Our best harvest yet of green zebras

TOMATOES: Peak tomato season continues.  You will definitely get some green zebra in your share this week. We think they are one of the most flavorful heirloom varieties out there.

RED ONIONS: Most every dish we cook it seems starts with onions. The red onions look great in a tomato salad, with fresh lettuce, or cooked with the sprouting broccoli.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: The first pickings from the fall patch.  The crunchy stem makes a nice crudité item. Cut the stalks at an angle to make elongated, chip-like snacks.

RADISH/TURNIP BUNCH: these will be spicy due to the recent heat. They make for a spicy sandwhich, or are good grated and salted for use in fresh salad.  In general, salting root vegetables improves their flavor.
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LETTUCE: The varieties we hand out this week will vary depending on your pickup. The red leaf lettuce has shot past the other types and is being harvested first. There will be a mix of red and green lettuce later in the week. Make the most of the summer and enjoy your lettuce with you Fair Share Farm tomatoes.

OKRA/EGGPLANT/PEPPER CHOICE: Always tough to choose with so delicious a trio of vegetables. Keep you okra dry when you cook it to keep it from getting too slippery. The pods are such a flavorful vegetable.

KALE: The third week of kale. While it may seem like a lot we hope that one bunch every two weeks finds its way into you meal planning. If you keep it in a plastic bag in the crisper it will keep well between shares.

CILANTRO/DILL: A mixed bunch of these two fragrant fresh herbs. It’s the rare time of year when tomatoes and cilantro are in the share together.  Time for some salsa.

FARM REPORT
As we must feed the membership, we must also feed the soil. This photo shows our two key steps in growing healthy organic produce:  chickens and cover crops.  The August rains helped the summer-seeded cover crops of sorghum Sudan grass and cowpeas flourish. They look great next to the chicken yard. The scratching and eating and the birds do (along with their fertilizing) will prep the beds for overwintering and then a Spring planting.

Fall is almost here (Saturday night!).  Our fall crops of roots and greens are ready.  So are the farmers who have had enough of the 90 deg. F weather.  Come on fall!!!

LETTUCE x2: The soaking rains have helped the lettuce size up nicely. Expect a couple crisp-leafed lettuces in your share.

TOMATOES: Having our tomato harvest peak after Labor Day is a new one for us. Enjoy this bounty in your share, and purchase tomato seconds from the bulk list if you would like to put some up for the winter.

ARTICHOKE GARLIC: This week’s garlic is a softneck variety.

KALE OR SPROUTING BROCCOLI: Another item in the share where the time of week you pick up will affect what greens are available. Wednesday shares get mainly kale while later in the week the sprouting broccoli harvest could begin. Try out this kale recipe from our May, 2014 blog.

DESIREE POTATOES: These creamy potatoes go well with greens or roasted with some garlic and herbs..

CHOICE:  Okra, eggplant, cucumbers or sweet peppers. Expect more okra in the choice earlier in the week.

SUMMER SQUASH: These nice size zucchini and squash are perfect for making noodles. Top them with a fresh tomato sauce, and you have a wonderful late summer main course.

RIPE RED JALAPENOS:  Everyone gets a couple to add some heat and color to your dishes.

HERB CHOICE:  Summer savory or Parsley

FARM REPORT:

The days are getting shorter and there’s no time to waste in preparing for fall.  Today, we took the tarp out of the high tunnel where it had been for the last month.  It simultaneously encouraged the digestion of the cover crop and blocked the growth of weeds.

It’s a big job moving our 100′ x 50′ tarp around.  Luckily, Lucas (farm apprentice 2011, employee 2013) returned to the farm just in time to help with the task.  Welcome back, Luke!

In no time, we had the beds prepped and first seeds (spinach!!) in the ground. Check out our May 24 and July 26 Instagram feeds to see some of the steps we take to get to this point. And if you don’t already, follow us on Instagram.

On Labor day we had some help from dear friends in coaxing the chicks outside for the first time.  Percy sprinkled grass on the ramp to convince them to be brave.

TROPEA ONIONS: We love to grow these beautiful onions that come from farmer Tom’s ancestral homeland of Calabria, Italy. Brought to the Italian peninsula by the Phoenicians, this ancient allium has a beautify elongated shape and sharp, sweet taste.

TOMATOES: Our summer planting is beginning to bear fruit. We plant this variety because they will set fruit in the heat of summer. A garden variety tomato, use it fresh or cooked.

KALE: This crop has grown quite quickly since we planted it on August 8th. The leaves are tender and tasty. If you like fresh kale salad, this is the week for it.

CARROTS: Harvested in July, these jewels have spent their time in the cooler sweetening up. Be sure to eat some fresh.

SQUASH: Our second planting of squash is beginning to fruit, just in time for this week’s shares.

CUCUMBER: Like the tomatoes and squash, the pickling cukes are also a second planting. While the cukes are growing well we are able to harvest for the CSA one week and for garlic pickle chunks the other.

This week I made a wonderful creamy gazpacho with Companionship Bread’s jalapeno loaf, some cukes, tomatoes, onion and squash. This cool summer soup will be perfect this hot weekend.

PEPPER/EGGPLANT/OKRA CHOICE: A choice of versatile vegetables.

GARLIC CHIVE FLOWERS: The recent rain perked up the garlic chives, and our patio is about to become a garden of small white flowers. The flower buds can be used to garnish most any dish, fresh or cooked, that you make with your share.

FARM REPORT:
Since our last report, the farm received over 5 inches of glorious rain!  Hooray!  The drought is not officially over, but the cracks in the earth have closed, the irrigation pond collected water and everything has exploded with lush green growth.

While rain is tremendously exciting for a drought-weary farmer, nothing puts a smile on your face like a box of day-old chicks.  88 little fluffballs arrived on Thursday and were quickly settled in their brooder where they will stay warm and dry for the next few weeks.  Before long, they will be allowed outside to explore their new world, and then in six months we should start collecting eggs from them.  But for now, they just pay us in cuteness.

TOMATOES: A good mix of heirloom tomatoes this week. Enjoy these during this peak time period. Lots of water and work has gone into these beauties. Green Zebra, a favorite heirloom of ours, is ripe when green.

POTATOES: I can think of nothing better than a fresh potato salad this time of year. Potato, Onion and Cutting Celery, and German Potato Salad are a couple nice options. Any of the herbs in your share this week goes well with potatoes.

GARLIC: The garlic is at its perfect stage, freshly cured, juicy and flavorful.

SWEET PEPPERS: When they are in the house we regularly add our sweet peppers to any tomato or pizza sauce. Cut them thin and they need very little cooking.

BEANS: We’ve been patiently awaiting the bean harvest. This hot dry weather has created a halting growth pattern with the beans. Thanks to the CSA farm crew for helping with the Saturday harvests.

CUCUMBER: A second planting is giving us an extension of these summer fruits. These are all of the pickling variety.

OKRA/EGGPLANT/CABBAGE CHOICE: Harvest will dictate this mix, but look for a bit of everything.

HERB MIX: You will get a mix of herbs that will include some but not all of the following: parsley, cutting celery, summer savory, chives and marjoram.

FARM REPORT:
What a summer!  Phew! The heat and drought continue to dominate.  Most of the rain that has fallen in our region over the last month or two has missed us.  Here’s the latest drought map:

In the background, you can also see hay bales from the native grass fields.  With dry pastures, our neighboring ranchers are needing hay for their livestock.  Native warm-season grasses are still green and lush and so we have had some of the fields baled for hay.

Thanks to the irrigation pond, we have happy plants growing for the fall.

CARROTS: These beauties were a question mark in April when they sprouted in the field and overnight temps in the low 20’s required some hustling from the farmers to protect them. Our efforts paid off, and we have had a good harvest. Thanks to all who helped dig them.

ONIONS: More of our sweet Walla Walla’s. A perfect choice if you want to put raw onion into your tomato and pepper fresh salad. Slice them thin, salt a bit, and savor their flavor.

SWEET PEPPERS: It is a wonderful time of year when we start to see the peppers turning colors. All are good fresh or cooked. The red bull horn type Carmen’s are thin walled and best chopped or fried. The thicker walled yellow Escamillo and red/orange Islander can be roasted and peeled.

VEGGIE CHOICE: This week you can choose from salsa pack, okra, eggplant or squash. For you newbies, the salsa pack instructions for fresh salsa are here and roasted salsa are here.

HERBS: Top those salads and salsas with some fresh herbs. This week is a choice of parsley, summer savory, chives or herb fennel.

Recipe suggestions:
While we have not been posting regular new recipes for the shares, we hope that you have been using the many resources we have developed over our 15 CSA seasons. You can search for recipes within the Fair Share Farm system a couple ways.

1. Simply use the search bar at the left top of this page for recipes that have been on the blog.
2. Follow this link www.fairsharefarm.com/archive/info/recipes.html and search our old website.
3. Join the Fair Share Farm CSA Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/fairsharefarmcsa/) and check out all the recipe suggestions from your fellow members.

FARM REPORT:
 With many severe storms south and north of us last week, I guess we cannot complain too much about the dry weather.

Luckily, the irrigation pond is still fairly full of water, which we are carefully using to water in the fall crops.

This truckload of cabbage plants went in the ground last week.  When we aren’t keeping the new plants watered, we turn the irrigation on the summer fruits like the peppers.  Peppers love water and need a good drink at least once per week.  So far, we have managed to keep them growing an making nice fruits for the shares.

 

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MUSIC GARLIC: The heads are still in the curing process, which means they are extra juicy. We love this hard-neck garlic with its half dozen or more nice size cloves, as it is easy to separate and clean.

TOMATOES: A mix of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes of multiple colors. We irrigate as much as possible right now to keep these beauties juicy and the plants happy.

POTATOES:  These Red Pontiacs are the first we have dug this year. Red skin with white flesh they are great cut into chunks, steamed until tender, and tossed with butter, salt and this week’s summer savory and parsley herb mix.

SQUASH: After this week the zucchini and yellow squash will be on hiatus. We have a second planting underway that we will try to nurse through the next 5 days of 99.9 degree heat.

CUCUMBER: Enjoy this week’s cucumbers, as the first planting’s harvest is about done. A second planting is growing for later in the season.

SWEET PEPPERS: The peppers continue to grow, and they are slowing starting to take on some color. This weeks peppers will be green or purple with some blush. Our October 5, 2005 newsletter (our original blog) has 4 recipes for green peppers.  It also has news from the farm from 13 years ago. Ah, memories.

HERB MIX: The irrigation has kept the summer savory and parsley lush so far. A good harvest will be good for them as the heat dome settles on us. Enjoy these aromatic and flavorful herbs. Chop them up and put them in potato salad, tomato sauce, squash dishes, or with meats.

We appreciate those of you who have been participating in the ferment share. This standing order for our ferments is very helpful to our venture. This week we are springing a new item on you, our Garlic Pickle Chunks. We ferment these cucumbers with a healthy dose of both garlic and cayenne pepper. Spicy, flavorful, refreshing and savory, they go well with most any summer meal. As we grow the ferment business we appreciate your comments on recipes.

FARM REPORT
The drought and heat wave one-two punch is hitting the farm hard.  Number one goal this week is keeping everyone from plants to animals to humans safe.  We start early in the morning each day to bring in the crops that are ready before they literally cook in the ground.

Hundreds of row feet of carrots and onions are waiting to be brought in.  The fermenting kitchen with it’s little a/c unit has become a refuge for ripening tomatoes, curing onions, sprouting fall seeds and farmers who need to cool off.

Once the fall seeds sprout in the kitchen they are moved to the shade structure by the greenhouse.

So far the plants are happily ignorant of the blast furnace outside their shady spot.  By the end of the month, they will be ready to go out to the fields.  Hopefully it will be cooler by then!

GREEN ONIONS: First of the sweet Walla Wallas from the fields.  If you like to use onions raw in a recipe, these are the ones.

CABBAGE: The cabbage is as crisp as can be. It is always good to salt cabbage after cutting. It helps retain its crunchy texture.

YELLOW SQUASH and ZUCCHINI: This true fruit of summer is producing well at the moment.  Any of the zucchini or yellow squash make great “zoodles”. We have a hand peeler that cuts the squash into thin noodles, called zoodles. Butter or oil, salt and pepper are all you need to cook up a tasty plate of vegetables.

BASIL: You can make basil pesto with a variety of ingredients. You can substitute sunflower seeds or pecans for the pine nuts. Any leftover garlic scapes sub well for fresh garlic, and grated Skyview cheese can take the place of parmesan.

CUCUMBERS: Peak cucumber harvest is underway. Like the cabbage, salt your cukes after cutting to help them retain crispness. They are delicious with a sweet onion.

SWEET PEPPER: As the pepper plants fill with fruit we are doing a bit of thinning to keep growth steady. Enjoy these first fruits.

CARROTS: The carrot harvest begins in earnest tomorrow morning.  Mainly orange varieties are ready with a sprinkling of yellows.

TOMATO: Surprise! Ripe slicing tomatoes in a June share is not the norm. Thank the heat for the early ripening of both the heirloom and hybrid types. The yellow and orange varieties tend to be less acidic than the red and purple tomatoes.

FARM REPORT:

Harvest at the farm has quickly gone from leafy and light salad greens to heavy fruits of squash and cucumber along with dense cabbages.  Each day another haul of heavy crates comes in from the field buoying our spirits along.  

Bright flowers bring cheer to all who spend time in the patch.  If you are in the neighborhood, come on by and pick an armload of them.  The zinnias are bursting with flowers and could use some pickers to keep them coming.  CSA members can pick them for free, so don’t be shy!

While Summer heats back up, we have started the first crops of Fall.  In the greenhouse the first cabbages are sprouting in their flats.  This little seedling will hopefully grow into a hefty head by October and feed us well.

LETTUCE: This is it for awhile. These romaines and red leaf lettuces in the shares have seen a very hot spring and have done well under the circumstances. A hearty mustard or yogurt based dressing with some green onions and fresh sprouting broccoli is a great green accompaniment to a summer barbeque meal.

SUMMER SQUASH: Tender zucchinis and yellow squashes from the first picking. In the mix is a new yellow squash variety we are trialing. It is very flavorful and does not have a lot of seeds.

GREEN ONIONS: Fresh shoots go great with about everything.

CUCUMBER: Very first from the patch. We mainly grow pickling types which tend to be firmer and crunchier. A light salting after chopping helps keep them firm.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI: Still delicious in week 5 of the season. This versatile vegetable has made our job easier as it is more productive and reliable than the head broccoli we previously grew.

KOHLRABI: A must for any vegetable CSA, this is the only week of the season you will get the crunchy and tasty kohlrabi. Peel well and eat raw.

BASIL/HERB MIX: The basil patch is ready for its first picking. We will mix in other herbs from around the farm that are also ready for the picking. Expect some parsley or summer savory with your basil.

FARM REPORT:
The heat continues which means an end to the lettuce harvest.  We ate a lot of salads over the past few months and really we are surprised to have one last week of romaine to fill the shares.  Despite the 11 days at 90 deg. F. or above in the last 30 days, the lettuce patch took us from freezing in April to cooking in June.

It has been pretty dry here and we had the irrigation running regularly, but last night three-quarters of an inch of ran fell.  It really perked up the fields. especially the potatoes and onions in the far field that don’t have any irrigation tape. It is a big job to put tape down on all of those beds and so far Mother Nature has watered them enough.  We planted an insectary strip between the potatoes and the onions.  The beneficial insects that are attracted to the flowers in the insectary are helping to control pests on both crops.

Insectary plants include buckwheat, radishes, dill, cilantro, alyssum, and phacelia.  Another insectary on the farm is the cut flower bed.  Filled with mostly zinnias, it is open for free u-pick for members.  If you order off the bulk list we will cut them for you and send them in to your distribution site.

Last week we moved the laying flock into a block of an oat and pea cover crop.  They are enjoying eating through the canopy that is also providing them some shade in this heat.

STRAWBERRIES: The heat has been tough on the berries and the pickers but you can’t help but enjoy these delights of May. Strawberry dressing is always good this time of year.

SUGAR SNAP PEAS:  We took a break from these last year, but they are back on the roster. They are just starting, so it may be a small amount this week.

SPROUTING BROCCOLI:  Good raw with some strawberry dressing for dip, or cooked any way you would prepare broccoli.

GREEN ONIONS: Our bunching onions have sized up and we are happy to be able to add this fresh allium to the share.

KALE OR SWISS CHARD:  Get your green on!

GARLIC SCAPES: The tender flower stalk of the hardneck garlic plant.  Chop and add to anything as you would garlic.  The scapes are coming on a bit later than normal, but will have some for everyone this week.

LETTUCE (3 HEADS): While it sounds like a lot, we hope that the lettuce can grace your everyday meals for the next two weeks. The heat is not going to let them last much longer.  We have four types in varying stages of maturity. The butterhead and red leaf are the perfect thing for a tender salad. The crisp head and romaine varieties are what you want to top that burger or make a Caesar salad.

IN TWO WEEKS:  lettuce, greens, beets, sprouting broccoli, kohlrabi.

FARM REPORT:
It is sizzling hot out here, in case anyone hasn’t noticed.  I could easily complain about the tip burn on the lettuces, the sunburn on the strawberries or the fact that the chickens are panting in whatever shade they can find.  Any farmer loves to complain about the weather, but it does little good.  We are seeing record-breaking heat and summer is a month away. 

Despite it all, the fact is we are all still eating pretty well.  Right now the farm is one big leafy quilt in various shades of green.  The solar panels at the irrigation pond provide the water, the soil provides the fertility and all we humans have to do is keep up with the harvest to make sure none of it goes to waste. . . and sweat.  We can’t avoid the sweating.

Joining in the sweaty work his week were two former FSF apprentices, Lucas (2011) and Semra (2015), who both happened to be back in the area for a spell.  Much gratitude goes to them and all of the good people that have been pitching in this season.

The new laying flock of pullets have taken over the high tunnel.  They are stripping the flowering chard and bolting spinach of their remaining leaves and in general enjoying their first experience of eating what is left behind.

Meanwhile the summer crops are growing well and will soon start producing.  We put in all of the posts and the first line of string on the tomato plants.  The summer squash and cucumbers are flowering and will soon start their first fruits.  We keep them under cover to protect them from pests.

The cover crops of peas and oats are beginning to flower and will soon be ready to turn in.