It is often amazing to see just what influence the weather has over our crops. The weather of late has allowed our plant to “put on growth.” We are fortunate with modern weatherforcasting to have know to harvest before the mid-October frosts, so that we can enjoy the new fruits and greenery of this late fall burst of produce.

Our latest sweet pepper harvest ever

I was talking to one of my sisters the other day and she said that they had a large garden harvest of peppers last week and proceeded to make stuffed peppers. I searched our archives and found a couple recipes that should help a resourceful cook also make some stuffed dishes out of what is in recent shares.

The first, of course, is stuffed peppers. Our newsletter from way back in September 2004 (our first CSA season), has a great recipe for cheese stuffed peppers. While the recipe calls for cherry bell peppers, you can use whatever ones are in your share.

The other is stuffed chard leaves. Kale can also be used for this recipe. Just about any vegetable in the share can be added to the stuffing.

As the climate changes we try here at the farm to adapt. We have learned from fellow farmers that ginger, a tropical plant, is something you can grow here in Missouri with some technique. We are working too at growing other hot weather crops, like lemongrass.

We had a nice little patch of this aromatic in our herb garden this year to see how well we could grow it in a raised bed. You will be tasting the result. According to Wikipedia,  “It is believed to help with stress-related disorders, and has been shown to have antifungal and antimicrobial properties.”

I have an affinity for its flavor. I first sampled lemongrass in the mid-1980’s at a restaurant in Rochester, New York where I lived. I asked the waitress about the incredible lemongrass chicken I was eating and she came back with the recipe. So, if you eat chicken, I highly recommend this dish.

This was apparently a very quickly translated recipe at the chef spoke only Vietnamese, so I have found that the ratios can be suited to taste. For a whole chicken I would grate a full tablespoon of lemongrass. The grated onions are the carrier of the marinade, and I will grate up to 1/3 cup for a whole chicken.

Broiled Lemongrass Chicken
1/2 chicken boned
1/4 tsp fresh ground lemongrass (use a grater)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp grated onion
1 small clove garlic (crushed)

Mix all seasonings together. Pour over chicken and marinate 2 hours to overnight. Bake chicken at 375 deg F for 45 minutes, turning once.

To use the lemongrass you need to trim, and then grate the base of the plant. The stalk that remains is then in perfect shape to steep for a healthy tea.

HAKUREI TURNIPS These are the best.  The roots have ice-cream centers and the tops are big and leafy.

RED LEAF LETTUCE  This is held over from last week’s picking, so use it soon.

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER  These are spicier than usual and reminds us that they are arugula’s relative.

BOK CHOY OR TAT SOI  High tunnel-grown and huge.  Bring an extra bag to carry it home and get your wok ready.

FRISSEE ENDIVE Frilly and fancy salad ingredient.

PEARS  What?! Not a usual item to have for the CSA, but the farm’s crazy old pear tree growing next to the driveway is making decent pears this year.  We have no idea what type of pear it is, but once they ripen to a brownish gold they are pretty sweet.

CHARD, KALE OR GAILAN

LEMONGRASS  A new offering to the CSA.  It enjoyed our tropical summer.  See Tom’s post for more info.

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, turnips, radishes, sweet potatoes, greens, garlic.

FARM REPORT:
Despite the warm weather hinting otherwise, the farm continues to prepare for winter.  We removed one big item on the list this past week when the final touches were made on the new chicken coop.  After scavenging the farm for materials, we found enough to remodel the livestock trailer into a cozy home for our new hens.  Sheet metal left over from re-siding the barn joined corrugated plastic from siding the greenhouse joined old windows from the family stockpile.  The secret ingredient, however, was Farmer Tom and his knack for putting it all together.  If you want to see more of the project and other photos from the farm, consider visiting us on Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/fairsharefarm/

Last night while I was wrapping up the last CSA distribution of the regular season, Tom moved all the three-month-old chicks into their new home.  After dark is the time to move them while they are inside their little coop for the night and sleepy-eyed.  Today we kept them inside so that hopefully tomorrow night they will remember where to go when it gets dark.  Some cleanup in the chard patch gave them a nice snack while they were “cooped up.”

As the regular CSA season comes to a close I would like to thank the membership for another great year of agriculture and community. And thanks to all who filled out our annual survey in August. Looking over the survey results and comments provides a lot of satisfaction in knowing you feel well served.

I especially liked reading the comments of what members like best about the farm shift. The words love, experience, and process are common, and we are glad that we have been able to provide not just vegetables, but a real connection to your food.

This week’s share is one we’ve been holding out for, letting the leeks and fennel grow for as long as possible to help them bulk up. The leeks this week would be great in a soup. In particular a potato leek soup which is made with your white sweet potatoes. Here is the recipe from our blog of 5 years ago today.

You can chop up the bulb of the fennel and add it to the soup above. Or if you need some other ideas and a primer on how to clean a fennel bulb, go to our November 2010 blog for some help.

The peppers were plentiful this morning during our final harvest of the year. It is always a treat to participate in a bountiful day, and the afternoon sweet potato harvest didn’t disappoint.

So the question is what to do with all of these seasonal beauties. With the sweet potatoes it is important to make sure that for any that you accumulate, to store them at between 55 and 78 degrees F. Do not put them in the fridge. With proper storage they can keep well into the new year.

The peppers need more immediate attention and can be used right away, or preserved for future use. The recipe of green tomato and pepper relish gets you a condiment for burgers and dogs, and an ingredient for homemade salad dressings and deviled eggs.

You can also store the peppers by freezing. No need to blanch or otherwise process the peppers. Just cut the cleaned pepper into large chunks, put them into a freezer bag, and freeze. Easy.

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  This morning we picked them all and came away with quite a haul!  There will be 2-3 lbs. per share this week.  See Tom’s post for a pepper relish recipe.

LETTUCE OR ARUGULA F/P  The high tunnel is a bit ahead of schedule and so we are picking some of the greens that just couldn’t wait any longer.

TOMATOES/GREEN TOMATOES F  With frost in the forecast, the tomatoes are stripped bare and coming to you in shades of green.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Cilantro, dill or parsley.

BEANS OR BROCCOLI P  The last of the beans and the broccoli is attempting a comeback.

EGGPLANT F  Baby fruit picked ahead of the frost.

SWEET  POTATOES F/P  Your choice of Beauregard (orange) or Bonita (yellow).

GREENS CHOICE F kale, chard or gailan.

RADISHES OR BEETS F  This is a tricky one.  We aren’t sure how much we will have until we pull them tomorrow.

NEXT WEEK:  the last week of the regular 24-week season.  Sweet potatoes, leeks, greens, bulb fennel, herbs, garlic.

FARM REPORT:
The forecast for Thursday morning stands at 34 deg. F at the moment.  That’s cold enough with clear skies and a calm wind to kill the summer crops.  To every thing, there is a season and so we say goodbye to the summer with one last mega harvest.  With one day left to bring it all in, we still have a big list.  Today we harvested the last of the sweet potatoes, all of the peppers, eggplant and tomatoes, over 1,000 pounds total.  Tomorrow once the CSA harvest is complete, we will turn our focus to the crops that remain, adding row cover for frost protection and installing the doors on the high tunnel.  If anyone wants to come help, the more the merrier!!

Before frost threatened, your farmers snuck in a short vacation.  Shocking, I know!  Not since Tom and I traveled to Arkansas in January had we both left the farm for an overnight.  Between chickens, greenhouses, and the fields, it is pretty impossible for both of us to be gone at the same time.  With the greenhouse empty, the fields all but harvested, and a couple of conscientious human beings to care for the chickens, we made our escape.  Wednesday night through Friday we transplanted ourselves to Leavenworth, Kansas.  Part foodie roadtrip, part genealogy research, we spent our time eating Korean food, tromping around cemeteries and exploring the pre-Civil War history of the county.

On our way back we tracked down the graves of my great-great grandparents, Catherine and Peter Graff.  Peter was born in Germany and married Catherine from North Carolina.

It has been a glorious time lately to spend your days outside. The weather has been beautiful and the plants and people have appreciated it. Inside things have been pretty good to, as the Clay County Department of Health has given us approval to ferment and sell the vegetables we grow on the farm.

It has taken about 3 years to get to this point, and we are glad to finally be here. The support we have received from the CSA, friends, family and the community has really helped to bouy us along through the many stages of this project. Thanks to all!

In the share this week we are able to enjoy a great variety of vegetables, as the summer hangs on and the fall slowly takes hold. The sweet potatoes are enjoying this weather pace, giving them more time to bulk up.

We have a new variety of sweet potato this year called Bonita that has replaced the O’Henry. It is also a type of white sweet potato, but with a pinkish-red skin. They are creamy and sweet, good as a mash, roasted, steamed or boiled. They make a very nice potato salad also.

We welcome the fall with the first harvest of sweet potatoes. It is always nice to eat seasonally and welcome a vegetable that you have not had in awhile.

We enjoyed some tonight using the method of steam then brown. Cut the sweet potatoes into on 2-inch chunks, steam for 10 to 12 minutes, drain, and return the potatoes back to the same pan. Add some butter or oil to the pan and brown them.

We then spiced ours with a spice blend called tagine (curry is good too) and some salt.  A garnish of yogurt and chopped cilantro can’t be beat.

Out in the field we are chopping down some summer cover crops and getting ready to turn them in. It is nice to be able to look down after mowing and not be able to see the soil, knowing there is a lot of good organic matter to chew into the soil

The frogs hear the tractor coming and leap out of the way. This one landed nearby and I got a pic. A frog in the field is an indication of diversity and health.

In an old episode of Cheers, Norm and Cliff were discussing what the sweatiest movie was-Cool Hand Luke or Body Heat. Around here, the title of most humid season so far is descriptive of 2016. 

These warm sunny days have helped some plants, like okra and peppers, to thrive of late. We are also going to finally see a few beans in the share. A spell of poor germination means that the harvest will be smaller than desired, but these Roma beans serve well as an accent as much as a main ingredient.

One way we like to use green beans this time of year is in a hash. Our recipe from July of 2007 for potato, onion and bean hash fits well with the recent shares. These beans can also be steamed, cooled, and added to a cold salad.

This recipe is in one of our old newsletters. This summary of the week from 9 years ago notes that we were featured in the first issue of Greenability. It also shows our old gas powered irrigation pump (spewing fumes not pictured.) Give it a read.

In the fields the 4 inch rain a week ago put a hit on our latest attempt to re-seed everything we can before it is too late in the season. This picture is a good visual of our challenge.

It was great on Sunday to be able to have such a wonderful gathering here at the farm. It seems the kids might have outnumbered the adults this year meaning we must have achieved some type of critical mass. We are hoping we can keep that going as we head into the future.

While the summer harvest is starting to slow down, we still seem to have one of our more productive okra patches out in the field. There are plenty of recipes for the okra lover on the web, but if you are new to okra or not crazy about its texture, we suggest reading our August 2010 blog. This wok dish is a great way to keep the okra crispy.

beautiful okra

Out in the field we are beginning the process of mowing down the summer cover crops so we can feed them to the soil. Annually watching these great mass of greenery grow tall, get shredded, and then disappear into the soil really helps one understand that the soil is literally eating all of it. After all, the soil is the stomach of the plant.

mowing down the sorghum-sudan grass/cow pea cover crop