Category Archives: onions

In the Share: Week 13

August 3, 2016onions, walla walla onionsFarmer Rebecca

SALSA PACK F Summertime means salsa.

WALLA WALLA SWEET ONIONS F/P Enjoy these sweet ladies sooner than later. The sweet ones don’t store as the ones with more pungency.

TOMATOES F/P Expect some less-than-perfect ones this week. Good varieties of tomatoes have thinner skins than their grocery store counterparts. Ours taste like tomatoes should, but the trade-off is they crack after a rain and gets spots in the humidity.

CARROTS F/P Orange snackers we plan to pull first thing tomorrow morning.

PASTE TOMATOES F/P These are the perfect tomatoes for a fresh pasta sauce. See Tom’s post for more ideas.

HERB CHOICE F/P Basil, summer savory or hot peppers. We grow jalapenos, hot wax, and Anaheim types of hot peppers.

SUMMER SQUASH OR CUCUMBERS F The new plantings are just starting to produce so there are more to come.

NEXT WEEK: Tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, salsa packs, potatoes and garlic.

FARM REPORT:
The farm received two inches of rain on Monday after a three-week dry spell. It was a nice break from the heat. We have a lot of plants and seeds in the ground for the fall shares and the rain was the perfect amount to water them in. It doesn’t always happen in the summertime, but when it does it bodes well for the fall.

Before the rain got here we managed to pull all of the onions from the field. We’ve been working on this task for several weeks as the Walla Wallas mature and then on to the reds and yellows.

But the harvest was speeded up to get them in before they got wet. The old tobacco barn is full of onions and garlic hanging from the rafters and stacked high in every available crate on the farm.

Thanks to all the sweaty folks who helped us bring in the harvest!

In the Share – Week 23

October 15, 2014kohlrabi, onions, watershed, wetFarmer Rebecca

KOHLRABI F I have heard from many kohlrabi lovers since I mentioned that it is not everybody’s favorite. One said, “I LOVE kohlrabi. It’s yummy raw, kind of like broccoli stems or jicama, and it’s delicious roasted. Great for salads or in sticks for dipping in dips like hummus. What’s not to like?” Others offered that they make kohlrabi fries by dipping them in batter and baking them. “ You’ll have your chance to try a new recipe. Since the positive comments began pouring in, the kohlrabi have swelled to softball size.

BULB FENNEL F/P See Tom’s post for more on the finocchio

LETTUCE F2/P1 We rescued many a head from the mud today. They are triple-rinsed but will need a final rinse in your kitchens.

BEETS OR HAKUREI TURNIPS F

POTATOES F/P Purple Viking is our new favorite potato. Large and pretty in purple with white, fluffy flesh.

GARLIC F/P

CABBAGE F The last of the compact varieties. The big heads are starting to mature.

GREENS CHOICE F Bok choy, tat soi and yukina savoy, all great in a stir-fry.

GOLD BALL TURNIPS P Just the roots with the tops removed to make them a bit more manageable.

BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER OR NAPA CABBAGE P The first two are almost done. The Napa is just starting.

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, cabbage, greens. Watermelon radishes, carrots and leeks.

FARM REPORT:
The farm is very soggy and we are worrying over the tender crops left in the field. We are approaching 10 inches of rain in the month of October. Most vegetable crops like 1 inch per week and much more than that leads to pooling and stagnant conditions. A soil is like a sponge and right now ours is full of water, not air. The stiff north wind that blew today was a good first step in getting things to dry out. Sunshine is forecasted for the next five days and should do a lot of good.

In the middle of this wet weather, Tom and I took a couple of days off the farm and ended up visiting our water downstream. The farm resides within the Fishing River watershed which enters the Missouri River near Missouri City. Across the river sits Fort Osage, originally constructed in 1808 to conduct trade with our allies, the Osage Indians. The usual story of death, displacement and hardship followed. The Osage are in Oklahoma now and our farm sits on their old hunting grounds

the river view from Fort Osage

In the Share – Week 18

September 10, 2014broccoli, cauliflower, chickens, onionsFarmer Rebecca

YELLOW ONIONS F/P We are very proud of our onion crop this year. This week we begin to share with you these big beautiful yellow ones, which are also our best keepers.

CARROTS F/P

GREENS F Turnip greens, kale or maybe some rapini (broccoli raab) by Saturday.

SWEET PEPPER F/P

EGGPLANT, SALSA PACK OR GROUND CHERRIES F

TOMATOES F/P Just one or two or some cherry tomatoes

HOT PEPPERS F/P See Tom’s post on roasting the Anaheims

HERB CHOICE F Chives, parsley or a dried herb

NEXT WEEK: A few more summer fruits: peppers, tomatoes, eggplant along with potatoes, garlic, bok choy, kohlrabi and lettuce.

FARM REPORT:
The summer harvest is dwindling and the fall crops are just starting to produce. During the transition from one season to the next, the shares will be lighter. Less time harvesting means more time to tend to the crops. Today we tackled the broccoli and cauliflower beds.

On Monday we pulled the chicken coop down the row a pace to some fresh crabgrass. Unfortunately, we are really good at growing crabgrass. Lucky for us the chickens love it and it is fun to see them stripping the stems of those pesky seeds. You can see in the photo that they did a fabulous job of cleaning up their old spot in just three short weeks.

In the Share – Week 13

August 6, 2014beans, onionsFarmer Rebecca

SWEET PEPPER F Just one ripe pepper for the full shares this week, but there should be many more in the coming weeks. One of our favorite sweet peppers is horn-shaped and is not a hot pepper (bucket on the right above).

EGGPLANT P Broiled in our toaster oven, it makes an easy addition to later meals or a mid-afternoon snack by itself.

BINTJE POTATOES F/P Pronounced like the dog, “Benji”, it is known for making great french fries.

TOMATOES F/P Another decent harvest, although nothing like in year’s past. Enjoy them while they last!

GREEN BEANS F/P The first picking is tomorrow morning – come join us if you can!

CUCUMBERS F The pickling varieties are still hanging on, so we are including some of them. Eat them as you would the others.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS F We are intentionally stocking you all up on these sweets. Eat them now, they are not for storage.

CHERRY TOMATOES F We hope to have enough for everyone, but can’t know until we pick them tomorrow.

ROMA TOMATOES F Make sure you let your tomatoes ripen before using them. Our Roma varieties are very sturdy and need to sit around awhile to fully ripen. See Tom’s post for more info. on using your Romas.

SALSA PACK F/P Chile verde is another option with the pack.

GARLIC F/P More hardneck from the drying barn.

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onions, salsa and beans. Carrots return.

FARM REPORT:
It has been a week since we posted the photo of the delivery van being towed away. Unfortunately the problem was not fixed as reported. Our former optimism has been replaced with the idea that it may be time for a more modern option. The gears are churning in the farm office to research the situation. We’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, we have a ton of beans to pick. Finally the crop is in and it looks great. If anyone reading this is able to help with the harvest on any given Wednesday or Saturday morning (8am – noon for at least the next two weeks if not the next month) your farmers will thank you. If we can’t get them picked, that means less beans in the shares. They are yours for the picking!

bean rows

Speaking of picking. The onion harvest has been pretty fantastic. For the last month if we ever had a spare moment we could always grab some crates and haul onions from the field. On Saturday the CSA members joined us in pulling many yellow onions.

In the Share – Week 6

June 13, 2012onions, strawberries, summer squashFarmer Rebecca

earliest yellow onions ever!

LETTUCE (F) The lettuce patch is getting smaller by the day. What remains are the crisphead varieties that can handle the summer heat more than most.

BEETS (F/P) The first pulling of the beets will commence tomorrow morning. They are still young and tender and the greens are great! Sautee the roots and greens together in a pan and you’ve got a glorious dish! Can you tell that beets are my favorite vegetable?

CABBAGE (F/P) We grow small varieties that mature quickly for the spring. Just the right amount for a big bowl of cole slaw.

SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) The squash harvest is beginning to get weighty. Look to Tom’s post for some easy recipes to enjoy the bounty.

BROCCOLI OR PEAS (F) The last picking of both of these spring vegetables. We’ll have broccoli again in the fall when it really thrives in the cool weather. The peas are a spring-only crop so enjoy this offering.

PLUM PURPLE RADISHES (F) The last planting of radishes is here for this week only. Partial shares get a choice of radishes or herbs.

YELLOW ONIONS (F/P) We are really psyched about our big yellow onions. We planted them last summer, mulched them over the winter and here they are – a good 2 months before we would have anything of this size and maturity. Keep these on your counter, it is too moist for them in the fridge.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Parsley, mint, summer savory or basil

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms CSA shares

NEXT WEEK: More summer squash. Walla Walla onions and carrots. Swiss chard and kale.

FARM REPORT

Every plant and beast on the farm sighed with relief as the rain fell Sunday night. The slow steady rain seeped in the ground, filled in the cracks and washed us clean. About an inch fell and we needed every drop. We continue to irrigate and mulch and the crops seems to be thriving so far. The moist soil allowed us to begin renovating the strawberry patch. With all the berries picked, there’s nothing left to do but mow it all down.

farm apprentice, Ryan, mowing the strawberry patch

Mowing the plants removes any diseased leaves and opens up the crowns to the sanitizing rays of sunshine. We’ll give them a good helping of organic fertilizer, till the paths and then let the plants grow back. By fall the patch will be full of healthy leaves and tidy rows ready to produce next year’s crop.

With the upcoming arrival of summer (June 20), harvest begins to play a bigger role in our daily routine. We are currently picking the summer squash twice per week. The plants are healthy and the harvest weighty. Soon we will add tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers on to the routine.

summer squash ripe for picking

In the Share – Week 3

May 23, 2012onions, peas, weedingFarmer Rebecca

peas ready for picking

LETTUCE (F2/P1) This week we are picking some lovely romaine lettuces along with more beautiful butterheads, from the French this time, Pirat.

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) The berries are a lot smaller and less plentiful this week so everyone is getting pints instead of quarts.

GARLIC SCAPES (F/P) If you are new to garlic scapes, they are the most tender part of the garlic plant. Chop up and add to any dish, cooked or raw, for a delicate garlic flavor.

NAPA CABBAGE (F) The farm crew was super excited to harvest this big babies today as we haven’t had much luck with the Napa cabbage (alias Chinese cabbage) for a few years. Read Tom’s post for a killer salad that uses almost everything from your share this week.

PEAS (F/P) Tomorrow morning we will pick the patch for the first time. Looks like there’s a lot of peas out there, both sugarsnap and snow varieties.

BROCCOLI (F) The broccoli is small this spring due to the hot, dry weather but we have enough that we should have some for a few weeks. Partial shares get broccoli next week.

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P) More juicy turnip goodness this week.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill or radishes (radishes really aren’t an herb but they do add spice!)

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, peas, turnips and radishes. Onions, kohlrabi and broccoli.

FARM REPORT

Oh my, it is dry. We haven’t had rain since the beginning of the month when we had the hail storm. Since then unseasonably hot, dry weather has wicked away the moisture. The farm’s soil is dusty and cracked, a typical sight in July, not May. We spend whatever time we can spare putting out irrigation lines on crops that we hardly ever irrigate. Usually the spring rains give the onions, potatoes, peas and lettuces all the drink they need. Not this year. So, out we walk our miles of drip line. Luckily the pond is full and the sun shines powering our pump for free. The problem is that all this extra time spent on irrigation is less time spent on other tasks. So far we seem to be not too far off schedule, but the list is long of crops to still be planted, weeded, mulched, etc.

onion weeding mob

On Saturday morning after the harvest was complete we found ourselves with an extra hour with the membership. Not to let an opportunity like that to pass us by we gathered at the onion patch and proceeded to pull weeds. Thanks to the nimble fingers of many the onions are in tip-top shape. After filling vehicles with produce destined for the Liberty distribution and wishing everyone a fond farewell, Tom, Ryan and I managed to get the first line of trellising on all of the tomatoes. Just in the nick of time too what with the strong winds threatening to topple the quick-growing plants. Afterwards, we cleaned ourselves up as best we could and headed to Lawrence, KS, where we attended the wedding of farm apprentice, Dani Hurst and her groom, Derek Brown. It was a heartfelt ceremony with beautiful weather, good food and lots of DIY decorations gleaned from the farm. We were honored to be invited to share in their happy day and wish them all the best in their future together.

Fair Share Farm CSA to Start May 9th

April 29, 2012bad seed, csa, fair share farm, irrigation, lady beetles, onions, solar power, sustainable agriculture, tomato plantsFarmer Rebecca

The time has come to start the harvest. This Spring has been unusually mild and has created an early maturing of most everything on the farm. These conditions have convinced us to start the CSA a week earlier than originally planned. So…the schedule for the first week’s pickup will be:

Wednesday Distribution (Bad Seed or Farm) May 9th
Saturday Distribution (Liberty or Farm) May 12th

For deatils relating to your distribution site please click on the link. If you are a farm pickup, you will have chosen either Wednesday or Saturday, so please take note of which day you are scheduled for.

The farm crew has been busy keeping up with everything the last month. Our 2012 apprentices Dani Hurst and Ryan Stubby started the last week of March and have now been on the job for a month. Peruse the previous blogs and you can see all that we have been up to.

This last week we have been concentrating on our summer crops. On Monday we started up the irrigation system as the plants were becoming quite parched. Our solar irrigation system seems to be working well this season. You can see in the photo the high flow we get on-demand from the panels. We measured this flow at 35 gallons per minute.

Elsewhere in the field crops destined for future shares, such as onions and broccoli are growing well.

The tomato plants are starting to go out. The cherries and caged hybrids are in the ground, and the heirlooms and remaining hybrids are No. 1 on the runway. Squash and cucumbers are germinating in the greenhouse and will be in the field in the next 10 days or so.

We began seeing aphids in the greenhouse on the peppers and eggplants the last few days, so felt it was time to call in the biological hit squad of lady beetles. Rebecca bought some at Family tree nursery and we set 1/3 of them loose last night. This morning they seemed to be quite active. We expcet them to do their job and help keep our transplants as healthy as possible.

Look forward to seeing and feeding all of you soon.

Let the Seeding Begin

February 8, 2012onions, rocky, seeding, snow geese, soil blocks, tractorFarmer Rebecca

Well it is official, the growing season has started. Last Saturday February 4th our two new interns, Dani Hurst and Ryan Stubby, joined us for half a day to initiate the planting of over 12,000 onion seeds. We finished up the planting yesterday with Luke, and will concentrate on tending to your vegetables for the next 10 months.

Planting the first seed of 2012

Dani making soil blocks

Ryan and Rebecca seeding onions

Along with the seeding, we have been taking advantage of the warm weather to do as much equipment maintenance as possible this year. We are hoping it pays off during the growing season by minimizing equipment breakdowns, delays, and frustrations, while improving the working life and safety of our machinery.

One piece of equipment we worked on is the spader. For a while now the frame/shroud that surrounds the digging spades has been bent and in need of some adjustment. With a lot of elbow grease from Luke we were able to take the frame apart so that we could work on it.

Local artist/metal worker/handy guy Jeff Becker came up with the solution to bending things back into shape…run over it with the tractor! Well, in true Missouri farmer fashion we used the tools and leverage we had at hand and were able to straighten things out. Re-assembly is on its way.

Spader with bent rake frame

Straightening the frame

This winter season we have seen a lot of birds on the move, more it seems than the last couple years. A huge flock of snow geese flew over the greenhouse on Monday, It was quite a sight and sound. If I had the time I would count the number of birds in the photo out of curiosity.

Snow geese on the move

Lastly, a salami update. For the past several years we have been working on perfecting the making of an annual batch of Finocchiana, a peppercorn and fennel seed flavored cured pork salami. The recipes we have used has been consistently good, and when we can get 20 lbs of Parker Farms pork shoulder, the meat quality is the best. The trick has always been the curing process.

To make a tasty (and safe) salami you need to cure it at the proper temperature and humidity. In the past we relied on whatever conditions a cool basement could provide. Then we started curing it in a box of wood ash from our stove. With the construction of our “cave” in the lower part of the barn we are able to control the temp and humidity to the general levels required.

The results have been the most consistent batch of salami yet. Thank you local hogs.

2012 Finocchiana

Starting the Greenhouse

February 10, 2011onions, remodeling, seedingSemra Fetahovic

We remain quite busy at the farm. When we’re not farming or remodeling we are using chain saws, log splitters, bobcats, tractors, trailers…and chains. Cutting, splitting and hauling wood through and around snow drifts is something that just has to be experienced. Lots of problem solving mixed with fresh winter air.

The main priority of the week, however, has been the greenhouse. We recieved our humified compost from Microleverage (of Sedalia) on Saturday, the last piece of the puzzle, and started seeding onions on Monday. It is a tedious job seeding 10,000 onions, so we spread it out over several days, finishing today-Wednesday.

We are trying something new this year relative to onion planting. Normally we grow onions from seeds and transplant each little plant 4 inches apart. We found last year through a trial that we can instead plant 4 together, and space them at 1 foot. This spacing allows us to use the water wheel transplanter to plant onions and save us from one of the most tedious (there’s that word again) jobs on the farm. More to come on the onions.

Planting sheet and seed pack

Planting onion seeds in soil blocks

Remodeling continues on the office and living room. It has been a dirty, uneventful tearout, but there was one interesting suprise. Our living room ceiling was drywall over cracked plaster. The furring strips that were used to attach the drywall are 18 foot long tongue and groove floor boards. They’re coated with a nice green patina of lead paint, but may prove useful in some other part of our renovation.

Furring strips

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