Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Beets, squash, blueberries and other news

From Sally:
Just FYI - you will be getting beets and squash (as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes) a lot this summer. The male squash flower is very good stuffed with cream cheese.

There are a number of delicious recipes for both as well as the creations a number of shareholders have related to me which they and their families find delicious. DO POST, for all to enjoy, any good finds!!!

Alternatively, learn how to preserve these delicious comestibles. Someone was recently telling me of a favorite "mother-made" recipe of pickled sugar beets (the beets you're getting) and hard boiled eggs - where the eggs turn that lovely pink. Sugar beets can also be cut very thinly (Cuisinart thin) and fried for really good "chips." Someone else boils them to just-soft and puts them in summer salads or as additives to summer soups - you can freeze these quick-cooked beets and pull them out for many things all year long. Cold borscht is another wonderful summer soup - with a daub of yogurt. There are MANY ways.

For squash - the variety you've been getting each have a different flavor, texture and use. Rose, our daughter visiting from CA, just made us a one-dish meal of the Lebanese White Squash from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orzo-with-Summer-Squash-and-Toasted-Hazlenuts-108403
Summers squash = bake it, stuff it, chop it into salad, summer-soup it, use it for dips and thousands of things and finally, again, you can freeze it for the winter.

Wasn't the salad greens mix wonderful = delicate, well-rounded, good as-is or with additives. - I add marinated baby potatoes and the young onions.

Our blueberries have been attacked by marauding sparrows and other small birds who have discovered how to get into the Alley that was newly created this year. I HOPE we have repaired most of the holes. Thanks to Julia Shearer who spent the day sewing, with hemp, the two pieces of deer netting that join the "roof" to the front side. We still need the back seam to be similarly joined as well as tighter seams on the "roof." So that's something you may be doing if you're here putting in hours. It's VERY rewarding - in many ways. '

Till we've solved the problem, however, we will be collecting the berries that are ripe and providing them for you in a bowl at the pick-up site where the other produce is located - we can't wait for the pick-up time as the birds have access all day.

Enjoying the dry weather and sun??? So are we - it also means that we'll need to get the drip tape down a.s.a.p. We avoided watering too much after the months of wetness as it was choking the produce (less oxygen = smaller growth) as well as rotting and causing splits. But hearing the crop-losses of others, I think we're doing pretty well. Anyone available this weekend or before, you'll be doing the drip-tape dance.

Check out the baby eggplants with your younger children - it's fun to watch them grow. Hopefully turnips are on the horizon - they were effected by the wetness but may be salvaged.

That's all the growing news at the moment.

Monday, June 15, 2009

We GOT Honey!

rain rain go away

Oh No - It's going to rain again!
Jim relates this to me as we're off to the DQ (my favorite summertime hang-out) and I recall that I need to blog about the rain. Most people say to us "Isn't this rain doing wonderful things for the plants?" And we say "NONONO - Not for the food-produce! But weeds love it!" Weeds have found ways to adapt to drought, flooding, pulling, mowing, agent orange (Roundup) and the like over the thousands of years they've had to develop. That's why they can exist as undesirable foliage located in a place (pretty much anywhere) where something else is supposed to grow. Yes, weeds love it as the rain is choking out the roots of the produce and leaving all the soil (or mud) for the weeds. Perhaps we should have planted kelp. Or, my advice, learn to eat weeds. Dandelion is great for the liver and it makes pretty good wine.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

April Greens



Here are some garden & hoop house shots. Most of the greens are currently under the hoop but a few are started - like garlic and onions, arugula, escarole and some brassica - in the garden.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

April showers bring... lots of sprouts!

It's April on the farm and Spring has brought lots of sprouts to the greenhouses around the farm. We'd like to give you an idea of what's popping up - an indication of what will be available for the earlier pick-ups of this season...

In the big "season extender" hoop house, we have:
  • Carrots
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli Rabe
  • Broccoli
  • Onions
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce
  • Escarole
  • Arugula
  • Sunflowers
  • Asian Greens
  • Red Mustard
  • Red & Gold Turnips
  • Indian Mustard
  • Kale
In the small hoop house, we can see the beginnings of:
  • Yellow Onion
  • Romaine Lettuce
  • Leeks
In the garden greenhouse, there are:
  • Hot, Semi-sweet, & Sweet Peppers
  • Eggplant
  • Basil
  • Parsley
  • Zinnias
  • Salad Mix
  • Catnip
  • Butterfly Flowers
  • Collards
  • Marigold
  • Scallions
  • Chamomile
  • Rosemary
In the kitchen greenhouse, we can spot:
  • Cilantro
  • Lemon Verbena
  • Green & Italian Oregano
  • Bibb Lettuce
  • Totsoi Mustard
  • Bright Lights Chard
In the garden by the house, we have some herbs that were wintered over:
  • Parsley
  • Sage
  • Tarragon
  • Garlic Chives
  • Lavender
In addition, we have garlic and spring peas growing in the garden. These babies are all in their beginning stages, but this season looks to be abundant - which is a great thing!

(A quick thank you to the barn cats, who have kept the rodent population in check this winter!)

There's plenty of work to be done, for anyone who's interested in putting a dent in this season's work hours. In contributing to the healthy sprouting of all aforementioned greens, the following folks have already stopped by to work a bit:
  • Kathy Mason
  • Val Kolaga
  • Jen Buchanan
To close, we'd like to thank everyone that helped make February's Green Man Gathering Gaze & Graze in February such a successful (and fun!) event.