Category Archives: extended season

In the Share – Week 28

extended season, peppers

SWEET PEPPERS

CAULIFLOWER 

LETTUCE (2)

ARUGULA 

CILANTRO 
BULB FENNEL

GAI LAN OR TAT SOI

BROCCOLI

NEXT WEEK:  More lettuce and herbs.  Leeks, carrots, cabbages, spinach, garlic and bok choy.

FARM REPORT:
Another blog night finds us watching the World Series and writing the blog during the commercials.  During the day our work in the fields is sped along by conversations about baseball.  Between games, Tom, Rocky and I took a long walk around the Graff farm on Sunday.  The native grasses that were sowed in 2012 are beginning to spread in the old grain fields. 

Extended Season Begins Next Week

chickens, eggs, extended season, frost, row cover

Next week begins the 2014 extended CSA season.  For the next 31 weeks we endeavor to feed the community from our fields.  Our best guess for the first share is lettuce, spinach, arugula, Swiss chard, carrots, asparagus, green onions and a choice of herbs. 

We also plan to give each extended season share a dozen eggs (if you do not eat eggs, let us know and we will substitute with something else.) It was not the plan to include eggs in the shares, but we are doing it this once because we feel that some of the share items will be smaller than we would like. Such has been this cold starting spring (see last post), and our high tunnel growing learning curve.

If you would like additional eggs they are $5.00/ dozen. Email us with an order and they will be delivered to distribution for you (while current supplies last).

The normal Spring routine of plant, mulch, cover was tested this morning with a low temp. of 24.8 deg. F. 

A heavy frost covered most of the fields.  It seems all survived intact thanks to the row cover.  The perennial crops like the strawberries can handle the frost better and looked fine once the frost melted.

The greenhouse is filling with peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. We are hoping to squeeze the last of the cool-weather crops out to the fields by the end of the week. 

In the Share – Week 31

bad seed, extended season
 
at the BadSeed Market


SWEET POTATOES:  Your choice of orange or cream-colored sweets.

GARLIC:  Soft-necks types, Artichoke and Silverskin, are good-keepers

CARROTS:  More stubby Chantenays

GAI LAN:  Also known as “Chinese broccoli”, see Tom’s post for cooking ideas.

ARUGULA OR SPINACH:  A 1/2 lb. bag of either. 

RADISHES AND TURNIPS:  A bag of fresh-eating varieties:  Watermelon radishes and Hakurei turnips.

SCALLIONS:  A bunch of dainty green onions out of the high tunnel. 

SWISS CHARD OR BOK CHOY:  Hardy greens for winter stews and braising

DRIED HERBS:  Your choice out of the box of tins.

NEXT WEEK:  No shares until April 2014.  Come see us at the BadSeed Market, 1909 McGee KCMO, 4-8 pm.

FARM REPORT:

Here we are at the final week of our first 31-week CSA season and man, what a year!  The Fair Share Farm CSA turned ten this year and the harvest was a bountiful one.  The season did not start on a good note with freezing temperatures and even snow on Mother’s Day.  It was the first time we had ever needed to delay the start of the CSA season, which we did by one week.  But, the weather warmed and the summer fruits ripened well.  The summer heat kept the irrigation pond pumping, but a few stretches of cooler temperatures allowed good germination of the fall roots.  With the last week of the season pushed into December, the farm’s coolers are full of produce with excess to donate to food pantries and to sell at the winter market.  The time has finally arrived for your farmers to take a deep breath and forget about the farm for a few weeks before we prepare do it all over again.  We look forward to seeing you all on the other side of the calendar!  Until then, happy eating!!

The Fair Share Farm Family: Rebecca, Rocky & Tom
(not in photo:  Mommakitty, Sunny & the chickens)

In the Share – Week 3

extended season, rocky, snow

LETTUCE (2): Two of our favorite heirloom butterheads. The shares are less hefty this week. We are clearing the high tunnel out of all that it contains, and taking what we can out of the slowly-growing fields.

ASPARAGUS: No need for a soil thermometer, when the asparagus can tell you how cold it is.  We hope to have a nice bunch for all this week.

GREENS CHOICE: There will be lots of choices of what is left in the high tunnel: arugula, spinach, kale, bok choy, and endive. Please lettuce know what greens you have liked best during this first extended spring season. We grew a bunch of different things in the high tunnel and are looking to hone in on the favorites for next year.

 ROOTS MIX: We will definitely be growing more roots next year for the extended season, but we have some baby carrots and the rest of the radishes and turnips for a mixed bunch.

GREEN GARLIC: Last year’s garlic patch is sprouting some nice clumps of young garlic, lucky for us!

GREEN ONIONS: Some of these will be coming from the farm house’s walking onion patch. Several years ago I received a clump from an elderly neighbor of my mom’s and they walked themselves into a thick patch. They are one of the earliest plants in the spring and are self-perpetuating.

HERBS: cilantro and garlic chives

FARM REPORT: Wow! I know we talk about the weather incessantly, but really this past week has been pretty crazy. On Thursday, the farm was blanketed in two layers of row cover and at least an inch of snow. 

It is very rare to snow in May, although it sometimes frosts this late. Even our mountain dog, Rocky, was cold. His favorite spot was atop the steaming compost pile and he was covered in black gold for days. We did manage to share greenhouse space with him while we got some seeding done.

Five days later the snow is just a memory and we finally got some beautiful springtime weather. We spent the last couple of days uncovering the plants. It is the first time we have seen them in a while and most of them seem to have survived.

In the Share – Week 22

extended season, frost, high tunnel, sweet potatoes
sweet potatoes
 

CAULIFLOWER (F/P) The broccoli is just starting and some may get a choice of the two.

SWEET POTATOES (F/P) These are the traditional orange type. They keep for months at room temperature. Never refrigerate sweet potatoes.

LETTUCE (F/P) The last of the crispheads this week. Next week we start in on the more tender leaf lettuces.

GARLIC (F/P) One head for all one last time. The rest we are planting at the end of the month.

TOMATOES (F/P) We have quite a few ripe tomatoes still and we think everyone will get around a pint again.

GREEN TOMATOES (F/P) Frost is on it’s way by Saturday morning. The farm is in full swing preparing for it which includes harvesting the green fruits from the summer crops. See Tom’s post for ideas for using your green ‘maters.

GREEN PEPPERS (F/P) Ditto on the peppers.

EGGPLANT (F) If the forecaster is right this will be the last of the eggplant.

NAPA CABBAGE (F) See Tom’s post for a yummy sweet potato and cabbage recipe.

CHOICE: HOT PEPPERS, ARUGULA OR HERBS (F/P) 

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms CSA shares

FARM REPORT:

pre-frost harvest
 

The frost is not forecasted until Saturday, but we are trying to get a lot done early this week before the weather gets wet and cold. Tomorrow we hope to bring in the last of the tender crops and button up the high tunnel. Row cover is protecting the lettuces and bulb fennel out in the field and most of the green summer fruits have been picked.  Many of the crops that we grow this time of year can handle a light frost and actually get sweeter in the cold weather.  Fall carrots, broccoli, kale and turnips actually benefit from a cold night or two. 

Speaking of cold nights, all current CSA members are invited to sign-up for the Inaugural Fair Share Farm CSA extended season.  A deposit form will be in your inbox tonight.  We are offering 4 extra weeks of produce starting October 24th.  Space is limited to 50 shares, so send that form on in to secure your spot.  We are only offering full shares, so consider sharing with friends and family if it is too much for you alone.  Cost is $30/week. Distribution will be available at the normal farm, Liberty and Bad Seed locations and times.   No work requirement for this short run although that may not be the case in 2013.  Our best guess is that the shares will be comprised of the following:  lettuces, bok choy, sweet potatoes, cabbage, bulb fennel, beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, leeks, endive, spinach, herbs, cauliflower and broccoli.  Tom and I are looking forward to extending our harvest season on the farm and we welcome you to join us.