What's in the box? 

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tomatoes (heirloom and slicers)

head lettuce

sweet and bell peppers

savory (herb bunch)

wee melon

dragon tongue beans

spinach

broccoli

arugula

onions

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same as above in smaller quantities, but no beans

Notes on the box... 

Savory has an intense peppery flavor and is excellent for seasoning beans, poultry, fish, and ground pork.

Tomatoes should be stored on your counter, stem side down.  I've included a recipe for roasting before freezing, but if you are short on time and would like to save some (and have the freezer space), you can cut out the core and freeze them whole in a freezer bag.  Then when you are ready to use them, thaw them out and as you warm them, the skins will slip off.  They are best used in soups during the winter.   

Recipes... 

[yumprint-recipe id='47'][yumprint-recipe id='46']Fresh Spinach Tomato and Tortellini Soup

Quinoa Spinach Mac and Cheese

On the farm...

Wow!  Summer passed very quickly this year!  We have been wearing sweaters and long sleeves and rain jackets lately.  The summer crops have or are quickly running out of steam.  Another week of tomatoes, though they may taste a little mealy and watery from the cool wet weather.  Peppers are still there, but slow to ripen.  Corn, melons, and other cucurbits have bit the dust...  Onions have been brought in for curing and cleaning.  There will be more carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes, and greens to look forward to.  Broccoli is back after a short break...  We hope you enjoyed the few hot days of Summer and that you are ready for the great cool down.  I'm sure there will be some more perfect days this season, and hopefully the first frost will hold off for long enough to get the peppers red and the winter squash ripe in the field.  We have yet to put in our wagers for first frost, but feel free to take a guess as to when you think it will be this year! 

We still have Winter Shares available.  They are really more of a fall extension share.  4 more weeks following the last CSA delivery of the normal season.  They will go until the week before Thanksgiving.  If you are unable to sign up, just email us to let us know that you would like to sign up and we can add the share to your account. 

Reminder:  Harvest Party will be September 20th.  Come between 3 or 4 to look around the farm, climb on tractors, visit animals, and have a ride in the farm gator or go kart!  There will be pumpkins to bring home and hopefully some music!  Dinner will be around 6 and we will provide burgers.  We ask that you bring a side to share.  Feel free to BYOB.  After dinner there will be a bonfire.  You are welcome to camp at the farm or check out some of the local campgrounds in Amery or Clear Lake.  Let us know if you plan on coming out! 

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Friend of the farm enjoying some sweet corn.  Nice work!

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 We wanted to share the Hungry Turtle Learning Center's September events.  The Chris Koza concert is the day before our harvest party.  Why not make a weekend of it and come camping in Amery or Clear Lake?:

FALL FORAGING WORKSHOP September 8, 6pm at Hungry Turtle Farm 410 125th Street | Amery, WI 54001 with Brett Laidlaw $20 participation fee | limit 12 participants Foraging is a good walk enhanced by the prospect of finding delectable wild foods. Weather permitting, we will take a walk in the early fall meadows and woods, looking for wild fruits, nuts, greens, and mushrooms. Afterwards, we will see what we can make from our finds, talk about safe foraging techniques, and discuss valuable resources for foragers. Wear sturdy shoes. Class limited to 12 participants. SIGN UP HERE!

AN EVENING OF MUSIC with Chris Koza and Rogue Valley $7 September 19, 7pm at Hungry Turtle Farm 410 125th Street | Amery, WI 54001 Known as one of the Twin Cities most dynamic live acts, Rogue Valley and lead singer/songwriter Chris Koza are an internationally-recognized band who perform regularly at top Twin Cities’ venues, festivals, and have extensively toured the US sharing stages with artists such as Lucinda Williams, The Jayhawks, and Nellie McKay among others. Their songs have been featured in television and film, most recently in Twentieth Century Fox’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. SIGN UP HERE!

What's in the box?  

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little melons (musk, cantaloupe, or watermelon)

tomatoes (heirloom and slicers)

peppers (bell and sweet)

onions

green top carrots

head lettuce

potatoes

sweet corn

arugula

basil

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little melon

head lettuce

tomatoes (heirloom and slicers)

peppers (bell and sweet)

onions

sweet corn

arugula

Notes on the box...  

Surprise!  Arugula!   Arugula is a tender and mildly spicy green that is a nice addition to salads, sandwiches, or anywhere you might use lettuce or baby spinach.  It makes a wonderful pesto, too.  It's a crop that we debated growing since we think for some people it might be an unusual vegetable, but we've also had several requests for it in the past, so we thought it was time.  We think you guys can handle it!  We washed it, but I found it to still have a bit of sand on it when I went to cook with it, so please rinse it.  Arugula should be stored in a plastic bag in your fridge.  Taste it raw to see how you like the flavor.  If you find it too spicy, pesto tends to dilute the flavor some.  You can add basil or another herb to further mellow it.  We like a straight arugula pesto around here, though.   The melons are woefully small, we know.  We've had several great melon years, so this one pains us.  The melons were hastily planted between rains in a low spot on the farm and when the endless rains kept coming, their feet stayed too wet and they didn't size up very well.  Super big bummer since melons are a favorite around here and one that we love growing.  We've had a bad year for cucurbits, I guess.   But remember how we had little to no lettuce last season?  The lettuce is doing great (even though we lost a planting to some deer that out-smarted the fence).  Hope you are enjoying all the salads!   Recipes...

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[yumprint-recipe id='45']Gnocci, Sweet Corn, and Arugula in Cream Sauce Sausage, Goat Cheese, and Arugula Stuffed PeppersHoneydew and Arugula SaladOn the farm... Sorry for the typo last week.  The Harvest Party will be on September 20 at the farm.  We really hope that you can make it out.   We forgot to announce this on last weeks blog.  We are officially Certified Organic!  I think we forgot to announce it because, well.... not much has changed besides the amount of paperwork that we have to do!  We've always followed Organic growing practices (Josh even trained to be an Organic Inspector)  but we've never really had a reason to go through certification since we have marketed our produce directly and invite our CSA members to be our inspectors.  But since moving and forming the Hungry Turtle Farmers Cooperative, we've been motivated to become Certified.  The kind folks who we lease the farm from have required it of us to ensure that the land is well cared for.  We are aware that the Organic Label carries some heavy implications and that many people feel it is not adequate in actually protecting our food and our environment.  Sadly, it has become adulterated in some ways by BIG Organic that wishes to make more money by stamping the label on their products, but pushes for more and more lenience and less meaning behind the label.  We stand behind the Cornucopia Institute in their efforts to maintain integrity in Organics.  Our main motivation for what we do and how we grow stems from our core values and the belief that the land does not belong to us, that we belong to the land.  We will continue to do our best to build the soil and make this a better piece of land than when we started.  We hope to become MORE than the Organic Certification entails.  We want to be truly sustainable with far less inputs coming from off the farm.  We want to provide our own fertility and incorporate biodynamic growing practices.  We thank our members so much for trusting us all these years and for allowing us to be your farmers!  

What happened to August??!  Looks like more broccoli is on the way soon.  Enjoy the warm weather crops while they are here.  The season is fleeting!

Don't forget to sign up for the extended season (aka Winter Share).  4 additional weeks after the last delivery.  Storage crops and sweet leafy greens delivered till the week before Thanksgiving.  We have a limited amount of shares available, so sign up soon!  Let us know if you have any questions.

What's in the box?

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Full Share

sweet corn

bell peppers

tomatoes

sweet onions

head lettuce

potatoes 

parsley

brussel sprout greens

cantaloupe

green top carrots

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Single Share

tomatoes

bell peppers

sweet onions

head lettuce

potatoes

sweet corn 

brussel sprout greens

cantaloupe

green top beets

Notes on the box...

If your cantaloupe looks green, let it ripen on your counter for a few days.  We harvested some a little early because we were getting quite a few split melons after the rain.  We thought it would be better to let them ripen on your counter than not be able to deliver them to you at all!  Cantaloupe is ready to eat when you smell it and the scent is delicious sweet melon!  

Remove the tops for your carrots and beets before storing.  Beet greens are wonderful to eat and you can add them to the brussel sprout greens for a healthy dose of greens!  Carrot tops can be combined with parsley for a nice tabouli.

Brussel sprout greens can be prepared as you would collards, kale, or other hearty greens, thought they might cook up a little quicker and be more tender.  We remove the greens to allow the sprouts to size up better.  Sprouts will be coming to you later in the season or in the fall shares depending on when they are ready.  

This week, at dropsites where it is practical, we left some boxes of tomatoes that we couldn't fit into individual CSA boxes open for you to take more of as you would like.  These are first come first serve.  Please help yourself!  

Recipes...  

Sweet Corn and Coconut Mini Cakes with Corn Cob Jelly (a dessert!)

 Tabouli Salad 

 Potato Rosti With Pancetta and Mozzerella

[yumprint-recipe id='44']

On the farm...

We had a really nice time at the cookout.  Thanks so much to the members who were able to make it out.  It was great to meet all of you or see you again!  We hope you had fun and got enough to eat.  If you couldn't make it to the cookout (or even if you did) we hope you can make it to the harvest party on September 20.  Here are some pictures from the cookout

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and from the farm, giving the beets some TLC

and a little something for our art and design friends

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Remember that now is the time to sign up for the extended season share if you are interested!  We will add 4 additional weeks of mainly storage type crops as well as any greens that are still hanging on at the end of the season after the frost.  These veggies will be sweet sweet sweet from the frost.  Squash and other veggies will keep you in local foods through September and many can be stored easily through December.  Click here to sign up and please let us know if you have any questions!  Thanks!!