Category Archives: carrots

In the Share – Week 23

carrots, chicks

CARROTS F/P  Finally we have carrots to harvest after an unusually long hiatus throughout the summer. Most of the spring crop rotted in the ground, making these darling roots really a pleasant sight.

SWEET POTATOES F/P  Orange ones this week.

TOMATO F  Just a few left.  Frost may come on Saturday.

BROCCOLI P The last of the crop except a few side shoots

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  Mostly green peppers for you as we prepare to bring them all in before frost.

EGGPLANT F Just one small one for the full shares.

LETTUCE F/P  Butterhead or red leaf

GREENS CHOICE F  Bok choy, Swiss chard or Gai lan.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Cilantro, dill, rosemary, thyme or hot peppers

FENNEL OR KOHLRABI F Anise or broccoli flavored bulbs

GARLIC F/P  The last garlic for the 24-week CSA shares.

NEXT WEEK:  Sweet potatoes, greens, peppers, green tomatoes, carrots and beets

FARM REPORT:
The weather has turned exceptionally dry these past weeks.  No rain is good for the Outstanding in the Field dinner tomorrow night and good for the farm crew.  The irrigation pond has plenty of water so we continue to irrigate the few crops that remain in the fields. 

The 2-month old chicks are enjoying the warm weather and their expanded area in which to forage.  On Monday, we took away their “run” that had confined them to a chicken wire-enclosed area and set them free in the yard surrounded by electro-netting. As soon as the door opened they started exploring their new range and learning about electrified fencing. 

 
 
Each chick in turn would walk through the fence with a jolt and then rush back in a few seconds later.  This was a moment where we benefited from not having a dog around while each of the 60 chicks had an educational moment.  Two days later they seem to have learned the limits of their new space and are happily hunting for bugs and chasing each other, wings flapping.

In the Share – Week 9

cabbage, carrots, chicken coop, Garlic

CARROTS F/P  The carrot harvest is not good, but a few have survived the deluge.  Partial shares have a choice of carrots or potatoes

POTATOES F/P  See Tom’s post for a nice recipe with sage.

CABBAGE F  I did an informal survey with the membership last week, and the results were seem to suggest that there will be no mutiny if we give you more cabbage.  Enjoy!

ONIONS F/P  More fresh onions from the patch

ROOTS CHOICE F  A choice of beets, turnips, radishes or kohlrabi.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Basil, summer savory, mint or sage.

TOMATOES OR FINGERLING POTATOES F  Not a fun thing for us to have to do, folks.  There just aren’t enough tomatoes to go around.

SUMMER SQUASH OR CUCUMBERS F  I am hoping to get the partial shares some of these soon.  We’ll see what is in the patch in the morning.

NEXT WEEK:  Potatoes, garlic, carrots, summer squash, tomatoes and herbs.

FARM REPORT:
This summer we are enjoying the company of my 14- yr old niece, Ariel.  She has chosen to join us at the farm for the summer with some breaks for float trips and other fun summer activities with her cousins.  You can see her blonde head cleaning garlic with the CSA last Wednesday morning. 

Another 2.5 inches of rain fell last night after what was a nice little dry spell during which we were able to plant another round of cucumbers, squashes and beans.  We also got the chicken coop moved to a new a new spot. 

We like to move the chickens to fresh ground every three weeks or so.  This time they are on the highest ridge of the farm, but there were still puddles this morning after the rain. 

The first of the fall transplants, the cabbages, are a week or so away from being ready to go in the ground.

 If we can finds some dry ground in which to put them, that is.    The forecasters say it is about to get hot, sunny and dry.  That is exactly what we need to get the fall crops planted and get the summer fruits to ripen.  So, please no complaints if we finally get some summer weather!

In the Share: Week 1 extended season

carrots, food safety

CARROTS sweet roots held over from the fall harvest.

SPINACH  big leaves fresh from the high tunnel

LETTUCE  dainty butterheads and romaines

ASPARAGUS OR GAI LAN  wish we had enough asparagus for all but it is being shy so far.  Gai lan or Chinese broccoli is a nice option with its similarly tender shoots.

KALE or CHARD  or ASIAN GREENS  All out of the high tunnel.  Bok choy, tat soi and Tokyo bekana comprise the Asian greens.

GARLIC CHIVES  chopped fresh on any dish they are in their prime right now

EGGS  just for this week only.  The egg shares will start with the first week of the 24-week season (May 13/16)

GREEN ONIONS from the field patch over-wintered from 2014

GARLIC last of the 2014 harvest should be used promptly. 

NEXT WEEK:  Lettuce, radishes, hakurei turnips, asparagus, greens, gai lan, cilantro and dill.

FARM REPORT: 
The first CSA harvest of the year is here and tis the season for Spring cleaning.  The farm crew began the big job of cleaning our 100s of crates.  The wash area and packing room got a good scrub down and we are ready for the harvest. 

Food safety is a priority for the farm crew and we ask for your help in keeping Fair Share Farm a good source for clean, healthy food.  Washing hands often is good hygienic practice.  Avoiding contact with fresh produce when you have flu-like symptoms keeps possible food-borne illnesses from spreading.  Consider these practices when picking up your share as well as at the farm and in your kitchen at home.  Our produce is often rinsed at the farm but should be washed at home before consuming.  At the start of each CSA work day we have a short orientation that covers the basics of food safety.  Please arrive at the farm promptly for this important information.   

Thank you for participating in your local food system.  Happy eating!

In the Share – Week 8

carrots, flowers, Krusty

CARROTS F  The carrots are full size now and ready for harvest.  If you are at the farm this week you may be digging lots of carrots.

CUCUMBERS F/P  The cucumbers continue their onslaught. 

ZUCCHINI F/P  Check out Tom’s post about zucchini noodles.  Can’t wait to try them!

SUMMER SQUASH F  Yellow squash and Lebanese types, which are similar to a zucchini.

TROPEA RED ONIONS F/P  We are really proud of these heirloom beauties.  They hail from the region in Italy that Tom’s grandparents called home before immigrating to America.

KOHLRABI F The last of the kohlrabi until the fall season.

GREENS F  Kale, Swiss chard, or bok choy.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Basil, Thai basil or mint.

NEXT WEEK:  More cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, onions, greens, herbs.  Beets and new potatoes.

FARM REPORT:
Mornings at the farm are now fully focused on the harvest.  Beets, garlic, carrots.  Cucumbers and other summer fruits fill the bed of the truck.  The farm truck, Krusty (after the Simpson’s clown), is suited to the short daily commute to the fields and back. 

The farm’s flower patch is now open for u-pick.  If you are at the farm for pick-up or a work shift, save time to pick yourself a bouquet to take home free of charge.  Blooming now are many of the perennial flowers and the zinnias are starting.  At some point soon we will add the flowers to the bulk list if you would like to pay for a bouquet to be sent in to your distribution site.   The flowers provide food and habitat to the farm’s beneficial insects and pollinators, as well as cheering us humans in our indoor spaces. 

In the Share – Week 2

broccoli, carrots, chickens, cover crops, freeze, potatoes, tomatoes

ASPARAGUS OR BROCCOLI F/P  The freeze slowed the asparagus harvest to a non-event, luckily the broccoli is starting to mature.

RED LEAF LETTUCE F/P  We love these red ruffley lettuces.  Half green & half red they make a beautiful salad all by themselves.

BUTTERHEAD OR ROMAINE HEIRLOOM LETTUCES Full shares get one of each.  Partial shares get a choice.  The heat is kicking in and we have a lot of lettuce in the field, so we are picking extra this week to keep ahead. 

ARUGULA  Full shares get both an herb choice and arugula, partial shares choose.   Add to your salad for a nice kick.

HERB CHOICE  Cilantro, dill, tarragon

BOK CHOY/TAT SOI  Add to some fried rice with farm eggs and you have yourself a meal!

GREENS CHOICE  Kale, Gail lan, Swiss Chard.  Partial shares can also choose the bok choy

GREEN GARLIC  the same concept as green onions, the young plants.  Use it fresh in salads.

NEXT WEEK:  More lettuce, broccoli, greens and herbs. 

FARM REPORT:  All hell broke loose after we last reported.  Two nights of freezing temperatures threatened to stop the harvest when we had barely begun.  In preparation, we covered the fields including the strawberries with their flowers and young fruit and the newly transplanted tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cukes and tender herbs. 

We thought we were prepared for the forecasted 36 degrees F Friday morning.  Unfortunately, it was much colder than that.  We registered 32 on our temperature gauge behind the greenhouse.  Out in the far field it must have been even colder.  Under the row cover the tomatoes were hit hard. 

Surprisingly, the plants without mulch fared better, including the peppers, eggplant, squash and cucumbers.  The potatoes lost much of their foliage but were better by yesterday.  After some time to evaluate, it looks like the damage is temporary and many of the plants will grow back with good health.  We have replaced the worst of the tomatoes with extra plants from the greenhouse.  We also send much appreciation to the fine folks at Gibbs Road Farm (KC,KS) for giving us extra plants. 

Meanwhile, the chickens were oblivious to all the plant drama this week.  Instead they are happily exploring their new home in the spring-planted cover crop of oats and peas.  

In the Share Extended Season – Week 1

carrots, greenhouse, high tunnel, potatoes, swiss chard

LETTUCE (2)  We will be picking the lettuce heads in the morning, but it looks like everyone will get one butterhead and one red frilly leaf lettuce.

ASPARAGUS  The asparagus kicked back into gear after last week’s frost just in time for us all to enjoy.

SPINACH  This is from the over-wintered patch and includes some massive leaves, so be prepared.

CARROTS  These are juicy carrots freshly dug. 

SWISS CHARD  The plants are very large and quite delicious. 

GREEN ONIONS  We have some over-wintered bunching onions that are nice out in the fields.

HERB CHOICE  Cilantro, dill  or garlic chives.

EGGS  (1 dozen)  Our flock is now 8 months old and cranking out the eggs. See Tom’s post for a one of our favorite fast foods, frittata.

NEXT WEEK:  Lettuce, asparagus, green garlic, Spring turnips, bok choy, herb choice.

The first week of the 2014 Fair Share Farm CSA season is here!  For the next 31 weeks we endeavor to feed you well.  Our work takes place in the out of doors and crazy weather is known to happen in our region, but we work hard every day to minimize the risks and take care of the trust that has been given. 

Every Tuesday night, I (Rebecca ) list what is in the share for that week and give a farm report with some photos.  Tom posts at around the same time with helpful thoughts on unusual vegetables and recipes using items from the share. 

 
The week started with the harvest of the high tunnel carrots.  This is our second Spring harvesting out of the HT and we don’t feel like we have it all figured out yet.  The carrots are juicy and good-tasting, but we graded out a fair amount of split ones.  Still, we have enough nice ones that we plan to put them in the extended season shares again in two weeks. 

The farm crew spent the better part of the past two days cleaning and preparing the wash and pack area for the harvest.  Washing the hundreds of crates that we use takes a huge effort.  Inside the packing room, the coolers are clean and running smoothly with the CSA crates already starting to fill them. 

 While the farmers were washing everything in sight, the crops kept working without us.  Converting solar energy into good things to eat is what they do, but it is easy to worry about their success.  After some nervous anticipation, the seed potatoes have finally popped their first shoots up above the soil.  A big hurdle passed for the potatoes and a good omen for the season ahead. 

 
Our mantra every year is this:  best year yet!  Let it be so…  

In the Share – Week 29

carrots, cover cropping

YELLOW CLOVER CARROTS:  Planted after incorporating a yellow clover cover crop, we like to give credit where credit is due.  These heirloom carrots are sweet and hefty like fall carrots should be.

O’HENRY SWEET POTATOES:  More creamy white sweets.

GARLIC:  We planted all that we needed and some nice heads remained for sharing.

RED CABBAGE:  brilliant magenta meets your salads this week.

KALE OR TAT SOI:  Try eating them raw.  They have been cold-sweetened. 

LETTUCE:  The very last of the lettuce are romaines and butterheads.

ENDIVE:  A new French variety we are trialing.  We are trying to pronounce it as the French say we must (“ahn deev” or thereabouts).  Tastes like lettuce to us and it is spectacularly frilly.

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER:  Most likely the last of both.

HERB CHOICE: cilantro, dill or dried herbs.

NEXT WEEK: leeks, hakurei turnips, spinach, gai lan, watermelon radishes, beets, fennel, herbs, greens.

FARM REPORT: 

The farm quickly shifted from autumnal splendor to a frozen wintery blast this week.  In  advance of the forecast of two nights in the mid-teens, we harvested like mad and battened down the hatches.  Row cover was added to the high tunnel beds and the entire week’s share was harvested from the fields.  The coolers are full to the ceilings with cabbages, roots and greens.  Sweet potatoes are all clean and stacked in the cave.  Darkness was on us with many more carrots to harvest in the field.  We are hopeful that the soil kept them safe and we can get the rest of them out later this week.

Today your farmers retreated to the indoors and worked on a grant proposal to the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program of the USDA for demonstrating new cover cropping methods.  The carrots in the shares this week are a testament to the benefits of cover cropping and we are ready to take the next step in their use.  Wish us luck!

In the Share -Week Six

carrots, peppers, wildlife

BASIL (F/P) Welcome summer in with the flavor of the season.

CARROTS (F/P) This first week we give them to you freshly-pulled with their tops. Cut off the tops, leaving an inch green stub if you want to store them for later use.

LETTUCE (F) Summer lettuces are smaller and crunchier, that’s how they survive the heat.

KOHLRABI (F/P) Peel it well, steam lightly and season with fresh herbs, salt and oil. Yum!

SUGARSNAP PEAS (F/P) Last week of these babies. They are less sweet now and hold up well to a little cooking.

SUMMER SQUASH (F) It is the first harvest and we just have one or two for the full shares. There will be much more to come.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P) There is an assortment of colors to choose from but they are all green, i.e. unripe, peppers. It is good for the plants to be pruned of some of their fruit when they are young. This encourages the plant to grow bigger with more leaves to shade the fruit.

CHARD OR KALE (F/P) May be the last time we will have it for awhile, so enjoy its many benefits.

BUNCHING ONIONS (F) Tiny bugs called thrips have been nibbling our onions, hence their pale color.

NEXT WEEK: More squash, beets and cabbage. Cucumbers hopefully and maybe the first little tomatoes.

FARM REPORT: As of tonight we are still trying to decide what row of carrots to harvest. We grow several varieties in the Spring, some of which sweeten in storage. We may pick some of the smaller carrots that are more tender. Here’s a photo we took over a week ago of our choices.

 A family of barn swallows has lived in the shed across the road since Tom and I returned to the farm ten years ago. They used to live in our barn, but we must have scared them off with the commotion of the clean-up efforts. Our nearest neighbors, the swallows were close by enough to continue to hunt bugs in our fields on summer evenings. They are especially drawn to the sound of the tractor and will swoop and dive around Tom’s head as he mows the fields – picking up bugs as they scatter out of the tractor’s path. I counted eight swallows today perched together waiting to do another run.

I think I’d rather by a barn swallow and make my nest (1,000 mouthfuls of mud, according to our Birds of Missouri book) under a roof rather than the bird that made her nest directly on the ground in the squash patch. We rarely see a good result from a nest on the ground in our fields, but it sure is sweet.

In the Share – Week 21

Allis Chalmers G, carrots, cauliflower, high tunnel

CAULIFLOWER (F) One of my favorite crops and not the easiest to grow. We should have cauliflower for another few weeks.

LEEKS (F/P) I am so ready for some luscious leeks to enter our fall kitchen.  See Farmer Tom’s post for more about them.

LETTUCE (F/P) More of the heat-tolerant crisp heads for a satisfying crunch.

RADISHES (F/P) We have three different kinds of radishes ready in the fields and we plan to pick them all for your choosing. Partial shares get a choice of radishes or turnips.

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F) The farm crew’s favorite snack in the field right out of the ground.

TOMATOES (F) Your farmers are debating whether it is time to begin the dismantling of the patch. So far the plants are producing just enough good ripe fruit to keep us from our task but their time is running out.

EGGPLANT OR OKRA (P) A light frost on Sunday morning spared the tender summer fruits for the most part. Only the basil was significantly damaged.

SWEET PEPPERS (P) Mostly purple peppers along with some ripe types.

CABBAGE OR KOHLRABI (F) Choose your ball of brassica (reminds me of the “choose your ball of cucurbit” of a few weeks back). The kohlrabi is a fall variety that gets pretty big but stays tender.

ARUGULA (F) A bit of spice for your salad.

HERB CHOICE (F) Garlic chives, parsley, thyme or hot peppers

NEXT WEEK: More eggplant, peppers, okra, radishes, turnips and cauliflower. Sweet potatoes and a greens choice.

FARM REPORT:

At Fair Share Farm the planting season starts in early February when we seed the onions in the greenhouse. From then on we keep planting so that we have a succession of crops that keeps the CSA shares well stocked with a good assortment of crops. Only now in late September are we at the point where we can stop planting. The last seeds to go in the ground were planted in the high tunnel this week. It is now filled with young lettuces, arugula, beets, turnips, endive, spinach, bok choy, bulb fennel and chard.

 

We have also been spending a lot of hours tending to the many rows of fall roots that somehow managed to sprout and grow during the peak of the summer drought.   We have 2200 row feet of carrots and each plant must be weeded and thinned by hand within the rows.   Luckily our Allis Chalmers G tractor takes care of the weeds growing in between the rows.  On Monday we moved all of the irrigation tape out of the path and the “G” and I did some serious weed-killing.

In the Share – Week 15

carrots, hakurei turnip, late summer, lettuce, peppers

colorful carrots

TOMATOES (F/P) Everyone will either get a few slicers or a quart of cherry tomatoes. The slicers are ripening slowly so give them a few days on your counter before attempting to eat them.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH (F/P) Yes, it is a bit out of season but we have no choice. The pests killed off the plants before the fruit fully ripened. They are still good, but they won’t keep long. See Tom’s post for a recipe.

COLORFUL CARROTS (F/P) We finished the harvest of the spring plantings. The carrots are quite crisp and tender despite the arid weather.  We  are looking forward to having them in the shares for several weeks now.

RED ONIONS (F/P)  everyone gets a quart.

SWEET PEPPERS (F) I like to eat the small ones for a snack. The red-horn shaped ones are especially sweet.

HOT PEPPERS, OKRA OR SALSA PACK (F) Take your pick. We are hopeful that the okra will kick in as it usually does in August. So far it has been shy about giving up its fruit.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, sage or a dried herb.

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, carrots, peppers and okra. Potatoes, garlic and beets return.

FARM REPORT:

In a little under 48 hours the air shifted from sultry heat to cool and almost coastal. The farm crew had to dig to the bottom of their closets to find long pants and sweatshirts for the dewy mornings. Despite almost constant clouds, only a few drizzles have fallen since the “hallelujah” rain of 0.8 inch rain last week (see Tom’s post from then for the beautiful weather that brought the rain to us). With the doubling of our so lar power last year (thank you, federal stimulus!) the panels generate about 400 watts of energy with full cl oud cover. That is at half-strength, but still enough to water a big block of crops. We are already seeing the response of the plants to the decrease in temperatures. Finally after many weeks of worrying over the pole beans, they are beginning to set fruit. Young, green fruit cover many of the pepper and tomato plants.

More fall crops went in the ground this week: lettuce, bulb fennel and more cauliflower.

 We have also been seeding all of the fall roots and greens. Many are up and looking good.

We expect the shares to be light for a few weeks, until the fall roots and greens are ready. We have some room for a light week or two thanks to a warm spring that allowed us to sta rt the CSA season a week early. So, we hope you enjoy the offerings from the tough-as-nails plants that survived Summer 2012. We figure by the middle of September we will be reaping the harvest in the form of lettuce salads and freshly dug turnips.