Category Archives: flowers

In the Share – Week 17

beans, cover crops, flowers, peppers

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  Our sweet yellow bells and red horn peppers are ripening nicely in the heat.

PURPLE VIKING POTATOES F/P  Last of these fluffy ones.  They aren’t as brilliantly pretty purple as when we first dug them, but they still make the best mashed potatoes.

GARLIC F/P  Add some garlic to those fluffy taters!

GREEN BEANS F  We are going to give the full shares a bigger share and get the partials next week since we were able to give everyone a taste last week.

TOMATOES F/P  The late planting of hybrids and Romas are keeping us in tomatoes in September.

SALSA PACK OR OKRA F/P  Most of this choice will be salsa packs, with hopefully enough of the other for the okra-lovers.

EGGPLANT F  I hope you all enjoy your eggplant.  I didn’t grow up eating it much, but I am completely hooked. 

HERBS, HOT PEPPERS OR RADISHES F  A choice of spicy options.

NEXT WEEK:  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salsa packs, potatoes, beans, radishes and onions. 

FARM REPORT: 
September is one of my favorite months of the year, closely followed by October, November and December.  Yes, I am fully in love with fall and I think I am not alone amongst farmers. The weather is pleasant, the crops are all planted and the weeds are less threatening.  It has definitely been nice weather for the bean-pickers. 

The past several CSA mornings, we have heard the comment, “I lucked out picking a day in August to come to the farm.”  And, its true.  If you came in June, you likely got pretty wet and muddy.  It all goes to show you just can’t ever tell with Missouri weather.

After waiting for many weeks/months for the ground to settle after all that mud, we managed to plant quite a few cover crops.  They are all coming up nicely.  Buckwheat is growing where many of the Spring crops were.  We planted a few beds with oats and mung beans which is a new combination for us.

If you come out to join in the bean picking, you have the opportunity to pick yourself a free bouquet from the zinnia patch.

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 14

beans, csa, flowers, watermelon

 

MELONS (F/P)  Full shares get the yellow-fleshed variety called Peace.  Please don’t dismay at the color, it is our best melon year after year.  The partial shares will get cantaloupe instead. We hope to switch the options next week as more fruits ripen in the fields.

TOMATOES (F/P) Another fine week in the tomato patch. 

GREEN BEANS (F/P)  The first tender picking of our late planting.  You’ll have the choice of standard type or Roma flat-podded beans. 

HERB CHOICE (F)  Basil or hot peppers.

SUMMER SQUASH OR CUCUMBERS (F)  A first sampling from the last planting of the season.  Welcome back summer squash!

EGGPLANT (F/P) Just one or two this week.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)

ONIONS (F/P)  Yellow onions this week.

SALSA PACK OR OKRA (P) 

NEXT WEEK:  More tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans and summer squash.  Garlic and carrots return.

FARM REPORT:

It has been an eventful week, as it always is during the peak of the summer harvest.  Friends and family have joined in the work and we have covered a lot of ground.  On Saturday, the CSA members spruced up the low till beds in preparation for the Harvest dinner in September. 

More folks are headed here tomorrow after answering the call for bean-pickers.  Thanks to all who signed-up.  We should have enough pickers to cover the 1400 feet we planted back in July.  The plants are beautiful and covered with fruit and flowers. 

Meanwhile, the laptop with the email program we use is down and so I’ll be brief and leave you with one of the many monstrous sunflowers towering next to the farm house.

In the Share – Week Ten

Allis Chalmers G, electric tractor, flowers, tour, tractor

Cherry tomatoes 

TOMATOES (F/P) This week the green-when-ripe heirloom varieties are beginning to ripen. If you got it from us, it is just days away from ripening no matter the color. Wait for the fruit to soften slightly and then dig in!

CUCUMBERS (F/P) The persistent cucumber beetles like to nibble the skin of their namesake fruit. They only go skin deep, so a light peeling will remove the damage.

SWEET ONIONS (F/P) This will be the last week for the Walla Wallas, our sweetest onion. There is more to come with lots of reds and yellows.

LETTUCE (F/P) We were surprised by the heft of these little heat-tolerant lettuces. This is the last of them until September. We don’t quite have enough for everyone, so the partial shares get a choice with the basil bunches.

BASIL (F) We are picking big pesto-making bunches of basil this week. It thrives in the heat and needs to be cut back. Chop it with some olive oil and whatever else you can spare: cheese, nuts, sunflower seeds and presto pesto!

EGGPLANT (F/P) Excuse me if I am distracted by my dinner tonight, check out Tom’s post for the super simple and super good eggplant pasta recipe. Yum!

POTATOES (F/P) It has not rained at the farm for 6 weeks, so we’ll see if we break any equipment trying to dig the potatoes tomorrow. It has happened, so keep those fingers crossed! The potatoes are small, but we are hoping to get everyone a quart this week.

SALSA PACK OR CHERRY TOMATOES (F) If you haven’t made salsa from one of our packs before, just chop the whole thing up along with a tomato.

PURPLE PEPPERS (F) This variety is a called ‘Islander’ and is mildly sweet when at its green stage. We pick them until our varieties that start out green begin to ripen. It won’t be long now as we sampled our first ripe red one today.

SUMMER SQUASH (P) This is the last of the summer squash until the next planting kicks in.

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and cucumbers. Carrots, beets and garlic.

marigold and buckeye butterfly

FARM REPORT: Admist the flurry of the summer harvest, endless irrigation and fall planting, your farmers get a little lost in the details and often forget to stop and smell the roses. In our case it would be a marigold, since we don’t grow any flowers that need as much fussing as roses. The type of marigolds we grow are big and tall like the ones I remember at Mexican farmers markets. The zinnias are also brightening the farm with their carnival of colors. The two beds at the field entrance is a free u-pick garden for the membership, but it needs more picking than what the u-pickers take so we have put the flowers on the bulk list. Blooming flowers serve many functions in our farm-scape, as nectar sources for pollinating bees and butterflies, seeds for birds and attractants for beneficial insects that prey on pests.  And they are good at cheering up the grumpiest farmer.

What is that you ask? That is something to make a farmer grumpy. On Saturday, our Allis Chalmers G broke its axle. It is surprising that such a stout steel rod could snap, but then the tractor is 65 years old. I hope when I am 65 I don’t break my axle! On Monday, Luke and Lorne took on the project and removed the disintegrated old pieces of axle from the tractor. With the new axle on the way (thanks internet!), we are hoping to begin re-assembly by Friday.

On Sunday, we showed off the farm to a local 4-H group, led by Clinton County 4-H Youth Specialist, Debbie Davis. Tom and I were glad have the opportunity to talk about biological farming with the next generation of eaters and producers. We look forward to hearing how they progress on their sustainable agriculture project.

4-Hers on tour