Wednesday, September 28, 2016

2016 CSA Week #16 Indian Summer

Man, I just love it when we get these little blips of warm weather interspersed with the cold and wet. It is like summer on re-boot. For the first time this season, our family was able to step away and go on a little camping adventure. Laura manned the farm and took care of the dog and we hit the road for two nights up at Banks Lake. It was magical, with warm days and nights and calm waters. The leaves of the aspen were in their full splendor of gold along the margins of the lake shore. What a gift to be given the time to take it all in.
But today, it is back to work and almost doubly so because Laura just left for a two week trip to Scotland. So Willy and I will be doing our best to keep up without her.
For the next couple of boxes we'll start putting in some great fall treats. The fresh red onions look superb and I hope you enjoy them. Same goes with the shallots. They sized up nicely and have a wonderful pungent aroma that makes my stomach growl just by being around them.
The delicata squash are one of my personal favorites. Pan fried, baked or steamed you can't really go wrong. The skin is edible too so don't feel the need to peel these little guys. There are German Butterball potatoes this week as well. Apparently, when it comes to authentic German potatoes, these are the real deal. I have received a number of special orders from folks who know a lot more about this stuff than I do and if you really want to live a German life-style then these potatoes are a must.
All in all, there's lots to enjoy. Have a great week!

In Your Share This Week:
Potatoes, Delicata Winter Squash, Shallots, Leeks, Red Onions, Kale/Collards/Chard, Beets/Carrots, and a bunch of other tasty treats

Recipes:
Potato Leek Soup
French Onion Soup
Veggie Pot Pie- Honestly, you can make pot pie using just about any veggies you like. Veggies in white sauce with biscuits on top works just as well and eliminates the need to make a crust.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

2016 CSA Week #15 The Closing Scene

This is the end; the final month of our Summer CSA. With three weeks remaining after today, we are getting down to the wire....just in time.  The mornings lately have been consistently cold and near-freezing, making it difficult to get an alpine start to the harvest. Now, we wait for the sun to pop up and thaw the farm out of its stupor. Our hands are frozen, our bodies are covered in many layers of clothing that we slowly strip away as the day progresses. I love this time of year. The colors, the smells, the sounds (or lack of sound) and the crispness to the air all are familiar and welcome. I feel the need to hibernate under a big down comforter and pick up the book that I had to abandon when summer started. That time begins now.

The first crop to succumb to the fall was the basil. Now, in succession, the cucumbers are following suit and have decided that they have had enough. We'll start hauling in the squashes and force the onions to finish so they are suitable for long term storage. We'll do a final weeding too just to try and make next season a little easier and maybe keep a toe hold on our little plot of cultivated land. We've stripped most of the tender outside crops now and our focus is turning more toward the durable goods; storage crops and cold-hardy greens. We'll start to leave many things dirty since it aids in keeping them viable for long term storage. We'll start loading the boxes with larger quantities of onions and potatoes so start thinking about making a little soup. Yum!

Enjoy the beauty of fall while it lasts. Get out and hike through the maple groves. The fall rains will be here shortly and then, one flake at a time, winter will arrive once more. Happy Equinox!

In Your Share This Week:
Beets, Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Kale/Collards/Chard, Tomatoes, Peppers, Delicata Winter Squash and probably a few other surprises

Recipes:
Roasted Delicata Squash and Onions
Baked Kale Chips 
Potato Soup

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

2016 CSA Week #14 Cold But Not Frozen

There was a light frost this week but nothing that was too damaging to the crops that are still in the ground. That is great news. We did take the precaution of stripping down the outside peppers, tomatoes and eggplant just in case.
So with 5 weeks (4 after today) until the end of the CSA we are still going strong with summer favorites and will wait another week before starting to dig into the fall reserves.
Nothing too major to report right now. Willy gave several farm tours over the last week for multiple groups. I think they went pretty well. He and Laura have been busy putting in the last of the fall crops (radishes, cilantro, spinach, arugula, salad etc...) and planting or tilling cover crops. It is almost time to plant garlic so pretty soon here, we'll have that one last major planting project to tackle.
We are starting to pull in the storage onions. They are on the late side this season just like everything else.
Our daughter Ingrid turns 7 this week and we will be celebrating at the Farmers Market. Her birthday hasn't fallen onto a Thursday since she turned 2. We'll bring along some cookies and balloons.

Other than that, it is the same-ol' same-ol'.
Hope you are having a great start to the fall. The next few days should be beautiful!

In Your Share This Week (Best Guess):
Radishes, Beets, Kale/Collards/Chard, Potatoes, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Peppers, Cukes, Zukes, Onions and probably a few surprises

Recipes:
Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup
Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips
Roasted Peppers- This works for all peppers, not just Bells.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

2016 CSA Week #13 Hello Fall

The weather just fell over the proverbial cliff and turned a sharp corner right into fall.
We knew it was coming and we knew it would be early so I am not overly surprised. I was hoping that I would be wrong though (and secretly, Willy was hoping the same).
At this point, every night without frost is a good night. There are two opportunities coming up this week for us to get nipped if the weather decides to get any cooler than it already is. For this reason, we are going to start filling you up on summer sunshine and are putting an extra large helping of tomatoes into the boxes this week. We'll also start stripping the tender plants such as eggplant, peppers, cucumbers and basil in anticipation of losing them one of these nights. So enjoy these goodies while they last. We could get lucky and have weeks and weeks still of summer favorites, or it could all end in a day or two...we'll see.
The winter squash are starting to look pretty good. I was afraid we were going to get skunked this year since in early August they still looked pretty puny and under-ripe. However, peeking under the spiky foliage I have seen quite a few delicata that are nearly ready for harvest. We'll save these for the last few weeks of boxes and will focus on all the summer stuff as long as possible. But I thought I would let you know that they look okay and we'll get some this season but maybe not a ton.
There are also some parsnips waiting in the wings. Again, not a lot but some. Same goes for Brussels sprouts and celeriac. And we haven't even begun to dig into storage onions or at least 3 of our potato varieties yet.Lastly, we have one final bed of carrots and beets that we will start pulling out of in the next couple weeks. And we'll start migrating back into greens with a bed of spinach or two. All told, fall will have its own version of bounty when the time comes.

For now, make pesto while you can, enjoy the tang of some hot and spicy jalapeno poppers, eat one last round of eggplant Parmesan and spend a moment reflecting on how fortunate we all are to enjoy such a variety of tastes and smells. It is, in deed, harvest season.

In Your Share This Week (Best Guess!):
Sweet Onion, Kale/Collard/Chard, Radishes, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Basil, Potatoes, Peppers, and probably some other surprises.

Recipes:
Refrigerator Pickles
Tomato Salad
Kale Salad