Tag: vegetables

Praising The Bear

It is pouring rain at the farm right now. The farmer is going back to the field to harvest some beets in the mud for Tuesday’s CSA. There will also be some green beans or some yellow, broad beans in your box–but not both There would have been both, but it is raining too hard to be picking more beans! We really do not need this rain. Daily rainfall, even if small amounts let alone this deluge, is not good for our garden. The squash, zucchini, and patty pans in particular will begin to drop off from excessive dampness.

We had a serious problem solved last week! There was a huge hive of something (bees? wasps? hornets?) attached to the underside of the bucket of one of our tractors. This tractor had not been used recently as it is used for maintaining our gravel road–although with this rainfall, we might need to use it tomorrow! We have another tractor for mowing which is in “seasonal” use right now. Back to the problem . . . Robert has been watching this hive and considering how to safely remove it. The fantastic news is that one day last week, one of our bears tore off the hive and carried it off into the woods–much as he did our trash can one time! Problem solved without needing to use an epie pen! Praise for the bear THIS WEEK . . .

This is the small bear and one of the two which frequent our property and perhaps live on it somewhere!

One of our CSA Members was telling me how she is making muffins for her freezer from the patty pans and summer squash. What a great idea; particularly if your family needs to have the zucchini hidden! I am surprised I have not thought of this; although, Robert and I tend to be purist when it comes to our vegetables. As little sugar and as close to raw as possible is our preferred method of consuming,

In the box you can expect green cabbage, red beets, a variety of patty pan squash, long summer squash, yellow or green zucchini , orange carrots, yellow broad-beans and/or string-less, green beans (depending on the day), a couple of sweet, green bell peppers, and a bit of okra.

Beeturia and Broad-Beans

In the box this week you can expect green cabbage, red beets, a variety of patty pan squash, long summer squash, yellow or green zucchini , orange carrots, some cukes (still regrowing from the deer feast), the last of the broccoli (on Wednesday only), some yellow broad-beans, and perhaps a bit of okra. I will know for sure once I began packing the harvest into boxes!  The okra plants are stunted this season, so the amount will be limited. Then again, that seems to suit most families as many do not like okra.

I love the sweetness of roasted beets! Please remember that beet juice will stain anything it touches!  To remove the pinkish stain from your fingers, try rubbing with salt or lemon juice. Also, ingesting beets will stain bodily fluids of people sometimes. This is called beeturia. The discoloration is due to betalain, a natural pigment found in beets. Not all people experience this; but if you are one of select who does, please do not be alarmed. It might be the time to bring out your “red” dish towel if you have one.

Leaving a bit of stem on the beet prevents excessive “bleeding” while boiling.

Speaking of roasted . . . a friend was telling me how she sliced patty pans and roasted them in EVOO with onions. I think I will give this a try tonight as we have been steaming patty pans recently. A change will be nice. A word on the yellow broad-beans. Robert and I think they are tougher than the green beans; therefore, I steamed a batch last evening for two (2) minutes instead of the one (1) minute setting which I typically use for veggies. We thought they were prefect–with butter, of course!

We do now have a twirling eight-foot fence around the gardens. It rather makes me dizzy to look at it on a windy day. Here’s trusting the Mama deer feels the same way. Robert saw the spotted fawn again last evening. He is about the size of large dog now! He very agilely ran from one tree line to the other when Robert was harvesting squash. I think they surprised one another!!

Seasons Change!

We are moving into kohlrabi (red/green), broccoli, cauliflower this week along with the lettuce, kale (red/green), romaine (red/green), escarole, endive, and the big, tall, light green Tokyo Bicanna. The “red/green” note means it depends on which variety needs to be harvested that particular morning. You can see from this list the chois are missing. Some CSA Members will be happy, perhaps; but, others will be saddened. Seasons change!

Something else missing will be peas. Somehow the peas were planted in one of the gardens not surrounded by the deer fence this year–sorry. Unfortunately, the deer got into the peas two days ago and ate both them and the plants on which they were growing. When I say deer, I do not mean one or two . . . we have a hungry herd! And apparently, a herd with a taste for Seasonal Gourmet Vegetables!!

Broccoli heads and cauliflower heads will vary in size depending on where in the garden they were growing. Our gardens include a variety of different soils. Think of it like a patchwork quilt! It is just the way God made it and there is nothing that can be done to change this fact. If the plants were in a more clay-pack area, they will be smaller. Also, we have different varieties of broccoli planted. Some years one variety does better than another; so this, too, may account for differences.

This little head with the long stalk is a special variety called Artwork.

At some point we will also be taking a new variety of green romaine lettuce which we are trying out. It is fluffier–more round than tall. And leaves have little ridges.

It is hot and dry. We are not excited to hear about the high 80 and 90 degree temperatures heading our way. At least we have our underground, drip irrigation to help keep the plants growing!

Two New Veggies?!

If you read the Blog and know what veggies were harvested last week, then you will notice there are two new “green” vegetables this week. CSA Member Families will find the following veggies in their boxes (bags) this week: Joi choi, the “second” choi (I still have not looked up the name!), Ching Chang, Black Summer, Tatsoi (some have longer stems than others as it depends on whether they were growing in an “open space” or more “crowded” which causes them to reach up for the sunlight and grow taller), Kale, Asian Delight (small choi with dark green leaves and an extremely white base), Green Romaine lettuce, and small Escarole and Endive! Here are a couple of pictures, but you can always go the Veggie IDs page on the website, too.

Escarole

I always tell CSA Members to go back and read at least one Blog prior to the current posting as I may have said something of relevance. I know my website is not as sophisticated as some out there; however, I designed and built it myself. I am a CSA Farmer and not a software technician. I think I did a good enough job to get my points across! Locally grown, freshly harvested, nutrition heading your way . . .

Endive