Farm Pictures

My dad and Cass enjoying the scenery. The gourd patch is behind them.


My nephew working with Rose, one of our young goats.


A couple of our pumpkins.


Here we are next to the sweet corn. Did you know that you can get 11-year-olds to pick corn quite speedily if you fill them in on some of the gory details from the horror movie Children Of The Corn?


The hired help checking on/sitting on our prize Jack O'Lantern.

Box #13

Hurray for sweet corn! Corn is one of my favorite things to pick. I go along with a gunny sack snapping off cobs left and right no bending or kneeling required. Additionally, it’s nice and shady since the plants are quite a bit taller than me. I planted corn three different times so that it wouldn’t all be ready at once. Some plants have defied this system and are riper than others planted later. To determine whether or not certain cobs were ready this week we peeled back parts of the husk. So if you have cobs that are somewhat dehusked that was just us taking a peek and not some corn-seeking critter nibbling on your dinner.

Stinky Broccoli Our broccoli plants are mostly producing flowerets right now which are cute little mini heads that form after the main larger head is harvested. These little guys are tasty but also can get quite stinky. The reason broccoli (also brussel sprouts, cabbage and other members of the brassica or cruciferous family of veggies) gets smelly is because it contains sulfur compounds. These compounds help protect the plants from insects and animals. There has been quite a lot of research stating that these very same compounds help prevent cancer. The smell gets stronger when broccoli is cut. Since flowerets require many cuts rather than just the one for big heads they tend to smell more.

Tomatoes
I continue to be disturbed by the amount of mold in the tomato patch. To make matters worse, we got about three more inches of rain yesterday, I’m sure this will not help our situation. Never thought I’d say this but I think I’ve had enough rain…at least for awhile.

Melons
Last year we had a ton of melons in September right at the exact moment that everyone was sick of them. As a result I tried a few new things this year to try and get them earlier. These new ideas didn’t work out and it appears as though we will either have melons next month or not at all. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board on the whole melon front.

Starting to go the Other Way
The cucumbers and beans are starting to show their age and are beginning to die back. We will probably still run these next week and maybe the week after but to a pretty limited degree. On the upside, this will give me more time to start digging spuds again.

Another Round
We'll be pulling beets, turnips and carrots again soon. I'm thinking I may have over planted turnips and under planted carrots...sorry.

Box #11

The garden is exploding! We really had to move to get everything picked and packed in time this week. Here is a run down:

Green Tomatoes: One of my tomato plants looks as though it may be dead or at least in the process of dying. I think I nicked it with the tiller some weeks ago and ever since it’s been a weak plant. Apparently it couldn’t stand up to the torrential downpour we received here last weekend. Anyway, rather than toss the tomatoes out I put some in the CSA boxes this week. I think something like five or six of you got them. For those of you who didn’t get these, keep the following recipe ideas (from The Encyclopedia of Country Living) in mind. After the frosts start everyone will probably get some.

Fried Green Tomatoes: Slice tomatoes into about ½ inch slices. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a pie tin. Dip slices in the mix to get both sides coated. Fry in hot shortening (or butter or olive oil) on one side then the other. Serve hot and right away.

Baked Green Tomatoes: Cut tomatoes into ½ inch slices and arrange half of then in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Over that make a layer of small toasted bread cubed, salt, pepper and bitted dots. Add a second layer of green tomatoes and than a second layer of everything else. Finally, sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until tender.

Pasta Squash: These are coming along nicely. If you didn’t get one of these this week, don’t worry, you’ll definitely see probably more of these than you would like by the end of the growing season as they are incredibly prolific. Pasta squash (a.k.a. spaghetti squash or vegetable spaghetti) is a relative of summer squash. It’s a pretty cool type of squash because you actually can make spaghetti out of it. Instead of producing a solid flesh they’re insides are all noodley.
To prepare: snap the stem off and toss the whole thing in a pot of boiling water for about half an hour or poke with a fork and bake for about 90 minutes; slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and central pulp; using a fork, rake out the shreds of spaghetti. Once they’re cooked use them like any other noodle (hot, cold, stir fried). Uncooked it’s pretty unpalatable. Also if you want to make stir fry with it, cook it first using one of the methods above.

Box #10

I hope you all are enjoying your apple pies! Admittedly I got the giggles several times while writing that newsletter. It was based on the experience I had last weekend when I made my own apple pie (which by the way turned out great!).

There were a few misprints in the St. Paul newsletter this week. First most everyone in St. Paul got red onions, not yellow ones as the newsletter claimed. Second, I should have written ‘summer squash’ under the What’s in the Box heading because not everyone got zucchini. Some folks got crookneck squash which is pear shaped, dull yellow and bumpy. Other folks got patty pans which resemble yellow or white spaceships. All of the summer squash is very comparable to zucchini and is completely interchangeable in any recipe.

We ran a lot of different things in the boxes this week. If you are wondering what to do with something here is a run down:

Cool Beans: Beans are starting to come in (finally) and I expect we will be into them in a big way next week. Our beans are of the pole variety, meaning they are the kinds that need to be trellised. They are very easy to grow and pretty easy to pick compared to the varieties that grow in bush form. You’ll find the standard green beans and also some purple, yellow and purple-flecked beans. The purple ones will turn green when cooked, however the yellow ones will stay yellow. When cooking green beans, I’ve found that they can lose flavor if they are boiled in water. So instead I just put them in the pan by themselves and gently heat them until they release some moisture. They cook nicely in their own juice and have amazing flavor.
Green beans (or purple beans or yellow beans or purple-flecked beans) freeze fairly well. I slice them into one-inch pieces, blanch for three to four minutes, put them in jars or bags, toss them in the freezer and enjoy them all winter long. They also of course can be canned and are wonderful pickled.

Cucumbers: Cucs are a bit behind this year probably due to the cool weather. In any case we are starting to run them too. Boyceville used to be a major pickle town. It had a pickle factory that accepted cucs from area farmers. Most folks around here back then planted at least an acre of them as a cash crop. My mom spent many summer days as a youngster picking pickles and still enjoys them! The pickle factory closed down about 20 years ago but the town still celebrates its cucumber roots by holding the Boyceville Cucumber Festival every summer.
Baby cucumbers make the best pickles and may be canned or made into refrigerator pickles. There are many recipes and variations. To make refrigerator pickles simply boil up a brine of water, vinegar and salt (I use 6 cups water, 3 cups vinegar and ½ cup salt), place some dill heads in a jar and maybe a clove of garlic or two, toss baby cucs in jar and dump brine over them. Place this in the refrigerator and wait about 24 hours for the flavors to come through. Then enjoy your pickles, they will keep in your fridge for at least a month.

Tomatillos: This is the first year I’ve tried these and I really don’t know all that much about them. So, according to The Encyclopedia of Country Living: “Tomatillos are also known as Mexican Husk Tomatoes and are closely related the ground cherry. Serve raw in salad, sliced plain, or with dip as finger food. Or use to make slasa verde or dip. Or cook and add to dishes (tomatillos add an herb-lemon flavor). Or slice and add to a veggie soup or bean casserole.” Here is the salsa verde recipe given in the same book: Combine two cups chunked, uncooked tomatillo, one cup chunked onion, ¼ cup dried epazote, maybe a little minced hot pepper and one teaspoon garlic salt. Churn in a blender until smooth. Add one cup sour cream. Serve chilled.

Other things we started running on a small scale this week include: cherry tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes and broccoli. Peas made their last appearance this week as did the red/pink potatoes (glad so many of you liked these, they are a variety called Red Romance). Beets and turnips also made final appearances this week (though you’ll probably see beets again).

Box #9

In addition to being behind on broccoli, cucumbers and beans, I’m also behind on blogging (also receipt writing, if you’ve paid me in July and have not yet received a receipt, you’ll be getting it next week in your box). Anyway, here are some recipe ideas and other useful bits of information on your produce:

Basil - There are many types of basil, this particular one is known as sweet basil and is probably one of the more common kinds. According to the Fedco Seed Catalog, which is where I order basil seed, this type is recommended for “drying, all-around great eating and large-scale pesto production”. If you are interested in drying some basil and you don’t own a food dehydrator, place a layer of leaves on a plate and microwave them until they are crispy.

Beets - Beets can be frozen, canned, dried or root cellared (wait for later ones if you plan on doing this). I’ve also heard of people pickling beets, which sounds interesting. Admittedly, beets are not my favorite so I’m not the best resource for beet related recipes.

Brussel Sprouts - These are one of my favorites. I like to steam them and serve with pasta and cheese sauce. They are root cellarable as Brussels sprout logs (these will show up at the end of the season, probably in the last box) or they can also be frozen individually (blanch 3-5 minutes first). The plants themselves are very interesting-looking (see photo above) with thick stocks and leafy tops. They sort of resemble miniature palm trees with the heads growing where the stalks meet the leaves.

Carrots - Carrots are one of those crops that we plant more than once so expect them several times throughout the season. They freeze well after being peeled, chopped and balanced for 2-5 minutes. One of my favorite ways to prepare carrots is to steam them in orange juice.

Cilantro - Also known as Chinese Parsley and Mexican Parsley, cilantro is the leaf part of the plant with the seeds being the coriander part. Cilantro can be used to flavor a variety of dishes including; salsa, guacamole, soups, stews, salads, stir-fries, egg, fish, pork, hot dogs etcetera. Unfortunately, cilantro does not keep well and drying the leaves results in little to no flavor.

Fennel - Fennel is sort of new to me, this is the first year I’ve grown it. It has an anise-type flavor and is good raw or cooked. It really does not keep well and should be used within a few days. According to The Joy of Cooking, fennel can be roasted, braised, grilled or sautéed. The fronds can be used as a seasoning and bulbs can be used as a substitute for celery. Fennel accompanies fish especially well.

Flowers – We’ve started putting zinnia (very colorful) and sweet pea (very fragrant) bouquets in the boxes this week. We’ll have sunflowers later.

Kohlrabi - I think these are best raw (just peel and slice) but they also are good in stir fries, casseroles or toasted in the oven with cheese on top. You can freeze them but they tend to smell like propane when thawed.

Rutabaga – So, I think I may have planted a few too many turnips this year. To add insult to injury, as soon as we’re done picking turnips we’ll head right into rutabagas, which taste pretty much just like turnips.

Spuds – I’m sure you all know what to do with tators. I think you’ll find the blue ones interesting to cook with.

Here’s a great potato bread recipe from The Foxfire Book: Dissolve a cake of yeast in a cup of warm water. Cook up two medium spuds, mash them and add two teaspoons salt, three teaspoons sugar and the yeast water. Put in a jar (or bowl) in a warm place to rise (it’ll get bubbly). Then add enough flour to make a firm dough. Let rise till double, knead and make into two loaves. Let rise then bake at 350 degrees until it tests done.

Swiss Chard – If you didn’t get a bag of lettuce mix this week you got a bunch of swiss chard. The leaves are great as salad greens and the stalks are a good substitute for celery (which we don’t grow).

Turnips – Here’s a recipe involving turnips one of you e-mailed to me. It’s good (thanks Wendy).

Cheesy Turnips and Carrots

INGREDIENTS
3 cups diced peeled turnips
2 cups sliced carrots
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced celery
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
•
DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, combine turnips, carrots, ginger, water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender; drain and reserve liquid. Set vegetables aside. In a skillet, saute onion and celery in butter until tender; stir in flour, pepper and remaining salt. Add milk and the vegetable liquid; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese until melted; stir in the vegetables and heat through.

Farm News and Pictures

Hope you all are enjoying box #7. It was a challenging one to pick and pack what with all the varying maturity levels of different crops right now. I apologize to those who had to wait for me on Wednesday in St. Paul. By trying to avoid one area of road construction I got stuck in two other unforeseen areas of construction and ended up not arriving at Hampden Park until after 3 p.m. Thanks to Tameaka and the Sellkes for helping me unload boxes.

Fall Farm Harvest Fest
We’ve decided to hold a fall harvest fest/party here at the farm for all CSA members on October 17. Members can come pick out their pumpkins, gourds and ornamental corn (hopefully this stuff will be ready by then, it really should be). There also will be a corn shock making clinic, tours and possibly a bon fire weather permitting. We’ll post more info as this date approaches.

Other Farm Visits
If you are interested in touring the farm sooner than October, please feel free to come by. Except for delivery days, I’m pretty much always here. Our place it pretty easy to find provided you can navigate through all the road construction between here and the cities. Give me a call or e-mail me if you decide to stop by.



One of the barns with pumpkin patch in foreground.



Tommatillos.


Olaf, our billy goat.

Boxes will not be Early to St. Paul this Week

As you're all aware, Hampden Park picker-uppers pick up their boxes around 3 p.m. but generally I'm there unloading earlier than that. This week it is very unlikely that I'll be there anytime much before 3 for two reasons. First, my helper is on vacation this week and so I'll be packing boxes solo. Also I've heard that I-94 has a bunch of construction going on right now. I'll probably take Hwy. 36 tomorrow to avoid hang-ups in the construction. By doing this I'll risk getting stuck on the lift bridge in Stillwater which seems to happen about 50% of the time (sometimes I sit there for half an hour, though admittedly it is pretty cool to see the boats go under). I hope none of you end up waiting for me, I’ll do my best to get there as soon as I can.