and is ready to enjoy! It is an Asian vegetable traditionally used in stir fries, in kimchee, and for a variety of other things. Martha's got some tasty looking recipes here:
http://www.marthastewart.com/1060104/napa-cabbage
Carrots- No big surprise here. Either carrots or beets should be a regular in the Fall shares, hopefully until the end of the Season. We planted lots and lots of carrots this year, and it has been great having plenty of carrots.
Onion- I believe this is the first time you're getting some of our Copra storage onions. We just harvested them all out of the field last week, and they are now mostly cured and ready to store for several months if necessary. Copras are a great all purpose yellow onion that grows really well west of the Cascades and usually stores pretty well. The can be used in most any recipe calling for onion, and they don't have too much bite, so they are good raw too.
Swiss chard- We have some beautiful chard right now that has been enjoying the weather lately. I love Swiss chard with eggs, like in a scramble, an omelette, a frittata, or a quiche. There are some other delicious ideas on, once again, the Martha Stewart page:
http://www.marthastewart.com/274967/swiss-chard-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#_
I hope everyone knows that to view the recipes on these pages you sometimes have to click on the little black arrow/chevron next to the image of chard!
Dill- The dill is taller now, and beginning to flower a bit, which is no problem and actually seems to make the flavor a bit stronger. If you still have any of your sweet pepper left from last week, use it in this really simple recipe with carrot and dill:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sauteed-carrots-with-red-bell-pepper-and-dill-2024
Blog for September 10th Farm Share....
Hey Everyone,
As the field work begins to slow down this time of year, I have more time to think. Jack and I have been doing a lot of planning and scheming for next year already, which in some ways may mean we're getting ahead of ourselves a bit, but in other ways it's actually necessary: we are working up a bit of new ground that we've decided we'd like to use for our winter squash next year, and it's great timing right now to begin killing the grass for it to be ready to plant next Spring. We're also figuring out how much more garlic we'll need next year, because we'll have to plant it in just a little more than a month, so we need to be getting all our "seed" garlic organized and decide where it's going to go.
Here is what is in your share this week:
Spinach- Some of the crops are loving the cooler, wetter weather we've been having. The spinach is definitely in that camp. It has been growing like weeds over the last few weeks, and we should be able to put a nice big bunch in your share. The spinach is great at its current size...small and tender enough to make a nice spinach salad, but large and flavorful enough for braising/cooking if that's what you want to use it for.
Spuds- More potatoes in this week's share... the potatoes are one of the crops that the wet weather is less than ideal for. It doesn't actually hurt the spuds themselves. But right now is when we would be doing our big potato dig, where we dig all the potatoes from the field and put them in storage for the Fall. This project is a lot easier, and the potatoes store better, if it is dry. So we will probably be doing a smaller harvest, and waiting until we get a drier window for the big dig.
Celery- The celery is really continuing to grow well. Here is the Martha Stewart page of celery recipes, with some tasty looking appetizers, soup, and salads:
http://www.marthastewart.com/274670/celery-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#342090
Cherry tomatoes- Keeping my fingers crossed that the tomatoes can keep going, and happy that the forecast looks a bit warmer and drier later this week!! More Martha- I just discovered this website this year and it is so great.
http://www.marthastewart.com/336506/cherry-tomato-salad
Completely unrelated to Martha Stewart, I just remembered a great German movie from a few years ago about cooking named "Mostly Martha". Bad title but a really sweet movie.
Carrots- They just keep coming! There is no end in sight to our carrots...we should keep having them all through the Fall. Our crop planning for the carrots has really been great this year, we've had plenty of carrots all season but never too many that we got way behind. This recipe looks good!!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/caramelized-cumin-roasted-carrots-357271
Cucumber- The cukes keep coming, although I expect they can't keep coming for tooo much longer. I did a much better job this year with the cucumber plantings than with the Summer squash, which all kind of came on simultaneously. The cukes are still very nice right now, and I have actually been eating them more lately than I had been for the past month or so! Have to enjoy them while we still have them.
Corn- The big wind storm did blow down some of our corn stalks, but there are still a lot more that are doing great, and probably enjoying a good drink. The corn got so tall this season we kind of ran out off options as far as irrigating it, when putting the sprinkler on top of a T post no longer worked. I'm hoping it should be in the share at least once or twice more after this week.
Garlic- We did not grow nearly enough garlic this year, and as we have to reserve some to replant in a month or so, we have already decided to keep all that we have left for "seed" garlic. Fortunately, our very good friends at Deep Harvest farm right down the road from us are in the midst of a garlic glut. What's more, their garlic actually did better than ours this year, and the heads very large! So you will get a head of their garlic in your share this week, and hopefully a few more times before the end of the season.
Thanks for supporting our farm,
ETP
September!!!!
September is here, and it sure looks like it around the farm. What a wild weekend....Whitney and I were lucky not to have blown away at the farmer's market Saturday. I hope everyone has gotten their power restored by now....our road is definitely looking like a hurricane blew through with tree branches all over the place.
Aside from the fact that nearly all of our remay (the white floating row cover that protects the crops from insect damage) blew off, and some damage to some of the corn field, most of the crops seem to have survived the storm unscathed. I am really pleased looking at the fields to see how much food we still have out there, and all the stuff we'll have to put in your shares in the coming months.
Here's what's in this week's share:
Lettuce- At long last, I think our lettuce is back in business. The heads might be a bit small still when we pick on Thursday, but I think it'll still be nice for a few salads.
Summer squash- These could very well be the last zucchini in your share! The plants are quickly succumbing to powdery mildew, which doesn't affect the quality of the fruit immediately, but gradually weakens the leaves and slows the plants down so they become less and less productive. These plants have produced like champs all summer long, and the winter squash is already waiting in the wings...so maybe it is time to say goodbye...
Tomatoes- I was pretty worried that the wind may have damaged the trellising or the plants in the tomato field, but they look pretty good. The wind may have even helped, because after it rained quite a bit the wind really dried things out pretty quickly, and the tomato plants don't like to stay damp and soggy for too long. I have been really enjoying eating a few slices of tomatoes for breakfast every morning with some scrambled eggs! With cilantro and chili in the share this week, it may be time to make some salsa.
Leeks- Leeks are such a great crop here in the Pacific Northwest. They love our mild temperatures, they are tough and resilient, always delicious, and unlike onions, never bothered by wet weather. Bobbi and I made sushi last night and raw chopped leek was very good in it, along with grated onion, radish, chopped cucumber, cilantro, and peppers, and some other veggies. Here is a recipe for an easy to make savory leek pie...I may have to make this tonight...
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/81537/french-leek-pie/
Eggplant- Hope you have enjoyed the eggplant so far! One of my favorite vegetables. If the weather calms down, we may have another chance to do some grilling before the end of the Summer. If not, try making some baba ganoush indoors.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_dip_baba_ghanouj/
Cilantro- It is salsa week. See below.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tomato-corn-and-avocado-salsa-51108410
Chili peppers- We didn't grow a lot of chilis this year, but they are doing well and are not too spicy. I'm sure some of you folks are not fans of chilis, and other people may want to choose which variety they'd like to try...so maybe we will put out a basket in the farm stand with a description of the varieties, and you can grab whichever ones you want. Our jalapenos are very very mild, and the cherry bombs, my favorite, have some serious kick, but it doesn't last long. We also have green cayenne peppers, which I believe are probably the spiciest. Salsa time!
Corn- We are on to our mid season variety, "Luscious". It has a slightly larger ear size and a great taste. Use it in the salsa recipe above, or with a mix of veggies from your share in the recipe below:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/summer-vegetable-ragout-with-exotic-curry-sauce-360673
Collard greens- Jack and Whitney and I are all very excited to have collard greens now. The plants are just getting started after being planted in early August, so we will probably just have a smallish bunch in your share this week. Try some Southern style greens! Collards are very similar to kale in how you can use them, but they tend to maintain a bit of chew where kale gets soft after being cooked. They go great with barbeque! Or try this pecan and collard pesto recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/collard-and-pecan-pesto-51193030
Aside from the fact that nearly all of our remay (the white floating row cover that protects the crops from insect damage) blew off, and some damage to some of the corn field, most of the crops seem to have survived the storm unscathed. I am really pleased looking at the fields to see how much food we still have out there, and all the stuff we'll have to put in your shares in the coming months.
Here's what's in this week's share:
Lettuce- At long last, I think our lettuce is back in business. The heads might be a bit small still when we pick on Thursday, but I think it'll still be nice for a few salads.
Summer squash- These could very well be the last zucchini in your share! The plants are quickly succumbing to powdery mildew, which doesn't affect the quality of the fruit immediately, but gradually weakens the leaves and slows the plants down so they become less and less productive. These plants have produced like champs all summer long, and the winter squash is already waiting in the wings...so maybe it is time to say goodbye...
Tomatoes- I was pretty worried that the wind may have damaged the trellising or the plants in the tomato field, but they look pretty good. The wind may have even helped, because after it rained quite a bit the wind really dried things out pretty quickly, and the tomato plants don't like to stay damp and soggy for too long. I have been really enjoying eating a few slices of tomatoes for breakfast every morning with some scrambled eggs! With cilantro and chili in the share this week, it may be time to make some salsa.
Leeks- Leeks are such a great crop here in the Pacific Northwest. They love our mild temperatures, they are tough and resilient, always delicious, and unlike onions, never bothered by wet weather. Bobbi and I made sushi last night and raw chopped leek was very good in it, along with grated onion, radish, chopped cucumber, cilantro, and peppers, and some other veggies. Here is a recipe for an easy to make savory leek pie...I may have to make this tonight...
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/81537/french-leek-pie/
Eggplant- Hope you have enjoyed the eggplant so far! One of my favorite vegetables. If the weather calms down, we may have another chance to do some grilling before the end of the Summer. If not, try making some baba ganoush indoors.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_dip_baba_ghanouj/
Cilantro- It is salsa week. See below.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tomato-corn-and-avocado-salsa-51108410
Chili peppers- We didn't grow a lot of chilis this year, but they are doing well and are not too spicy. I'm sure some of you folks are not fans of chilis, and other people may want to choose which variety they'd like to try...so maybe we will put out a basket in the farm stand with a description of the varieties, and you can grab whichever ones you want. Our jalapenos are very very mild, and the cherry bombs, my favorite, have some serious kick, but it doesn't last long. We also have green cayenne peppers, which I believe are probably the spiciest. Salsa time!
Corn- We are on to our mid season variety, "Luscious". It has a slightly larger ear size and a great taste. Use it in the salsa recipe above, or with a mix of veggies from your share in the recipe below:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/summer-vegetable-ragout-with-exotic-curry-sauce-360673
Collard greens- Jack and Whitney and I are all very excited to have collard greens now. The plants are just getting started after being planted in early August, so we will probably just have a smallish bunch in your share this week. Try some Southern style greens! Collards are very similar to kale in how you can use them, but they tend to maintain a bit of chew where kale gets soft after being cooked. They go great with barbeque! Or try this pecan and collard pesto recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/collard-and-pecan-pesto-51193030
8/27....share #14
It's the last share of August! This is still very much a late Summer share, but looking at the fields it won't be long before we begin to transition into more and more Fall produce. With any luck, many of the Summer crops will still continue well into October...but we'll also begin to harvest more things like storage onions, winter squash, potatoes, and cool weather greens to complement the tomatoes, peppers, and corn. It's been a challenge this year with the warmer weather, as a lot of our plantings have come on earlier than usual and not lasted quite as long. I have been stressing about this a bit all Summer, and I do wish I'd planted another planting of beans, beets, basil, and a few other things for the coming months, but on the whole it has worked out pretty well.
This is also the time of year when I begin thinking a lot about how to plan for next year...it is nice while things are still relatively fresh in my mind, to assess what we had too much of, what we could have had more of, and change the crop plan for next year accordingly. So if you have any feedback about the amounts of things in the shares, now is a great time to tell me! For example, if you feel like you would have liked a lot more broccoli, or you got way more onions than you needed....let me know! Of course, every household is different, so we're trying to strike a good middle ground...but it's always great to hear from you. Here's the share:
Arugula- While we should have tons of nice lettuce for September, most of it is still right around the corner and not quite ready. In the meantime, the arugula is doing great, and a lot of the late Summer crops go great in an arugula salad. We'll try to give you a nice big bunch.
Radishes- We are swimming in radishes right now. I planted way too many, and we have tons. They are really nice though, and easy to use. I have been amazed how many radish bunches we've been selling at the market this Summer! Radishes seem to have really caught on in the last few years. I don't know where to find "bresaola" on Whidbey, but you can use prosciutto in this recipe and it looks fancy and DELICIOUS! Uses your arugula too..
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bresaola-carpaccio-with-gribiche-vinaigrette-235463
Sungold tomatoes- I made the recipe I posted a few weeks back with roasted sungold tomatoes with honey and olive oil. It was easy to do and really tasty. I served it with couscous. Check back to maybe week 10 for the link? I recommend it!
Peppers- The sweet peppers are finally starting to get some color. I am hoping to give everyone one of both varieties we grew this year, Atris, which is a bell pepper that turns green to red, and Gypsy, which is a really great specialty type that changes from pale yellow to coral colored. They are both very sweet and not spicy. We roasted some on the grill last night and put them on pizza!
Fennel- Also great to roast on the grill is fennel...just slice it in half, put a bit of olive oil and salt on it, and grill until it starts to blacken a little bit on the edges. Or if you like a nice licorice taste, just slice it thin and eat it raw in a salad, on a sandwich, or with a dip. From our friend Martha:
http://www.marthastewart.com/286398/fennel-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide
Beets- Beets are back in the share after some time without them. Beets and fennel make a great combo... here's a link to a whole list of recipes that include both:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=beet+fennel
Beans- As I said above, I wish I'd sewn another planting of beans....as it is, this might be the last ones in your share! Hopefully we can get one more pick out of them in a few weeks....we'll see. These are a green French fillet bean that are really nice and small. They are not quite as tender as they were in the early Summer, so I'd recommend cooking them rather than eating them raw.
Cucumber- The cucumbers just keep producing this year! We have had some incredible yields, and I feel like the quality has been top notch. They won't keep going forever, though, and as we will be into winter squash season in just a few short weeks, enjoy the cukes while you can!
Tonda onion- I also wish we had planted more onions this year! We do still have a lot of nice Fall storage onions that we haven't begun to pick, but our fresh onion varieties are disappearing fast. Enjoy these nice sweet and mild red onions. We've been putting them in all kinds of stuff...on pizza, in salad, in sandwiches.
See you all soon!!
ETP}
It's the last share of August! This is still very much a late Summer share, but looking at the fields it won't be long before we begin to transition into more and more Fall produce. With any luck, many of the Summer crops will still continue well into October...but we'll also begin to harvest more things like storage onions, winter squash, potatoes, and cool weather greens to complement the tomatoes, peppers, and corn. It's been a challenge this year with the warmer weather, as a lot of our plantings have come on earlier than usual and not lasted quite as long. I have been stressing about this a bit all Summer, and I do wish I'd planted another planting of beans, beets, basil, and a few other things for the coming months, but on the whole it has worked out pretty well.
This is also the time of year when I begin thinking a lot about how to plan for next year...it is nice while things are still relatively fresh in my mind, to assess what we had too much of, what we could have had more of, and change the crop plan for next year accordingly. So if you have any feedback about the amounts of things in the shares, now is a great time to tell me! For example, if you feel like you would have liked a lot more broccoli, or you got way more onions than you needed....let me know! Of course, every household is different, so we're trying to strike a good middle ground...but it's always great to hear from you. Here's the share:
Arugula- While we should have tons of nice lettuce for September, most of it is still right around the corner and not quite ready. In the meantime, the arugula is doing great, and a lot of the late Summer crops go great in an arugula salad. We'll try to give you a nice big bunch.
Radishes- We are swimming in radishes right now. I planted way too many, and we have tons. They are really nice though, and easy to use. I have been amazed how many radish bunches we've been selling at the market this Summer! Radishes seem to have really caught on in the last few years. I don't know where to find "bresaola" on Whidbey, but you can use prosciutto in this recipe and it looks fancy and DELICIOUS! Uses your arugula too..
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bresaola-carpaccio-with-gribiche-vinaigrette-235463
Sungold tomatoes- I made the recipe I posted a few weeks back with roasted sungold tomatoes with honey and olive oil. It was easy to do and really tasty. I served it with couscous. Check back to maybe week 10 for the link? I recommend it!
Peppers- The sweet peppers are finally starting to get some color. I am hoping to give everyone one of both varieties we grew this year, Atris, which is a bell pepper that turns green to red, and Gypsy, which is a really great specialty type that changes from pale yellow to coral colored. They are both very sweet and not spicy. We roasted some on the grill last night and put them on pizza!
Fennel- Also great to roast on the grill is fennel...just slice it in half, put a bit of olive oil and salt on it, and grill until it starts to blacken a little bit on the edges. Or if you like a nice licorice taste, just slice it thin and eat it raw in a salad, on a sandwich, or with a dip. From our friend Martha:
http://www.marthastewart.com/286398/fennel-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide
Beets- Beets are back in the share after some time without them. Beets and fennel make a great combo... here's a link to a whole list of recipes that include both:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=beet+fennel
Beans- As I said above, I wish I'd sewn another planting of beans....as it is, this might be the last ones in your share! Hopefully we can get one more pick out of them in a few weeks....we'll see. These are a green French fillet bean that are really nice and small. They are not quite as tender as they were in the early Summer, so I'd recommend cooking them rather than eating them raw.
Cucumber- The cucumbers just keep producing this year! We have had some incredible yields, and I feel like the quality has been top notch. They won't keep going forever, though, and as we will be into winter squash season in just a few short weeks, enjoy the cukes while you can!
Tonda onion- I also wish we had planted more onions this year! We do still have a lot of nice Fall storage onions that we haven't begun to pick, but our fresh onion varieties are disappearing fast. Enjoy these nice sweet and mild red onions. We've been putting them in all kinds of stuff...on pizza, in salad, in sandwiches.
See you all soon!!
ETP}
Hello, farm share members!
We are quickly approaching my favorite time of year. Beginning in late August, and lasting until around mid November, is an excellent time to be on the farm. Irrigation duties have become much much easier, as we have fewer crops in the ground, we've cut off water to many things like potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and winter squash that we are hoping to let dry out a bit, and the shorter days mean it doesn't dry out quite as fast. Weeds and crops are growing much slower, so weed pressure is greatly reduced. There are fun projects to do, like big harvests of storage crops such as potatoes and winter squash, that don't have quite the time crunch and intensity of other harvests. There is tons of great food to eat, and none of the financial stress of the Spring. Plus, I just love the weather! The shorter days feel like a relief after the craziness of Summer, and the cool mornings and evenings are really nice. I am looking forward to it...and hoping we'll have a nice Fall.
We are going to try to do a little push to sign up a few more members for the last ten weeks of the farm share (September 10th until November 12th), so if you know of anyone who may be interested, please put them in touch with us! As the tourist season winds down we are anticipating a little less traffic at the stand, the market, and the restaurants, so we'd love to have a few more sign ups...it seems like a good time of year, too, when people are done with Summer vacations and settling back into a routine. We'll have info up at the farm stand.
If you have a pile of blue bags lying around, remember to bring them back! We still have plenty, it seems like for the most part everyone's been doing a great job this year of returning them, just thought I'd send out a reminder.
As a final note, I am super happy to say that Jack and Whitney are both thinking they'll be back working with me next year! We thought Jack would be leaving to pursue a Masters degree (in teaching) but he has decided to stick around and try to find a way to get some credits online. I am going to try to hand off more responsibility to them in the future to reduce my own work load, and one way I hope that can happen is by having Whitney help me with writing the blog and emails sometimes. So you may be seeing some blog posts by her in the coming weeks.
Thanks for supporting our farm! Great share this week:
Carrots- Back in the share this week, carrots pair great with dill, their close cousin. See the (video) recipe below for a soup using your spinach, carrots and dill:
http://www.marthastewart.com/1088344/carrot-and-spinach-soup-recipe
Dill- Our first two planting of dill were quickly and utterly overwhelmed with quack grass, and we ended up giving up and tilling them in....in hindsight though, it seems like it worked out okay, as this is really the best time of year to have dill. Something about the flavor is great in late Summer, and it goes great with carrots, cucumbers, corn, squash....and of course also with seafood! The salmon are running, here's a recipe for salmon and dill:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salmon-and-dill-chowder-109309
Spinach- Great time of year for a nice spinach salad. We have a lot of spinach planted and should have it in the shares several more times throughout the Fall.
Eggplant- OK, I changed up the plan again last week after writing the blog, so I'm sorry if anyone was disappointed by the lack of eggplant. The melons came on so suddenly and they looked so good...I thought it was a great chance to get melons in the share. I hope everyone enjoyed them, in case you were wondering, that was a "Galia" type melon, an Israeli honeydew. Eggplant in the share this week, I promise! Refer to last week's blog below for recipes.
Corn- Sweet corn is back in the share after a week off. This is our first harvest of "Luscious" which is my favorite mid season corn. Put some corn on the grill!
Tomatoes- It is peak tomato season and the fruit is really great. I am crossing my fingers and praying that the rain last week won't have done too much harm...tomato plants and rain are a bad combo this time of year, as moisture spreads late blight, which can reduce a tomato field to a rotten mess in no time. I may try using a beneficial organic spray this week that is supposed to help the plants combat the disease. Anything to keep the tomatoes coming!!
Cauliflower- Usually I don't plan to have cauliflower this time of year, but I am surprised with how great it seems to be growing. Should have some really nice cauliflower for your share this week. This recipe looks really good, but so did a bunch of other cauliflower recipes I saw on epicurious.com
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/parmesan-roasted-cauliflower-51143020
Italian plums- Another surprise addition to the share, we have a big hedge of Italian plum trees at our house and they are loaded with fruit. I haven't had a plum that was truly dead ripe yet, but they are ripening very quickly and I'm hoping they'll be delicious by the time we pick them for the shares. Not sure how many we will have until we pick them, but we should be able to get at least four or five small plums in all the bags.
Have a great week, and thanks as always!
We are quickly approaching my favorite time of year. Beginning in late August, and lasting until around mid November, is an excellent time to be on the farm. Irrigation duties have become much much easier, as we have fewer crops in the ground, we've cut off water to many things like potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and winter squash that we are hoping to let dry out a bit, and the shorter days mean it doesn't dry out quite as fast. Weeds and crops are growing much slower, so weed pressure is greatly reduced. There are fun projects to do, like big harvests of storage crops such as potatoes and winter squash, that don't have quite the time crunch and intensity of other harvests. There is tons of great food to eat, and none of the financial stress of the Spring. Plus, I just love the weather! The shorter days feel like a relief after the craziness of Summer, and the cool mornings and evenings are really nice. I am looking forward to it...and hoping we'll have a nice Fall.
We are going to try to do a little push to sign up a few more members for the last ten weeks of the farm share (September 10th until November 12th), so if you know of anyone who may be interested, please put them in touch with us! As the tourist season winds down we are anticipating a little less traffic at the stand, the market, and the restaurants, so we'd love to have a few more sign ups...it seems like a good time of year, too, when people are done with Summer vacations and settling back into a routine. We'll have info up at the farm stand.
If you have a pile of blue bags lying around, remember to bring them back! We still have plenty, it seems like for the most part everyone's been doing a great job this year of returning them, just thought I'd send out a reminder.
As a final note, I am super happy to say that Jack and Whitney are both thinking they'll be back working with me next year! We thought Jack would be leaving to pursue a Masters degree (in teaching) but he has decided to stick around and try to find a way to get some credits online. I am going to try to hand off more responsibility to them in the future to reduce my own work load, and one way I hope that can happen is by having Whitney help me with writing the blog and emails sometimes. So you may be seeing some blog posts by her in the coming weeks.
Thanks for supporting our farm! Great share this week:
Carrots- Back in the share this week, carrots pair great with dill, their close cousin. See the (video) recipe below for a soup using your spinach, carrots and dill:
http://www.marthastewart.com/1088344/carrot-and-spinach-soup-recipe
Dill- Our first two planting of dill were quickly and utterly overwhelmed with quack grass, and we ended up giving up and tilling them in....in hindsight though, it seems like it worked out okay, as this is really the best time of year to have dill. Something about the flavor is great in late Summer, and it goes great with carrots, cucumbers, corn, squash....and of course also with seafood! The salmon are running, here's a recipe for salmon and dill:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salmon-and-dill-chowder-109309
Spinach- Great time of year for a nice spinach salad. We have a lot of spinach planted and should have it in the shares several more times throughout the Fall.
Eggplant- OK, I changed up the plan again last week after writing the blog, so I'm sorry if anyone was disappointed by the lack of eggplant. The melons came on so suddenly and they looked so good...I thought it was a great chance to get melons in the share. I hope everyone enjoyed them, in case you were wondering, that was a "Galia" type melon, an Israeli honeydew. Eggplant in the share this week, I promise! Refer to last week's blog below for recipes.
Corn- Sweet corn is back in the share after a week off. This is our first harvest of "Luscious" which is my favorite mid season corn. Put some corn on the grill!
Tomatoes- It is peak tomato season and the fruit is really great. I am crossing my fingers and praying that the rain last week won't have done too much harm...tomato plants and rain are a bad combo this time of year, as moisture spreads late blight, which can reduce a tomato field to a rotten mess in no time. I may try using a beneficial organic spray this week that is supposed to help the plants combat the disease. Anything to keep the tomatoes coming!!
Cauliflower- Usually I don't plan to have cauliflower this time of year, but I am surprised with how great it seems to be growing. Should have some really nice cauliflower for your share this week. This recipe looks really good, but so did a bunch of other cauliflower recipes I saw on epicurious.com
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/parmesan-roasted-cauliflower-51143020
Italian plums- Another surprise addition to the share, we have a big hedge of Italian plum trees at our house and they are loaded with fruit. I haven't had a plum that was truly dead ripe yet, but they are ripening very quickly and I'm hoping they'll be delicious by the time we pick them for the shares. Not sure how many we will have until we pick them, but we should be able to get at least four or five small plums in all the bags.
Have a great week, and thanks as always!
Week.....12?
Hello everyone,
Another week of beautiful weather. Other than some very obnoxious deer who have been getting into our strawberry field, everything has been going great on the farm. We have had several very busy weeks with the farm stand, the farmer's market, and wholesale orders keeping us hopping, but it feels like this week will be a bit slower, which is good as I'm ready for a bit of a break from the constant picking.
The Orchard Kitchen has been open for business for several weeks now, and it sounds like everything is running smoothly. If you haven't seen their new commercial kitchen, it turned out beautifully. They are featuring lots of late Summer produce from the farm, so call Tyla for reservations if you are interested! I can't remember if I've already put up a link to their website, but the info is all at: http://www.orchardkitchen.com/buytickets/
We have another nice share for you this week.
Potatoes- I have been stingy with the potatoes this year. I apologize. Early on I began to suspect that we hadn't planted enough spuds, so I've been trying to hang on to them and let them size up as much as possible. We haven't really been sending them to the market, and we've only put them in the stand when we were digging them for Vincent and had extra. But now, the spuds should be pretty much fully sized, so we can afford to be generous! These ones are still fresh potatoes (not fully cured for storage) but aren't as delicate or perishable as they were in July, and can be used just like the spuds you'd get at the store. I had some delicious home fries for breakfast this morning:
http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/20462/home-fried-potatoes/?mxt=t06rda
This recipe will use some onion and parsley from this week's share....I put summer squash in mine, so if you have any kicking around in the crisper drawer from last week....
Lettuce- We didn't get lettuce into the share last week, as it was still on the small side and the share looked okay without it. This week, lettuce for sure. And we should have lots of lettuce for September, too, which is good news. I always screw up the lettuce plantings one way or another in mid Summer. I am going to try to make a note to self so that next year I do the plantings differently.
Candy onions- I can't remember if we've given out the Candy onions yet....they are similar to walla wallas, a large yellow sweet onion. They keep a bit better and sometimes have a bit more kick. They are an excellent onion, and would be excellent with home fried potatoes. OR as onion rings!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/crispy-fried-onion-rings
I use beer instead of water.
Apples!- I definitely didn't plan on this, but we have an apple tree in our yard (across the street from the farm) producing tons of delicious apples. I am no apple expert, and I don't know what variety this is. It is an old tree that hasn't been pruned well in a while, so it was not easy to pick, and the fruit is not super uniform in size...but every apple I've eaten has been delicious. We have been picking up the windfalls to make baby food for Nico, apple sauce, or pig food. These ones were all picked from the branches. Enjoy!
Cherry tomatoes- More Sungold tomatoes. They are so tasty right now. Some of the plants are really getting out of control, over 7 feet tall and outgrowing their trellis. This recipe sounds good if you have a sweet tooth! I may have to make it tonight with the leftover sungolds from the market this weekend.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/honey-roasted-cherry-tomatoes-51174600
Eggplants- We only gave you one small eggplant a few weeks ago, so this time around I hope to give all of you at least 2 or 3, enough to make a real meal with. Here is a repost of the link from a few weeks ago for eggplant recipes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/274258/eggplant-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#1004630
Parsley- Parsley is a delicious and versatile herb that goes well with so many vegetables. Unfortunately, most people only think of it as a little sprig of garnish on the side of the plate, but it can be a really essential ingredient once you start using it. We grow an Italian flatleaf parsley that has a nice mild flavor and is easy to chop and use in a variety of dishes. Here is a link to a Saveur article that puts it more eloquently....they recommend using parsley with seafood. Yum.
http://www.saveur.com/article/-/Parsley-Recipes
Kale- The kale plants are still alive and kicking that we planted all the way back in April. The great thing about growing kale is its ability to keep going without having to be replanted frequently, like broccoli does for example. We have Fall kale and collard greens planted now that should be large enough to pick from in just a few weeks.
Cucumbers- The cukes are holding up really well and still going strong this year. Sometimes I've felt like the quality of the cukes really took a dive after the plants had been producing for a month or so, but so far this year they are still growing some beautiful cucumbers. Try throwing some cuke slices in a pitcher of water for something different. That just reminded me of a delicious cucumber cocktail I used to get when we lived in Portland...I couldn't find a good equivalent online, but "cucumber cocktail" does bring up an interesting mix of stuff on Google.
Have a great week!
Another week of beautiful weather. Other than some very obnoxious deer who have been getting into our strawberry field, everything has been going great on the farm. We have had several very busy weeks with the farm stand, the farmer's market, and wholesale orders keeping us hopping, but it feels like this week will be a bit slower, which is good as I'm ready for a bit of a break from the constant picking.
The Orchard Kitchen has been open for business for several weeks now, and it sounds like everything is running smoothly. If you haven't seen their new commercial kitchen, it turned out beautifully. They are featuring lots of late Summer produce from the farm, so call Tyla for reservations if you are interested! I can't remember if I've already put up a link to their website, but the info is all at: http://www.orchardkitchen.com/buytickets/
We have another nice share for you this week.
Potatoes- I have been stingy with the potatoes this year. I apologize. Early on I began to suspect that we hadn't planted enough spuds, so I've been trying to hang on to them and let them size up as much as possible. We haven't really been sending them to the market, and we've only put them in the stand when we were digging them for Vincent and had extra. But now, the spuds should be pretty much fully sized, so we can afford to be generous! These ones are still fresh potatoes (not fully cured for storage) but aren't as delicate or perishable as they were in July, and can be used just like the spuds you'd get at the store. I had some delicious home fries for breakfast this morning:
http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/20462/home-fried-potatoes/?mxt=t06rda
This recipe will use some onion and parsley from this week's share....I put summer squash in mine, so if you have any kicking around in the crisper drawer from last week....
Lettuce- We didn't get lettuce into the share last week, as it was still on the small side and the share looked okay without it. This week, lettuce for sure. And we should have lots of lettuce for September, too, which is good news. I always screw up the lettuce plantings one way or another in mid Summer. I am going to try to make a note to self so that next year I do the plantings differently.
Candy onions- I can't remember if we've given out the Candy onions yet....they are similar to walla wallas, a large yellow sweet onion. They keep a bit better and sometimes have a bit more kick. They are an excellent onion, and would be excellent with home fried potatoes. OR as onion rings!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/crispy-fried-onion-rings
I use beer instead of water.
Apples!- I definitely didn't plan on this, but we have an apple tree in our yard (across the street from the farm) producing tons of delicious apples. I am no apple expert, and I don't know what variety this is. It is an old tree that hasn't been pruned well in a while, so it was not easy to pick, and the fruit is not super uniform in size...but every apple I've eaten has been delicious. We have been picking up the windfalls to make baby food for Nico, apple sauce, or pig food. These ones were all picked from the branches. Enjoy!
Cherry tomatoes- More Sungold tomatoes. They are so tasty right now. Some of the plants are really getting out of control, over 7 feet tall and outgrowing their trellis. This recipe sounds good if you have a sweet tooth! I may have to make it tonight with the leftover sungolds from the market this weekend.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/honey-roasted-cherry-tomatoes-51174600
Eggplants- We only gave you one small eggplant a few weeks ago, so this time around I hope to give all of you at least 2 or 3, enough to make a real meal with. Here is a repost of the link from a few weeks ago for eggplant recipes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/274258/eggplant-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#1004630
Parsley- Parsley is a delicious and versatile herb that goes well with so many vegetables. Unfortunately, most people only think of it as a little sprig of garnish on the side of the plate, but it can be a really essential ingredient once you start using it. We grow an Italian flatleaf parsley that has a nice mild flavor and is easy to chop and use in a variety of dishes. Here is a link to a Saveur article that puts it more eloquently....they recommend using parsley with seafood. Yum.
http://www.saveur.com/article/-/Parsley-Recipes
Kale- The kale plants are still alive and kicking that we planted all the way back in April. The great thing about growing kale is its ability to keep going without having to be replanted frequently, like broccoli does for example. We have Fall kale and collard greens planted now that should be large enough to pick from in just a few weeks.
Cucumbers- The cukes are holding up really well and still going strong this year. Sometimes I've felt like the quality of the cukes really took a dive after the plants had been producing for a month or so, but so far this year they are still growing some beautiful cucumbers. Try throwing some cuke slices in a pitcher of water for something different. That just reminded me of a delicious cucumber cocktail I used to get when we lived in Portland...I couldn't find a good equivalent online, but "cucumber cocktail" does bring up an interesting mix of stuff on Google.
Have a great week!
Week 11 Farm Share...
It is officially August. It feels like it, too, with all the Summer crops up and running at full speed. There are so many great things to eat right now it is hard to narrow it down and decide what to put in the share. Here's what I'm leaning towards.
Tomato- We are growing a lot of tomatoes this year. I think somewhere between 200 and 300 plants! Tomatoes take a lot of work all through the Spring and Summer, but they are definitely worth it when they start producing heavily, as they are doing now. We planted a mix of several heirloom varieties and standard red slicer that also has a delicious heirloom like flavor. The heirlooms come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, so some are ripe when they are yellow or purple or orange. If the tomatoes still seem a bit firm and under ripe when you unpack your share, just let them sit at room temperature for a day or so and they should ripen quickly. Don't put tomatoes in the fridge!
Cilantro- The theme of the share this week is salsa! It is finally salsa season. Our earlier plantings of cilantro germinated poorly and were quickly and completely overwhelmed by quack grass, a weed that we have been having to wage war against for the first time this year. But now that we have tomatoes, corn, and peppers, it seems like the cilantro is right on time and it was meant to be.
Here is a recipe for vegetable quesadillas with a fresh salsa...you can modify this recipe and throw in any veggies taking up space in the fridge! I would use the carrots, pole beans, corn and pepper from this week's share, and the tomato, garlic, and cilantro can go into the salsa.
Peppers- The peppers are just starting to ripen and change colors....we mostly have two types, one that changes from green to red that is similar to a bell pepper, and one that changes from pale yellow to coral pink, my personal favorite named "Gypsy". They are delicious before they are fully changed, though. Most green peppers are just red or orange peppers that are picked a bit earlier, so they are slightly less sweet and more tangy. Enjoy these ones now, and we will hopefully have ripe sweet peppers soon! By picking some early, it makes is easier for the plants to ripen the remaining fruits.
Corn- More corn in the share this week! The warm weather has been so great for the corn this Summer, and it seems like we are going to have the best yields we've ever had. Knock on wood. Aside from just the sweet corn, we have a ton of dent corn planted, a different type of corn that we will dry down for use as polenta or cornmeal. Vincent asked us to grow this for use in the Orchard Kitchen in the winter months, when there isn't as much fresh food in the field. The plants are much taller than sweet corn stalks.....right now I think they may be 8 or 9 feet tall!
Pole beans- We grew a pole bean mix from Fedco Seeds that seems really nice. There is a beautiful variety of purple, speckled, yellow, green, and other colored beans. Pole beans have a really great flavor, as the plants are so much bigger than bush beans they are able to photosynthesize a lot more. Use these beans the same way you would use any green beans...they are just a bit more flavorful.
Squash- The summer squash plants continue to produce, although they are starting to slow noticably from their peak a few weeks ago. That is fine with me! The fruit all needs to be picked, three times a week, so it is a lot easier when there isn't quite so much of it!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zucchini-fritters-with-herbs-and-cheese-106460
Carrots- The carrots have been so great this year. I hope you're not getting tired of them, I kind of assume that people can always use a few carrots, as they are so easy to use in so many different ways. I haven't been eating enough carrots myself, I think I'll take some home this afternoon.
Turnips- It has been a while since we put salad turnips in the share, and we have a lot right now. These turnips are still tasty and great raw. They could actually go great with raw carrots, beans and pepper slices. Don't forget, you can saute and eat the tops! With no other braising greens in the share this week, the time is now! Here is a simple looking recipe:
http://addapinch.com/cooking/spicy-skillet-turnip-greens-recipe/
Garlic- It's been a while, so I thought you might be ready for another head of garlic.
Lettuce- Our Summer lettuce struggles continue. First it was the deer, then a timing of planting mistake on my part, and now we are have issues with wire worms, an annoying pest that has killed some of our new planting. I have to say, though, lettuce has been the only crop we've really struggled with this year, and it isn't so heart breaking to not have lettuce. Our next planting is coming in and may be ready by Thursday, so if possible we'll put a head of lettuce in your share.
Tomato- We are growing a lot of tomatoes this year. I think somewhere between 200 and 300 plants! Tomatoes take a lot of work all through the Spring and Summer, but they are definitely worth it when they start producing heavily, as they are doing now. We planted a mix of several heirloom varieties and standard red slicer that also has a delicious heirloom like flavor. The heirlooms come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, so some are ripe when they are yellow or purple or orange. If the tomatoes still seem a bit firm and under ripe when you unpack your share, just let them sit at room temperature for a day or so and they should ripen quickly. Don't put tomatoes in the fridge!
Cilantro- The theme of the share this week is salsa! It is finally salsa season. Our earlier plantings of cilantro germinated poorly and were quickly and completely overwhelmed by quack grass, a weed that we have been having to wage war against for the first time this year. But now that we have tomatoes, corn, and peppers, it seems like the cilantro is right on time and it was meant to be.
Here is a recipe for vegetable quesadillas with a fresh salsa...you can modify this recipe and throw in any veggies taking up space in the fridge! I would use the carrots, pole beans, corn and pepper from this week's share, and the tomato, garlic, and cilantro can go into the salsa.
Peppers- The peppers are just starting to ripen and change colors....we mostly have two types, one that changes from green to red that is similar to a bell pepper, and one that changes from pale yellow to coral pink, my personal favorite named "Gypsy". They are delicious before they are fully changed, though. Most green peppers are just red or orange peppers that are picked a bit earlier, so they are slightly less sweet and more tangy. Enjoy these ones now, and we will hopefully have ripe sweet peppers soon! By picking some early, it makes is easier for the plants to ripen the remaining fruits.
Corn- More corn in the share this week! The warm weather has been so great for the corn this Summer, and it seems like we are going to have the best yields we've ever had. Knock on wood. Aside from just the sweet corn, we have a ton of dent corn planted, a different type of corn that we will dry down for use as polenta or cornmeal. Vincent asked us to grow this for use in the Orchard Kitchen in the winter months, when there isn't as much fresh food in the field. The plants are much taller than sweet corn stalks.....right now I think they may be 8 or 9 feet tall!
Pole beans- We grew a pole bean mix from Fedco Seeds that seems really nice. There is a beautiful variety of purple, speckled, yellow, green, and other colored beans. Pole beans have a really great flavor, as the plants are so much bigger than bush beans they are able to photosynthesize a lot more. Use these beans the same way you would use any green beans...they are just a bit more flavorful.
Squash- The summer squash plants continue to produce, although they are starting to slow noticably from their peak a few weeks ago. That is fine with me! The fruit all needs to be picked, three times a week, so it is a lot easier when there isn't quite so much of it!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zucchini-fritters-with-herbs-and-cheese-106460
Carrots- The carrots have been so great this year. I hope you're not getting tired of them, I kind of assume that people can always use a few carrots, as they are so easy to use in so many different ways. I haven't been eating enough carrots myself, I think I'll take some home this afternoon.
Turnips- It has been a while since we put salad turnips in the share, and we have a lot right now. These turnips are still tasty and great raw. They could actually go great with raw carrots, beans and pepper slices. Don't forget, you can saute and eat the tops! With no other braising greens in the share this week, the time is now! Here is a simple looking recipe:
http://addapinch.com/cooking/spicy-skillet-turnip-greens-recipe/
Garlic- It's been a while, so I thought you might be ready for another head of garlic.
Lettuce- Our Summer lettuce struggles continue. First it was the deer, then a timing of planting mistake on my part, and now we are have issues with wire worms, an annoying pest that has killed some of our new planting. I have to say, though, lettuce has been the only crop we've really struggled with this year, and it isn't so heart breaking to not have lettuce. Our next planting is coming in and may be ready by Thursday, so if possible we'll put a head of lettuce in your share.
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