ARCHIVE - 2013

8.30.2013
The last delivery of the 2013 season and what a season it has been!  Both physically and emotionally demanding with all the rain and weeds but we made it through.  And you made it through a season of discovering, experimenting with and learning to prepare a number of new foods that showed up in your share each week.  One of the many great things I like about farming is that there is a beginning and an end, and each year you get to start over with a clean slate.  Even the worst hilled potato row or beetle infested bean row won't be around forever!  One can only hope you get a little smarter each year, learn from your lessons and find the courage/guts/persistence or just plain ridiculousness to farm again the next year...

So the exciting news at Ladybug Farms this last week is that 25 baby chickens arrived via the US mail. Mom, our friend Margie and I are attempting to raise 25 meat birds for winter food.  Most meat chickens today are raised in an astonishing 5 weeks!  We selected a slower growing breed that is ready for harvest in 10-12 weeks and I hope we can manage to keep them safe from all the critters (coyotes, hawks, racoons, possums, snakes, and nemesis no #1 - neighbor dogs).  Raising chickens is something I've wanted to try for a while and I wanted to understand what all in terms of time, money and effort it takes to raise a chicken. Plus I decided I eat chicken, so it was time to become closer to the entire process.  Of course I am not looking forward to the harvest part, but as my friend Allesandra in Mexico once said while teaching me to clean fish "Noone likes cleaning fish, it's just something we have to do to eat fish".  Made sense to me.

Also learned a most interesting health tip this last week from a friend who is a breast cancer survivor.  She said her doctor recommended incorporating color into your meals as a way of getting a full complement of vitamins and minerals.  Yellow squash, orange carrots, purple beets, green beans, red okra - each has something unique to offer our bodies.  Really liked that suggestion and will continue to use that guide as I prepare my meals each day.

Farm Food Favorites:

Italian Borlotti (October Beans)
One of the favorite things I grow each year and has quite a fan club among returning CSA members...

Shell beans, simmer in lightly salted water for about 20 minutes until desired texture.  Drain water then do a quick saute with garlic and olive oil.  Enjoy!      

I look forward to seeing each of you at tomorrow's last CSA/Co-op pickup of the season in front of Butler's II on Main Street.  Thank you to each of you for your support this season - it's been an honor to be your farmer.

Until next season...

8.23.2013
Well today it rained about 5 different times while trying to harvest for tomorrow's CSA share.  The thought that kept going through my mind is that "all things need water to grow, but they also need sun!"  It's been too wet to prepare the beds for the kale and bok choy transplants, as well as to get overwintering beets and carrots in the ground. To be honest it's hard to keep ones spirit up with all this rain and the implications it has on farming.

Farm Food Favorites: Delicata Winter Squash

The only winter squash that does not have to be peeled.  These beautiful green and white striped squash are the perfect size.  I slice in half, remove the seeds and place face down in a pan with a slight amount of water. Roast at 350 for 20-30 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork.  Can top with butter or maple syrup. 

Can also cut delicata squash in half, remove seeds, cut into semicircles and roast in oven with garlic and italian parsley.    

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at our CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30-11:30 am  in front of Butlers II on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week...

8.19.2013
Last week of CSA deliveries - Where has the summer gone???  No lie, it's been a tough season for growing. It's been wet, cold, grey skies, I think we had two hot days all summer.   I've heard several farmers in NW Georgia called the season a wash in July and just plowed in their fields.  It was a little consolation for me last week during my delivery to Cakes & Ale when Billy told me how ready he was for summer to be over.  He said he's had to turn away so much produce this season because of quality and it has just broken his heart, as he knows how hard all small farmers work.

Despite the challenges, there have been many highlights and things to celebrate this season.  Being honored by the USDA with the Partner Plaque in March, the Innovations in Organic Farming Field Day in June, not One but Two Ladybug Farms articles in our Clayton paper (a first after 6 years of farming!) and most recently being featured as one of 7 farms in Chef Jamie Allred's Field Kitchen cookbook of Northeast Georgia Mountain farms.  All Super Exciting!  But even so, the biggest satisfaction I get each week is hearing the "I made the best..." or "those ... were fantastic" or "I tricked my kids with a beet hummus recipe".  All that feedback makes me smile and helps to pick me up and keep me going when things get rough.  So, a hearty Thank You to each of you for your support again this season.  Your gratitude, enthusiasm and commitment to this dream of living off the land are so appreciated.

Farm Food Favorites: 
Thank you CSA member Rita for sharing this first recipe from Jim O’Toole of O’Toole’s Herb Farm

Shitake Mushrooms & Garlic
Heat in skillet equal amounts of garlic + olive oil.  Amount depends on the user and amounts of mushrooms.  Add minced garlic and shitakes.  Just before done add 5 Spice/Curry seasoning + Teriyaki sauce.

Beet Hummus: 
Puree 1 very large roasted and peeled Beet; 15 oz. can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed; 1 Tbsp Tahini; 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil; Juice from 1 lemon; 2 chopped Garlic Cloves; 1 Tbsp ground Cumin.  

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA pickup from 6:30 until 8:00 pm - H building patio at the Stacks.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next Season…

8.16.2013
The weather outside is transitioning to Fall and so are the fields.  The summer beans and cucumbers are gone, the tomatoes and squash are winding down, the peppers are producing and the Okra shown below is making its debut.  Fun ode to Okra sent by CSA member, Margie...

Song to Okra
by Roy Blount, Jr.

String beans are good, and ripe tomatoes,
And collard greens and sweet potatoes,
Sweet corn, field peas, and squash and beets -
But when a man rears back and eats
He wants okra.

Good old okra.

Oh wow okra, yessiree,
Okra is Okay with me.
Oh okra’s favored far and wide,
Oh you can eat it boiled or fried,
Oh either slick or crisp inside,
Oh I once knew a man who died
Without okra.

Little pepper-sauce on it,
Oh! I wan’ it:
Okra.

Old Homer Ogletree’s so high
On okra he keeps lots laid by.
He keeps it in a safe he locks up.
He eats so much, can’t keep his socks up.
(Which goes to show it’s no misnomer
When people call him Okra Homer.)
Okra!

Oh you can make some gumbo wit’ it,
But most of all I like to git it
All by itself in its own juice,
And lying there all nice and loose -
That’s okra!
It may be poor for eating chips with,
It may be hard to come to grips with,
But okra’s such a wholesome food
It straightens out your attitude.
“Mm!” is how discerning folk re-
spond when they are served some okra.

Okra’s green,
Goes down with ease.
Forget cuisine
Say “Okra, please.”

You can have strip pokra,
Give me a nice girl and a dish of okra.

Farm Food Favorites: Grilled Okra

Spear up to 10 okra pieces on a skewer, lightly brush with olive oil, sprinkle with hot pepper seasoning and grill for 5-7 minutes each side.  WARNING: this recipe has converted many a yankee into a okra fan!  

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow morning at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30-11:30 am in front of Butler's II on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week...

8.12.2013
Some of you have met Ethel at past harvest parties.  Ethel was a surprise gift from my dad early on in my farming career/adventure.  She is the cutest of tractors but I found I needed a tractor that sat lower to the ground and one I could back up to and change the heavy attachments without "manhandling".   That's when Ernie, the Farmall Cub Lo-Boy entered my life.  But todays exciting news is that Clayton CSA member, John, is the new proud owner of Ethel.  His grandfather owned Farmall Cubs and as a child John spent hours peddling around on a miniature Farmall toy tractor.  John has restored a Cub tractor in the past and is looking forward to spending the winter giving Ethel the spa treatment.  She was such a sweet gift from my dad and it makes me really happy to know Ethel is going to such a good home.

The battle of the weeds continues but this past week we also brought out the tiller to prepare the ground for some fall greens, root vegetables and the winter cover crops. In the picture to the right, Marc is weed eating away the last of the summer crops. We both laughed as he explained his covered with crop residue appearance was because he had "hit a cucumber" (farm job hazard).  To the left of Marc is the fabulous row of blue Lacinato (aka Dinosaur) Kale that has been such a champ and we have all enjoyed so much this season!

Farm Food Favorites: Golden Gazpacho

2 pints Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh Bread Crumbs or 1/2 small Pita torn into small pieces
2 tbsp Sherry Vinegar 
1/2 cup extra-virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Curry Powder
1 tbsp Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1 cup Bottled Sparking Mineral Water

Place tomatoes, bread crumbs, vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, turmeric, curry powder, salt, black pepper and sparkling water in blender.  Blend until smooth. Chill for at least 1 hour before eating. Optional: Top with toasted bread crumbs, hard-boiled egg. red bell pepper or chives.  Yum!   

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at the CSA pickup from 6:30-8:00 at the Stacks H Building patio. Please bring a bag for your goodies.

8.06.2013
Now This is feeling like the August I remember – hot and no rain.  I started to irrigate crops beginning last weekend – always a blessing to be able to just turn a valve at the beginning of each row and hear a gurgle, gurgle as the rainwater trickles out…  The hot, dry weather has brought the okra to a standstill.  The photo below shows the three 100 ft. rows of okra that I expect any day now to start doing their thing.  I might need to put out the drip tape to encourage it to flower and set fruit.  Continuing to pull out crops as they grow weary – today the cucumbers and the first round of squash but as summer crops wind down there is still fall and winter to think about.  Marc helped me this morning to thin the fall greens crop of tiny seedlings and this afternoon weed eat the cabin field to prepare for winter cover cropping. 

A big thanks to Chef Billy at Cakes & Ale for a new discovery in my fields this season.  I learn so much from him and really appreciate his feedback and our conversations as he unloads the produce I bring each week to his restaurant.  Turns out the Selma Zesta Pole Beans (in the photo to the left) that I brought down last week if left to mature a bit more are a white kidney bean the French refer to as Flageolet.  I read more about them and was excited to experiment.  So I pretended for a moment I was in Provence on Sunday and made a fabulous meal with grilled lamb (the traditional pairing with flageolets) and the recipe below:  

Fresh Flageolet Beans with Braised Tomatoes and Onions
·         1 pound flageolet beans, shelled
·         1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
·         1 onion, minced, about 2 tablespoons
·         2 medium very ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
·         1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
·         1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
·         2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
·          
Instructions: Put the flageolet beans in a saucepan and cover by 2 inches with water. Add 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.  Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook, uncovered until the beans are tender, about 10-20 minutes (I would do closer to 20 minutes). Taste a bean; it should be tender all the way through. Remove from the heat. Let the beans stand in the cooking liquid.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. When it is hot, add the onion and saute just until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have dissolved into a chunky, rather thick sauce, about 10 minutes.

To serve, use a slotted spoon to ladle the flageolet beans into a serving bowl. Add the lemon juice. Pour the tomatoes over the beans, along with half the parsley, and stir to combine. Taste, and add more salt if desired. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley

Want to learn more about flageolet beans?  Check out this article… http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Seasonal-Cook-Fresh-from-the-pod-3201630.php

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA pickup from 6:30 until 8:00 pm - H building patio at the Stacks.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

8.01.2013
Nothing says summer like home grown tomatoes!  Still a lot more on the vines to turn, but think they Might be at their peak this week – at least in terms of quantity.  The photo shows about 40 pounds of heirloom tomatoes as well as several pints of cherry and roma tomatoes – all harvested between Saturday and Tuesday afternoon.  Not as much as in years past with the same number of plants (80), but am really pleased with the flavor.  Had the most delicious Rutgers tomato this weekend – made me say “wow” when I took the first bite!  And given all the rain (enemy number one to tomatoes, seconded only by squirrels if you are a city dweller) I am not complaining about the lower yield.   Also did a lot of weedeating over the weekend and this week Marc helped me to till and weed eat between the rows of late summer crops of sweet potatoes, okra, delicata squash and more.  It has been so wet I have been unable to even use the tiller for at least a month.  Hope to do a better job of keeping up with the weeds now that the ground has dried out enough to till.

Farm Food Favorites:

Edamame (Fresh Soybeans)

Add about 1-2 inches to bottom of pot, bring to boil and add fresh soybeans.  Steam 4-5 minutes until tender, remove from pot, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking (cooking tip for all beans). Lightly sprinkle with rock sea salt and enjoy with a cold beer. 

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 am in front of Butlers II on Main Street.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

7.25.2013
The headline on the front page of last week’s Clayton paper is “Rain Damages Crops”.  I can’t remember when I’ve seen a farming headline on the front page of any paper.  The article went on to highlight the largest farmer in our area and his experience this year of harvesting about 250 boxes of cabbage per acre compared to “normal” years of 800 to 1000 boxes.  I’m glad I don’t grow cabbage, but sure, the rain has had an impact in my fields but thankfully, not to that extent!   

Lots of beet, carrot and bean thinning has been on the agenda this last week.  We harvested the onions
this week and set them to dry in the sun.  Later that evening I moved them to their next spot of curing in the solar sunroom.   I planted some leeks over the weekend – a new crop for me this season.  They won’t be ready for several months but will be an early spring treat if they work out.  The first round of fall seedlings are sprouting nicely and enjoying their temporary home under the giant hickory tree.  It’s hard to keep seedlings from drying out in the greenhouse on hot, sunny days but the shade under the tree seems to do the trick.  I’ve been noticing deer eating wild blackberries on the edge of the pastures n the middle of the day – highly unusual - and suspect there is not much for them to eat in the woods.  I decided to go ahead and extend the electric fencing around my bee hives today.  If the deer are hungry, the bears are too and I don’t want them to find the beehives!

Special request from CSA Member Nicki who remembered this recipe from last year…

Farm Food Favorites: Cucumber & Dill Salad:

-          1.5 pounds cucumbers, unpeeled and thinly sliced
-          1 tbsp course Salt
-          ½ Cup apple cider Vinegar
-          ¼ Cup finely chopped fresh Dill
-          3 tbsp Sugar
-          ½ tsp. Black Pepper
-          Dash of fresh Lime (optional)

Place cucumber slices in colander.  Sprinkle with salt, toss to coat.  Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile for dressing stir vinegar, dill, sugar, pepper and lime in large bowl until sugar is dissolved.  Combine cucumbers with dressing and stir to blend.  Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 am in front of Butler's II on Main Street.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

7.18.2013
Finally - a bit of sun these last couple of days and welcome break from all the rain.  I’m not going to say much about the rain other than to say “Yes, it’s been a ridiculous amount of rain and Yes, it’s been too much!”  I share with you all the good and bad of what is really happening at the farm each week in part to educate, at times for entertainment value but also to help others realize that this is just not my experience of growing food but this what most all farmers go through to raise food.  I have heard from more than a few of you these last few rainy weeks about how you have been thinking of me and the farm with all this rain.  Thank you!  It warms my heart to know this and hear this and I’d venture to say not too many farmers have folks thinking about them, so I consider myself quite lucky.  Sadly, that reality of the “faceless farmer” is just an end result of the disconnect we have in this country between our food and the farmers who raise that food.   
 
Lots more maintenance items this week including thinning of the okra, tying up tomatoes, some serious weeding on the soybeans and butternuts and more…  Photo of the garlic which has finished curing in the
sunroom being carted up to mom’s for the final cleanup.  Am really proud of the garlic this season and have to say it is delicious!

 Farm Food Favorites: Gabriela’s Gazpacho

A big thanks to Clayton CSA member Gabriela who shared this recipe from her home country of Spain – I can’t wait to try it!

This is the way Gazpacho is made in Madrid, other regions in Spain have slight variations. In some places it is served with chopped hard boiled eggs on top or bread croutons.  This recipe makes a lot of gazpacho, you can cut it in half, but gazpacho keeps well refrigerated for up to 1 week.

2 pounds peeled tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 red pepper (seeds removed)
1 green pepper (seeds removed)
1 bread baguette 1/2 if it is too long (soaked in water for 30 mins, drained)
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea Salt to taste
Ground cloves to taste
5 cloves fresh garlic

Mix in a blender or food processor till you get a smooth consistency (you may have to do it many batches) refrigerate at least  1 hour before serving, the longer you refrigerate the tastier it gets.

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 am in front of Butler's II Antiques on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

7.11.2013
I seem to reach this point at some time each season, but too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing.  This year that statement applies to Rain.  The 5 gallon bucket is overflowing with water – that translates to at least 12 inches in one week.  At nearby Black Rock Mountain State Park their rain gauge registers an incredible 100 inches so far this year – and that was before last week’s non stop deluge.  As I was writing my weather radio went off again warning of 2-3 inches of rain and flash floods in Forsyth and Hall Counties.  Whenever I hear these announcements my heart goes out to my farming friends in those areas; in this case Lynn Pugh at Cane Creek Farm in Cumming. 

The crops in the field are hanging in there but I am beginning to see the effects of the rain on the squash, tomatoes, beans and more.  I can’t do much about saturated soils but I do what I can to maximize the air flow such as a mini-trellis my brother Jeff helped me put up for the bush beans the other day.   My friend Marc came this week and we thinned out the tomatoes and beans to maximize the air flow and did some major weeding on the okra and sweet potato rows - Thank You Marc!  I finally broke down on sunday and plugged in the dehumidifier in the solar sunroom to help the garlic drying process.  Attached is a photo of the first round of garlic curing in the sunroom – I ended up digging the remaining 30 feet of garlic last Saturday eve in the rain – yuk!   After losing almost 2000 heads of garlic last season due to wet weather, I am determined this year to not repeat that tragedy!

 Farm Food Favorites: Beets

Cut the greens off your beets and enjoy as a salad or sautee with garlic and olive oil. 

Take the beets, drizzle 1 Tbsp. olive oil and roast at 350 in a pan with the lid on for about 45 minutes (for large beets) until tender when pierced with a fork.  Remove, cool and peel.  Cube up beets and can eat plain or to jazz it up add chopped Italian parsley, walnuts and blue cheese.  Can also add olive oil or balsamic vinegar to make a light dressing if desired. 

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 am in front of Butlers II Antiques on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

7.04.2013
Well, big fun and big success with the Field Day.  For me it was a celebration of years of hard work and at the end of the day the best word to describe how I felt was joy.  We had a beautiful day and had 86 people come from as far away as Blairsville, Gainesville even Atlanta.  We had several local folks including some Clayton CSA members - Thank You!  What an honor to have so many visitors to the farm who share an interest in healthy, local food.  Two things we learned… Georgia has the second highest childhood obesity rate in the 
nation and that 90% of the major food crops grown in the US – including corn, soybeans and beets are all Genetically Modified (GMO).  I find both those statistics totally unacceptable and confirmation that there is much work to be done!   It was most definitely a team effort to pull this Field Day off.  A big thank you to my Mom, brother Jeff, event sponsors Frank, Susan and Doug, as well as CSA members Skip and Edie who were all so generous with their time and talents.

Now its back to work with the business of farming.  The rain has continued and so have the weeds.  It seems much of what has happened this season has been “just in the knick of time”.  Last week’s weeding and trellising of the tomatoes (we all owe a big thank you to Margie for her help with the maters) and this week it was the weed eating around the butternut squash, carrots, beets and more.    Decided today it was necessary to stakes up the next crop of beans, as was concerned they would rot with all the rain.  It’s a daily harvesting of cucumbers these days (get ready here they come…) but the tomatoes are still just a wee bit off.  The plants are loaded with fruit again this year, just waiting for a bit more sunshine to set them a turnin.

 Farm Food Favorites: Lemon Sorrel

A new item this season is the Lemon Sorrel.  For the Field Day lunch Jenny took chevre goat cheese combined with basil and wrapped in sorrel leaves.  You could also use as a last minute addition to stir fry, slice into ribbons and add to lightly steamed (5-6 minutes) green beans or could add to marinated veggies with apple cider or red wine vinegar. Get ready for a treat.  

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 am in front of Butlers II Antiques.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

6.16.2013
The hay got cut this week which is always something I look forward to.  I love the sweet smell of the cut hay and the fields look so pretty and fresh with the giant bales scattered throughout the fields.  The bluebirds, goldfinches, purple martins and others fly around in a frenzy catching insects and this year two hawks spent hours circling above the fields hunting for field mice in the freshly mown fields.  It’s a lot of work to put up the hay – takes two men two full days – and requires a lot of heavy, expensive equipment.  We are lucky to
have our neighbor Frederick and his brother, Alan, to cut our hay.  They feed the hay to their cows and this year sold some to our other neighbor, Dr. Lent, for his cows.  Cutting hay is one of those dying arts, as the younger generation can’t afford to purchase and repair all the equipment needed to cut hay.  I worry about who is going to cut the hay when the Fredericks of the world can no longer cut hay.  This is one of the many challenges facing us all (either directly or indirectly), as the average age of farmers in this country is 72.

The fields are transitioning from spring to summer and you will begin to see the change in the weekly offering.  While not quite ready for prime time, the squash, cukes, beans and tomatoes are just beginning to do their thing.  I planted the last 200 feet of okra this week, the October Beans and Crowder Peas went in the ground, another round of sunflowers, the last of the peppers and last but not least, the pumpkins!!!           

 Farm Food Favorites: Kale Chips

They've been such a hit at pickup (thanks Mom!).  To make your own remove the center spine of the kale and tear into bite size pieces.  Make sure kale is DRY and blot with paper towel if not (otherwise will not crisp up).  Put 1 tbsp olive oil on a cookie sheet, rub kale onto sheet to lightly coat leaves with olive oil.  Sprinkle garlic salt and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Enjoy.

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 pm in front of Butler's II on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

6.10.2013
It’s an exciting time to be an organic farmer.  Unprecedented interest and demand for healthy local food, worldwide outrage over Monsanto’s latest attempt to control our food supply and further poison our world, the list goes on and on.  People everywhere are Discussing food, Cooking food, Enjoying food.  It really is one of those things that touches everyone – 3 times a day.  It has a huge ripple effect on our climate patterns, our natural resources and the social structure we call community.  I feel honored to be involved in this movement. 

Now that both the Cabbagetown and Clayton CSA deliveries are in full swing, markets are buzzing and I have also begun limited deliveries for my restaurant customers, more of my time each week is spent harvesting and with customers.  I find it hard to keep up with the field maintenance but the weeds don’t stop.  The 600 row feet of potatoes got hilled this past week, the second round of beets and carrots thinned and the first of the garlic pulled and prepped for curing.  The bean beetles have been particularly horrendous this year.  I could walk down the bean rows 10 times and manage to find more beetles – argh!  I took a photo recently of the wild blackberries in bloom at the entrance to our farm.  Don’t miss the honeybee visiting the flowers. 

Several garlic scape ideas to share with you all.  At last weekends market our guest chef Jamie blanched garlic scapes for 3 minutes then pickled in an apple cider/vinegar/ herb brine – they were delicious!  I made a pesto this week which was fantastic (note: you would need a food processor or I used my handy Magic Bullet - I don’t think a blender would pulverize the scapes enough.)

 Farm Food Favorites: Garlic Scape Pesto

3 garlic scapes finely chopped (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), 1/3 cup slivered almonds (I toasted them which was great), up to 1/2 cup olive oil and sea salt.  Combine all in food processor then added to pasta.  Top with grated parmesan – Total Yum!

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 in front of Butler's II on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

6.03.2013
A couple inches of soft rain this week has brought the fields back to life.  The weeding, potato hilling and bed preparation for the okra were all on hold until we got some rain.  It has been the perfect kind of farm rain that soaks into the ground, doesn’t create ponds in the rows or big gulleys in the drive.  I was able to do a ton of weeding early in the week, as well as the overdue first “florida weave” staking of the 80 tomato plants.  The 300 strawberry plants continue to produce in abundance yielding about 40 pints per week.  That fruit is on the dirty dozen list of crops with the highest pesticide use but except for a few minor slugs, we really have had zero problems with them.

The sugar snap peas will be winding down so I decided to highlight them this week.  They seem to grow like soybeans in that the first week you get a few, the second week a lot and the third week a few.  It has taken me five years to figure out how to grow this crop.  Early this winter I finally concluded the problem was the bunnies, so I put up temporary bunny fencing before planting the peas in February.  Voila, this year we have sugar snaps.  The seed is certified organic but has some off types which make a tougher pea, so I hope to over time eliminate those by saving my own seed. 

Farm Food Favorites: Sugar Snap Peas

Enjoy as a delicious raw snack or lightly steam for 3-5 minutes and add to pasta.  

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA/Co-op pickup from 9:30 until 11:30 in front of Butler's Antiques on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

5.28.2013 

It’s been a hot, dry week at the farm and I spent most all of two days this week putting out drip tape irrigation to the three fields.  I am so grateful to have this 6000 gallon rainwater cistern system as an option, as I think back to the first two years of farming at Ladybug Farms where our watering system consisted of countless trips to refill two 55 gallon barrels in the back of our pickup and dragging hoses everywhere!  The three varieties of beans and multiple varieties of winter squash are peeking through and temporary bunny and crow barriers to protect the small seedlings are in place.  The basil, parsley, sorrel, peppers and ground cherries all got transplanted and are grateful to be out of that hot greenhouse.  Last but certainly not least all 80 heirloom tomato plants are in the ground and the staking of those three 100 ft. rows will begin next week. 

I decided to highlight radishes this week.  This is one of those veggies I never even ate before farming.  They are an ancient vegetable, showing up in Egyptian hieroglyphics and were part of the diet of the pyramid builders 2,700 years ago.  In the 18th century they were regarded as great relievers of the common cold, powerful fortifiers of digestion and useful in breaking down kidney stones – Who Knew??? 

Radishes – French Breakfast and Cherry Belle varieties (more on the way later in the season)

Slice thinly, squeeze a lemon, sprinkle with salt and enjoy as an appetizer.  Alternatively, enjoy Radishes after your meal - the French regard radishes as an after item for cleansing the palate and an aid in digestion...

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at our first CSA pickup of the season from 9:30 until 11:30 in front of Butler’s Antiques on Main Street.  Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

5.21.2013

Cranking it into high gear this week as it is the second quarter moon and is the time to plant tomatoes, squash, peppers, basil, okra, sweet potatoes, parsley, beans, soybeans, sunflowers, zinnias and more…  After this week the sunroom and greenhouse will be about empty but I am ready to transition watering plants inside to weeding plants outside.  I’ve attached a photo of the solar sunroom on the rear of my cabin with the awning extended.  It was 120 degrees inside today with the clear roof and sunny day – much too hot for the plants still inside.  In minutes the temperature dropped to 90 once the awning was opened – amazing!

The radishes are just beginning to come in and I decided to highlight them this week.  This is one of those veggies I never even ate before farming.  They are an ancient vegetable, showing up in Egyptian hieroglyphics and were part of the diet of the pyramid builders 2,700 years ago.  In the 18th century they were regarded as great relievers of the common cold, powerful fortifiers of digestion and useful in breaking down kidney stones – Who Knew??? 

Radishes – French Breakfast and Cherry Belle varieties (more on the way later in the season)

Slice thinly, squeeze a lemon, sprinkle with salt and enjoy as an appetizer.  Alternatively, enjoy Radishes after your meal - the French regard radishes as an after dinner cleansing the palate (aid in digestion) item...

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA pickup from 6:30 until 8:00 pm - H building patio at the Stacks.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

5.14.2013

The Veggies are Coming, the Veggies are Coming…  Dust off your coolers, pull out your veggie bags and clean up your grilling utensils – it’s time for the 2013 CSA season to begin J 

This pretty much has seemed to be the winter that will not end.  Big accomplishment this winter was the completion of a passive solar sunroom with a due south exposure on the back side of my cabin. 
We held a blessing ceremony at its completion this winter – a surprise snowstorm arrived 2 hrs before the ceremony – rather fitting for this winter’s weather.  The sunroom has come in quite handy as far back as early February when I started the first round of seedlings.  Winter keeps lingering on and even last night (on Mothers Day no less), Mom and I were out from 7:30 pm until dark covering the squash, cucumbers, concord grapes and more as a freeze was predicted, again.  Good thing we did, as this morning the field in front of my cabin as well as the lower field had yet another blanket of frost.  The tomato plants (aka small tomato trees) are 3 feet tall and begging to be transplanted into the field, but I am waiting until this latest round of cold weather ends.  The spring greens, however, have thrived on this cool, wet weather so get ready for some yummyness.  I’ve also had success overwintering carrots and potatoes for the first time and am excited about the diversity so early in the season. Things are shaping up to be a really good year and I am looking forward to enjoying another season of Tuesday night deliveries and gatherings.      

The Spicy Mustard is doing really well and is featured in this week’s Farm Food Favorites:       

Mustard, Kale and Lettuce Salad

We get the most nutrition from our greens eating them raw and spring is the time our bodies crave greens.  Mix all three greens together for a crunchy salad treat.  The horseradish kick of the mustard goes great with the kale flavor and I’d recommend mixing ¼ mustard, ¼ kale and ½ lettuce.  Enjoy! 

Thank you again to each of you for your support this season.  I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow at the CSA pickup from 6:30 until 8:00 pm - H building patio at the Stacks.    Please bring a bag for your goodies.

Until next week…

Terri


No comments:

Post a Comment