September 28th Farm Share

Bobbie has agreed to be a guest blogger this week!   She’s written everything below:

In all shares:

Acorn squash- One of the earliest types of winter squash. These can sit out on your counter for another month before you need to cook it. Always a bonus in our house! If you’re not ready for it to be falls (or winter!) try this squash recipe from Smitten kitchen

 https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/10/unflinchingly-good-things/

Carrots-We’ve been eating a lot of carrots. A lot. Nico doesn’t sit long for meals days and I try to have lots of cut of veggies (and a tempting dip) on hand for after school. One of my favorites is Deborah Madison’s recipe for tofu mayonnaise from Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone (a bible in our home). https://www.cookstr.com/recipes/tofu-mayonnaise-deborah-madison

Kale- Kale…The winter zucchini. The gift that keeps on giving. What can be said about kale that hasn’t been said before? Next food prep session I suggest listening to John Cale’s Paris 1919. There.

Tomatoes- There won’t be tomatoes for too much longer.  Im hoping to do some roasting soon and stash a few ziploc’s away to enjoy later in the winter.

Sweet pepper-Another easy veggie to just serve raw.  Were still so busy these days that it’s easy to just cave to the simplest preparation.  These have been so abundant this year and have made it into most of our meals. Recently I made ground turkey and white bean chili with sweet peppers. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, plus left overs for lunch (always a winner in my book) 

http://www.marthastewart.com/314655/turkey-and-white-bean-chili

Small shares only:

Radishes  {because last week after saying there would be radishes in all shares we decided to put the last sweet corn in the small shares instead}-

Large shares only:

Bunching onion {green scallion or red apache} - My best friend Kylie and I often make these savory Japanese pancakes, called Okonomiyaki. The best parts of this (and any meal) are the condiments. Often we will soak scallions in tamari or soy sauce while we prep and ladle them on top of the cakes with Siracha and mayo. https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/okonomiyaki

Napa cabbage- A favorite of mine. If you haven’t tried an Asian style peanut salad with Napa cabbage yet, put it on your bucket list.

Zucchini- Ah, the versatile beast… I love adding zucchini where I can in cooking. Pancakes, muffins, scrambled eggs… the key is to squeeze, press or blot any excess water out of your zucchini before adding it to your meal.

Parsley- Gremolata is one of the easiest ways to brighten practically any meal (and look fancy at the same time).  The ingredients are simple (parsley, garlic, and lemon), and usually on hand. 

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-gremolata-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193008

{More tomatoes, acorn squash, and peppers in the large shares}

Kitchen gadgets

Life with a toddler and two working parents can be hectic. Eating (and preparing) healthy foods can be challenging- even when you have all the nice, pretty, organic vegetables in the world sitting on the kitchen counter.  Here are a couple of ways I’ve been coping. What are you doing to stay committed to healthy eating?

In an attempt to prepare and eat more vegetables (yes we have that problem too), I bought a spiralizer. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this kitchen gadget, it’s basically takes your average root  vegetable and cranks it into a fun spiral that is somehow more appealing to eat than a basic matchstick or julienned carrot. This has made most potluck and side dishes a breeze to prep and I’m enjoying being able to bring gluten free, Vegan dishes to gatherings- even if our household doesn’t have dietary restrictions.

Immersion blender. I use this baby several times a week, mostly to make healthy dips and dressings, sauces and condiments. I find I can include a lot more raw food this way, and also be more simplistic at the same time. The texture from this type of blender tends to be finer than my basic (probably really dull) food processor, and the cleanup is incredibly easier. 

First Fall Share

Our first sour hare of the Autumn, and with this week's weather it feels about right.  The produce in your shares will be starting to shift in the coming weeks, and this week we have some of the first Fall veggies.  Here's what's in all shares this week:
Delicata squash!  The first winter squash of the year, these smaller squash are the most popular variety to grow.  They have great flavor, and are really easy to use....the skin is thin and edible, so no need to peel them, just cut them in half longwise, scoop out the seeds, add some butter, oil, or salt, and bake them in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or so.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/maple-roasted-delicata-squash-with-red-onion-51258430
Walla walla onions-  We have a greenhouse chock full of onions, shallots and garlic right now, so no shortage on any of those for the coming months.  Onions are a great start to a nice Fall soup, or use these in place of red onions in the recipe above.
Sweet peppers-  More of our sweet Gypsy and Carmen peppers.  Both are ripening quickly and add a great sweet flavor all kinds of dishes.  Here is a recipe for roasted red peppers:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-red-peppers-recipe-1923836
Carrots-  The carrots are better than ever, but their tops are getting a bit weaker, so I think we will pack the carrots into your shares without tops this week.  They will still be freshly dug and delicious, and if it is still this chilly out it will save us the unpleasant job of wrangling twist ties with cold muddy fingers!
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/carrot-soup-with-ginger-and-lemon-4083
Radishes-  A nice small bunch of radishes...we are back to our French Breakfast type radishes that we grow in the cooler months of Spring and Fall.
Arugula-  A peppery bunch of arugula for a salad, or cook it lightly if the flavor is too strong for you raw.
Tomatoes-  Keep your fingers crossed that our plants make it through this wet spell, as it looks like there is at least a bit more dry weather on the way...

Large Shares only:
Sweet corn-  I was hoping we'd have corn in all shares one more time, but I decided to play it safe and put it in large shares only, as it's hard to tell how much corn is still out in the field right now until I start picking it.  We haven't put it in the farm stand over the last several days to hang on to it for your shares!
Fall braising mix-  A little bag of our new fall kales, mustards, and chards make a nice braising mix to cook up with some onion and garlic, or add to a stir fry or stew.
Eggplant-  The eggplants should keep producing for many weeks.  The fruits this year are small but extra tasty.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/241990/roasted-baby-eggplant-tomato-and-zucchini/  ...you could preroast the delicata a bit and use it in place of zucchini...
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/spiced-baby-eggplants
Garlic-  Maybe as part of the project of packing the garlic for the shares, we will soon begin to set aside the largest heads of garlic for seed to be planted in October for next year's garlic.
[and more onions and carrots]

Nearing the End of Summer...

In all shares this week:
Beets-  This time last year we were running low on Fall beets and I was wishing I'd seeded more.  This year is another story....so many beets I don't know what to do with them all.
Sweet corn-  Wow, the corn is a few weeks later this year than it was last year, but really productive and nice.  I gave the plants a bit more space and maybe a bit more water, and it seems to be paying off with more cobs of sweet corn!
Tomatoes-  Hoping last weekend's rain showers don't negatively impact the tomatoes...they are still looking healthy and strong, but I have been a bit lazy about removing all the older leaves on the plants that can be vectors for Late blight in wet weather.  With any luck we should have lots more tomatoes in the coming weeks.
Summer squash-  This might be the last time Summer squash is in the share...last chance Summer dance!  The plants are getting a bit tired and seem to be slowing down, although you never know, they may continue to produce a bit more for a while.  In any case, we have lots of nice Winter squash coming ripe that will be soon taking its place in your shares.
Basil-  I'm hoping to give everyone a nice big bag of basil this week, as I'm thinking the basil won't be able to keep going for too much longer.
Lettuce-  We have experienced our typical late Summer deer attack, and we lost quite a bit of head lettuce, sadly.  So many of these heads will actually be coming from our friend Georgie Smith of Willowood Farm.  We will have another bed of lettuce coming on soon, plus lots of other Fall greens on the way.

Small shares only:
Eggplant-  Large shares have already gotten some eggplant, but small shares have not, so it's your turn!  Time for some delicious eggplant curry, or grilled eggplant, or eggplant parmesan....homegrown eggplant is one of my favorite things!

Large shares only:
Pac choi-  We'll have broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, brussels sprouts, and more in the coming weeks, but for now we have a beautiful little plot of pac choi as a nice braising brassica.
Sweet peppers-  The pepper plants are really producing, and this week I'll try to get some "Carmen" peppers into the shares.  It is a large, bright red bull's horn type pepper that is really delicious.
Shallots-  Shallots are a delicious onion-family vegetable that is kind of like a cross between onion and garlic.  Slice it and use it as you would onion, but it has a different flavor prized in both French and Asian cooking.  Great in sauces and dressings, with seafood and other vegetables!
Cucumber-  As with the Summer squash, the cukes are beginning to slow down and some of the vines are dying back a bit.  Not too many fresh cucumber salads left!

It is transition time on the farm, as many of the Summer crops are winding down and we prepare to switch over to the Fall crops.  That said, many things like the eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes, should continue for many weeks, and there is still a lot of corn to be picked.  This is my favorite time of year, with less traffic on the island, shorter but still beautiful days with a little chill sometimes, lots of delicious vegetables, and a little less racing around to keep up with the to do list on the farm.
It's also the time of year when I start thinking a lot about next years' plan, which I'm in the middle of now.
Don't forget to pick up your share on THURSDAY evening this week!!!
Thanks!
ETP

Farm Share Number 14...

Here's what's in the shares....
Sweet corn- We have a lot more sweet corn coming no in the next few weeks, and a lot of it is just starting to ripen.  I'm hoping to get at least 3 ears in all shares this week!  The corn has been great so far but with a slower start it's been hard to keep up with demand...
Tomatoes-  The tomatoes are starting to really hit their stride and produce more ripe fruit every week...this time of year I begin to anxiously watch the weather forecast, as a heavy rain can spread disease quickly.   It looked like we might get rain later this week, but now the forecast seems to be getting drier...
Gypsy peppers-  These are a wonderful, coral colored sweet pepper with a sweet, tart flavor and a great crunchy texture.  They are awesome raw, in a salad, on a sandwich, or with a dip, but also great cooked up with other veggies to add a bit of sweetness.  They start out a yellowish green and ripe to a pinkish color...leave them out at room temperature with the tomatoes to allow them to continue ripening.
Carrots-  No surprise here, the carrots continue to go strong.  Here's a new carrot recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-carrots-recipe-1940444
Potatoes-  Potatoes are back in the share, they are now beginning to "cure", or transition from being new potatoes to being storage potatoes, so they are bigger, a bit drier, and have slightly thicker skins.  The flavor will be a bit stronger, and they should keep well for quite a long time in a cool, dry spot.
Leeks-  Some nice Fall leeks in the share this week, a great pairing with potatoes.  Leeks are a very old vegetable, eaten at least since the ancient Egyptians!  They are the symbol of Wales, and used in a lot of European cooking;  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leek 
http://www.marthastewart.com/274312/leek-recipes?slide=3402629  (hit the little arrow on the pictures to scroll through these recipes)

In large shares:
Baby braising mix-  Our Fall kale and swiss chard are beginning to grow fast, and looking beautiful. We're also a bit thin on other greens right now, so we thought the first pick of these would be a nice addition to the large shares!
Cauliflower-  The first of our Fall cauliflower beds are beginning to produce, planted among the Brussels sprouts, Fall cabbage, and romanesco plants that are still not close to being ready, I was surprised to find some cauliflower in our new brassica field!
Fennel-  These fennel bulbs are not huge, but a nice size to use in a recipe with other things, and the greens from the tops can be used as a delicious anise-y herb.  Great on pizza or pasta!

Crazy morning today, with ash falling from the sky and the sun blood red.  And it's supposed to be very hot this afternoon!  What a strange, surreal day.
After kind of a stressful July, with the strawberries being mysteriously unproductive among other things, we have made it through and are having a great late Summer on the farm.  I'm being a bit more laissez-faire with the weeds this year, which is great now but I may come to regret in the future if the weed pressure goes way up next year as a result of more weed seeds.  Part of it is that I have been avoiding rototilling, though, as the soil is so dry from a complete lack of rain.  Tilling when it is this dry creates a lot of dust and is just unpleasant, as well as not being great for the health of the soil. With most of the onions out of the field and all of the garlic cut down, we still have to bring in our storage potatoes and winter squash, but we are getting through the Summer projects!

Last August share...

In all shares:
Sweet corn-  Sweet corn is a grass...a very strange grass cultivated in complex and amazing ways by the Southwest American Indians to produce its large cobs.  The last few years of intensive modern breeding have led to much, much sweeter varieties of corn that no longer need to be cooked to be sweet and tender...lots of older recipes call for cooking corn for much longer than is necessary with modern varieties.  These modern hybrids shouldn't be confused with GMO -genetically modified- corn, which is primarily in field corn and not as far as I know in sweet corn as of yet...although it's probably only a matter of time.  Unlike genetic modification, hybridized crops have existed for decades and are merely the result of crossing two different varieties....in the case of sweet corn, the pollen from the tassels of the "male" plants fertilize the silks of the "female" cobs of a different corn variety.
Tomatoes-  Unlike sweet corn, which modern breeding has arguably improved, modern science seems to only be interested in producing watery and flavorless supermarket tomatoes.  Most of the tomatoes we grow on the farm are "heirlooms", meaning they are not hybrids, and existed before the middle of the last century when hybridization really took off.  Heirloom tomatoes tend to have much better flavor, but have a shorter storage life, less disease resistance and oftentimes look a little funny as they are less cosmetically uniform.
Green beans-  Beans are the third crop here that we have courtesy of American Indians, and along with corn and squash were the "three sisters" that made up a large part of the Southwest Indian diet.  Beans are in the legume family along with peas, lentils, clover, alfalfa, and peanuts...all these crops are able to "fix" nitrogen in the soil, meaning they have root nodules that house bacteria that are able to take nitrogen out of the air and transform it into a form that the plants can use.  Nitrogen is a primary nutrient for plants, and so legumes have long been used to restore the fertility of nitrogen depleted soils.
Carrots-  Finally a crop from the old world...carrots are in the family Umbelliferae, meaning umbrella like for the shape of their seed head.  This family includes a lot of herbs and aromatic vegetables, like celery, parsnip, fennel, parsley, coriander/cilantro, dill, cumin, and many more.  They were cultivated from wild carrots that grow throughout Europe and west Asia, probably first in the Middle East.
Walla walla onions-  Technically, it is illegal for me to call these Walla walla onions, as the city of Walla Walla, Washington has gotten a legal Appellation, much like the champagne region of France, which means that only onions grown within a certain area can be marketed as Walla wallas...but it is also the name of the variety that I grow, and rather that call them "sweet yellow onions of the Walla walla type" it is easier to just use the shorthand and hope their lawyers aren't reading my farm blog!
Parsley-  As mentioned above, parsley is in the same family as carrots, and makes a great fresh herb garnish to finish a meal.

In large shares:
Sweet pepper-  Another Southwestern crop, of course, sweet peppers and hot peppers are basically the same species, but bred for different levels of the capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their heat.  These sweet peppers have basically none, but a great crunch and sweet flavor.  Our peppers usually produce until the beginning of November, so they will be a regular in the second half of the farm share hopefully!
Summer squash-  The third of the three sisters, although my understanding is that the Indians were primarily growing more what we would think of as Winter squash as a storage crop.  Much like with the peppers, Summer and Winter squash are the exact same species, with different varieties just bred for different purposes;  Summer squash for mild, juicy fruits produced over a long period in the Summer, and Winter squash bred to produce fewer but larger and much more nutrient dense fruits which can be stored and eaten through the Fall and Winter.
Garlic-  Our garlic is all cut down and looking beautiful.  Garlic is in the Allium family, along with onions, shallots, and leeks, but it is the only allium that we grow as a biennial in our climate, meaning we plant it in the Fall and don't harvest it until the following Summer.  We will be getting ready to plant garlic soon, separating our own seed garlic from the garlic we can sell or give to you.

Summer keeps trucking along, although it's back to school season now, farming goes more by the true seasonal schedule, with Summer lasting until late September.  That said, some Fall crops will be starting to appear in the shares over the coming weeks.  Thanks!

Halfway point!

I believe this is the twelfth share, so the halfway point in our season long journey!  Crazy, huh?  Lots of late Summer and Fall shares still to come.

In all shares this week:
Lettuce-  Head lettuce is back in the shares this week, after escaping deer predation for a few weeks we have a nice new planting on!  It's back!
Chard-  We have the nicest planting of Swiss chard we've ever had this time of year.  Usually as the weather gets really hot and dry the leaves get smaller and less vibrant, but they're still super nice right now somehow in spite of the driest Summer ever.
Strawberries-  After packing the shares on Wednesday of last week, we picked the berries again on Thursday, and the fruit was suddenly just bigger, shinier, juicier and sweeter than it had been just a few days before...I don't know why, the berries are a total mystery to me this year.  But it made me feel like we should have waited a week!  Then I thought, what the heck, no one will mind getting strawberries two weeks in a row.  And we suddenly have so many!
http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-strawberry-sorbet-236642
Tomatoes-  The tomatoes have definitely been a bit slower to hit their peak this year than in the past few seasons, but they are really starting to produce heavily and ripen more quickly now.  We should have some really nice ones for the shares this week.
Apache bunch onions-  These are the red bunching onions that were in your share back in the late Spring, but this is a new bed that was direct sewn, so the onions are a bit smaller but really delicious, like big sweet red scallions.
Radishes-  Radishes haven't been in all shares for a good long time, so here they come.
Summer squash-  Just one or two squashes to round out this week's share.  Bobbie wants to get a spiralizer after we had some delicious zucchini pasta at a friend's house last weekend:
http://inspiralized.com/the-three-best-ways-to-cook-spiralized-zucchini-noodles/
You can do a version of this with just a peeler, too.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-make-zucchini-noodles-with-or-without-a-spiralizer/


Large shares only:
Beets-  A handful of topped mixed beets in the large shares...use your beets, radishes, and chard in a flash:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roasted-beet-salad-with-flash-pickled-radishes-and-chard-56389491
Sweet corn-  Our earliest beds are still going, but the newer beds haven't started, so we still don't have tons of corn on yet.
Lemon cucumber-  A few more of our little round yellow lemon cukes.  Great for snacking.

Well, Max and Angela have headed South, but I'm so happy that Jack is back for a few weeks to help us get through the rest of the Summer!  Jack has been working with me at Ebb Tide for four years now, but left this season to pursue a career teaching high school math...about as far from farming as you can imagine!  Fortunately for me, he has some time to kill before beginning his classroom observation requirement in mid September, and decided to spend it on a working holiday back on beautiful Whidbey Island.  By the time he has to leave in September I'm hoping that things will have slowed down a bit and we will be caught up on some big harvest projects to get by with just myself, Jess and Brian.
The warm dry weather continues, but it is great for all of our fruiting crops right now.  I am preparing for the first signs of Fall and trying to enjoy the last bit of high Summer!

Farm share for August 16...

Well, the smoke has mostly cleared and after a pretty inconsequential amount of rainfall, the dry warm weather continues.  Lots of crops still in the field, but we are beginning the late Summer project of bringing in storage crops, with the first onions coming out of the field yesterday.
Here's what's in all of this week's shares:
Strawberries!  Thank goodness, they are finally back.  We have picked a lot of berries over the past week so I think we can finally get them back in the share for the first time in weeks!
Carrots-  So many carrots!  I thought I was planting less carrots than last year, but it seems like we have more than ever.  I don't quite understand how this happened.  It's nice to have lots of delicious carrots though!
Fresh beans-  It is peak bean season now, and the plants are loaded with them.  They take a while to pick, but are otherwise fun and easy to grow.  This week you'll get a mix of green and purple beans.
Use this recipe for your carrots, beans, cucumbers, cauliflower...whatever you want...
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quick-pickle-any-vegetable-233882
Garlic-  All of our garlic varieties should now be dry and ready to eat, so it's time to start cutting them all down.  What better time to put some more garlic in the farm share...
Sweet corn!!  Our first planting of sweet corn has a lot of ears that are veeery close, but I think there are enough ripe ones to put two ears in each share.  More corn to come!  Hoping to have it in the shares pretty regularly over the next month.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/222352/jamies-sweet-and-easy-corn-on-the-cob/
Cucumbers-  It feels like the cucumbers have been producing forever, but they will begin to slow down soon.  It really isn't a super long season, starting at the end of June or early July, and then petering out through September, so enjoy them while they're still around!
https://www.gardendesign.com/recipes/spicy-cucumber-salad.html
Dill-  A bunch of nice fresh dill to go with the fresh beans, cucumbers, or both...it's up to you.

And in large shares:
Tomatoes-  After the cooler weekend we actually don't seem to have as many ripe tomatoes as last week, but I'm guessing it's the calm before the storm, as there are tons of green tomatoes on the vines, and I'm hoping that the return of the sun means we should have lots and lots of tomatoes after this short lull.
Cauliflower-  This is the last of the Summer cauliflower!  Our whole Summer brassica field is slowly emptying out...they are planted way down at the bottom of the property with the onions, which will also be quickly winding down and will soon be brought into the barn, leaving a big empty field with nothing but scallions and leeks!  It's time to start planning to put in cover crop for the Fall and Winter already....we will have more Fall brassicas later on that are planted in a different spot.
Sweet onions-  These are the onions mentioned above that are the first to be brought out of the lower field.  They were planted earlier and so are a bit ahead of our other long storage onions and shallots, which we'll probably be bringing in a few weeks from now.

Sadly, this is the last farm share pick day for our interns, Max and Angela.  They are headed back South, first to see the eclipse in Oregon and then Angela will return to school in Los Angelos later this month.  They have been a huge help on the farm this year, arriving at the end of May and getting us through our busiest season in June and July.
Many small to medium sized vegetable farms now rely on interns like Max and Ang to provide affordable seasonal labor.  The farm gets help with planting, weeding and harvesting during the busy Summer months, and the interns in turn get housing and fresh food, a modest living stipend, and most importantly experience and education on a working farm.  This was basically how I started my career in farming back in 2007 at Sauvie Island Organics, a few miles outside of Portland, Oregon.
Many farm interns go on to start their own operations, so this is really a key part of the growth in small organic farm operations all over the U.S.  Max and Ang have been hard workers with a great attitude all Summer long....they will be missed!