MOISTURE!!!

Let it snow! It might not be much it is a start.

A new year, an new season!

Happy New Year! Oh, my what a mild start to winter. Quite a contrast to the last 4 or 5 years. We took most of December "off" from daily farm activity. Took advantage of some mild weather and cleaned up a couple of dead trees. We enjoyed time with children, visited with friends and now we begin a new season.

This time of year there are lots of events and meetings we can go to and recently we spent a day at Western Missouri State at a vegetable growers conference. One of the take aways for us is a new to us method of dealing with cucumber beetle. We are going to plant a trap crop to capture those little critters. We met some new people, reconnected with growers we have met before and gained some insight.

The seed potatoes, sweet potato slips are ordered, and the seed list is just about ready to be called into our 2 main suppliers. We are reviewing our crop rotations, evaluating some varieties and looking for some new ones to try.

Week 17 of 18!

Wow, I was just getting used to it being August and September happens this week. Time moves so fast, it seems like we just got started with this season, it goes so rapidly. I washed some French Fingerlings this afternoon and they reminded me of small smooth stones on a beach on one of the great lakes! Just right size, the shape of them did that, and they taste good too! We had a little rain this morning, first measurable precipitation since when? July 1? We had a lot of trouble with seeds germinating in early August, this past week lettuce, salad greens, carrots, beets are all popping up! What a pleasant change. Tomatoes continue to frustrate us, recently we noticed all regular red tomatoes developed a "cat face" on the top, thinking what did I do now, I did a little reading and sure enough when it is very hot at the time a blossom turns into a little tomato, the fruit develops a "cat face". We will plant them earlier next year to avoid it. I think I have heard my self or someone else say next year about a dozen times this week. The small "cherry" tomato plants didn't mind the heat and continue to grow.

We got manure spread and worked in on our large east garden. We plan on planting strawberry plants there late in September. We missed not having strawberries this year. We have garlic, onions and shallots in the barn, we are beginning to see the end of potato digging. We have three varieties left, one we set aside as a storage potato.

Tomato season

Yes, the tomatoes are FINALLY ripening in numbers. They still have a long way to go after a late start from our cool spring, and we are hoping that the weather will continue to be good so that we get some decent production before any hard frosts hit. Enjoy the taste of summer!

We need our bags back! (and boxes) - PLEASE. Every week, it seems, we lose a few of one or the other. If you have a bag, or two or three, sitting at home we need you to return them! That little flat piece holding the bottom of the bag in place is missing in a few, also. Even if last week's box is falling apart and could go in the recycling we really appreciate it if you would return those so that WE can throw them out and know exactly how many are still in use.

If you forget your bag or box this week could you please ask us to put your items in plastic bags to take home so we can keep the bag or box and have enough for next week. Thanks!

KMEG Channel 14 personality Erika Thomas does a program called Your Hometown Farmer on Thursday mornings on her news cast sometime between 5 and 7 am. She was here today with a camera man and interviewed us. She needs to shrink 3 hours of visiting into a 2 minute 45 second segment. She will let us know when it airs - likely in about 3 weeks.

Today John took out two rows of zucchini plants and began to remove cucumber plants. They certainly didn't earn their keep this year. We'll add some compost and begin a late season seeding of greens or radishes.

Janna is peeling bad (a.k.a. cracked) tomatoes this evening, there is a pot of something cooking on the stove. This is the bliss of wanting to eat well in winter, you need to stay up late in summer to get it all done.

This week in the bag you'll find:

Cucumber

Beans - whole shares will also have some little filet beans (very tender - don't overcook them)

Eggplant - try this sliced, breaded and fried or baked as an appetizer - YUM. It's also nice as a layer in your lasagna to replace one of the noodle layers

Pepper

Tomato

Lettuce

Onion - if you find your onions are getting a little ahead of you, chop them to the size you like and freeze them, then later when you are in a hurry, you can grab them out of the freezer ready to add to any dish you are cooking.

Potatoes

Leek

Cherry Tomatoes

Eggplant Appetizer (I am trying to remember what the girls did, so I hope I remember it all)

1-2 beaten eggs

Flour, salt, pepper, a little Italian seasoning or other herbs/spices of your choice.

(you could also just use pre-seasoned bread crumbs instead of the above mix)

Slice the eggplant (we sliced them about 1/4" thick) and pat the pieces dry, dip in beaten egg and then the dry mix. Fry in hot oil, or bake in the oven. Probably 375-400 until nice and golden brown. Be sure to flip them to brown both sides. If you fry them have several layers of paper towel ready to drain them on when they come out of the pan. I think these would also be good with a little parmesan cheese added to the breading. (try not to burn your mouth - we couldn't wait for them to cool before eating them)

Have a great week!

August Already!

Hi Everyone,

This week we have been planting broccoli, lettuce and watering the beets and carrots that germinated last week. We have some issues with beans, zucchini, cucumbers not producing like they should. We think that they dropped flowers during the hot days in July so there is little fruit. The yield on beans has been very poor on the first two plantings. We have two more plantings up and growing.

The tomatoes are starting to turn, both in the tunnel and outdoors. The mid to late season potato plants are starting to show that they are done growing so we see some different varieties in the next month. The carrots that we seeded in early July never germinated so we will have a gap for a week or more on carrots. The ones seeded last wednesday are up already. This past week and for the next day or three we will be getting all the onions out for storage. The onion crop is much better than last years!

We really liked the weather today and would like more of the same. The students are thinking that school is around the corner. One went to Dordt to clean her room and move in some things, the high school students are taking time for fall sport practice. I don't think I am ready for this.

Thank you to those that have sent in checks for the fall subscription.

In the bags this week we have;

Red Thumb potatoes...ultimate oven fries

tomatoes

pepper

onion

garlic

lettuce

parsley

fennel

Whole shares should also find carrots and zucchini in their boxes.

Cucumber Poetry?

Ok, so it was a little warm around noon today while I was picking cucumbers. I had salty sweat running into my eyes (it stings a little) and there were big fat bumble bees humming all around. Bumbling from bloom to bloom - you get the picture - and I think it was all making me a little goofy and so I started making corny rhymy poetry in my head while I looked forward to taking a break in the air conditioning over lunch. We are very proud of the work the girls have done this week with all the heat. They even volunteered to come early (6am) to avoid the hottest later part of the afternoon. Way to go!

Garlic harvest began Monday morning and will hopefully be done by the end of the week with all of it hung up to dry. Once we are done with the garlic it is usually time to start thinking about planting some fall crops. John also informs me that the tomatoes are starting to turn color-Yeah!

We are also thankful for safety granted last week at our Sioux Center farm stand. A car crashed into our van and farm stand. While we had damage to our property, none of our customers or anyone else was hurt.

This week in your share.....

Rio Colorado Potato - red with nice white flesh. We oven roasted some potatoes last night and served them with pesto - yum!

Onions - big sweet white ones (still waiting for the reds to size up)

Beans - green or yellow

Swiss Chard - if you have leftover potatoes, try wilting in the chard when you reheat them with some garlic and onion and seasonings of your choice.

Cucumbers - always refreshing on a hot day

Peppers - purple, pale yellow or lime green - wonderful in an omlet or salad

Parsley - not just a garnish - parsley has many health benefits and is high in vitamins A, C, and K - try the leaves mixed in with a salad.

This week the 1/2 share will also have zucchini, whole shares will have beets and basil.

Note on Basil: putting it in the fridge will cause it to turn brown more quickly. If your house is air-conditioned, you could just leave the bag on the counter until you use it. Better yet, take the longer stems out and trim the ends as you would fresh flowers and put them in a little jar of water on your counter and use as needed.

Pesto: this is a basic recipe, but you can easily adjust amounts to your taste.

3 cups basil leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts (you can also substitute pumpkin or sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, etc)

2 - 3 cloves of garlic chopped roughly

Parmesan cheese

mix it all up in your food processor or blender and use with pasta, as a veggie dip, on potatoes, etc.

Simple Beet/Carrot/Parsley Salad

Grate equal amounts of beets and carrots, add some chopped parsley and dress it with your favorite oil and vinegar dressing.

Pulling carrots out in the rain...

Good Evening,

This morning it was actually a pleasant experience pulling out carrots one by one in rain gear, feeling the drops on my back, nice and cool compared to the sweat that it took to dig potatoes on Monday. We have the boxes and bags ready in the cooler to go to town in the morning. The showers today and possibly tomorrow will help us get some carrots and lettuce started for fall. The lettuce that was planted about a week ago was already harvested ( by a rabbit or rabbits) or some if it died because of the heat so we replant.

The potato of the week was developed years ago at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada's "Ag School". It is the Yukon Gold. Light yellow skin with yellow flesh, not as smooth as some potatoes we will have over the next month but a texture that you can detect on your tongue. It is considered a general purpose potato, I like them fried as leftovers, of course to be leftovers they are boiled and served first the night before and then the left overs are fried. To get that to happen one needs to bring extra to the kitchen when one is asked to bring potatoes for supper.

Most of our crops are coming along well because of the recent heat and sunshine. The tomatoes are looking better, we did plant them later than we usually do so we may not have them as soon as you might expect but so far the plants look much better than last year in July. Last year the outdoor ones basically rotted because of wet ground.

The boxes this week have;

Green and Yellow Beans

Onion

Garlic

Yukon Gold Potato

Broccoli

Zucchini

Carrots

Shunkyo Radish