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Robert and I are in shock right now . . . Robert was harvesting furiously in the tornado warning and rain to bring in the vegetables we needed for the next several days of CSA deliveries because we know from experience that this much rain is not good for veggies. He brought the last load of veggies to the house and when we went back down, we could see the tractors needed to be moved to higher ground. We have lost everything in the gardens. Very possible some of our infrastructure as well such as the new fabric we were using for the first season and the drip pipes and connections and main lines.

Never in 28 years have we seen the water come up so far and so quickly. This is the definition of a FLASH FLOOD. We have had water get into the gardens closest to the creek before, but never all the way to the entrance gate! Had we know a flash flood was going to occur we would have harvested all day long and worried about where to store the vegetables later. So much was lost. This is terribly depressing. Our eggplant, bell peppers, cabbages and winter squash are now somewhere in Fletcher or beyond!

If you heard WLOS 13 News tonight, you heard that Brush Creek was flooded and that people in Fairview should be headed for high ground. Fortunately, our house sits atop a mountain! Our prayers go out to all of our neighbors residing along Cane Creek. If it was this high on our side, I know it was on their side where their homes are located.

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, August 18 we will be sending out limited vegetable boxes. I am going to make the produce which we harvested last as long as possible. Eggplant, cabbages, carrots and peppers which have been picked this evening have a refrigerated shelf life. We harvested as many of the tomatoes as possible. Many of them are green or just turning, but we have a decent supply of these under shelter. We have been digging potatoes for the last several days and weeks, so this is another crop we have a decent supply of in shelter.

The boxes will be lighter and the contents will be diminished, but I if you will eat the above mentioned vegetables, we can manage to continue with the CSA a few weeks longer as we have a lot of potatoes!! We were hoping to sell boxes of potatoes in addition to our regular CSA boxes this season, but now it seems the potatoes will be our main stock.

Typically, we are able to prepare CSA Boxes through Halloween, often to Thanksgiving, and one year until Christmas! Never in the last 28 years of farming have we ever lost our entire crop! I don’t know what else to say. We will do our best to continue to communicate with you with regard to what you can expect from our CSA. Please communicate with us. If you intend to quit now, we want to know that; but we trust you will stick with us a bit long . . . going box by box if you feel you must.

There is one thing to be said for the massive amount of rain we have been receiving: It makes the soil much easier to pull carrots out of the ground! If you have been in our CSA for the last 15 – 18 years, you know we have grown some rather funky carrots over the years. This year we are seeing the sweetest and prettiest carrots EVER. We are not sure why this is . . . the variety, the location in the garden, or just pure luck! Of course there will be some interesting funky carrot shapes, but there are many more pretty straight ones in 2021!

I trust you understand that much like the phases of the moon, the veggie production in the garden waxes and wanes. The patty pan and zephyr summer squash and zucchini are waning as are the cucumbers. The stress caused to the plants by the great amounts of rainfall followed by the heat and extreme dryness caused some much misshaped fruits and in some cases a bitter flavor in the cukes—in case you want an explanation for what you see and could possibly taste!

The green beans have been awesome as of recent; the okra production as well. We have some pretty cabbage heads. We are starting to see some tomatoes. There is actually ONE in each box on Friday. Like all other crops in the garden, they will start slowly, but we trust we will fill you up in the end.

The eggplants are beautiful this season! We eat skins and all and do not use salt in our preparation. They are growing rapidly right now which makes for tender skin with no bitterness.

Many of the potatoes have been harvested.  The first went out this week.  They are Russet baking potatoes; although, I made some awesome potato salad with a pot of them! Here is another variety just coming out of the ground—fewer of these, but one of our favorites!

We are also getting the first of our bell peppers.  Some are longish and some traditionally shaped.  All are sweet and chocked full of Vitamin C! If these peppers stay in the garden and hot sun long enough, they will turn red, yellow, and orange.  I trust there will be some colorful peppers later in the season.  The only problem is that as they become colorful and sweeter, the insects are more prone to “enjoy” them.  I wonder if it is the flavor or the color that attracts the insects?

We are eating blueberries.  If you want to come and harvest some blueberries, let me know and we will work out a time for you to come.  You are welcomed to eat what you want in the garden.  Anything you harvest we can go “shares on” meaning you take half and you leave half. This is the way my friend with the “commercial bushes” is doing it. Robert spent many, many days last winter trimming the bushes and removing weeds and sticker plants. Alas, they grow back too quickly.

We are entering the cornucopia of summer harvest season.  Enjoy!!

Have you ever thought about food from a political perspective?  Food often sits at the center of revolutionary movements. This is part of why Robert and I do what we do. We value fresh, local, organic food and knowing where and how it was grown! We do not want multi-national companies telling us what to value in our food. We want to decide for ourselves! We are very aware when in the grocery store of marketing, product shelf placement, and of the temptations to buy convenience and highly-processed, addictive foods.

The Ploeger household is a make it from scratch family eating primarily food we have grown ourselves. We rarely buy processed foods. I will not say never because we do purchase some organic crackers and organic cookies which are processed food. We do not have time to make everything! But, we find it empowering to think of taking habits back that the large, multi-national companies took from us. One’s choice of food has that power to take back control from the powerful companies, their lobbyists and the elected officials they’ve placed in D.C. with a the specific mission of safeguarding their profits. This empowerment begins at the local level. Purchasing your vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and milk from local farmers is voicing your opposition to the large powerful companies while at the same time improving your nutrition and the quality of food you consume! It is a way for consumers to make the food system work for them versus the wealthy multi-national companies. It is a way to bring family and friends together around the dinner table. It is a delicious way to resist and be a rebel with a nutritious cause!!

Eating healthy, local foods is a theme that can cause favorable change in one’s personal dietary life. For example, did you know the average American drinks more soda than water each day?! Sodas contain chemicals, bromide, and sugar for starters. Sugar impairs the white blood cell’s ability to fight off infections! And researchers have found people who drink sweetened beverages are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s.  Long before there were sugary sodas, there was seltzer. Apparently, the seltzer bubbles themselves seem to excite the brain almost as much as sugar. If one wants to make changes in one’s dietary choices, shifting from drinking soda to drinking plain seltzer may be satisfactory enough to resist the temptation of soda. And there is always plain water. Water represents a critical nutrient, the absence of which will be lethal within days. Or develop a green tea drinking habit. Some studies suggest green tea may promote and improve cognitive functions!

Food has power and can be a unifying force.  Food is central to the lives and livelihoods of us all. I practice what I preach when it comes to diet. My lunch . . . a baked sweet potato topped with sweet, green peas. This is the last sweet potato from 2020, but the organic peas came from a grocery store freezer aisle.

I told many CSA Members how we lost the first picking of beans due to a naturally occurring bacterium in the soil (and air which cannot be controlled).  The fungus splashed up on the plants during those hard rainfalls causing tiny, dark spots on the beans. The spots are actually the bean plant’s attempt to isolate the bacteria and prevent it from spreading! Plants are so intelligent! Still, so sad . . . and such a waste of time, effort, and potential crop; but there will be some beans with fewer spots! Mother Nature is in control and it is easier to work with Her than to fight Her; but we can do without those 2.5 inch downpours in our gardens!

We usually steam our okra for five minutes, then sprinkle with sea salt and eat using the stem as a handle. Recently a CSA Member told us they roasted okra, so we tried it and find we like that method, too. We toss the okra in a bit of olive oil with sea salt and bake in the oven on a tray at 350 degrees for 20 -25 minutes, depending on the size of the pod. No matter how you like to prepare your okra, this is shaping up to be a good harvest season!

In the upcoming CSA Boxes you can expect a variety of patty pan squash and zucchini and zephyr squash. These crops will be slightly dwindling, but some may be around for at least another month!  2021 is a good year for squash and our specialty cukes!  Also expect traditional eggplant, Asian eggplant, cabbage, green beans and/or okra, depending on the day. A variety of potatoes are being harvested and sweet bell peppers are on the near horizon. Tomatoes will be late, but are looking good. They keep growing and Robert continues to tie them higher up the stakes! It is SUMMERTIME and the eating is good–even if our evening meal frequently takes place after 10 p.m.!! Oh, yeah . . .

I am an optimist. I get up in the morning and put on sunscreen in hopes of it being a sunny day. We do not need any more rain just now. We need sunshine. Too much rain causes the vegetables to deteriorate! Another thing that makes veggies deteriorate is not having one’s refrigerator set to the proper temperature. It can be easy to accidentally move the dial on some units, so we always suggest people buy a thermometer and monitor the temperature of one’s refrigerator. Now to the garden . . .

The snow peas have been picked off clean and we trust they will provide a second bloom and harvest.

I made a vegetable soup last week using patty pan squash, zucchini, peas, and carrots! (Yes, carrots are in the future!) This batch of soup has a wonderfully “fresh” flavor. Some do not think of soup in the summer, but we love soups year ‘round at our house! We are exceptionally busy (in case you had not gathered) and often need a quick meal . . .

The potatoes are growing. We should have lots of Russets for baking and plenty of our “special potato” that has a slightly golden flesh—and no, it is not the Yukon Gold potato. We have grown those in the past, but love this particular one EVEN MORE!!

We will be getting some okra soon. You may have a favorite method to prepare your okra—many people like it fried or in a gumbo. I was not a fan of okra until I discovered the following way to cook it. All I do is steam the entire okra for about five minutes! Remove from the heat, let cool slightly, and sprinkle with some sea salt. Using the stem as a handle, bite into the okra and enjoy! They are not slimy when prepared in this manner. The “slime” makes an appearance once the vegetable is “cut into.”

If you interest in whole chickens, the following is from a neighbor and friend who has for sale fresh and frozen whole pastured Cornish Cross meat birds.  Most are around 5 lbs at $5.50/pound. She cleans them very meticulously and then vacuum seals them for a beautiful product if you like tender chicken. Available while supplies last at Cloud 9 Farm in Fairview. By appointment only, so call ahead. Contact: Janet Peterson, phone: 828-545-9611, or by email at: janetpeterson9@bellsouth.net

There are bouquets and then there is the “Farmer’s SPECIAL Bouquet!” Coming one day soon to a veggie box, along with okra, potatoes, patty pan and zephyr squash, green and yellow zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, and maybe cauliflower or kohlrabi, eggplant, and green beans, depending on the day. It’s summertime in the garden!

Last Wednesday we got 1 3/4 inches of rain on the farm. Robert had not irrigated for a couple of days in anticipation of rainfall so it all soaked in nicely. We much prefer rain from the Heavens over using our deep-well, drip irrigation system. Now I hear thunder again. Small amounts we like as long as the sunshine comes out afterwards!

I must relate a story about the cute, little patty pan squash. When presented with a variety of shapes spread out on the kitchen counter a five-year old asked, “What are those?!” His mother replied, “Patty Pan squash.” The child who is already and avid gardener stated, “No, they are cupcakes!” And his three-year old sibling promptly put one into his pocket and carried it around for the remainder of the day! Gotta love the parents of children who have been raised to think of veggies as desserts!

There baby beans and thousands of blossoms on the bean fence! One day we expect to be Blessed with green beans–no strings, just tender green beans.

CSA Members saw the first of the cucumbers in their boxes last week. This coming week will see the first of the Asian Eggplant. They are not plentiful yet, but the are getting started. There may be random escarole and endive. And green and yellow zucchini, zephyr squash and patty pans, and broccoli and kohlrabi?

Someone asked me about okra. Yes, there will be okra this year. We have not grown it for some years, but this is looking like a good year to start back! Our garden is a joyous place! I trust you enjoyed this brief tour.

This is the first time we have had romaine and lettuces this far into the season, but all things must end! There will still be some escarole and endive, however. Here are some ideas for how to use it when one no longer has romaine, lettuces, and chois to make a salad. The escarole and curly frisée endive are both bitter greens. I am told that the more bitter the green, the better it is for the liver; the stimulation of bile flow is important to break down fats.

Like the lady in the video below, I too grew up in the Mid-west, but our vegetables DID NOT come from a can! On the other hand, I never had escarole until we started growing it for our CSA. Same thing goes for the endive! Seed catalogues are enticing with their offerings and Robert loves to try and grow new items.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20bpPW98Otw

From the MasterClass online I found these five ways to serve frisée (curly endive). Frisée’s bitterness allows it to complement and balance richer flavors.

Add frisée to a sandwich with whole-grain mustard for a slightly bitter note. Or, make a hot salad by pairing frisée with bacon, eggs, and diced onions topped with a mustard vinaigrette. Or, for a cold salad serve frisée with slices of peaches or diced orange slices and top with walnuts and blue cheese dressing! Or, for a side dish, toss frisée with a vinaigrette made from roasted fowl or pork drippings and rice wine vinegar. Or, saute frisée in olive oil with finely chopped garlic cloves. Once cooked, it can be stored in the refrigerator and used as a garnish or snack if you are so inclined!

I got an email this week which asked “I’m curious, what exactly are the oddly shaped round things, with ridgy edges?” Obviously, I have dropped the ball when it comes to writing Blogs! In the boxes this last week and next week, and hopefully for the foreseeable future, are patty pan squash, some zephyr squash, and zucchini in green & deep yellow.

This is our first year for growing the zephyr summer squash. The zephyr looks somewhat similar to a yellow crookneck squash but actually a cross between the Delicata and yellow Acorn winter squashes. They are they longish squash which are greenish on the bottom and yellow on the top.

The hurricane seems to be going to miss WNC for the most part which is a very good thing! We can handle up to 3/4 of an inch of rain at one time, but more than that or that amount for days on end is most destructive to the garden!

In the Friday boxes we have red and green romaine and red butter head lettuce, endive, escarole, green and purple kohlrabi, no-so-pretty broccoli and pretty cauliflower. Added this week are snow peas! (I erroneously referred to them as sugar snap peas earlier in the week.) We call these “the Farmer’s Candy.”

Also, starting Friday are a variety of patty pan squash, the oblong green and yellow two-toned squash, and green and yellow zucchini. Here is a photo of today’s harvest. I shall divide them among everyone getting CSA Boxes. Obviously, you will not get much this week. I suggest you dice them up for salad toppers. Or, the chef could saute and eat them before the rest of the family comes home! You can cook all of these in one dish if you like as their flavors mingle well.

The plants look great! If the weather holds up, we should be able to have you crying UNCLE when it comes to squashes and zucchini. On the other hand, there can always be another year like last season . . . we harvested them for two weeks before it started raining and all of the plants died! Pray we do not have a repeat of this in 2021.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July Holiday and hold your puppies close. I have yet to meet a dog that enjoyed the booms and bangs of fireworks. Our son’s dog was visiting last weekend and when early fireworks were set off in the neighborhood, I had to cuddle him like an infant–never mind the fact he weighs about 80 pounds!

We strive for a thriving partnership with Nature! So far this season, Mother Nature has been pretty good to us. Those potato plants I posted a picture of last time are even taller and forming a delicious root crop we will enjoy one day. The patty pans and zucchini and cucumbers are looking strong–but nothing to harvest yet. Robert has been mounding and tying up the tomato plants. He had to relocate two, fat male rabbits who were eating to the ground our tomato plants. Never before in our 28 years of farming on this property has this happened. Very strange! And weeding . . . Most of the last two weeks has been spent WEEDING in the garden! Too bad the weeds will just come back in another month . . . but for now our plants have a fighting chance! Did you ever attempt to weed five plus acres by hand?!

This week we have red and green romaine and red, butter head lettuce, endive, escarole, green and purple kohlrabi, no-so-pretty broccoli and pretty cauliflower. Added this week are sugar snap peas! We call these “the Farmer’s Candy.”

I found this recipe online. Next time I will make a larger dish because it was even better the next day!

Attention CSA Members:  It is time to prepare for a gradual Season Change of veggies! Some of you will be sad to hear this; others of you will be thrilled. Whichever camp you fall into, we thank you for your support. We are not a retail grocery store with semi-trucks bringing in our supply of produce. Our vegetables are grown in the Fairview soil with our labor and the Grace of the Almighty!

As you know, we do NOT require our CSA Members to pay for the entire season in advance, but rather accept payment box by box. There are two reasons we have decided upon this manner of payment. First, we would not be able to sleep at night if we had all of your money and then Mother Nature gave us a year where we were unable to supply the promised veggies. In reality, this has never happened, but this is still the first reason. Sometimes all of the crops we plant do not grow as we planned, but we have always had vegetables to fill our CSA Boxes!

The second reason we are willing to accept payment in this manner is that over the last two decades, we have been told too many times that THIS is the only way some families are able to join a CSA. Some people get paid by the week and coming up with six months of grocery money all at once simply is not a viable option. So thank you to everyone who is a member of Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA. You are helping to support our small, family farm and you are helping to provide fresh, local seasonal veggies to others in the community! When we have excess, we donate to area shelters and food banks. And interestingly enough, Bell South, Duke Progress Energy, Verizon Wireless and the rest of the companies we must pay each month simply will not take vegetables for payment!

After a look in the garden, it appears the tatsoi, Joi Choi, Ching Chang, and Black Summer chois are done for the season. The heat and insects have taken over those early crops. It is possible we will have some white, juicy Joi Choi stalks we can put into the boxes. (I will remove the leaves.) I use them just like celery. They can add crunch to your romaine and lettuce salads and are wonderful for dipping or filling with cream cheese, humus, or peanut butter! Children love “ants on a log.”

Going forward you can expect to see broccoli heads. We grow several varieties—some have traditional crowns, some have long stalks with little heads on the end, some are in between. And later there will be “florets.”  They all taste like fresh broccoli (grown on a local farm)! At this time we are getting the first smattering of cauliflower heads. They will become more plentiful.  The collards and kale are coming into a second wave. We have red and green romaine and red, butter head lettuce. We trust you are figuring out how to enjoy the green and purple kohlrabi, because the “fleet has landed!” We still have endive and escarole. Spring onions round out the mix for now. Seasonal eating from a local farm!

Sadly, the rain and heat were hard on the peonies in my front yard this year, but the wildflowers are doing exceptional well. We enjoy our bits of beauty where we can!

How are you doing with seasonal eating? Thus far the gardens have produced Joi Choi, Ching Chang, Black Summer, tatsoi, red and green kale, escarole, endive, romaine, red lettuce, onions, and green and purple kohlrabi. Seasonal vegetables! We trust we have thrilled you with at least one unfamiliar vegetable thus far! Some of these veggies are leaving the mix soon, but others will be arriving. Broccoli and cauliflower will be next to appear. I am guessing our CSA Members will have no trouble identifying broccoli and cauliflower! The size of these heads will depend upon the weather and the variety. We do plant multiple varieties so if one fails to meet our expectations, perhaps another will perform better!

I have told some member about kohlrabi growing in the garden. The veggie you receive in your veggie box actually sits on top of the soil in the garden. With a bit of imagination, one might think they have the appearance of little, alien space ships that just landed in a row!

I like kohlrabi raw. Robert prefers his slightly sauteed in coconut oil. There is a crunchy kohlrabi salad recipe on the website as well as some tips for storing and preparing this unique vegetable.

The tatsoi is all gone, but look for a combination of the above veggies in your next CSA Box/Bag. We are nearly half way through the month of June, but expect to have green salad makings until the end of this month. There is a Harvest Calendar on the website if you are interested in approximately what will appear when.

And farm shares are available for the remainder of the season.