We appreciate everyone listening to our plans and the changes ahead. The buoying of the farm by the CSA has helped to keep the farm sustainable since 2004. As my high schools motto says “Onward.”

You never know what vegetable will do well in conditions like we have been having. We are happy the pickling cucumbers have done well. They are naturally flavorful and crunchy. All they really need is a little salt.

We have been trialing putting perennial herbs in the corners of the high tunnel to take up space and allow us to grow plants that wouldn’t otherwise survive a NW Missouri winter. We have one success in a rosemary plant. One bush will hopefully give everyone a sprig. A real community shrub.

We added a teaspoon of chopped rosemary to some peppers and garlic we were frying and caramelizing. It was delicious and it added that extra savory flavor to the dish.

As the rain settles in and we survey the impact of all the recent rain, it is nice to have the natural fragrance in the air that the herbs provide. This week the garlic chives and fennel seed heads are peaking.

The first is a wonderful garnish for just about anything you make cook with your share this week. Pick the small flower heads off and sprinkle on some potatoes, or over the tomato and cucumber salad.

The fennel seed heads are something new to the share this year. We grow the herb fennel for its spring leaves and fall seeds. Eat one like a breath mint. They have a wonderful and powerful taste—the original Altoid.

This is such a great time of year to be cooking. Having Parker Farms meat, Companionship bread, Goatsbeard and Skyview cheese, and our eggs and vegetables we are eating well. A large summer squash is like having a pound of pasta at hand. And nothing is much quicker than a sloppy joe of vegetables over bread.

Zoodles

Local sloppy joe

Summer really seems to be waning this week, even though it is still August. The weather has been glorious lately, and the comfort level on the farm has increased. We are hoping to get some rain so that our cucurbit crops of squash and cucumbers will continue to produce.

As the source of the CSA vegetables, we have access to a surplus of seconds, or number 2’s as they are also called. Right now eggplant is available for us, so we are roasting and freezing them for future use. When we are in preserving mode though we still put some attention on the present, and make sure we partake of the bounty.

A quick dish this week was to take the warm, roasted eggplant, chop it, and mix it with a fresh tomato and onion salad. Top it with a vinaigrette some cheese and fresh basil and you will thinkyou are dining on the shores of the Mediterranean.

We would like to acknowledge the great job the Saturday CSA farm crew did in renovating the Swiss chard beds. Chard is a cool weather plant that has never been able to handle the summers on the farm. So we have learned that if you mow it down in August, weed it, side-dress it with compost, mulch it with hay, and water it you have a good chance for a nice fall harvest.

Below you see the crew side-dressing, trimming and mulching the beds. They look great and we hope to take a beautiful follow-up picture in a couple weeks.

August is moving fast this year. Lots of going back to school and college talk right now as we pass the halfway point. For us, it is the usual time of year when the sweet peppers start to ripen en masse.

And while the peppers have been sweet, I’ve been especially enjoying the potatoes. All you need to do is purchase, sprout, cut, plant, cover, hill, hill, hill, harvest, cure, wash and eat. That last step is the best. It is nice to eat a potato with flavor.

Porta fortuna

Right now potato salad has become a staple. Filling and tasty, you can eat it any time of day. A nice recipe that includes sweet peppers is in our September 9, 2008 blog.

Meanwhile we keep planting the crops that feed the potatoes and peppers. Taking beds out of production, preparing them for planting and seeding a cover crop is a time consuming task. This year we are doing well, with several large blocks full of cowpeas and sorghum-sudan grass. A pretty sight.

The dog days are upon us. Every year is different, and I think this one has been especially humid. The words “heat advisory” seem to be permanent on the weather report. The summer plants and cover crops like it warm though, and we are enjoying the harvest they bring.

The nice thing about living by the flow of the harvest is that most recipes will write themselves. One recipe we hope to use a lot in the near future is zucchini noodles. Many of you may be familiar with them as “zoodles.” We bought a julienne slicer that can turn a zucchini into a pot of noodles in no time.

Last night we made some, lightly cooked with butter and white wine, topped it with sautéed eggplant, onions,  peppers and black beans, and then a final garnish of fresh tomatoes, local cheese and basil. It was the case that the meal practically made itself.

If you are looking ofr something fancier, we would like to again suggest the eggplant cheesecake suggested in the Facebook a couple weeks ago. A final eggplant suggestion is a classic—eggplant meatballs. We posted this recipe three years ago, and have members that have made it a staple.

We continue to move ahead with our packing room upgrade and processing kitchen construction. We completed a big step this week as we pieced together the second half of our 24 ft by 8 ft walk-in cooler. Special thanks to Rebecca’s father John, who lended a big hand and saved the day with his pneumatic chisel.

We are in the final stages of this project and will keep you all informed as we try very hard to wrap things up and pass final inspection by the county.

Mainly a tomato, carrot and onion week as we regroup for the summer and wait for some new plantings of squash and cucumbers to kick in.

We grow a variety of paste tomatoes and hope that each distribution site will get a good combination of types. The blocky plum shape are a hybrid variety that is our most prolific grower. The Striped Roman are red with yellow streaking and a premier tomato for cooking into sauce.

Other tomatoes in the paste tray will look a little “ruffly.” These ruffled paste tomatoes vary in color from pink to chocolate. They are from seeds we have saved since 2012, when they mysteriously appeared among our plants. They are dry, meaty and delicious, making them perfect for a thick sauce

Any and all of these tomatoes are perfect for a quick dish. We suggest the pasta estate from our blog 7 years ago. It is a way to use up just about anything from recent shares.

It’s been a real roller coaster this year. A couple weeks of rain followed by a dose of humid blast furnace can knock one for a loop. It is always interesting to see what plants  do the best in such conditions.

For plants like tomatoes the spread of disease increases the longer the leaves are wet. Other plantings, like our summer cover crop of cow peas and sorgum sudan grass has thrived in areas that didn’t get too wet. We enjoy seeing the soil being given a good meal as much as we enjoy sending out a good share.

tomatoes and tomatillos

Some weeks it’s tough to get the blog written as the day’s energy wanes. So at such times I appreciate the recipe suggestions that get posted on the CSA Facebook page. This week there is a flush of eggplant in the shares and recent recipe suggestions like Eggplant Cheesecake and Eggplant Involtini, deserve attention.

And then there’s a #lunchatyourdesk dish that puts many of your share items to good use. And a good use of any cutting celery you have from a share, Celery an Parmesan Salad.

garlic curing in the barn

possible… reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing… drink plenty of fluids avoiding caffeinated and alcoholic beverages…stay in an air-conditioned room and out of the sun… and check up on relatives and neighbors.“

We supplement these suggestions with the consumption of lots of vegetables to restore our energy and replace any lost minerals and micronutrients. Eating root crops is a good way to do both those things. We like to peel beets and then grate them raw into a slaw. Cabbage, sweet onion your favorite dressing and a sprinkling of cutting celery gives you a fresh, crisp summer salad.

Summer is heading towards its peak. The tomatoes are coming on, the eggplant is kicking in, the tomatillos are filling out, and the root harvest is in full gear. Hard to believe that the days are actually getting shorter.

This week we are able to have some salsa packs be a share choice for the fulls. If you aren’t familiar with them, all you need to know is on our 2009 blog posts for fresh and roasted salsa. Just add a tomato and you will be in condiment heaven.

For us tonight we supplemented our vegetables with some protein and carbs. Beans have entered the menu a lot this year, as we try to keep our protein consumption high during this strenuous season. Onions, eggplant and garlic, followed by chopped tomatoes, pinto beans and tomato paste cooked together and served over brown rice is filling, nutritious and easy.

In the field we are doing some feeding too. As a part of our SARE project we are working on perfecting a seeder to plant our cover crops. Getting a good cover crops stand is one of the most important things we can do. If the soil doesn’t eat, we don’t eat. We will see soon how this round of trialing has done.

Two pass seeder we are trialing

The last week have been a real rollercoaster of weather. The wet, cool holiday weekend did provide some physical relief, but the blast furnace was turned back on today. It is nice to be enjoying the fruits of summer as a payoff for the day.

As an avid customer of Companionship Bread, we find many ways to enjoy John’s hand crafted and cultured breads. Many of his breads are leavened with wild ferments. This natural yeast really gives the bread flavor, and helps is stand up well to hearty recipes.

This year’s red onions: Cabernet, Tropea and Rosa di Milano

Sloppy Joes are the perfect meal to incorporate those loaf ends and other slices. We find ourselves making them often this time of year. It is a great way to enjoy your Parker Farms ground beef or pork. Top it off with grated cheese from your cheese share and a garnish of herb, and you have a true local treat.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
2 onions, diced
2 peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 summer squash or eggplant, chopped
2 tbsp fresh summer savory
1 lb ground meat
1 quart tomato sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
sliced and toasted bread

Method:

• In a large sauce pan sauté the onions, pepper, garlic, salt and olive oil over medium high heat for 3 minutes
• Add squash and summer savory, cook 5 minutes
• Push the vegetables to one side and add the meat, brown the meat over high heat
• Once the meat is browned form a well in the center of the saucepan and add a cup of tomato sauce
• Once the sauce thickens add another cup, repeat until all sauce has been added to the pan and thickened
• Pour over bread and top with garnish of grated or crumbled cheese and fresh herb