Well, it's another week down on the farm and we've been coping with the loss of the Gator, whose steering assembly broke.  You don't realize how vital a tool is until it is unavailable.  The Gator brings in the harvest, thousands of pounds of produce each week for half of the year and hauls tools and supplies the rest of the year.  It was donated to us almost ten years ago by the Ganse Family Foundation and has served us well--we hope to have our workhorse friend return to service by Monday.

Sprinter van becomes an off-road harvest vehicle :-)

We received two inches of much-needed rain Tuesday morning, which watered in the fall cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, greens and Brussels that we worked late Monday night to finish transplanting in a get-er-done fashion.  Fall crops are looking very good, as is the potato crop. Last year's six thousand pound spud harvest looks to be surpassed by this year's bounty, thanks to great soil conditions and abundant spring rain. 

Pontiac Red Potatoes

Freshly dug carrots!


 

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest:

Potatoes: yep, it's tater time. Potatoes are a wonderful source of nutrients, versatile to cook with, and very satisfying to the eater--they even help you sleep well at night. (Potatoes not Prozac book)
Cantaloupes: great taste of summer. Try eating with a just a bit of freshly ground black pepper.
Carrots: farm fresh carrots are a tasty treat, much different from bagged store carrots.
Eggplants: Asian eggplants are mild and sweet. Slice and put on the grill rubbed with oil, soy sauce, and miso paste. Tasty and easy to use.
Beans: fresh beans are so tasty. Boil just a few minutes, or steam until desired tenderness. Good raw in a salad too.  Beans are almost finished. 
Cucumbers: wow, farm fresh cucumbers are excellent! dice with tomatoes, onions and olive oil for a cool and refreshing summer salad.
Cabbage: cut into wedges and serve with a sprinkle of salt, make sauerkraut or family-pleasing
(taking another week off so they can size up)
Summer squash/Zucchini: stir fry, grate and use for zucchini bread or freeze for later.
Beets: great roasted with olive oil, grilled with oil and balsamic vinegar, or grated in salads.
Chard: remove the lower portion of the stalk as it is usually tough. Sautee leaves in butter, olive or coconut oil, add salt, and red pepper, top with Paresan cheese.
Greens: the hot weather has left most of the greens in not so nice shape. However, the chard doesn't mind the heat. Fabulous greens will return this fall with the cooler weather, whether the current crop improves or not.

Goodbyes:
Scallions: goodbye until next year.
Blueberries--these bore very well this year, we would have liked an extra week or two.
Broccoli: an awesome broccoli crop this year--will be back in the Fall.
Bok choi and Napa: these have run their course and we will see them again in October and November--a great time to make kimchee with the cool weather.
Garlic scapes: these are the would-be flowering stems of garlic--soft, tender, easy to use for stir fries, diced for salad, really anywhere a mild garlic flavor is desired. We like to use it for pesto here at the farm.
Cilantro: we anticipate the arrival of the next planting.
Turnips: bye bye until fall, when turnips are sweeter and crisper



Thank You

A big thank you to Jim Determan for building and welding a tilting framework for getting organic liquid fish or seaweed out of a 55 gallon drum with ease. Pouring from a 600lb cylinder had never been a picnic--until now :-)   Thank you Elizabeth, Law Reh and Kurt for hanging in there to get those transplants in the ground--whew, finally all in! 


Hope you are enjoying this fall-like weather as much as your farmers are,

Scott