What's in the box?

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rainbow chard

broccoli

salad mix

tender sweet cabbage

eggplant OR cauliflower

bell peppers

sweet onions

cucumbers

cilantro

zucchini/ summer squash

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fennel

broccoli

summer squash/ zucchini

tender sweet cabbage OR red cabbage

salad mix

sweet onions

bell peppers

cilantro

cucumbers

Notes on the box...

This box is calling out for a big vegetable stir-fry!  Onion, broccoli, summer squash, bell pepper, cabbage, and eggplant topped with some chopped cilantro!  yum! 

Cabbage can be stored in your crisper or just on a shelf in your fridge (though the outer leaves may dry out some this way).  It will last for at least a month, but always tastes better fresher.  This variety is wonderful for fresh eating.   Slaws or salads are perfect.  There has also been some kimchi experiments happening around here and this cabbage has proven very nice for that as well. 

Salad mix is from our friend's farm, Burning River.  We are doing a crop swap this season and he's the salad mix master!  Burning River uses the same chemical free, sustainable growing practices that we do, and we really admire him as a farmer.  We washed this mix, but since there was a lot of rain the night before it was harvested, the leaves got splashed with dirt and sand.  It still had a bit of grit when we had some with lunch, so another wash is in suggested. 

Sweet Onions are a favorite summer treat for us.  They are not cured, so they need to be stored in the fridge and used within a couple of weeks.  They are so nice and mild and sweet!  They're great for fresh eating or for carmelizing.  Otto enjoyed one the way he enjoys apples.  I didn't expect him to be too pleased when he grabbed one and took a big bite out of it, but he just kept right on eating it until it was gone! 

The zukes and summer squash really kicked it out this week, which means the plants are likely winding down. Remember that zucchini and summer squash can be used interchangeably.  So you can make summer squash bread and it will be just as lovely as your zucchini bread. 

Eggplant keeps trickling in slowly.  We hope we are getting to everyone with it.  The long skinny ones are an Asian variety and are fantastic for stir fries.  A few people got the first of the Italian globe type.  We hope warm enough weather keeps up for these to keep coming on.  Eggplant is a great example of a vegetable that many people think they don't like until they try it fresh.  It will keep longest if you are able to keep the moisture up, so in your crisper and in a plastic bag will make it last longer.

Cilantro should be stored in an open plastic bag in your fridge and used soon.  It's a wonderful herb, but not the best keeper.  It's young and tender and a lot less stemmy than the stuff you get in the store.  You can wash it and chop up the whole bunch without having to pull the little leaves off of the stems.  There will be another round of cilantro next week (hopefully with some TOMATOES!) 

Single shares...  see previous post for information on fennel.

Recipes...

[yumprint-recipe id='10']Savory Zucchini Cakes

Zucchini Pancakes

On the farm...

The weather cooling off has slowed some of the summer crops, but we are pretty sure we will have tomatoes for next week.  FINALLY!  Some other things we are looking forward to for next week will be potatoes, carrots, green beans, and more cilantro.  Oh, and maybe some sweet corn, too! 

Remember to mark your calendar for the harvest party!  September 14 here at the farm.  We will post directions and more closer to the date.  We really hope to meet you there!

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Daniel and Otto bringing in the cabbage

Otto and the onion

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Josh and the cilantro harvest

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What's in the box?

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lacinato kale

broccoil

cabbage

Tropia onions

the first new potatoes of the season

zucchini

summer squash

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lacinato kale

broccoli

cabbage

summer squash

zucchini

cauliflower OR cucumbers OR Asian eggplant

basil

Notes on the box...

Single shares got some basil this week.  Don't store it in the fridge and keep it dry are the two main rules for nice green leaves. 

There will be more new potatoes next week!  We dug about 1/3 of a bed and decided that more people would get more potatoes if we waited a week.  We got some nice rain and great temps for potato growth.  The plants had lots of little potatoes that we think will size up nicely for the next box.  We didn't wash the potatoes because we didn't want to rub off the skin.  The skin of new potatoes is very thin  and tender as they are "uncured"  They are best stored out of your fridge.  We like them best very simply roasted or in a potato salad with a really light dressing.  This is what a potato really tastes like! 

The cabbage is one of our favorite varieties called Tendersweet.  It is named perfectly.  It is THE BEST cabbage for cloeslaw.  It's fine for cooking, but it cooks down more quickly than some other types of cabbage.  Nice for adding at the end of a stir-fry. 

The broccoli  might be winding down before it really ever wound up in great quantity in the boxes.  We may have it in the box again next week, as well.  The fall broccoli is growing along beautifully, so we have that to look forward to.  The stalks and stems are edible and can be chopped up and cooked along with the florets.  consensus among the crew is that the stalk is prefered to the tops, so go ahead and use the whole thing!  Some members got "side shoots" which the plants put on after the main head is harvested.  The side shoots are pretty great as they are pretty much ready to cook with very little preparation. 

Zukes and Summer Squash grew nicely this past week after getting some rain.  If this is a vegetable that your family doesn't like, try out the recipe for zucchini fries or make some chocolate zucchini cake.  Really.  You cannot go wrong with chocolate zucchini cake (you can use summer squash and zucchini interchangeably)

Recipes...

[yumprint-recipe id='9']Zucchini Oven Fries with Sweet Onion Dip

Garlic Roasted Broccoli with Balsamic Vinaigrette    Broccoli is AMAZING roasted!Give it a try if you haven't yet or if you are tired of steamed or stir-fried. 

Brown Rice Broccoli Adai We haven't tried this recipe yet and don't have all the exact ingredients on hand, but I'm looking forward to trying a variation on it.  We'll let you know how it turns out! 

*see previous blogs for some good kale recipes*

On the farm...

The harvest party will be on Saturday, September 14 here at the farm.  We will start in the afternoon (around 3 pm)  There will be music, it will be a potluck, and we will be providing grilled brats and some veggies.  More details to follow, but go ahead and mark your calendars!  We hope you can make it out to the farm! 

This week we got some welcome rain and some much cooler temps.  We would welcome the warmer weather again to keep the summer crops growing and ripening (we are all so ready to be eating tomatoes, I know!), but we are facing the hard fact that August is already here! 

We dug the newest of the new potatoes and were struck by how the soil has changed in just a few short months.  We have invested in a Spader, which does similar work to a rototiller, but is much better for the soil and its structure, especially in the long run.  We ran the underbar cutter beneath the potatoes and so easily pulled out plants with a nice amount of potatoes on them.  There was life in the soil!  Lots of nice worm castings and nice, fluffy soil. Grasses and weeds were breaking down and adding organic matter.  Digging potatoes is always enjoyable for those of us who really love getting our hands dirty.  We kneel down and use our entire arms to reach in and flip over soil searching for bright red potatoes.  It's just about as close to swimming in the soil as we get, and we were all pretty in love with the experience.  And we didn't have to play "rock or potato?" which is a game that we won't miss at all!  Once we get the soil better amended and the fertility up, we are looking at some really wonderful ground here.  It's been a hard season thus far, but we are feeling very optimistic about the future of this farm! 

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a dewy morning for cucumber harvest

What's in the box?

Full Share

Full Share

curly kale

green onions

fennel

zukes/ summer squash

cukes

asian eggplant

broccoli

Single Share

curly kale

zukes/ summer squash

cukes

fennel

broccoli

green onions

Notes on the box...

Fennel might be new to many of you.  It's our first time putting it in the box since Josh managed May Farm!  This vegetable was requested by a number of members, so we thought we'd give it a go.  If you've never tasted it, it's best sliced very thin.  The bulb is the main edible part and can be roasted or thinly sliced or grated and eaten raw, or used in place of celery.  We also enjoy the leaves chopped and used in place of fresh dill.  It has an anise flavor, but different. It's  more fresh and almost citrus like.  Store it in a plastic bag in your fridge.  You can take the fronds off of the bulb if it takes up too much space.  Some folks wrap the leaves in a damp paper towel for storage.  See recipes below...

Full shares got Asian Eggplant.  This is a crop that we can't believe was ready to pick already.  What a strange season!  Anyway, the plants look great, so we look forward to more eggplant for the single shares later, and also some of the Italian type and maybe also an heirloom variety later in the season.  These smaller ones are great in stir fries or sliced lengthwise and grilled, but Derek roasted some along with fennel and summer squash for a really wonderful lunch.

Summer Squash and Zucchini are looking good.  We had quite a bit less than we had expected since we didn't get any rain (and to think we were just complaining about how wet it's been.  We farmers are a hard lot to please, it seems!)  But we are irrigating and hope to make it down to the squash soon so they can be nice and healthy. 

Cukes are just getting started.  They are a favorite around here.  A few years ago we were just swimming in cucumbers and had several members say they got too many.  We have planted less for the last two seasons, but we think we will plant more again.  The plants are looking really nice with lots of flowers and little cukes setting on the plants.  We will continue to give all the cukes we can until the plants give up! Cucumber water, cucumber on sandwiches, diced cucumber and yogurt, refrigerator pickles....  we love them! 

Broccoli is still just putting on some heads here and there.  This week gave us more heads, and nicer ones, but still not what we were expecting...  we are watering and the cooler weather might make those particular plants pretty happy.  We will hope for the best! 

Kale is one that we love around here.  I think I mentioned that every season we have an almost exact split between members that say they got too much kale, not enough kale, and just the right amount of kale.  The plants looked too good to pass up, so here it is!  If you aren't a fan, at least try kale chips before giving up on this nutritional powerhouse! 

On the farm...

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      Today I saw a deer standing next to our deer fence (on the outside) staring at it and looking pretty confused.  There is wildlife and fisheries land right next door and DNR land as well, so once their new path is established, I'm sure the fence won't be such a source of consternation for them.  We love the wildlife around the farm (we've seen black bears, so many different types of birds, as well as ample deer)  But sometimes a barrier is needed to protect your crops!  Deer can do some serious damage in a short amount of time.  We are glad to have them around, just outside of the fence, now. 

     We got missed by the last rains, so we have been irrigating.  We put in a really nice set-up this spring (after farming in several dry seasons, the need for irrigation was very apparent to us).  We thought with the wet spring we might not get to use it this season, but the time has come.  We are so glad this investment was made.  The weather has been turning all over the place.  Record lows are expected this weekend after some solid summertime weather.  Some crops will like the cool weather, though.  And it's not supposed to frost, so our hot weather loving crops should be fine (as long as it warms up some again after this dip!)  At least the cooler weather will give you the chance to try out roasting some of your veggies!

We visited our former farm to pick up a few more things and saw a bittersweet sight, the pear trees that we planted our first season there were finally bearing fruit!  We didn't have the benefit of being able to taste any (or to put any in the CSA boxes) but we are glad that they are producing for the new folks who will live there.  One of the new owners is a horticulturist, so we were pleased to see lots of flowers and plants being put in.  The land will be there forever, and our years there were brief by any measure, but the impact of that land on our lives will be with us.  We were so blessed to call that place home, but we are really happy to be in a place that we can see ourselves staying put. 

Can't believe that July is almost over!  We are planning a party in September, but we have not decided the date yet.  We will let you know next week.   

Recipes...

Fresh Dill and Fennel Salad

Kale Market Salad from 101cookbooks

Kale Chips by David Lebovitz

Dorito flavored Kale Chips ??? Let us know if you try this recipe!

[yumprint-recipe id='8'][yumprint-recipe id='6'] 

[yumprint-recipe id='7']