This is officially the latest we have ended the regular season in our 10 years as a CSA. Hard to remember, but the spring was so cold and wet that things took longer than normal to kick in.

We consider this year to have been a success. It is measured in many ways. One thing we realize is that we have continued to buy crates, and run out of them. A clear indication of an increase in volume.

The endive is a new item this week. A truly nice addition to a salad, it is nutritionally beneficial, being low in calories, and a source of fiber, vitamin A, and minerals like manganese and iron. Us a dressing with some sharpness and sweetness to cut through any bitterness, like the Sautéed Lemon Maple Frisee from our June 8, 2010 blog.

Glad we could get out some more garlic before the end of the season. Our harvest was less than half of what we planted last year due to the asters yellow disease. The good news is that the garlic that did make it is apparently now asters yellow resistant. We are planting it in hopes of sharing a bounty of garlic next year.

Have to mention the unique lady beetle invasion that took place on the farm Monday afternoon. A swarm descended on us covering everything between the house and the silo. We are not sure where they suddenly came from, but welcomed their arrival. A good sign going into winter.

Thanks for your support this year. We look forward to continuing to improve Fair Share Farm for you.

We expect to see a big change in the field tomorrow. The summer crops will be dying, after having produced an impressive harvest. This time of the season can be rather abrupt, but we welcome it as a sign to move on.

The plants are going, but the fruits remain this week. There is still a splash of color in with those green peppers and tomatoes. One good combo of your many share items is a hearty hash.

There are at least three hash recipes that have appeared in the blog. A sweet potato cabbage hash, beet hash, and green bean, potato, onion hash. These recipes generally involve shredding or dicing the major ingredients, and pan frying them until browned. Tonight’s combo for us included white sweet potatoes, green and hot peppers, onions, and dill.

To plagiarize our 10/6/09 blog post… As year 6 10 of the CSA draws to a close “what do I do with green tomatoes?” hopefully isn’t a questions members have in mind. Fried green tomatoes, green tomato and pepper relish, green tomato salsa, and green tomato curry are but a few of the recipes from our archives. Tried and eaten many times by us farmers, we can attest to the wonderful flavor green tomatoes can impart upon a dish.

Last year, because of the hot, early spring the season was ending this week. This year, due to the cold, wet, late spring we still have two weeks to go. And a good thing, because there is lots in the field to harvest and eat.

One new item is the watermelon radish. We plan to have more in future shares for those of you that are fond of them. And what’s not to be fond of. This year they are at their juiciest.

If you are not familiar with them it is worth noting that almost all of the radish’s hotness is in the skin. Cut it into rounds and peel, and you have the most striking raw vegetable you will ever ate. Great to snack on, or grate into a salad as a colorful addition.

Peel the heat off the radish (or keep it on for a kick)

Bulb fennel is also new to the shares this week. Use it anywhere you would celery. It is also great chopped and added to a fresh lettuce salad, or roasted.

As far as the sweet potatoes go, we received a great recipe suggestion last year and put it in the blog-Roasted Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges. It is a regular dish for us, perfect for the toaster oven.

While we are feeding you, we are also feeding the soil and our new batch of chickens. We recently turned under our summer cover crops to let them digest in the ground until the spring. The chicks are being fed a ration of organic grains, along with some of the tomatoes, lettuce leaves, and other goodies that would normally go to the compost pile. They are also feeding the soil as we move their trailer down the beds. Thanks go to Kathi Whitman for selling us the trailer and run before she moved to Utah.

Rocky loves the newly spaded beds

Chick trailer, “breezeway”, outdoor run and electric fence

Change is setting in. Less than a month ago we had a 5 day stretch of 95-100 degrees. Now we are dodging frost and living comfortably. October days can be the most beautiful of the year. The cooler temps help the fall plants grow best, and have also slowed down many of the munching bugs.

Rocky joining us for the morning harvest

The stars in the field lately have been the broccoli and cauliflower. It has been wonderful eating as much as we can. They are two of the best raw vegetables to eat for nutrition, taste and texture. And if you have a favorite dressing, they are the perfect vessel.

Peeled broccoli has beautiful color too.

We eat lots of our broccoli simply cooked; by steaming and then mixing with some butter, lemon juice and salt. It’s good at any temperature.

The other thing we do a lot of is peel our broccoli stem. Fresh broccoli is tender throughout. It is a shame to waste anything but a little peel and a trimming of the end. If you have not done this before , we hope you try it and get even more of a meal from your share.

Time for fall cabbage this week. And choices abound as we hand out round, flathead and Chinese varieties. They are all good eaten raw in a slaw. The trick to a good slaw is to shred the cabbage, salt it (about 1 tbsp. per medium head) and let it sit in a colander and drain for about an hour. Shake and press off any excess water and you have slaw that will remain crunchy and not get watery.

The next step in slaw making is choosing what extra ingredients to add, and what dressing to make. The first thing is to see if you have any veggies in your fridge or share that would enhance a cabbage salad. Peeled and grated kohlrabi, radishes, peppers, pears, apples, raisins, and nuts all go well in slaw. Herbs like cilantro, parsley or chives make a good garnish.

For the dressing the possibilities are pretty endless. We often use either an Asian dressing (sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, honey, ginger), a Mediterranean one (olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, garlic), or a mayo style (mayonnaise, white vinegar, honey, ground black pepper).

For the first time since early March, Rebecca and I were off the farm overnight. We took a two evening rest in St. Joseph, Missouri. It was well worth the journey as we stayed amused and relaxed.

Our visit to the Glore Psychological Museum included a look at the impressive vegetable production, storage and processing operation of the former State Lunatic Asylum No. 2. As the copy below shows, they weren’t small potatoes (the facility housed 3,000 people). From what I can tell from the lower photo, they even fermented cucumbers in quantity.

Seuss sweet pepper

It appears that fall is creeping in. Just a couple weeks ago it was 100 degrees, but now the nights are cool and the weather favors the autumnal vegetables. We fall in that category too, as the heat of summer is over and we feel a little less worn at the end of the day.

One fall crop that is prime at the moment is kohlrabi. Returning members should remember last year’s post by our friend Cole Rabi. Follow the link and learn some basics for eating this crunchy treat.

Here at the farm we have been doing a lot of tomato eating and preserving. Tonight, after previously prepping and cooking down our chili sauce, we are canning it. We use the Ball Blue Book recipe, which is similar to one in our July 29, 2008 blog from member Ann Flynn.



Cover crop and high tunnel

Yet another good recipe for this summer/fall mix of vegetables is Cauliflower puttanesca. From way back in our September 15, 2004 newsletter, this dish is from the newsletter of Rebecca’s old CSA in SF, Terra Firma. You don’t have to add anchovies or olives, but it sure helps make the dish.

LETTUCE (F/P)  Welcome back, you ruffle-headed beauties!

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P)  and you too, turnips…

TOMATOES (F/P)  A few less than last week, but still a nice amount.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  We’ve never grown such huge, beautiful peppers.  Enjoy!

CARROTS (F/P) 

BROCCOLI (F) Use soon, as it is a bit squirrelly.  Not sure what is causing it to unevenly ripen, but it got stressed by some combination of weather, soil and water. 

ROMA TOMATOES (P)

CHERRY TOMATOES (F)

GARLIC and HOT PEPPERS (F/P)  Tom has more info. on cooking with the hot peppers in his post.

NEXT WEEK:  More tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli, lettuce and turnips.  New will be Napa/Chinese cabbage and eggplant.

FARM REPORT

Many of you have met Lauren Semivan at the farm this summer.  She and her new husband, Lorne, are headed towards a farm of their own and are apprenticing here in preparation.  Lauren is an accomplished art photographer with works in museums and galleries.  She has been working this summer during the little time we leave her on a new series of composed photographs.  Some bits and curiosities from the farm have even made the cut.  This week she and Lorne travel to New York City for an opening of her work at the Bonni Benrubi gallery on Wednesday night.  Go here to see the show.  Best wishes for a dazzling time! 

It was a wonderful weekend at the farm as we celebrated our tenth season. Yeah! A splendid time was had by all as the pictures below can attest.

It was great to host the CSA on a day that did not include manual labor. The food seemed extra tasty  as we all dined in the midway.

Mark Flynn entertaining and feeding the crowd.

Hangin’ in the back yard.

 On Saturday our grill was hot and so I roasted a batch of hot peppers. The large green peppers are an Anaheim type and are good for roasting and peeling. The yellow and red Hungarian hot wax are good grilled, but aren’t good for peeling as they are thin.

Hot, hot peppers.

TOMATOES (F/P)  700+ pounds just today.  The red hybrids are at their peak.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) 

ROMA TOMATOES  (F)  Tom’s post covers some good hints for cooking with whole tomatoes.  Romas are great for sauce-making.

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P)  The hot weather ripened a truckload of these today.

YELLOW ONIONS (F/P)

ARUGULA (F/P)  The second cutting which isn’t as perfect as the first, but still very edible.

EGGPLANT (F) 

SALSA OR OKRA (F)

HOT PEPPERS AND BASIL  (F/P) The hot peppers are Anaheim or banana types.  Either are pretty mild especially if you remove the seeds. 

GREENS (F) The first picking of the kale and collards will be small bunches.

NEXT WEEK:  More tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant.  Lettuce, carrots and Hakurei turnips return.

FARM REPORT

The onslaught of summer fruit continues.  We are picking okra above our heads, tomatoes that have sprawled up their posts and down to the ground, and pepper plants that have take over the paths.  We have more tomatoes than we had time to count, so we may just send them in and say, “take what you want.”

Besides the harvest, the big story this week on the farm is the Fair Share Farm CSA 10th Anniversary Party taking place this Sunday.  We hope you all got the invitation.  Folks can arrive as early as 2 pm.  Program at 4 pm, food at 5 pm.  BYO place setting, dish to share and lawn chair and/or blanket.  Bring instruments, lawn games, participate in a treasure hunt, take a hay ride and stick around for a campfire.  Hope to see you all here!

It’s been a series of hot, dry spells that have defined the summer of 2013. It has not rained much since the summer solstice, and Sunday was a real oven. We are looking forward to a cooler forecast for the tenth anniversary party.

Tomatoes continue to ripen and fill the shares. We hope you have been able to see them go to use. One easy way to use them is to “beef up” a store bought sauce. You can’t have too many tomatoes in your tomato sauce. It is nice to get the skin off if you are going to cook them for awhile, otherwise you get curls of skin in the sauce.

Pasta tomatoes are the best for sauce

You can blanch your tomatoes in the same boiling water you are going to use to make pasta. Dunk your tomatoes in the water for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes and then cool in cold water. The skins will peel off when you core the tomato. Chop them, heat them in a pan, and then add the tomato sauce. Meanwhile bring the pot of water back to a boil and cook the pasta. A great way to stretch that can of sauce.

Narrow quarters in the high tunnel