Category Archives: late summer

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.

In the Share – Week 15

late summer, winter squash


WATERMELON (F/P) One last week of melons. The scorching heat did a number on the last planting, but we found enough to get everyone a red or yellow one.
TOMATOES (F/P) Another 3 or 4, but also some romas or cherry tomatoes thrown in.
POTATOES (F/P)
RED AND WHITE ONIONS (F/P) One of each
SUMMER SQUASH (F) There will be a few warty yellow ones in the mix, Rugosa Friulana from the region near Venice, Italy. It’s a bit ugly, but has good flavor with no squeaky texture.
SWEET PEPPERS OR OKRA (F/P) See Tom’s post for the best okra recipe ever (no slime!) submitted by of your fellow CSA members.
EGGPLANT (F) I know it is not a familiar vegetable to alot of my fellow Midwesterners, but it grows well in our region. There are more recipes for eggplant than any other vegetable, many of which are quite delicious.
SALSA PACK/PEPPERS (F) The tomatillos are slowing down, so some will get another shot at sweet peppers instead of the salsa.
HERB CHOICE: Basil, thyme or a dried herb.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery delivery

NEXT WEEK: more tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra and squash. Cucumbers, green beans, carrots and garlic return.

The big break in the weather this past weekend signaled our entrance into late summer. The final plantings of cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and squash will be on the plate for another few weeks. The peppers, eggplant and okra have been growing since early spring, but have one last push through the month of September before falling to frost. These summer fruits will continue to be combined with the storage crops of potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic safely kept in the upper barn.

our newest addition to the stores

Winter squash has recently joined its fellow keepers in the barn. After we harvested the standard issue of tomatoes, squash, cukes, peppers, eggplant, okra and tomatillos in preparation for tomorrow’s shares, the rest of today was spent harvesting a lovely crop of butternut, acorn squash and pie pumpkins.

Our relationship with winter squash is a tumultous one. We love them as they are tasty and keep far into the winter. All too often, however, we have been left at the end of fall with no crop. Vine borers, squash bugs and cucumber beetles along with various viruses, mildews and wilts are formidable opponents for an organic farmer armed with row cover and not much else. This year a combination of technique and luck seems to have paid off. We added generous amounts of Missouri Organic compost and used the Allis-Chalmers G to make hills. The weather was pretty ideal during most of their growth -warm and relatively dry. So, who knows what made the difference and really, in the end, who cares! We’ve got lots of winter squash to eat! But not yet, in a couple weeks. We’ll put them in the share when they are fully cured and when a warm butternut squash soup sounds just right.