Category Archives: sweet potatoes

In the Share: Week 7 extended season

csa, sweet potatoes

SWEET POTATOES  orange-fleshed Beauregards

LETTUCE MIX  More mix from the fields

LEEKS

SWISS CHARD

ARUGULA

SPINACH

BROCCOLI/GAI LAN

ROOT MIX  A mix of radishes, turnips, beets and carrots

HERB CHOICE thyme, rosemary or dried herbs

NEXT WEEK:  The 2016 CSA season is over.

FARM REPORT:

What a week!  As I said in an email to the membership after the election, no one is going to build a better world for us.  That is true no matter who is in the White House.  We must work together to create a world that is just, fair and based on love and mutual respect.  In our small way, these lofty goals were visible this past Sunday at the CSA meeting.  Thanks to all who participated.  For the full rundown on what transpired, check your email inbox.   We appreciate everyone’s interest and support of our plans for sabbatical in 2017.

The end of the CSA season has arrived with the final shares to the extended season members.  This usually is cause for bittersweet celebration at the farm.  The first shares went out in mid-April, almost 7 months ago.  Since then we have been on a weekly CSA schedule that is relentless.  Until now.  We are looking forward to the winter work of maintaining equipment, organizing the barns and planning for the year ahead.

In the Share: Week 21

sunrise, sweet potatoes

SWEET POTATOES F/P  A sweetheart of a potato harvest is cheering up your farmers. See Tom’s post for a recipe.

TOMATOES F/P  Tomatoes and cilantro at the same time is a treat!

LETTUCE x2 F/P  There is no stopping the lettuce.  We must pick it all this week and will hold it in our coolers for this week and next. Enjoy them while they last.

GREENS CHOICE F  kale, chard or gailan.

EGGPLANT F  This is always the best time of year for the ‘plant.

OKRA OR CUCUMBERS F  Both are winding down but there’s just enough to make a choice of the two.

SWEET PEPPERS P

ROMA BEANS P  Tom wrote about them last week

HERB CHOICE F  Cilantro or sage, both great with sweet potatoes.

NEXT WEEK:  Peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, greens, and leeks.

FARM REPORT:
Fall is finally here and the lovely weather is much appreciated at the farm.  The work day starts cool and crisp.

Our tasks take us across the fields harvesting lettuce in the early morning, weeding in the high tunnel and then out for an afternoon of sweet potato digging.  If you haven’t yet made it to the farm for your shifts, come on out and help us bring in the sweet potatoes this week or next.  We are getting closer to our average first frost date and all the “sweets” will need to be safely indoors by then.

In the Share – Week 7

cabbage, hail, potatoes, rain, sweet potatoes

NEW POTATOES F/P  They are tender and young and should be consumed promptly.  Refrigerate to keep them longer.

SUMMER SQUASH F  Just one for each share, mostly zucchini with some Lebanese (light green) and a very few yellow squash.

LETTUCE F/P  May be it for lettuce for awhile.  It has some hail damage yet again.

GREEN RED ONIONS  F/P  They are beginning to make bulbs but still have their green tops.

CHARD OR KALE F  Our hardy greens are growing some nice leaves.
 
CARROTS F/P  The first carrots, small and tender with tops.  To keep them longer, remove the tops.

CABBAGE F  They got knocked around by the hailstorm, but they are still tasty.  See below for more on the Spring 2015 cabbage crop.
 
NEXT WEEK:  Carrots, beets, squash and garlic. 

FARM REPORT:
A beautiful two days of sunshine and heat made us hope that the dreary weather was in retreat.  The rain thought differently and on Sunday we got another 3.6 inches and some more hail.

 
rainfall totals with the farm the star.

This dramatically wet season is taking it’s toll.  A good example would be our Spring cabbage patch.  This winter we decided to grow more cabbage for our fledgling business in kraut and kimchi-making:  a thousand in addition to the several hundred that we grow every Spring for the CSA.  In April and early May they couldn’t have looked better, but the last month of their life was very soggy.  Here’s a psychedelic view of our “supposed to be green” cabbages.

None of these were harvestable, but on the higher ground the plants were green and we got about half of what we planted.  Lucky for us, in a way, we planted way more cabbages than we could have possibly dealt with and so despite the loss, the farm is still flush with cabbage.  I know you all are longing for the sexy vegetables of Summer, but until we get some sunshine and drier weather, cabbage it is.

 Most of our crops do not look like those scary pink cabbages, but they face serious challenges of anaerobic soil – no air equals suffocation of the plants’ roots, lack of sunlight, and competition from weeds.  When it is too wet to use the tractor or even hoes to control weeds, we are left with pulling them by hand.  With all the other work to do on the farm, there just plain isn’t time to get them all. 

sweet potato hills on the highest ground on the farm.

While I could grouse about the weather all day long, I must also mention that we have been cheered by the words of support and encouragement we have received from many of you. 

CSA members removing the pea fences.

Thank you for joining us on this rollercoaster of local eating.  We hope to come out the other end of the season with new strategies for adapting to extreme weather and to the changing climate.

In the Share: Week 6

cabbage, summer squash, sweet potatoes

 CABBAGE F/P  Some are pock-marked from the hailstorm but otherwise perfectly edible. 

LETTUCE F/P  Lettuce season may last one week more – enjoy them while they last

FRISEE F/P  Small frisee hearts for your salads. 

GAI LAN, BROCCOLI SIDESHOOTS OR KOHLRABI F/P

SWISS CHARD, KALE OR BOK CHOY F

BEETS OR TURNIPS F  The turnips were harvested in bulk on Saturday with the CSAs help.  No tops, just bottoms.  The beets will have both.

HERB CHOICE F  Parsley, chives or mint.

NEXT WEEK:  Green onions, lettuce, carrots, squash (hopefully!), kale or chard and potatoes.

FARM REPORT:
Another week, another round of the “dodge-the-rain” game.  If anyone is keeping score out there, add another 2 inches of rain to the tally.  Thankfully farm apprentices, Semra and Megan, were willing to relinquish one of their day’s off on Thursday, the one day that was just dry enough to plant.  We seeded cucumbers, summer squashes and beans and transplanted more tomatoes, herbs, melons and flowers.  At 4 pm the much anticipated box of sweet potato slips arrived via UPS and we immediately hopped on the transplanter to put them in the ground too. 

The work went slowly due to the imperfect nature of the ground that has stayed too wet to prepare properly, but we managed to get all 1200 feet of the sweets in the ground by the end of the day.  By the way, if anyone wants some slips for their garden let us know, we have some extra.

On a rare sunny day we put another coat of “Surround” on the squash plants.  They have been in the ground since early May and are slowly growing and just starting to fruit. 

The spray consists of a fine white clay that coats the leaves and is unappetizing to the dreaded cucumber beetles and squash bugs.  At this point, our problem is not that we haven’t been able to plant, but that the plants that are in the field, like these squashes, are growing very slowly due to the boggy conditions and lack of sunlight.  If the rains could just taper off and we could get some sunshine, we think that the plants would wake up and start growing again.

In the Share – Week 7

cucumbers, shade structure, sweet potatoes

CUCUMBERS F/P Holy cukes!  We harvested over 600 cucumbers this morning.  That means everyone should receive 4 or 5 this week.  The plants are healthy and should continue the onslaught for a while. Cucumber salad is a great replacement for the spring salads of lettuce.  Summer is here!

ZUCCHINI F/P  It is either feast or famine with the squash family of crops and it looks like we are going to have a feast this year.  See Tom’s post for ideas on using these beauties. 

SWEET ONIONS F  More of the same type we pulled last week. So sweet!

CABBAGE F  Tendersweet is a flat-head type and lives up to its name.

PEAS P  A few peas, but this is the last of them.

CARROTS P  Yellow and orange types.

BEETS OR TURNIPS F  Topped roots

BASIL F/P  The first of the basil will be small bunches.

GARLIC F  We are pulling the first of the garlic tomorrow.  What we don’t pack for the shares will be hung to dry in the upper barn.  We are cutting them with a long stem so that they will dry well for you or use them fresh.  To dry hang it where it is relatively warm and dry.

NEXT WEEK:  More cabbage, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, beets and onions.  Yellow squash and perhaps new potatoes.

FARM REPORT:
The rainy weather let up just long enough to get the sweet potatoes planted and the summer crops weeded and mulched.  The transplanter was pulled out last Wednesday afternoon and the crew made quick work of the sweet potatoes while I did the delivery to the Bad Seed. 

The tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and tomatillos received needed attention.  The weeds had almost overtaken the crops and we were finally able to hoe the area and mulch.  Saturday’s CSA members pitched in and the plants are in good shape now. 

The seeding of the fall transplants is a good rainy day job.  So far we have cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and bulb fennel seeded in their soil blocks in the shade structure.  We put up the shade structure temporarily just for the fall crops.  It keeps the seeds cooler and they sprout better than in the heat of the greenhouse. 

In the Share – Week 22

barn, broccoli, sweet potatoes

BROCCOLI (F/P) We have picked most of the first heads and now are picking the side shoots.  Full shares get broccoli and a choice of more broccoli or cauliflower.

SWEET POTATOES (F/P)  big, beautiful orange-fleshed Beauregards

LETTUCE (F/P)  A mix of varieties from the field.

BULB FENNEL (F/P)  Whoa there, the fennel has grown fast and large.  See Tom’s post for some culinary suggestions.

CHOICE OF GREENS (F) Bok choy, tat soi, kale or arugula

BEETS OR SWEET PEPPERS (F/P) 

KOHLRABI (F)  These are the larger, fall season varieties.  Don’t let their size scare you, they are tender and juicy.

GARLIC (F/P)  We are saving all of the rest of the garlic for planting later this month. 

TOMATOES (F)  We picked green tomatoes today.  Expect them in your share next week.  Until then enjoy the last of the ripe ones.

WATERMELON RADISH (F/P)  See Tom’s post for more on this vivid fall treat.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, thyme, or rosemary

NEXT WEEK:  Broccoli, green peppers, green tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, lettuce and leeks.

FARM REPORT:

The farm crew gave up a day off last week to take advantage of the beautiful weather for re-siding the back of the barn.  Thanks to a good platform designed by my dad, we had a sturdy work area.  The old lumber came off quickly in the morning and the boards went up in the afternoon.   

The end result looks pretty nice if we do say so ourselves.

With frost coming any day now, we have been very focused on harvesting the tender crops.  The sweet potato harvest continues with 400 feet left to dig.

In the Share – Week 21

barn, lettuce, sweet potatoes
romaine lettuces

LETTUCE (F/P) Our best guess is that last hot spell gave the lettuce a fright because almost half of our varieties are going into premature bolt, including some precious heads in the high tunnel.  Crud!  Others are holding on strong and everybody will get one of those until they run out.  Some may also get some baby heads that had to be cut before they get their full bolt on.

TOMATOES (F/P)  The harvest is dwindling, but the plants continue to slowly ripen fruit.  We barely missed a frost this weekend so we’ll have them for at least another week.

LEEKS (F/P)  The first digging of the fall leeks.  Can’t wait!

BROCCOLI (F/P)  The broccoli is starting to settle down a bit and cold nights make it sweet.

CAULIFLOWER (P)  Partial shares get a choice of cauliflower or more broccoli.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  The ripe ones are getting scarcer but these warm days help. 

CARROTS (F)  Orange sweeties from our recent digging.  There’s another bed out there that we are looking forward to eating all winter.

BOK CHOI (F) We planted whatever seed we had left including red ones, white-stemmed and green-stemmed varieties.

HERB CHOICE (F)  Cilantro, dill or basil.

NEXT WEEK:  More peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and beets.  Bulb fennel debuts.

FARM REPORT:

Fall is easily our favorite time of year.  The air is clean and crisp.  Snuggled in our hoodies and jackets we are greeted by the morning sunrise a little later every day.  With nothing left to plant, we focus on the harvest.

fall morning radish pull

In any extra time we have on CSA mornings, we tackle the sweet potato harvest which is breaking all previous records.  Last week we dug a whopping 680 lbs. out of a 200 ft. row.  With several more rows to dig, we encourage anyone who still owes hours to get on out here. 

Luke and Lorne leading the way

When the planting ends, work on the infrastructure begins.  First on the list, the back of the barn.  Some of you may remember when we re-faced the front of the barn two years ago.  Some of you even helped us on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year.  Luckily we stayed injury-free and the barn is much improved.  This time around because of the lay of the land we are fifteen feet up off the ground for the entire project.  For this reason, we are sticking with the “professionals” on this job.  The farm crew plus an extra hand here or there should be able to get the job done. 

back of the barn (before)


In the Share – Week Five

cabbage, cover crops, sweet potatoes
Spring cabbage

BEETS (F) My favorite vegetable is ready for harvest – what could be better? When they are young like these, chop the whole plant – root to leaf – and sautee with some garlic and olive oil. Yumm!

CABBAGE (F/P) Spring cabbages are smaller than those in the fall – perfect for a bowl of cole slaw.

SUGARSNAP PEAS (F/P) Wow, do we have a lot of peas out there. I hope we have lots of pickers this week! Come on out if you need to get in a shift.

LETTUCE (F2/P1) the lettuces are hanging in there, but they’ll be gone soon. Enjoy those salads while you can!

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) A pint for everyone. There are still lots of berries in the patch, but fewer perfect ones for the shares.

SPRING TURNIPS (F) Our second spring planting of turnips is ripe for harvest and they are big beauties!

BROCCOLI (F) The broccoli has continued to produce side shoots, so here’s one more round for the full shares.

ONIONS (P) The onions are starting to bulb up. There will be many more to come.

HERBS (F/P) Mint, herb fennel, Thai basil or a dried herb.

NEXT WEEK: More turnips, lettuce, peas and herbs. Carrots and summer squash.

FARM REPORT: Summer begins on Friday, June 21st and we welcome its arrival. This cool, wet Spring has been a real challenge and we are hoping that Summer brings some warmth and drier weather. Since the first seeds were planted in the fields back in March we have been dodging the rain to get any planting done. Just as the fields begin to dry out rain enters the forecast. Sometimes the ground is still a touch too wet and we plant anyway, slogging through the mud. Other times it is so wet there is no way to work it and we wait. 

If we are lucky we can adjust our planting maps and find a drier piece of ground to plant. Such was the case last week when the area slated for the sweet potatoes remained boggy and full of partially-digested rye/vetch cover crop. We love to grow a massive cover crop before the sweet potatoes and the timing usually works out great. Not so this year as the cool, wet soil slowed decomposition and we had no choice but to look for other ground. We found some space that was empty due to the same wet weather that prevented us from planting a cover crop earlier this Spring.

Lucky for us that field was empty or we would have been stuck with 1,000+ sweet potato slips with nowhere to plant them. Instead we fired up the transplanter and in a period of 24 hours we planted all of the sweet potatoes and 750 melon plants.  Later that night over an inch of rain fell as the farmers slept peacefully.

2012—Our Ninth CSA Season

csa, fair share farm, farm apprentice, high tunnel, kansas city, Parker Farms, sugar snap peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes

And so we reach 2012 … and the reminiscing is about to end. It has been instructional and cathartic for Rebecca and me to review what the farm has been through over the last ten years. Every year has been a new set of challenges and unpredicable weather. As an example, the contrast between Spring 2012 and our present weather conditions is striking.

Red bud blooming March 24, 2012

2012 broke all sorts of records, including the hottest January-June on record and third driest year on record. The drought and mind-numbing heat of Summer (the average daily high in July was 98.2 deg F) made work difficult and came close to drying up our irrigation pond.

It was a very strange, if not somewhat bizarre year for the crops, with the early Spring and hot, dry Summer causing many plants to mature up to a month early. Strawberries were ripening on May 1 instead on Jule 1. Garlic was ready by June 5, a month ahead as well. And most of the potatoes quite literally cooked (and rotted) in the ground as the soil temperatures topped 90 degrees.

There were some major successes though. In the Spring the sugar snap peas were dripping off the vines with a new record of 550+ lbs. As mentioned, the tomatoes thrived…9,397 pounds of virtually blemish-free beauties thanks to the dry weather. The sweet potatoes were the most beautiful specimens we had ever grown. We also had good success with carrots, the Fall crops and many other vegetables.


Ryan picking peas (photo by Bill McKelvey)
tons of tomatoes

A good sweet potato plant
Sweet pea very full for the CSA delivery to the Bad Seed

Despite the crazy weather, the farm crew was up to the task. Dani Hurst returned for a second season as an apprentice and even squeezed a May wedding to Derek Brown into the year. Apprentice Ryan Stubby graced us with his hard work, good nature and awesome kale chips. Harvest extras allowed Ryan to hone his skills at food dehydrating, a talent he hopes to use in future ventures.



Ryan and Dani tending to the tomatoes in June

CSA member, Mark Flynn, had some free time that Summer and was a big help during the big tomato harvest and Fall planting push. The lack of rain and extreme heat created the need to put out mulch for the cabbage, broccoli and other July plantings earlier than normal. It was a big effort to complete, as the Summer harvest was also in full swing. Thanks again Mark.

Ryan, Mark, Dani and Rebecca planting cabbages in July

In June we traveled to Richmond, MO for the KC CSA Coalition tour of Parker Farms. As vegetable farmers and meat eaters we appreciate the effort that goes into raising free-range, pasture-fed livestock. Since we started collaborating with the Parker’s in 2006, they have fed us most all of the meat we have eaten in the last 7 years. Tom, Paula and their four daughters hosted a delicious pot-luck and stroll of the farm. They are doing it right.


Pasture-fed and free-range beef ala Parker Farms

The other big task in 2012 was the construction of our new high tunnel. Grading of the site began in January. Two volunteer work days and many other hours of piecing it together were successful in getting things in order by mid-September. The high tunnel crops flourished that fall and allowed us to extend the season for 4 weeks.

Volunteers helping put up the main structure March 10th
Finished high tunnel on November 11th

Our last days of the season were out of the norm that year too. On October 20 the Outstanding in the Field crew and Justus Drugstore again set up at the farm for another fantastic dinner. It was a tough day though, as it was announced by OITF founder Jim Denavan that we were hosting the coldest event they ever held. Crazy for that to happen after the Summer heat wave.

We entered the Winter of 2012 already planning for an expansion of the CSA to 150 members in 2013. But first we are able to take a train ride to the Southwest and relax in New Mexico hot springs for a week. Such a break is always good.

The oft-photographed St. Francis Chuch near Taos, New Mexico

If you have been following this recollection all the way through we thank you, and hope you enjoyed it. We would appreciate your comments and look forward to hearing from our blog readers.

Next up…the 2013 season.

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.