This week marks the twelfth farm share, which means we are about halfway through the season! Still a lot of produce to come, with new crops just coming on, and others we haven't even begun picking yet. This warm weather should really help to get our late Summer crops like tomatoes and corn into full production. We will plant the last few trays of lettuce for Fall harvest this coming week, and seed the last round of our fast greens. After that we will be done with all our plantings and until we begin planting our garlic for 2017 in the Fall!
In this week's share:
Sweet Corn! As promised, we are now picking our first planting of sweet corn and will have at least two ears for each share! This is a bicolor variety named Vitality that I always plant for our first succession...it grows well even in cooler Northwest weather and always produces nice early ears. They are a bit smaller than the ears from our midseason varieties, but very tasty! Throw some on the grill and serve with butter and salt, or with chili and lime.
Eggplant- Oh boy, am I excited for eggplant season. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables to eat, and it is fun to grow and harvest too. Eggplant is in the same Solanaceae family as tomatoes and peppers but loves the heat even more. This variety is new to me, we got the seeds from our friends at Deep Harvest Farm in Freeland who produce their own seeds to sell at local nurseries like Bayview Farm and Garden. Look for them next Spring if you're a home gardener! Bobbi may be making us some Ratatouille later tonight, with corn, tomatoes, pepper, squash, eggplant, and basil... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ratatouille-12164
Cherry Tomatoes- Our multi colored cherry tomatoes are back in the share...they started ripening early, but were really slowed down by the cool week we had at the beginning of the month. The farm share, the Orchard Kitchen, and the farm stand customers are all calling for more tomatoes.... I am hoping this warm sunny weather means we will have loads of tomatoes very soon.
Arugula- It has been a while since arugula appeared in the shares, I thought some nice peppery arugula sounded like a good compliment with cucumbers and tomatoes and corn. Some great recipes to check out in this blog post! http://www.thekitchn.com/crazy-for-arugula-9-recipes-to-118826
Cucumbers- I am very glad to be putting cucumbers in the share this week, because we are still picking so many of them we can't get rid of them fast enough! They are coming on strong. Hope you're enjoying our mix of varieties, the small blond Boothby's, the smooth green thin skinned Adam, and the more familiar Marketmore. In a few weeks we have a later planting of Lemon cukes that should get going for late August and early September cukes.
Fingerling Potatoes- We have begun doing our big potato dig, bringing in the storage tubers to hold and use through the Fall and Winter. On Thursday we picked a 100' row of our yellow potatoes and brought in well over 500 lbs of spuds! These fingerlings should still be pretty thin skinned like new potatoes, as we just mowed the greens and we will be digging the potatoes fresh for your bags....but in the coming months the potatoes will cure, becoming a bit drier and starchier with thicker skins as they do so. Fingerling potatoes are great for roasting, boiling, frying, or sautéing!
'
In the LARGE shares:
Lettuce- Not sure which variety we'll be cutting this week, but this will add a bit more greenstuff to your large shares for salad making!
Hakurei Turnip- The Japanese turnips continue to be great throughout the Summer, and we should have some nice ones this week. The tops are still tender and nice for stir frying or braising too!
Ailsa Crag Onions- We are also beginning to work on preparing our onions for storage, too.... Last week we crimped the necks so that they begin to dry down....this week I am hoping we have time to pull them out of the ground and "windrow" them in the field; putting them into an organized strip to dry out on the surface of the soil. After that we will clean them, cutting off the tops and roots and taking off any dirt, and bring them in to finish drying. These Ailsas should be able to cure well enough to hold until at least mid October or so, while true storage onion ("Copra") should hopefully store much longer than that, until January or beyond.
next- kale lettuce
Week Eleven...
We are starting to clear up some space on the farm- we've mowed or tilled in our older strawberry beds, most of the Spring peas and brassicas, and a lot of the beds of greens we were harvesting from earlier in the year. We are also now beginning the big late Summer project of clearing and bringing in storage crops like potatoes and onions. It makes our lives easier! Fewer beds to water and weed! More open space, where I hope to soon be planting cover crop which will grow through the Fall and Winter and add nutrients and organic matter to the soil for next year.
I was really hoping we would have corn for the farm shares this week! I ate my first ear of corn just a few days ago, and it is ripening quickly....but isn't quite there yet. Hopefully by this weekend we will have some in the farm stand, and then it should definitely be in the farm share next week.
Tomatoes- Some of our larger heirloom tomatoes will be in the share this week...great for putting in a salad or a sandwich, or just eating by themselves with a little salt and pepper. These tomato varieties are sometimes a little funny looking with odd shapes and colors, but their flavor is way better than the tomatoes in the grocery store! Don't put them in the fridge, just leave them out at room temperature until you're ready to use them as you would other fruit.
Gypsy peppers- Eventually, our gypsy peppers turn a beautiful coral orange color and are very sweet, but these ones were picked a bit early to thin the fruit set and let the plants ripen other fruits...while they aren't as sweet, they're great to use like you would a green pepper and have a nice bit of tartness.
Basil- We are overwhelmed with so much basil this year! I planted extra because last year most of our basil died mysteriously and suddenly, and I wanted to make sure we had plenty this year. Boy, do we ever. I like this article on how to make a small batch of pesto:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/08/06/bite-of-minnesota-small-batch-basil-pesto/
Torpedo Red Bottle Onion- More of our torpedo onions....they are beginning to dry down now for harvest and storage, so the tops are no longer as nice as they were a month ago. We will probably chop the tops off for you and give them out as loose onions.
Summer squash- I hope you're not tired of zucchini yet! Remember, we only have it for two or three months of the year, so enjoy it while you can...our squash harvest has actually gone really well this year, and we have so far not been overwhelmed with buckets of extra squash. I am trying to get a little better every year to plant the perfect amount of things, so that we have enough but are not buried in extra or fretting about waste. Every year there is a week or two of Summer where we just have so much food....right now! But generally, we're dialing it in over time.
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/zucchini-recipes/orzo-salad-zucchini-feta-0
Yellow wax beans- Fresh bean season is even shorter than zucchini season, but great while it's here. Martha Stewart has been noticeably absent from the blog, but she's back with some bean recipes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/275532/green-bean-recipes
...
Cauliflower- We have some beautiful cauliflower coming out of the field right now, plenty to go in the large shares. In the past I haven't grown much broccoli and cauliflower in August because we have so many other crops to pick, but it's doing great and it's nice to have it.
Strawberries- So many strawberries to pick, so little time. With our new beds on, we have been very busy trying to stay on top of it.
Spinach- After several beds of spinach that weren't very productive (I think the spot was a little less fertile, plus the long days of June tend to make spinach flower early) we have a beautiful new bed on, perfect for bunching! Here's a funny recipe that will use up your basil, too....and some tomatoes if you use them instead or in addition to the sundried tomatoes it calls for:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/feta-spinach-and-basil-omelette-muffins
I was really hoping we would have corn for the farm shares this week! I ate my first ear of corn just a few days ago, and it is ripening quickly....but isn't quite there yet. Hopefully by this weekend we will have some in the farm stand, and then it should definitely be in the farm share next week.
Tomatoes- Some of our larger heirloom tomatoes will be in the share this week...great for putting in a salad or a sandwich, or just eating by themselves with a little salt and pepper. These tomato varieties are sometimes a little funny looking with odd shapes and colors, but their flavor is way better than the tomatoes in the grocery store! Don't put them in the fridge, just leave them out at room temperature until you're ready to use them as you would other fruit.
Gypsy peppers- Eventually, our gypsy peppers turn a beautiful coral orange color and are very sweet, but these ones were picked a bit early to thin the fruit set and let the plants ripen other fruits...while they aren't as sweet, they're great to use like you would a green pepper and have a nice bit of tartness.
Basil- We are overwhelmed with so much basil this year! I planted extra because last year most of our basil died mysteriously and suddenly, and I wanted to make sure we had plenty this year. Boy, do we ever. I like this article on how to make a small batch of pesto:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/08/06/bite-of-minnesota-small-batch-basil-pesto/
Torpedo Red Bottle Onion- More of our torpedo onions....they are beginning to dry down now for harvest and storage, so the tops are no longer as nice as they were a month ago. We will probably chop the tops off for you and give them out as loose onions.
Summer squash- I hope you're not tired of zucchini yet! Remember, we only have it for two or three months of the year, so enjoy it while you can...our squash harvest has actually gone really well this year, and we have so far not been overwhelmed with buckets of extra squash. I am trying to get a little better every year to plant the perfect amount of things, so that we have enough but are not buried in extra or fretting about waste. Every year there is a week or two of Summer where we just have so much food....right now! But generally, we're dialing it in over time.
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/zucchini-recipes/orzo-salad-zucchini-feta-0
Yellow wax beans- Fresh bean season is even shorter than zucchini season, but great while it's here. Martha Stewart has been noticeably absent from the blog, but she's back with some bean recipes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/275532/green-bean-recipes
...
Cauliflower- We have some beautiful cauliflower coming out of the field right now, plenty to go in the large shares. In the past I haven't grown much broccoli and cauliflower in August because we have so many other crops to pick, but it's doing great and it's nice to have it.
Strawberries- So many strawberries to pick, so little time. With our new beds on, we have been very busy trying to stay on top of it.
Spinach- After several beds of spinach that weren't very productive (I think the spot was a little less fertile, plus the long days of June tend to make spinach flower early) we have a beautiful new bed on, perfect for bunching! Here's a funny recipe that will use up your basil, too....and some tomatoes if you use them instead or in addition to the sundried tomatoes it calls for:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/feta-spinach-and-basil-omelette-muffins
Blog for Week 10
I am trying to get this published before going in to harvest at the farm this morning, so I haven't had time to put in recipes! Fortunately, this week's share is mostly easy and straight forward stuff that shouldn't be hard to use up....
IN ALL SHARES-
Cherry tomatoes- Our early cherry tomatoes are finally producing enough that I hope to have enough for all shares. We grow mostly Sungold cherry tomatoes (the round orange ones) but this year we've added a mix of some other colors, mostly at the request of Vincent, chef of the Orchard Kitchen and a big fan of our tomatoes. Don't store tomatoes in the fridge! They're best left out at room temperature.
Lettuce- We are into a nice new bed of head lettuce with lots of Bergam's green, our big dense Greenleaf lettuce.
Snap peas- I think this marks the end of the Super Sugar snap peas in the farm share for this year...we are into our final planting, and they are already beginning to slow down with the hot dry weather. We've had a good run this year, and we have more rotations of beans for late Summer!
Carrots- The beds of carrots we're picking out of now got a bit weedier than we were expecting....beginning last year we started having problems with a terrible weedy bunch grass, especially in the carrot beds. It is a real pain in the neck. This grass goes from tiny to huge in no time, and has a big root system that makes it really hard to pull out without disturbing the crops. So the carrot size is not quite as consistent as usual, because some of the weedier sections sized up a bit slower than others....that said, they are very nice carrots that are otherwise tasty and pretty.
Garlic- More of our Softneck garlic....our garlic has all been harvested from the field now, but we've gotten so busy in the last few weeks we still haven't had time to clean our last variety....it's just sitting in a cart waiting to be cleaned and hung up in the barn and has been for weeks. Oh well, we'll get to it sooner or later.....this is one of our earlier varieties that has been hanging for over a month, and should be almost fully cured.
Broccoli- Not having been on the farm since Friday morning, I'm not really sure how much broccoli to expect this week, but I think we'll have enough to get at least a small head in all shares...
Cucumbers- Cucumbers are back in the share....they are quickly racing towards peak production, so we may be picking a whole lot of cukes very soon. Right next door, our melon plants are looking great and will hopefully be ripening fruit soon...we are also experimenting with growing some pickling cukes for Britt's pickles right now! Let me know if you are a big pickling fan if you'd be interested in buying a case of pickling cukes sometime in the next few weeks.
IN THE LARGE SHARES-
Celery- I am always very excited for the first celery in the Summer. Celery is a trickier crop that takes quite a while to reach harvestable size (we seeded the tiny celery seeds way back in early March), but there is such a difference in quality from the grocery store celery. Right now the stems are flavorful and crunchy, but not quite as big and juicy as they will be later on. Great for eating raw or cooking...
Radish- With so many veggies in season now, it's been a little while since radishes have appeared in the share.
Green onion- These are from our second planting of scallions....I don't think we'd ever done a later planting of them before, but we decided to this year, on a whim. I'm glad we did...it's nice to have more scallions now for mid Summer, since our first bed has been done for a few weeks now.
Enjoy!
IN ALL SHARES-
Cherry tomatoes- Our early cherry tomatoes are finally producing enough that I hope to have enough for all shares. We grow mostly Sungold cherry tomatoes (the round orange ones) but this year we've added a mix of some other colors, mostly at the request of Vincent, chef of the Orchard Kitchen and a big fan of our tomatoes. Don't store tomatoes in the fridge! They're best left out at room temperature.
Lettuce- We are into a nice new bed of head lettuce with lots of Bergam's green, our big dense Greenleaf lettuce.
Snap peas- I think this marks the end of the Super Sugar snap peas in the farm share for this year...we are into our final planting, and they are already beginning to slow down with the hot dry weather. We've had a good run this year, and we have more rotations of beans for late Summer!
Carrots- The beds of carrots we're picking out of now got a bit weedier than we were expecting....beginning last year we started having problems with a terrible weedy bunch grass, especially in the carrot beds. It is a real pain in the neck. This grass goes from tiny to huge in no time, and has a big root system that makes it really hard to pull out without disturbing the crops. So the carrot size is not quite as consistent as usual, because some of the weedier sections sized up a bit slower than others....that said, they are very nice carrots that are otherwise tasty and pretty.
Garlic- More of our Softneck garlic....our garlic has all been harvested from the field now, but we've gotten so busy in the last few weeks we still haven't had time to clean our last variety....it's just sitting in a cart waiting to be cleaned and hung up in the barn and has been for weeks. Oh well, we'll get to it sooner or later.....this is one of our earlier varieties that has been hanging for over a month, and should be almost fully cured.
Broccoli- Not having been on the farm since Friday morning, I'm not really sure how much broccoli to expect this week, but I think we'll have enough to get at least a small head in all shares...
Cucumbers- Cucumbers are back in the share....they are quickly racing towards peak production, so we may be picking a whole lot of cukes very soon. Right next door, our melon plants are looking great and will hopefully be ripening fruit soon...we are also experimenting with growing some pickling cukes for Britt's pickles right now! Let me know if you are a big pickling fan if you'd be interested in buying a case of pickling cukes sometime in the next few weeks.
IN THE LARGE SHARES-
Celery- I am always very excited for the first celery in the Summer. Celery is a trickier crop that takes quite a while to reach harvestable size (we seeded the tiny celery seeds way back in early March), but there is such a difference in quality from the grocery store celery. Right now the stems are flavorful and crunchy, but not quite as big and juicy as they will be later on. Great for eating raw or cooking...
Radish- With so many veggies in season now, it's been a little while since radishes have appeared in the share.
Green onion- These are from our second planting of scallions....I don't think we'd ever done a later planting of them before, but we decided to this year, on a whim. I'm glad we did...it's nice to have more scallions now for mid Summer, since our first bed has been done for a few weeks now.
Enjoy!
WEEK NINE
The growing season continues to chug along, and I am very happy with how everything is growing these days. The crops are looking happy and growing fast, and it looks like there is a lot of food in our future. The tomatoes are getting going and will make their first appearance in the large shares this week, but with lots more to come. Strawberries are super abundant right now, with the new beds that we planted this Spring beginning to yield heavily, and the older beds from last year still going strong. The late Summer crops, like melons, peppers, and eggplants, all of which had a few struggles early on in times of cool wet weather, are now looking great and should be yielding before too long. And the potato and winter squash field, in our new acreage at the bottom of the property, is just unbelievable.
I am also very happy because we are soon reaching the end of the ultra busy season for us farmers....early Spring takes a lot of planning and thinking, but not too much work, with planting and seeding and weeding to do, but not much harvest....late Summer and early Fall are pretty busy, but we're mostly just harvesting all the time, so while it can be tiring, we're basically on auto pilot and just getting through the pick list every day. It is primarily June and July that can be pretty stressful and crazy, with so much to harvest that the work can never end, but still lots of planning and thinking to do for seeding schedules, weeding, planting, tractoring, watering, and everything else. August and September are a very happy time, when we have lots of food, a lot of work to do, but time to enjoy the Summer too before it's over.
This coming weekend marks Bobbi and my six month wedding anniversary, which we are going to celebrate by going on a float trip down the Nooksack river (in Whatcom county) with a bunch of friends, including Jack and Whitney.
Here is what's in your share for this week:Strawberries! As mentioned above, lots of strawberries right now. Keeps us busy, as they are pretty time consuming to pick, but delicious to eat!
New potatoes- Our potato field is really rockin' right now, and we are digging up some very pretty tubers. I was going to make steamed potatoes and pan fried fish for dinner tonight, but by the time I got home Bobbie and I were both too tired to cook or bother with dinner! I don't think I used this recipe before for oven roasted new potatoes, right?
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_new_potatoes/
Beets- Beets are a tricky veggie to decide when to put in the share. Most people love beets, and I'd say they're one of the more popular things we grow...but there are those folks who are beet haters and would rather never have beets in their share. I try to find a balance and not put them in the share too often. If you are a beet hater, keep trying a new recipe every now and then! Maybe you'll find one you love...it happened that way with my mom. This week's bunch has red beets and Chioggia, the pink candy striped beet with a really sweet flavor.
Ailsa crag onions- These gigantic onions are really great...they aren't quite as sweet and juicy as the walla wallas, but they keep better, and have a bit more onion flavor so they are a great all purpose onion. And as you will see, they have grown to an amazing size this year!
Red Russian Kale- We have heaps of summer kale that we grew hoping to wholesale to Georgie Smith at Willowod Farm. Her kale always gets pretty cruddy in the summer time, between dry windy conditions on the prairie and pest issues. So we planted tons of kale for her, and lo and behold this year her kale is growing great through the Summer. You win some, you lose some...anyone want a 50 lb case of kale?
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/
Zucchini- The squash is really going full speed now, and we are struggling to keep up with harvest! That is just how it always goes with summer squash this time of year though....
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/our-best-zucchini-recipes.page-5.html
And in the LARGE shares only-
Cauliflower- Some nice summer cauliflower to go in the large shares. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/54675/roasted-garlic-cauliflower/
Tomatoes!! Our very first heirloom tomatoes of the year...we just harvested today and they look beautiful. Like many of the crops, they start at a slow trickle and then quickly build steam....so hopefully we will have enough tomatoes to put in all the shares next week!
This week the large shares will get more potatoes, onions, and zucchini than the smaller shares!
Blog for Farm Share Week 8
I can tell we are getting into the high Summer season, because it is starting to get difficult to limit the number of items in the shares. It is great to be able to offer so much stuff in the share this week, and many Summery things (green beans, cucumbers, fresh red onions, basil).
Friday afternoons I walk around the farm and try to come up with an idea of what will be in the share the following week. For the Thursday shares though, this is trying to look 6 days into the future, which can sometimes be difficult, and sometimes I blow it. Case in point; the broccoli last week. I could see that we would have plenty of broccoli for Monday shares, but thought that by Thursday the next beds would be on and ready to harvest. I was wrong! We ended up having very little broccoli for Thursday, and I had overpromised it, so we had to make the last minute call to put purple cabbage in the shares instead....unfortunate, because Monday shares had already gotten broccoli....so this week we will try to right our wrongs by giving out more broccoli on Thursday.
Planning for the farm share, I've found the best approach is to just be a bit flexible and roll with the punches that the weather, the crops, the wholesale orders, and the pests might throw at us. Thanks for understanding if your bag differs slightly from this blog!
This week's share:
Green beans- Our first picking of fresh green beans! These beans are very fresh and tender with a great taste. Much better than the ones at the grocery store, we promise! Great just lightly steamed or raw, but here are some recipes just in case: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/green-bean-recipes
Cucumbers- Finally! After several weeks of waiting, I am hopeful that we'll be picking enough cucumbers to give everyone at least one. Cucumbers coming on feel like the true beginning of Summer to me. Easy to throw on a salad or sandwich. Like, an English tea cucumber sandwich... http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220775/english-tea-cucumber-sandwiches/
Broccoli/ purple cabbage- As mentioned above, I blew it last week on the broccoli. Trying to even it up this week, so it will be a bit complicated: Monday small shares will be getting purple cabbage, Thursday small shares and all large shares will be getting broccoli.
Lettuce- Head lettuce is back in the shares. Bobbi and I just had a lettuce salad for dinner with a nice dressing that Bobbi made. It had (approximately) a tablespoon of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, and some finely chopped fresh herbs; basil, parsley, sage, lovage, and tarragon. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Torpedo Red Bottle Onions- These are a really great Italian heirloom sweet onion. They have a very mild (not too onion-y) flavor that is great raw or lightly grilled. Named for their bottle like shape...these onions have very nice tops, too that are usable in place of green onions.
Basil- The basil is really popping off on the farm right now, so we will be giving small shares a generous bunch and large shares a big bag of basil, with enough to make a batch of pesto: http://damndelicious.net/2014/07/05/easy-homemade-pesto/
IN THE LARGE SHARES>>>!
Strawberries- Besides getting a big bag of basil for pesto, large shares will also include a pint of strawberries this week! I believe all shares will have strawberries in them next week...the strawberry plants seem to be heading quickly towards their peak season. They are really tasty right now...very shiny, red and beautiful.
Napa cabbage- Our first planting of Napa cabbage all bit the dust before we could even harvest any...it bolted (started flowering) early before heading up. Our newest planting looks good...the heads seem to be getting tight and should be ready for harvest this week.
Snap peas- A pint of snap peas in your share this week! The snap peas go through July, but seem to seldom last very long into August, when conditions just get too hot and dry for them to thrive. Enjoy them while you can!
Friday afternoons I walk around the farm and try to come up with an idea of what will be in the share the following week. For the Thursday shares though, this is trying to look 6 days into the future, which can sometimes be difficult, and sometimes I blow it. Case in point; the broccoli last week. I could see that we would have plenty of broccoli for Monday shares, but thought that by Thursday the next beds would be on and ready to harvest. I was wrong! We ended up having very little broccoli for Thursday, and I had overpromised it, so we had to make the last minute call to put purple cabbage in the shares instead....unfortunate, because Monday shares had already gotten broccoli....so this week we will try to right our wrongs by giving out more broccoli on Thursday.
Planning for the farm share, I've found the best approach is to just be a bit flexible and roll with the punches that the weather, the crops, the wholesale orders, and the pests might throw at us. Thanks for understanding if your bag differs slightly from this blog!
This week's share:
Green beans- Our first picking of fresh green beans! These beans are very fresh and tender with a great taste. Much better than the ones at the grocery store, we promise! Great just lightly steamed or raw, but here are some recipes just in case: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/green-bean-recipes
Cucumbers- Finally! After several weeks of waiting, I am hopeful that we'll be picking enough cucumbers to give everyone at least one. Cucumbers coming on feel like the true beginning of Summer to me. Easy to throw on a salad or sandwich. Like, an English tea cucumber sandwich... http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220775/english-tea-cucumber-sandwiches/
Broccoli/ purple cabbage- As mentioned above, I blew it last week on the broccoli. Trying to even it up this week, so it will be a bit complicated: Monday small shares will be getting purple cabbage, Thursday small shares and all large shares will be getting broccoli.
Lettuce- Head lettuce is back in the shares. Bobbi and I just had a lettuce salad for dinner with a nice dressing that Bobbi made. It had (approximately) a tablespoon of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar, and some finely chopped fresh herbs; basil, parsley, sage, lovage, and tarragon. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Torpedo Red Bottle Onions- These are a really great Italian heirloom sweet onion. They have a very mild (not too onion-y) flavor that is great raw or lightly grilled. Named for their bottle like shape...these onions have very nice tops, too that are usable in place of green onions.
Basil- The basil is really popping off on the farm right now, so we will be giving small shares a generous bunch and large shares a big bag of basil, with enough to make a batch of pesto: http://damndelicious.net/2014/07/05/easy-homemade-pesto/
IN THE LARGE SHARES>>>!
Strawberries- Besides getting a big bag of basil for pesto, large shares will also include a pint of strawberries this week! I believe all shares will have strawberries in them next week...the strawberry plants seem to be heading quickly towards their peak season. They are really tasty right now...very shiny, red and beautiful.
Napa cabbage- Our first planting of Napa cabbage all bit the dust before we could even harvest any...it bolted (started flowering) early before heading up. Our newest planting looks good...the heads seem to be getting tight and should be ready for harvest this week.
Snap peas- A pint of snap peas in your share this week! The snap peas go through July, but seem to seldom last very long into August, when conditions just get too hot and dry for them to thrive. Enjoy them while you can!
WEEK 7!!
Hey all,
Last Thursday we got to enjoy an amazing dinner at the Orchard Kitchen. It was really, really cool to see all of the produce we've worked hard to grow highlighted so amazingly through Vincent's cooking. We had a risotto with peas and summer squash, a salad with beets, greens, and onions, and some delicious local pork with new potatoes. And then an almond cake for dessert with local berries, including our strawberries. It is really a memorable experience to have dinner there, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't checked it out yet!
This week marks the seventh week of the 2016 farm share. How time flies! I feel that this has (so far) been the most successful season we've had on the farm in terms of the amount and quality of the produce, and also with how manageable the work load has been. The rain has really helped to keep irrigation stress under control, while we've had a few pest issues, nothing heart breaking, we have been wasting less food than ever....the only down side has been a broken down tractor that we will hopefully have fixed in the next few days. Another huge improvement over years past has been not doing the farmer's market. While the market was always really great for us, it took a ton of time and effort to pick, store, pack up, sell, break down...every Saturday, which made for a six day work week no matter how I tried to plan it otherwise. It has definitely made life on the farm a lot easier, and given us a lot more time to do other stuff, by deciding to no longer do the market every weekend.
In this week's share:
After a few less-than-sunny weeks, the forecast, while not looking super hot, looks pretty warm and dry coming up. I am surprised how many of the heat loving crops haven't seemed to mind the sometimes gray and cool weather. The tomatoes, beans, corn, and peppers are all looking healthy and happy. The winter squash has really taken off and looks downright amazing! The only crop that seems to be a bit behind schedule are the cucumbers, which are growing and look fine, but surprisingly just haven't really started fruiting yet. I was hoping to have cucumbers in the share this week, but aside from a straggler here and there, we just haven't gotten many cukes yet. Hopefully this week's sunnier weather changes that, as I do love a good cucumber salad. In the meantime, we have lots of other nice veggies to fill the shares this week.
Shelling peas- These peas, unlike the snap peas, have tough outer pods that aren't very good to eat. If you peel open the shell, they are filled with tender sweet peas, like the green peas many of us remember from childhood. These are a real treat...in particular Northern European (from the UK and Scandinavia) people seem to always be super excited about fresh shelling peas whenever we have them.
The farm manager at Sauvie Island Organics, the first farm I worked at, made an amazing cold soup from fresh shelling peas that was one of the most memorable vegetable soups I've ever had. It was basically like this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/95110/fresh-pea-soup/ with one notable difference....after shelling the peas, she would reserve the pods and boil them in water to make a strongly pea flavored broth that she would use in place of the water in this recipe. It made for a very strong pea flavor that was delicious!
Carrots- We have had a great crop of carrots so far. Beautiful roots with strong green tops! A newer planting had to be recently rescued from the weeds...we have a terrible weedy bunch grass that has begun appearing on parts of the farm and it can completely take over beds! Fortunately, we caught it just in time to rescue the baby carrots from being overtaken by a grassy jungle.
Herb bunch- Our new cilantro bed is on, so it is time to right our previous wrongs! A few weeks ago, Monday pickup folks got cilantro, but we were all out before the Thursday harvest. This week, we will give parsley bunches out on Monday, and cilantro on Thursday.
Spinach- Very nice spinach this year, perfect for bunching. Here is a recipe for exactly the way I like to make fresh sautéed greens: http://www.marthastewart.com/1150315/sauteed-fresh-spinach
Broccoli- Broccoli is back in the share, with new broccoli beds starting to come into production.
http://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-buy-store-and-eat-your-broccoli-article
Zucchini/Summer Squash- We planted less summer squash this year than in years past, mostly because when it really gets going in late Summer we have to pick it regularly and end up with so much summer squash. But in the early Summer, when the plants are just getting going, it means not having quite as much as we could use. Oh well, it's a trade off. I'm hoping that this week, for the first time, we'll have enough to give ALL shares a few squash...maybe a bit more in the large shares.
Garlic- I'm not sure yet which garlic variety we will giving out this week, but probably one of our early softneck varieties that we had planned to use for food garlic (as opposed to saving for seed). We have so much more garlic this year than ever before, it is great being able to give it out more frequently!
In the LARGE SHARES-
Purple cabbage- Taco time! When I was growing up my Dad would make fish tacos with chopped purple cabbage and a creamy dressing. Sprinkle some cilantro and queso fresco on top....easy dinner.
Radish- At the Orchard Kitchen, Vincent served a really simple and delicious little hor d'oeuvre...one of our radishes, sliced longwise in half with the greens left on, and a mustardy dressing to dip it it. He told us to eat the greens, which even I as a vegetable farmer didn't think sounded appealing...but it was delicious! I wish I had a photo to show the beautiful presentation they used....
Walla walla onions- This will be the final appearance of our Walla walla onions after a very successful run. Hopefully by next week the rest of our onions will be sizing up and ready to go into the shares. No other onion is quite as delicious as onion rings, though....it's hard to make good onion rings at home, but worth a try! http://www.lifesambrosia.com/buttermilk-walla-walla-onion-rings-recipe/
Blog for Farm Share Week 6
It was great to see some of you at the party last week! We had nice weather and some good snacks. I think Jack and I both felt like it was really nice doing the party a month into the share, rather than in May....the fields look great and there are more crops to see, it seemed like more people were able to come, and we had more produce to serve as snacks. If we can, we'll try to host another get together before the end of the year.
Vincent and Tyla Nattress, who own the property we farm, are taking a well deserved weekend off from the Orchard Kitchen to get off island and celebrate the fourth with their daughters. They'll be back to serving dinners at the Orchard Kitchen this coming week though, and all of us from Ebb Tide have been invited to eat with them this coming Thursday! We are very excited. If you haven't had a chance to eat at the Orchard Kitchen, you should check it out. They'll be serving dinner Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights for the rest of the Summer. Here's a link: http://www.orchardkitchen.com/#foodweb
They are also still working to improve the property for their dinners; right now they're building a patio overlooking our crops, and fixing up the old hay barn to use for additional seating!
In all shares this week:
Strawberries- The berries are back in the share! It's always hard to anticipate, but it seems like the plants are primed for a big flush of ripe fruit, so I'm thinking we should have plenty of berries to give you all a pint this week.
Arugula- More lemony, peppery arugula in the shares this week. Great for a Summer salad. Bobbi and I just had arugula for dinner with some grilled zucchini and onion.
Sugar snap peas- The peas are so great raw and so easy to eat. If you can avoid snacking on them, though, you could make an easy pasta dish with lots of the stuff in your share: just sauté some cauliflower and kale in olive oil, add some chopped peas and zucchini, and finish with some basil and arugula, salt and balsamic vinegar.
Basil- After getting off to a slower start this Spring, all of a sudden the basil has really taken off! When the basil starts getting big, it needs to be picked hard to encourage it to keep growing, so you all will be the beneficiaries!
Kale- We planted lots and lots of kale this Spring, hoping to wholesale it to Willowood Farm in Coupeville, as they always get aphid problems in the Summer months and can't meet the demand for kale from all the Seattle restaurants they sell to. Unfortunately for us, so far they have had no aphid issues and have tons of their own kale...so we are stuck with an enormous kale surplus. If anyone knows of someone who wants to buy 50 pounds of kale, let me know!
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=kale
Cauliflower- Our first cauliflower planting is on, and it is truly beautiful! Cauliflower is one of my favorite crops to grow; it is usually pretty difficult, but it loves the soil at Ebb Tide and we usually have no problem producing some really nice cauliflower. Finding the snow white heads hiding inside the huge plants and cutting them out is kind of like a treasure hunt!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oven-roasted-cauliflower-with-garlic-olive-oil-and-lemon-juice-recipe.html
http://www.marthastewart.com/275272/cauliflower-recipes#233356
In large shares only:
Fennel- Fennel bulbs are a great vegetable that a lot of people are less familiar with. They have a pleasant crunch similar to celery, but with a sweet, anise like taste. If you love the flavor, it is strongest and crunchiest eaten raw, and is great in a salad, slaw, or sliced for an appetizer plate with a dip. If the flavor is too strong for you raw, try chopping it and sautéing or roasting it as you would an onion for a soup, pasta sauce, or casserole.
http://www.marthastewart.com/286398/fennel-recipes
Zucchini- More zucchini for the large shares this week. We have been using our barbeque a lot, so it is always great to have some zucchini around. It is so easy to slice up, brush with some olive oil and throw on the grill for a few minutes.
Lettuce- A nice head of (I hope green butter) lettuce to round out the large shares. Butter lettuce is a great summer treat with its mild, sweet leaves. It is easy to grow, but doesn't hold for very long, so we need to pick it as soon as it's ready.
Vincent and Tyla Nattress, who own the property we farm, are taking a well deserved weekend off from the Orchard Kitchen to get off island and celebrate the fourth with their daughters. They'll be back to serving dinners at the Orchard Kitchen this coming week though, and all of us from Ebb Tide have been invited to eat with them this coming Thursday! We are very excited. If you haven't had a chance to eat at the Orchard Kitchen, you should check it out. They'll be serving dinner Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights for the rest of the Summer. Here's a link: http://www.orchardkitchen.com/#foodweb
They are also still working to improve the property for their dinners; right now they're building a patio overlooking our crops, and fixing up the old hay barn to use for additional seating!
In all shares this week:
Strawberries- The berries are back in the share! It's always hard to anticipate, but it seems like the plants are primed for a big flush of ripe fruit, so I'm thinking we should have plenty of berries to give you all a pint this week.
Arugula- More lemony, peppery arugula in the shares this week. Great for a Summer salad. Bobbi and I just had arugula for dinner with some grilled zucchini and onion.
Sugar snap peas- The peas are so great raw and so easy to eat. If you can avoid snacking on them, though, you could make an easy pasta dish with lots of the stuff in your share: just sauté some cauliflower and kale in olive oil, add some chopped peas and zucchini, and finish with some basil and arugula, salt and balsamic vinegar.
Basil- After getting off to a slower start this Spring, all of a sudden the basil has really taken off! When the basil starts getting big, it needs to be picked hard to encourage it to keep growing, so you all will be the beneficiaries!
Kale- We planted lots and lots of kale this Spring, hoping to wholesale it to Willowood Farm in Coupeville, as they always get aphid problems in the Summer months and can't meet the demand for kale from all the Seattle restaurants they sell to. Unfortunately for us, so far they have had no aphid issues and have tons of their own kale...so we are stuck with an enormous kale surplus. If anyone knows of someone who wants to buy 50 pounds of kale, let me know!
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=kale
Cauliflower- Our first cauliflower planting is on, and it is truly beautiful! Cauliflower is one of my favorite crops to grow; it is usually pretty difficult, but it loves the soil at Ebb Tide and we usually have no problem producing some really nice cauliflower. Finding the snow white heads hiding inside the huge plants and cutting them out is kind of like a treasure hunt!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oven-roasted-cauliflower-with-garlic-olive-oil-and-lemon-juice-recipe.html
http://www.marthastewart.com/275272/cauliflower-recipes#233356
In large shares only:
Fennel- Fennel bulbs are a great vegetable that a lot of people are less familiar with. They have a pleasant crunch similar to celery, but with a sweet, anise like taste. If you love the flavor, it is strongest and crunchiest eaten raw, and is great in a salad, slaw, or sliced for an appetizer plate with a dip. If the flavor is too strong for you raw, try chopping it and sautéing or roasting it as you would an onion for a soup, pasta sauce, or casserole.
http://www.marthastewart.com/286398/fennel-recipes
Zucchini- More zucchini for the large shares this week. We have been using our barbeque a lot, so it is always great to have some zucchini around. It is so easy to slice up, brush with some olive oil and throw on the grill for a few minutes.
Lettuce- A nice head of (I hope green butter) lettuce to round out the large shares. Butter lettuce is a great summer treat with its mild, sweet leaves. It is easy to grow, but doesn't hold for very long, so we need to pick it as soon as it's ready.
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