LETTUCE  The first heads from the fall patch.  Forellenshluss, the Austrian speckled romaine starts the season.

BEETS  We were going to offer a choice with salad turnips, but alas the turnips are not that great.  We’ll supply some to the swap boxes for any extreme turnip lovers.

GREENS CHOICE  Kale, chard or sprouting broccoli.

SWEET PEPPERS  Good harvest of ripe sweeties!

POTATOES  Desiree variety:  pink outside, creamy yellow inside.

ONIONS  Red ones

HERB CHOICE  thyme or parsley.

IN TWO WEEKS:  lettuce, greens, peppers, carrots, garlic and sweet potatoes.

FARM REPORT:
Fall is my favorite time of year.  The pressures of planting schedules are behind us and the weather is still warm enough to ripen peppers but cool enough for leafy greens.

A new fall tradition began last week with the first ever harvest of native grass seed on the Graff farm.  While Tom and I manage the 20 acres of the vegetable farm, buildings and ponds, my father manages the other 260 acres. Back in 2012, he had the farm seeded with a mixture of native grasses and forbs.  Unfortunately, 2012 was a drought year and much of the seed did not sprout.  We followed the advice of conservationists, and over the last five years we have burned the grasses every Spring.  Much of what was bare ground in 2012 is now covered by a beautiful blanket of Indian grass along with lots of wildflowers and other grasses.  Not only do these prairie plants prevent soil erosion and provide habitat to wildlife, but the seed can be combined and sold to others who want to plant native grasses on their land.  Our first harvest was over 10,000 lbs. of seed.  Not too shabby!

Our newest member of the farm family, Sandy, has been adjusting to his new life on the farm.  He went in to Lawson Animal Hospital for his first checkup and received his first round of vaccinations.  They reckon he is about 5 months old and in good health.  He joins us in the fields when the weather is nice but spends his night indoors for now.  There is still much for him to learn about being a good farm cat and we hope that Mommakitty will provide him a mentor.

The weather remains beautiful this year. Lots of sun, rain in showers not buckets, comfortable chickens, and a great bounty. As we head deeper into fall the meals change to comfort food, with lots of hearty root vegetables and savory greens.

It’s beets for all this week, as we pull them at their prime. While we know they are not for everyone, we hope that our September 2009 suggestion of Beet Hash will become a favorite. Either thyme or parsley goes well with this dish. You can add a little honey and vinegar to give this recipe a sweet/sour edge.

August 8th

October 3rd

The last view of our sabbatical fields was in our August 8th blog post.  At this point in the season all of our 2017 cover crops are planted and we are tilling in the last of the sorghum sudan grass. This feeding ends a good rest for this field, one we hope helps with future production.

The grasses in the chicken yard have grown almost high enough the hide the movable coop. It is a nice feature for some cover crops, to regrow after mowing or tilling, giving us a second crop of biomass before the winter sets in. All of this composting in place is your meal’s meal.

KALE  The kale is the prettiest plant on the farm, lush and blue-green, full of nutrients.

CARROTS  big and sweet out of cold storage.

GARLIC hardneck

SPROUTING BROCCOLI  the first fall heads.

SWEET PEPPERS a few more continue to ripen until frost.

RADISHES  fresh from the muddy earth.

ARUGULA  the prelude to the lettuces that should be ready in two weeks.

TOMATOES  a few continue to ripen.

IN TWO WEEKS:  potatoes, onions, peppers, chard, kale, sprouting broccoli and lettuce.

FARM REPORT:
Your farmers took a vacation last week and left the farm for the sand hills of Nebraska.  We had a great time camping, seeing the sights and exploring the natural world to our northwest.

A big bear hug of a thank you to Todd, Jody and Brendan who held down the fort while we were away.   It’s not just anyone who can keep the farm running smoothly with the crops, chickens, high tunnel and greenhouse.  A big part of the daily chores is caring for the 100+ hens.  Half of the flock is working on the Spring cabbage beds; the other is working on turning in the sorghum Sudan grass cover crop.

Our first day back, we welcomed a traveler from part’s unknown.  Sandy we are calling him at the moment is a clown and a snuggler.  We are hoping Mommakitty warms to him in time and maybe can teach him how to be a good farm cat.

Yesterday we planted lettuces, bok choy and tat soi, cilantro, chard and sprouting broccoli in the high tunnel. 

These plants will be in the shares in November, but for now we enjoy the harvest out in the fields where the wild creatures share the rows with us.

Setting up camp, cooking and dining was the order for three nights of our vacation. State park fire rings are great places to cook. We have a nice dutch oven that can cook enough roasted vegetables to last a few days. Parker Farm brauts and some Fair Share Ferments round out a favorite meal.

On our way back from the Sand Hills of Nebraska we stopped at several parks with restored sites along the Oregon Trail. At Rock Creek the restored wagons are lined up right on the trail. The path ahead is worn down, and you can get a sense of just how busy the area once was.

On Saturday we went to Dunn Ranch to learn more about native grasslands in Missouri. Yet another way that carbon is sequestered biologically. It’s a beautiful and diverse sight, too many plants and animals and fungus to know, and understand their interactions.

I cannot recall when I have lived through a milder August. A month in the 80’s did wonders for the farmers and the plants. We planted the kale on 8/1 and they have grown into robust plants that we hope will produce until Thanksgiving and beyond.

These greens go well with the other items in your share, in particular the potatoes and rosemary. They say when things are in season they naturally go together, and this week’s recipe is an example of that.

Potatoes and Kale with Rosemary
Ingredients:
2 pounds of potatoes, cut into chunks and
1 bunch kale, destemmed and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the kale, salt and pepper. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add the cooked potatoes, reduce heat to medium, cover. Cook for 4 minutes.
3. Stir in rosemary and oil. Cook for 5 more minutes or until desired tenderness.

GREENS CHOICE  The greens are back!  A mixed kale bunch or Swiss chard.

PURPLE VIKING POTATOES  Expect a good amount of potatoes for awhile.  Thanks to the CSA we got the last of them out Labor Day weekend.  Here’s to Labor!

RED ONIONS  A nice mix of varieties.

SWEET PEPPERS  They are ripening slower now with the cool temperatures.  46 degrees F is the forecast for tonight.  Brrr!

CUCUMBER OR SQUASH  Last of the season we think.

ROSEMARY  One beautiful bush in the corner of the high tunnel is growing gangbusters!

IN TWO WEEKS:  Potatoes, garlic, carrots, greens, maybe radishes.

FARM REPORT:
The natural world has been center stage on the farm for the better part of the summer.  The double rainbow/solar eclipse juggernaut continues.  Everywhere we turn there is some creature that is beautifully unique and intricately working on it’s task at hand.  Gathering food from the fields is our work whether winged or on foot.

The wild patch of sunflowers provide a tall offering of pollen and nectar.

Meanwhile on land others hunt live prey.

This is not even including the large pileated woodpecker who has been in the trees surrounding our field for the past few weeks.  It’s the size of a crow and just as loud.  Back on land the Monarch caterpillars are on the vining milkweed and growing nicely.   Hopefully cold weather holds off long enough for all of the farm’s harvesters to finish their work.

SWEET PEPPERS  the plants are loaded with red and yellow fruits.

CUCUMBERS

GARLIC  hardneck

TOMATOES the peak has passed, so maybe this is the last week for awhile.

SQUASH a zucchini or yellow squash

CARROTS orange sweeties

BASIL

IN TWO WEEKS:  more peppers, squash, potatoes and onions with maybe some greens.

FARM REPORT:

This week was incredible.  I really have lost the words, so I’ll mostly let the photos speak for themselves.

We cannot complain about this year’s harvest.  One highlight are the purple potatoes.

On Friday the farm was covered in a full double rainbow.

And then on Monday we had a magnificent view of the solar eclipse.  The skies seemed to part just for our ragtag group of 100 members, friends and family.  See Tom’s post for photos of the incredible eclipse.

Hard to talk about anything but the eclipse watch party this week. Drama filled the day for the attendees. Rain, clouds, lightening and discouraging weather apps lowered expectations for the day. But then, just as the moon started its transit, the clouds cleared. It was the clearest of skies for totality, as the moon’s shadow ran across Fair Share Farm.

Here are a few highlights:

Lots of rain

Pre-eclipse potluck

Here come the moon

Instant photo of totality

Videographer Paul Shirley from Austin took this video of the eclipse at our farm. Thanks for this wonderful record of this event @paullikescameras. 

SWEET PEPPERS  our pepper plants are growing gang-busters.  These waist-high plants are loaded with ripening fruits.  Our favorite, Carmen, has a slender sweet red fruit.

TOMATOES  Another nice round from our little tomato patch.  We have now picked over a ton (that’s 2,000 lbs. folks off of 200′ plants)

RED POTATOES

WALLA WALLA ONIONS  Sweet ones should be used soon.

CUCUMBERS

SQUASH either 1 zucchini or yellow squash.

BASIL

IN TWO WEEKS:  more peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and garlic.

FARM REPORT:
With half of the harvest behind us and half left to go, 2017 is the running for the best season yet.  Add to it this beautiful mid-70s temperatures and you’ve got the frosting on the cake.  It is a good time to be a farmer, for sure!  The favorite vantage point to capture the beauty of the season is in front of the peppers with the sunflowers towering overhead.

While we tend the home field of crops, the far field continues to grow chickens and cover crops.  We moved both hen houses to new spots in the field this week.  When we move them it is a good chance to count as each chicken comes out of the coop.  We had been worried that we had lost some to predators, but nope we still have about 100 between the two flocks.

The mildness of August so far has been refreshing. I think the plants and chickens have enjoyed it too. It’s been a good time to harvest, as the potatoes are ready to be dug, and the peppers continue to ripen.

A standard dish around here with the type of ingredients in this week’s share is fried potatoes with sweet peppers and onions. Our recipe from 2009 has a few extra ingredients in it, so you can do the same and add whatever else suits your hunger and taste.

Another nice thing to add to a fried potato dish is Fair Share Farm sauerkraut. The two are a great combination.

The first jars of this year’s kraut are destined for the Ferment Share members, and all of you who use the bulk list. The cabbage is from our spring harvest, and the salt is from an ancient sea deposit in Redmond, Utah. Good stuff.