Wanted to share what will be the last photos from this year’s farm. It’s been a wild ride but we’ve had fun. Hope you’ve enjoyed your share.
acorn squash
gourd and squash blossom
gourds
our little pumpkin
A startling discovery in the beans September 26, 2008
Last week when I was harvesting green beans, I was quite startled by this bullfrog. Woah! To be honest, he scared the crap out of me (he was a good six inches across). He dug his way in there and hunkered down in the mud. He seemed pretty happy there.
Week of September 15 September 17, 2008
This is the last pick-up until the pumpkins, gourds and acorn squash are ready. It seems like there is a lot to say when reflecting upon the season. Speaking of…we will be sending out a survey and hope you will take a few minutes to complete it. We need your honest feedback and know there are many improvements to be made. We sure learned a lot this year and appreciate you supporting our efforts.
Thursday night Jay and I are going to the farm to harvest the rest of the tomatillos, to remove the tomatillo plants and to dig the rest of the potatoes. Then on Friday morning I will harvest the remaining eggplant. I’ll also get most of the peppers – bell, jalapenos, healthy and poblanos. Some will be small but since it’s the last pick-up for veggies, we might as well pass them out. I found a recipe that uses eggplant and green peppers and put it on the blog.
I doubt we’ll have a bunch of red tomatoes this week but I plan on harvesting a fair number of green tomatoes. I’ve added two recipes to the blog for green tomatoes. If you’ve never had them, try them. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised (fried food tastes good!).
I’ll cut what basil is available and you can take some if you’d like.
If you were one of the people that took those giant zucchinis and froze them, I added a recipe for zucchini bread to the blog. It’s outstanding!
I hope to take more photos this week and post them so you can see the growing pumpkins. The gourds are really cool looking too.
A reminder that pick-up is on Friday between 5 and 7 p.m. at our house. If you need to make other arrangements, please email by Thursday or call me at 212.6675. If you’d like to skip this week maybe because you’d rather not have more peppers, eggplant, tomatillos and green tomatoes, let me know. I’ll just give those items to other members.
We can’t thank you enough for being inaugural members of Squash Blossom Farm. We hope you’ve had an enjoyable experience supporting our local family farm.
Thanks everyone!
Julie, Jay and Lucy
This Week’s News – September 8 September 10, 2008
Hi everyone! I hear we’re going to get some rain tomorrow. Even though the year is basically over for our farm, we still need it.
You might be happy to hear that the zucchini and summer squash are truly done. I yanked the plants last Friday and it felt good.
This week we’ll take a break from the eggplants. You’ll get the remainder next week.
I’ll have just three more bunches of beets. Who wants ‘em?
I’ll be harvesting what tomatillos are left. Anyone antsy for more?
Those of you that haven’t had green beans will get them this round.
There are plenty of peppers to go around – healthy, green/orange bell and a variety of hot peppers. We’ll even have some poblanos. If you haven’t used poblanos before, they are the pepper typically used for chile rellenos. I added a recipe on the blog but beware – they are hot! They aren’t supposed to be that hot and I wonder if they crossed with the nearby jalapenos. They are still tasty but make sure you are prepared. I will just leave these out for you to take if you want them since there won’t be many and they will be fairly small.
Everyone will have tomatoes again. And one new addition this week are leeks! I’ve put a recipe on the blog for those as well. They are outstanding in soups.
Remember that pick-up this week is from 5 until 7 p.m. Thanks everybody!
Week of September 1 September 3, 2008
This was the first morning of the year when it truly felt like fall to me. A welcome sign, from my perspective. The days are shorter and the plants are growing slowly. It feels good to go at this pace.
Some of the pumpkins at the farm are turning orange! They are so pretty. The little gourds and the acorn squash will be ready soon.
This week there will be a few summer squash, a couple zucchini, and only a couple tigger melons (if you REALLY want any of these, let me know and I’ll put them in your bag). Those that didn’t get eggplant last week will get them this week.
We’ll have some beets – if you want them, let me know. You may end up getting some even if you didn’t ask. Come on, they’re good for you : ) . Check out the recipes we have for them and give them a try. You might be surprised.
More potatoes will be dug so if you haven’t had any yet, Friday may be your lucky day. Same goes for green beans.
Some basil will be available if you’d like it.
There are plenty of peppers to go around – healthy, green/orange bell and a variety of hot peppers.
A few will get carrots this week too. And there will be tomatoes for everyone. I did not add any recipes to the blog but if you have something you’d like to share, let me know and I’ll post it.
Happy September everyone!
This Week’s Bag – August 25 August 27, 2008
Farm Update
We are celebrating today because we finally got some rain!
This may very well be the last week for summer squash and zucchini. The plants look terrible and I should pull them out soon. The eggplants are about done too. Half of you will get them this week and the other half next week. Their growth is really slowing.
Not to be a total downer, it is almost September and plants can’t sustain that high level of production forever, but the cukes are definitely done too.
On the upside, the tomatoes still look pretty good and are continuing to produce well for us. The chard is growing nicely in our back garden. The beets are getting bigger and so are the pumpkins, winter squash and gourds.
There are more radishes ready. Are there really only two CSA members interested in radishes? If so, they will continue to get them. If not, let me know and you can have some this week.
I have to apologize for being overly ambitious about the potatoes last week. I thought they had produced more and larger potatoes than I realized and one really only discovers that when one starts to dig for them. I will dig more on Friday morning and will make sure everyone has some before the season’s over.
More green beans will be shared this week as well. No tomatillos, however, and just a bit of basil. No huge quantities for pesto right now.
This Week’s Bag
- Crookneck Squash and/or Zucchini
- Eggplant
- Tomatoes
- Tigger Melon – this will probably be the last week for melons.
- Green or Orange Bell Pepper
- Healthy Pepper
- Other peppers – jalapenos, serrano tampequino and fish
- Potatoes – La Ratte
- Green Beans – a mix of royalty purple pod (well, this one is actually purple) and empress.
I added two recipes from CSA members this week. Hope you enjoy!
This week’s harvest – August 18 August 20, 2008
Farm Update
Let’s see. What have we done recently? Jay started some spinach seeds in our back garden this week so we’ll see how they grow. I went out this morning and cleaned up the summer squash and zucchini a bit. They are nearing the end of their days so I hope you’ve had enough of them (we’ll still get a few more but probably not in the numbers we’ve been seeing). The cucumbers are pretty much shot. We might see a couple more (not per person, but literally two more) so if you are a die-hard cuke fan, let me know and you can get the last of the season.
We have some beets ready to go. Would you like some? I wonder if people feel about beets the way they do about radishes. I only had two subscribers interested in radishes last week. Anyway, let me know and I’ll give you some.
An interesting tidbit from last week…we had a pretty big haul and I estimate we harvested over 200 pounds of food. Pretty impressive for our little farm!
This is the week that the basil gets a very serious haircut. No basil for the taking.
An exciting addition to this week’s bag are La Ratte potatoes. They will be new potatoes (sometimes called baby potatoes). We were hoping to let them grow larger but the plants are being taken over by bugs so it’s time to begin harvesting them. This is a french fingerling potato that is quite delicious! Check out the recipe section for storage and use suggestions.
Also, we have some green beans. Not enough for everyone every week but I will harvest them weekly and make sure you get some at least once this season. I, personally, think they are quite tasty.
This Week’s Bag
- Crookneck Squash and/or Zucchini
- Eggplant
- Tomatillos – I’ll give away what I can find.
- Tomatoes
- Tigger Melon – Did you enjoy these? I’d love to hear.
- Green Bell Pepper
- Healthy Pepper
- Beets – Chioggia
- Other peppers – jalapenos, serrano tampequino and fish
- Potatoes – La Ratte
- Green Beans – a mix of royalty purple pod (well, this one is actually purple) and empress.
I added two recipes from CSA members this week: eggplant bruschetta and focaccia pizza. Try them. I think you’ll like them!
Our Bountiful Farm August 20, 2008
Thought you would enjoy these photos of our recent harvests. They’ve been plentiful and colorful.
And then there’s Jay working in his new hat…
My handsome farmer husband
Fall is right around the corner… August 20, 2008
The gourds and pumpkins are growing! Fall will be here before we know it.
hello little pumpkin!
