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Spring Share #2 May 10th

Posted in Uncategorized on May 10, 2018| 3 Comments »

A wet week of garden work but we powered through the raindrops and got the work done in muddy jeans and heavy boots.

Big news is all the onions and shallots are in! We wait a bit to plant so the seedlings size up. MUCH easier to plant than itty bitty threads.

Scott with his onion planting invention. Little tiny poke holes every 6 inches to set the rows.

This is how we spent the better part of 2 days….2 onions per hole down the line…. 6000 planted. AND we could stand upright when it was all over. Note: Gorgeous garlic in the background!!

Long rows of cabbage, broccoli raab, broccoli and kohlrabi all went out in the garden with a bit more to go. The summer squash and watermelon seeds started in the greenhouse and some basil upgraded too. We are transitioning the hoop house for summer share production with more head lettuces and leafy green mixes going into the ground. A beet trough was planted. Scott works evening on securing our fence lines to prevent wildlife from visiting and snacking! We are secure for now.

SPRING SHARE #2

A Bounty! We are thrilled…Enjoy!

Baby pac choi, chives, turnips with greens, spinach, beta mix (baby beet tops and baby chard mix), tokyo bekina (fluffy chinese cabbage), spinach, mini head lettuces (2 varieties)

Baby Pac choi-This is a juicy mini variety. LOVE in salad to add crunch, grilled it is delicious, also fantastic in broth.

Pac choi on a dewy morning.

Beautiful!

Chives-big bunch, great with eggs or use as you would onions.

Chives ready for the morning harvest.

Turnips!-A HUGE HUGE! bunch with greens attached. We are thrilled with the early harvest They are delicious and perfect too. Sweet as can be. Eat raw-our preference but can be added to stir fry too for a bit of crunch.

Turnips at harvest.

Turnips soaking in the dunk tank after washing.

Turnips washed and bundled-ready for the shares.

Beta mix-A flavorful mix of baby beet tops and baby swiss chard. Delicious in salads raw or a light saute. A favorite.

Spinach-Another great harvest this week and some jumbo donkey ears in the mix.

Huge “donkey ear” spinach leaves….

Spinach triple rinsed and air drying before bagging.

Tokyo Bekina-A crunchy asian green that tastes like fluffy chinese cabbage. Fresh, saute or steamed it is fantastic.

Tokyo Bekina ready to harvest.

Tokyo Bekina gorgeous in the morning sun.

Mini Head lettuces-2 varieties…butter heads and little bibbs. Will make perfect salads and the bibbs can be grilled with flavorful results.

mini butterhead.

mini bibb.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK….MORE TURNIPS, LEAF LETTUCE, DIFFERENT KIND OF PAC CHOI, HONEY, ASIAN GREENS MIX AND MORE…..

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Thursday May 3rd 1st SPRING SHARE 2018

Posted in Uncategorized on May 3, 2018| 1 Comment »

An odd Spring, but it seems that comment can be made every Spring for a different reason. Hard to believe that there was deep snow on the ground 2 weeks ago. We worked in the hoop and greenhouse when we could not get outside and readied machinery, seed count and seedlings so when it was time to jump we were set to jump. A fast and furious 2 weeks. Peas went in, brush cleanup around the gardens, beds prepared and planted with long rows of carrots, turnips, beets, radishes and the outdoor spinach transplanted. And on a perfect 2 days the gardens were tilled and plastic layed. We still buzzed around the hoop house and greenhouse upgrading the peppers, tomatoes and eggplant, started more seeds for outdoor planting and direct seeded more leafy greens in the hoop. It’s all good. We sleep well…. Our Spring Share crops in the hoop house look fabulous and we are looking forward to a happy 2018 CSA season.

April 15th at the Carrot Trough…..we planted it on April 30th.

Scott was able to till an lay plastic in 2 days. Perfect soil conditions.

Many nights the row cover had to go down in the hoop house to protect from the cold. Off again in the morning…..You can see the wall of snow outside the hoophouse in this image….

Spring crops growing in the bright sun. Row cover hanging in the back and snow outside.

Peas went in…snap, shell and snow and they are already sprouting.

SPRING SHARE #1

ALL greens are triple rinsed, bagged and ready to eat! All other produce is washed and ready to eat as well.

ALL shares are in cloth totes in our walk in cooler ready to go at pick up time. ALL Spring Shares are equal. Grab your share and check your name of the list on the cooler door. We will ALWAYS be here at pick up time to assist with pick up routine and walk around the gardens or greenhouses if you wish.

Return your cloth tote with next week’s pick up for reuse.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

radish medley, HUGE! bag of spinach, baby asian greens blend, baby arugula, spring leaf lettuce, and sunflower shoots

radishes-a mix of 3 varieties. Nice big bag.

French breakfast radishes ready to harvest.

Radishes washed and ready to bag. I always think this looks like peppermint candy.

Spinach!-This has to be the favorite Spring crop. 4 varieties mix. A huge bag to enjoy. Flavorful….raw or saute a treat!

Spinach at harvest.

Asian greens mix-A leafy mix of mildly spicy asian greens. Raw or can be steamed or saute. I love with eggs.

Asian greens blend in the morning at harvest time.

Arugula-Another Springtime favorite for many…..a great peppery flavor with a kick. We cannot get enough of this. Picked small and tender.

Baby arugula glowing in the sun.

Spring Leaf Lettuce-A pretty mix of tender baby leafy greens. Sweet!

Spring Leafy Lettuce ready to harvest with fennel planted between the rows for later harvest.

Sunflower Shoots-Just for fun! A nutty addition to a salad or sandwich or delicious on top of creamy soups.

Place shoots on a bright windowsill and water as needed. Snip and eat shoots before 1st true leaves appear for best flavor.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK.

Mini head lettuces, pac choi, tokyo bekina (fluffy chinese cabbage), spinach, japanese salad turnips!!!!! (really!!!!), beta mix (baby beet tops and mini swiss chard) and more…..

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Happy New Year! 2018 CSA Registration OPEN

Posted in Uncategorized on January 1, 2018| 1 Comment »

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Foxline City Farm CSA Registration Open to any current or past member for the month of January. Open Enrollment for waiting list and general public starts February 1st.

2018 CSA Shares

SPRING SHARE

May 4th 2017 Spring Share.

SPRING SHARE 2018-MEMBERSHIP FULL FOR THE 2018 SEASON

4 consecutive weeks of cool loving crops from the hoop house starting in May. A green lovers delight! Share will include 6-10 different offerings each week. Spinach, lettuce, salad mix, saute mix, sunflower shoots, pea shoots, arugula, salad turnips, radishes, baby carrots, pac choi, asian greens and more! A delicious treat after the long cold winter!! $130 ($32.50 a week) FULL FOR THE 2018 SEASON

FULL SHARE

September 27th 2017 Full Share.

August 17th 2017 Full Share.

Full Share-20 consecutive weeks starting in June. A perfect share for a family or couple that cooks most weekly meals at home. Feel free to share a share with another family and split the bounty weekly or every other week. Weekly offerings of seasonal produce all summer long. Tons of leafy greens!, spinach, lettuce, salad mix, saute mix, asian greens, swiss chard, celery, rhubarb, radishes, carrots, beets, summer squash, winter squash, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, beans, peas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, melons, eggplant, peppers, brussels sprouts, onions, leeks, shallots, garlic, turnips, honey, flowers, peaches, pears, ginger and more…..Produce is clean, carefully packaged and stored in our walk in cooler until time of pickup. $610 ($30.50 a week)

SNACK PACK

September 14th 2017 Snack Pack.

August 31st 2017 Snack Pack.

SNACK PACK SHARE-20 consecutive weekly pick ups starting in June…..Back by popular demand after 2014 launch….. The perfectly sized share for a single person or busy couple or family. Smaller portions-1 meal, “ready to eat” produce, low preparation time all considered when we pack the snack pack share. We love this share! Seasonal garden produce all season long. Tons of leafy greens!, spinach, lettuce, salad mix, saute mix, asian greens, swiss chard, celery, rhubarb, radishes, carrots, beets, summer squash, winter squash, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, beans, peas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, melons, eggplant, peppers, brussels sprouts, onions, leeks, shallots, garlic, turnips, honey, ginger, peaches, pears, flowers and more…..Produce is clean, carefully packaged and stored in our walk in cooler until time of pickup. $360 ($18 a week)

Winter shares are going to be handled a bit differently this season. We are not offering an “official” prepaid winter share for 2018. This year we are going to follow the late season “bonus share”/ “season extender share” model we practiced at the end of last season….We loved it and so did our 2017 CSA members….! So, no winter share offered this year BUT several fantastic bonus shares will be available for purchase on a weekly basis for several weeks after the 20 week main season ends-same as 2017.

Feel free to contact us with any questions at foxlinecityfarm@yahoo.com or 608 393 0383.

Registration form is attached below. Click copy and mail with your payment to Foxline City Farm 1200 Carpenter Street Baraboo WI 53913.

2018 CSA enrollment form

Our BIG Spring Plant Sale will be in Early May again this year. Everything needed for your home garden.

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1st Winter Storage Share November 16th

Posted in Uncategorized on November 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »

We change again with the season….A great few weeks of garden clean up and managing the final crops out of the hoop house and field. The days have been fairly mild for pulling out crops and picking up irrigation. Hopefully we get the garden put to bed before the snow arrives…..

Hauling Brussels Sprouts from the field in very fashionable autumn wear.

Scott hauling the Brussels Sprout stalks to the compost after our final pick of the season. Best Brussels Sprout year ever for us with almost 1000 pounds. Some stalks were almost as tall as Maeve!

The leafy green crops under row cover on chilly days…

Our thoughts have already turned to next year’s gardens. We’ve ordered our potatoes and ginger already and seed lists have started. Our final orders will all be placed by Christmas. We are excited and looking forward to a wonderful growing season. 2018 CSA enrollment opens in January.

WINTER STORAGE SHARE #1

A bounty of goodness today! 33+ pounds in 2 totes for each CSA member. We had a great late Fall Harvest. Everything for Thanksgiving dinner except the Turkey. Enjoy!

Packing the cold storage items for the 1st winter storage share.

Brussels Sprouts, spinach, mini head lettuces (3 varieties). broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pie pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, radish, garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, leeks, kohlrabi, and salad turnips

Brussels Sprouts-The final picking from the monster stalks…Sweet as can be as they have been touched with a bit of frost. 3 lbs in every share.

Sweet Brussels Sprouts.

Spinach-A jumbo bag of frost kissed sweet spinach from the hoop house. Triple rinsed and delicious.

Scott spinach picking….

And triple rinsing…

Mini Head Lettuce-3 varieties were picked for this week’s share. Several heads of each.

Scott pulling up the row cover to harvest lettuce.

Gorgeous!

Broccoli-Field grown late broccoli! A cold tolerant variety…always an “iffy” crop for us- you never know if it is going to make it our not depending how cold it gets out there. It made it! Abundant and delicious.

Getting ready to harvest the Broccoli.

Broccoli harvest.

Potatoes-5=pound bag of Gold Rush. The perfect masher or baking potato.

Sweet Potatoes-3+ pounds of mixed beauties.

Pie Pumpkin-Nothing better than homemade pumpkin pie. Pie pumpkins are a dryer less “stringy” pumpkin and make a great soup too.

Butternut Squash-A perfect sweet butternut in every share. One of our favorite winter squashes.

Carrots-These are the last carrots to come out of our beloved carrot trough. Crunchy, sweet and flavorful.

Radishes-A late season harvest from the hoop house.

Looks like peppermint candies.

Maeve bagging up the radishes with the help of a 3rd eye.

Garlic-A nice big bag of garlic for winter cooking.

Onions-3+ pound bag of winter storage onions.

Ginger-Our final harvest of ginger. Delicious with squash or pumpkin soups, makes the BEST ginger snaps ever, and fantastic as a hot tea. Enjoy this special treat.

Just dug ginger.

Turmeric-Our first year growing this crop. A surprise for the winter shares, great in curries, soups or tea. We even slice and grate in our fry potatoes.

Fresh turmeric.

Leeks-A big harvest of late season leeks. Potato leek soup, a gratin, or saute. Delicious mild flavor.

Kohlrabi-late season kohlrabi to enhance your salads.

Turnips!!!!-Another tricky late season crop but soooo worth it. Sweet and smooth as butter. 1 of our favorite garden treats!

Turnip ready to harvest in the hoop house. YUM!

2ND AND FINAL WINTER STORAGE SHARE PICK UP THURSDAY DECEMBER 7TH

Wreath workshops around the corner…limited space available in Sunday November 26th and Saturday December 2nd. All other classes full. Can’t wait!

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October 12 Summer Share #20 Final Share

Posted in Uncategorized on October 12, 2017| 1 Comment »

The final share of a fantastic season. Our best ever on so many levels and we are pleased, grateful, relieved, and a little bit tired out all rolled up together. It’s fun to reflect on this amazing summer that honestly seemed to zip right by. The gardens and hoop house have been powerhouses all season long. We set a few personal goals and hit most of them. One was to provide “leafy greens/lettuce” in every share every week. We did it and we did it well. Another was to rock on broccoli-and we did it, we wanted to provide more carrots than last season and we did that too and were very pleased that we had carrots in our very 1st share this season. We still are hoping to grow even more for next season so carrots can be a regular item in the shares all season long as a treat. We wanted to grow more beets and different varieties of beets and we still stink at growing beets….we had 2 good crops and that was it. We are glad we had “some” but had much higher hopes. Other seasonal highlights and “best evers”…Wasn’t Uncle Jim’s corn great this year!! 6 weeks. WOW! Thank you Uncle Jim. The onion crop was amazing this year. Great varieties, sized up well, and high yield. Beans were abundant (and not too abundant that we were swimming in them). We had an early harvest and the rotations were strong all season long. Peppers were great! And are still rolling along which is pretty crazy. Our potato crop was near perfect aside from 1 variety which we will discontinue and the new potato digger made harvest so much easier. Brussels Sprouts! HUGE!!!! best ever for us. We harvested over 600 pounds so far and the stalks are still loaded. Winter squash harvest was MUCH stronger than past years, watermelon was spot on, and the 5 varieties of leeks we planted had high yield with more still in the field for winter share. Our tomato harvest was better than last year but the harvest widow short. We had great and bountiful tomatoes 3 weeks longer than last season but still ended too soon when the cold wet weather came late summer they never really came back with big harvests. Cherry tomatoes of course chugged along forever….Cucumbers were perfect and early BUT! ended too soon and our second planting never really amounted to much…we will improve on this next year and same with zucchini-great when they were here but wished for a longer window of harvest. Shelling peas way back at the beginning of the season were delicious and abundant. A big treat in our mind and I think we are the only CSA around that provides these….sugar snaps flowered when the vines were short and our yield was down because of this. We hoped for more but were grateful for what we had given the odd weather challenges early in the season.

It is important to us that there are a few extra perks in our CSA. Every share had flower bouquets a few times this summer as a pretty surprise, beautiful basil plants went home with everyone too to enjoy all season long. Backyard honey sure is a sweet treat and the ginger a zippy marvel grown in our backyard…..Fun additions that make our CSA special.

The final big goal for us is really 3 fold-1.variety-207 different varieties were provided this season with great rotation and not repetition over and over and over of the same stuff…-2.clean, properly processed and well presented produce with a 3. personal touch. Our family does all the work with no outside hired/volunteer help at all. We did it! We want our members to look forward to their shares every week and enjoy them with very little cleaning to get them to the table.

Now for my favorite end of summer detail….12,718 pounds of produce went home with CSA members this season. With a bit of calculating this translated to less than 50 cents a pound for delicious clean produce all summer long.

We are grateful for this season and the support of our CSA members that make this life possible for us. Thank you to all….

SUMMER SHARE #20 FINAL SHARE OF THE 2017 SUMMER SEASON

1463 is the weight of the final shares this week! WOW! But…. is does include the weight of the ornamental pumpkins.

Shares are packed in paper kraft bags this week so no need to deal with a return bag.

Scott packing final share in kraft bags.

SNACK PACK

head lettuce (2 varieties), storage onions, brussels sprouts, carrots, pepper, sweet potatoes, winter squash, ornamental pumpkin

head lettuce-2 gems this week, a fluffy late summer crunch, and mini head bibbs

Summer crunch at harvest this week.

Early morning lettuce harvest.

storage onions-several in every snack pack share. Long storage life.

Cleaning onions before they go in the shares.

brussels sprouts-We are thrilled to offer these for a 3rd time this season in the final share. Delicious.

160 pounds harvested this week!

Carrots-Fall carrots are so sweet. A great end of season harvest for us. Enjoy!

Carrots!

Posing with the bounty….

This is how we wash our carrots-an old wringer washer.

Pepper-An assortment from the final harvest….How amazing that the pepper harvest is still strong!

Sweet potatoes-A great Autumn treat! As mentioned before we are thrilled to have a sizeable harvest at all with to our late planting date due to supplier issues and the cool summer.

Phew! We have some big ones. You just never know what you are going to find when you start digging.

Potatoes-Perfect! baking, mashing Superiors this week.

Winter squash-a mini acorn or Carnival in every share.

Ornamental pumpkin-a thank you treat! Enjoy!

Scott harvesting the ornamental pumpkins out at Cousin John’s. Thank you Cousin John!

FULL SHARE

head lettuce, spinach, storage onions, brussels sprouts, carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pac choi, winter squash, ornamental pumpkin

Head lettuce-2 varietes a sweet and juicy mini bibb head and a crunchy cold hardy summer crunch.

Scott harvesting the mini lettuce heads.

Lettuce all crated up and ready to head to the wash tanks.

Spinach-A nice big bag. We are picking off 3 rotations in the hoop house.

Storage onions-several in every full share.

Brussels sprouts-A nice big bag for several meals. A favorite!

Carrots-2 pounds in full share. A great late season harvest for us.

Maeve passing time with the carrot harvest.

and modeling with the carrot….she told me to take the picture as it would look really “cool”.

Final Fun carrot shot!

Peppers-Several in every Full Share from the final harvest.

This week’s pepper harvest.

Sweet potatoes-An Autumn treat that even sweetens up over time….

Potatoes-Superior potatoes this week. A great baker or mashed. And perfect!

Scott packaging up the beauties for the share.

Winter squash-2 a delicata and an acorn in full share this week.

Pac Choi-Mini little guys to add some crunch to fresh salads or a light stir fry.

Ornamental Pumpkin-a final share treat for autumn decorating. Enjoy!

Auntie Howdy I will have to send you notes in the mail from now on….love to you and happy autumn.

Ornamental pumpkin Harvest.

THANKS FOR SHARING A GREAT 2017 SUMMER SEASON WITH US!!!

WREATH WORKSHOP IS AROUND THE CORNER….FRIDAY’S CLASS IS ALMOST FULL.

Maeve getting creative with the wreath we made together last year.

1ST WINTER SHARE PICK UP IS THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16TH See you then….

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October 5th Summer Share # 19

Posted in Uncategorized on October 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Happy Full Harvest Moon….be sure to look at the beautiful moon tonight before you go to bed and reflect on the wonderful summer season.

A fantastic long late season harvest for us this past week. Great abundance fills our days and we wonder when we will have the time to tackle the clean up. We started hand digging the sweet potatoes and are pleased with the yield after a delayed Spring planting due to issues with our organic supplier. We worried all season long if they would size up and we are grateful they did. Not the amazing bounty of last year but we are satisfied. More squash was hauled in and we harvested all our oddball ornamental/edible winter squashes and pumpkins on a bright sunny day. A HUGE! Thank you to Uncle Jim and Cousin John for making this possible for us. It is one of my favorite crops and it could never happen without their generosity and help.

Oddball winter squash and pumpkin harvesting.

Look at those beauties….!

A Maeve picture of some of the cool ones.

Hauling some of the beauties to storage….a selection will be available at pick up today on the “extra” table outside the garage door if you wish to take 1 for eating/decorating…

SUMMER SHARE #19

1 more pick up remains of the Summer 2017 Season.

Please return all your bags for reuse and also take some time to return the season end survey. Your thoughts are so important in shaping our future seasons. Member suggestions brought back the pie pumpkins this year, requested we grow colored lettuces (which we did for the 1st time this season), and let us know you all love brussels sprouts as much as we do….as well as other helpful comments that improve our CSA.

537 pounds is the weight of our garden bounty this week….enjoy!

SNACK PACK

pie pumpkin, sweet potatoes, potatoes, ginger, garlic, radish medley, spinach, sweet mini peppers, collard greens, kohlrabi, wreath workshop info and Very Merry info. too (Maeve is going to sell her cards at this wonderful holiday event again)

Pie pumpkin-a sweet pie pumpkin for everyone.

Choose a pie pumpkin from the table at pick up.

Sweet Potatoes-We started the harvest with more to come next week. We harvested 2 varieties this week, all white skin and flesh and red skin white flesh either or both in every share.

Sweet potato harvest. Perfect weather too!

Potatoes-Beautiful superior potatoes this week. Great baked or mashed.

Ginger!-Fresh ginger as a treat. It is brushed clean and NOT! washed as we have found this is better for longer storage life. Leave on the counter. Snappy spicy flavor. Great for tea, add to your drinking water, or delicious with creamy pumpkin soup.

Ginger at harvest. LOVE! my hand me down 80’s garden sweater…

Ginger ready to be brushed…

Garlic-2 heads in each snack pack share.

Radish Medley-3 different varieties grown in our carrot trough after the final carrot harvest.

Radishes after washing….they look like peppermint candy!

Spinach-Hoop house grown spinach and we have just started picking off our 2nd rotation that was transplanted out to over winter.

Washed Spinach ready to be bagged up for the shares.

Mini Sweet Peppers-Tons of these sweet little gems were harvested this week. It’s October! Sweet and delicious and long storage life in the refrigerator.

Mini Sweet peppers all portioned out for the shares.

Collard greens-A HUGE personal favorite. I love it raw as my sandwich wrap, added to salad, make a quick side slaw for dinner or wilted in broth as a side is delicious.

Collard green harvest.

Kohlrabi-a late season harvest. Peel the thick outer skin and eat… Great with salads or stir fry.

FULL SHARE

pie pumpkin, sweet potatoes, potatoes, ginger, garlic, radish medley, leaf lettuce, sweet peppers, sweet shishito peppers, collard greens, purple kohlrabi, acorn squash, sunflower bouquet, wreath workshop info. and Very Merry info. (Maeve will be selling her cards at this holiday event again this year)

Pie Pumpkin-Creamy bright orange flesh that roasts down to make a fantastic and flavorful soup. We taste tested one this week and made a soup with coconut milk, garlic, onions, ginger and chunked potatoes in too. It was delicious.

The pie pumpkin harvest a few weeks back….pumpkins all cured in the greenhouse and are ready to eat.

Sweet potatoes-We started the hand digging….enjoy!

Sweet potatoes at harvest.

Potatoes-Superior is the choice this week. Great baked or mashed.

Ginger!-A season end treat….we are thrilled with the yield and the flavor. Store on the counter. These roots have been brushed and not washed to prolong storage life.

Fantastic Ginger!

Scott gently brushing away before they go into the shares…

Garlic-4 heads in every Full share.

Radish Medley-A mix of 3 snappy varieties.

Leaf lettuce-A nice sweet leaf lettuce mix from the hoop house.

Leaf lettuce at morning harvest.

Leaf lettuce in it’s 2nd rinse of 3.

Sweet Peppers-A mixed harvest this week and several appear in all full shares.

This week’s pepper harvest.

Shishito Sweet Peppers-A final shishito harvest. A nice big bag of these delicious snackers.

Collard Greens-Raw, in a quick slaw, added to salad to add some crunch, or added to broth. Delicious. A big favorite of mine.

Purple kohlrabi-A snappy beauty or 2 in every full share.

Purple kohlrabi ready for the shares.

Acorn squash-this is a mini sized acorn. Perfect for a meal.

Acorns harvest a few week’s ago-cured and ready to eat.

Sunflowers-A few late planted seeds for a Fall flower surprise.

Wrapping the sunflowers for the Full Shares.

BEST GUESS FOR OUR FINAL WEEK-carrots, squash, radishes, chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, head lettuce, peppers?, kale, ornamental (jack o lantern) pumpkin, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions and more…..

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September 28th Summer Share #18

Posted in Uncategorized on September 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I LOVE this time of year…I know I said it before but I cannot help it and have to say it again. LOVE it. A great week…..Beautiful weather. A surprising blast of heat and then cool dewy mornings with bright sunshine. Final crops are coming from the garden, our workload eases some and we move with a little slower pace throughout our days without that underlying urgency of how are we going to get it all done. It sure feels good…Time frees up a bit for “non gardening” activities. We processed grapes to juice, made a final trip to Devil’s Lake for the last dip of the season and made another floral bouquet for a special customer…

Making Grape Juice.

20+ Quarts of pure Concord Grape Juice. Thank you Schick Family for letting us pick.

Final Devil’s Lake Dip of the season.

Last week’s Pretty flower bouquet created in the only spot of sunlight when our power went out! FOCUS!!

Cleanup needs to become a daily duty, and the garlic crop needs to get planted. We laugh as we already find ourselves discussing next season’s crops and the garden rotation.

SUMMER SHARE #18

A great share this week. 580 pounds of perfect Fall produce from the gardens…And Fall honey is here. Extra honey is available too if you wish to purchase.

2 shares remain of the 2017 Summer Season. Season Member surveys appear in the shares this week. Please take some time to let us know your thoughts about our CSA and return. Your thoughts, ideas and feedback are important in shaping the direction of next season. Thanks! Also, please gather up and return all remaining totes from the weekly shares for reuse.

SNACK PACK

HONEY!, baby arugula, head lettuce, brussels sprouts, potatoes, storage onions, butternut squash, sweet pepper, black radishes, pac choi, tomato

honey-sweet honey from our backyard hives.

Scott spinning the honey.

Honey draining after spinning.

baby arugula-spicy baby green leaves. Fresh or saute it is delicious.

Baby arugula at harvest.

head lettuce-great lettuce again this week from the hoop house. Either another variety of butterhead or a pretty ruffled bicolor.

Butterhead lettuce at harvest.

brussels sprouts-Our best! growing season ever of this favorite crop. We planted 3 different varieties and tons of them and the yield is great. Enjoy this late season treat. A bounty.

The brussels sprout patch in the HOT! September sun.

Potatoes-Perfect baking potatoes this week. The variety is gold rush.

Picking up the potatoes in the field.

storage onions-several of these long storage onions in every share. Best storage onion harvest ever also this season.

butternut squash-we pulled the last of our winter storage squash from the field this week and this mini butternut was in the mix.

Final load of winter squash from the field.

sweet pepper-with the blast of heat this past week we picked a nice mix again of sweet peppers and 1 or more in every share.

Black radish-A 1st in our CSA shares. A 3rd year of trying to grow them and this year it finally happened. Great radish taste and such a cool color.

Black radishes at harvest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY AUNTIE HOWDY!!!! HOPE YOU EAT YOUR FAVORITE CAKE AND MAKE A SPECIAL WISH FOR THE COMING YEAR AS YOU BLOW OUT THE CANDLES. MUCH LOVE TO YOU FROM ALL 3 OF US…..

pac choi-a crunchy treat from the hoop house. Great raw in salads or in stir fry.

Pac choi at harvest.

tomato-we were able to pull 1 tomato for everyone out of the tomato patch with the mini little heatwave this week.

FULL SHARE

HONEY!, baby arugula, head lettuce brussels sprouts, potato, storage onion, butternut squash, peppers, spinach, purple beans, broccoli side shoots, black radishes, pac choi, tomato

honey-backyard Fall honey. Rich deep flavor.

Straining the honey.

Filling jars for the CSA shares.

baby arugula-A snappy treat from the hoophouse.

Head lettuce-We harvested 2 perfect varieties this week and both are in all Full shares.

Head lettuce at morning harvest.

Brussels Sprouts- A BIG! bag of these little wonders. Enjoy!

Trying very hard to look “chipper” picking 150+ pounds of brussels sprouts at a steamy 91 degrees around 12 noon…..I know-pretty.

potatoes-The perfect baking potato. Gold Rush is it’s name….

storage onions-long term winter storage onions. Stronger in flavor than the sweet summer onions.

butternut squash-The final winter squash to come from our patch.

Butternut squash from the field.

sweet peppers-we are still picking from the peppers and a few are in every share.

spinach-even with all that heat last week we had a good harvest for full share.

purple beans-the last of our beans for the 2017 season.

broccoli side shoots-the never ending side shoots from the wonder plants continue. They are getting smaller but just as delicious.

Black radishes-snappy radish flavor with a cool black color. We are thrilled to finally have a harvest after 3 years of trying…

Black radishes all washed and ready for the shares.

Pac choi-A favorite of mine. Fresh or on stir fry a crunchy and flavorful treat.

Dew on the pac choi leaves in the morning.

tomato-1 final tomato for the season. Enjoy!

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK…IT’S GOING TO BE FANTASTIC! carrots, ginger, pie pumpkin, sweet potato, lettuce, radishes, collard greens, and more!

ready to harvest for next week…..

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September 21 Summer Share #17

Posted in Uncategorized on September 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

A fun “big deal” week in the gardens. We set the goal of getting ALL the potatoes out of the ground and we did it with the help of Scott’s cousin, cousin’s son, uncle and Maeve. A hot Saturday but the crop is out with the help of many hands and we are grateful. 1018 pounds of our late potato harvest is in storage. Phew!

Picking up the fingerling potatoes after the potato digger went through.

Potato harvest done! Maeve and Scott loading up the potatoes from the field.

We waded into the winter squash patch and started that harvest. Acorns, several varieties of carnival and delecata, butternut and at the suggestion of a CSA member pie pumpkins are back! We made a good dent in the harvest and are pleased with the quantity and quality so far….hopefully we finish the job this week and then move on to ornamental pumpkins next.

1st load of winter squash going up to the shed.

And the floral design continues with several beauties going out the door of the “studio”/garage/CSA packing shed this week….I love it.

Finishing up a big floral order for a special event.

And another beauty to mark a special day…(I threw out my favorite shirt after I saw this picture…darn)

SUMMER SHARE #17 3 weeks remain of the summer 2017 season. 501 pounds of delicious late season produce going home with members today.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

SNACK PACK

head lettuce, broccoli, fingerling potatoes, garlic, cipollini onions, pint cherry tomatoes, carnival winter squash, beans, sweet peppers mini cabbage head

Head lettuce-We are thrilled with this week’s lettuce. That tricky butterhead that is difficult to grow. We did it again! Perfect, beautiful and delicious.

Butterhead lettuce at harvest.

Broccoli side shoots-A nice sized bag of the amazing broccoli side shoots that never end.

Maeve was the broccoli bagger this week.

Fingerling potatoes-A favorite potato. We harvested over 250 pounds of blemish free beauties. Enjoy!

Scott weighing out the fingerlings for this week’s share.

Garlic-A head in every snack pack.

Onions-The 1st of our storage onions. A fun Cipollini that look like little spaceships….they are higher in residual sugars and are ideal for roasting and caramelizing. Melt in your mouth sweetness.

Maeve took this picture of our cipollini onion.

Cherry tomatoes-Another pint this week. This may be the end of our loooooong cherry tomato season.

Washed cherry tomatoes ready for the shares.

Winter Squash-A pretty Carnival Squash. Sweet flesh similar in flavor to sweet potatoes.

Another Maeve image….Carnival Squash.

Beans!-A great harvest off our last planting of the season. Green and purple beans in the mix.

Sweet Peppers-A fantastic peppers year for us….we picked a mix of sweets this week and a few in every snack pack share.

Pretty peppers in the sun after harvest.

Mini Cabbage head-They are back! Our second planting. Sweet mini heads ideal for salads, slaw or roasting.

Many cabbage heads at harvest in the garden.

FULL SHARE

head lettuce, spinach, fingerling potatoes, garlic, cipollini onions, pint cherry tomatoes, carnival winter squash, beans, sweet peppers, mini sweet peppers, mini cabbage heads

Head lettuce-A gorgeous head of the sweet butterhead. Light lime green and delicious.

Beautiful butterhead lettuce….

Spinach-A huge! bag of this late season treat. We pick very early in the morning and triple rinse. Sweet and delicious.

Spinach at harvest.

Scott triple rinsing the spinach.

And spinning dry.

Fingerling Potatoes-Yum! Roasted or pan fried…..A bounty.

Fingerlings ready for the shares…..

Garlic-2 heads in every full share.

Onions-Sweet Cipollini Onions. Thin skinned and much sweeter than the usual winter storage onions. Ideal caramelized or roasted. Melt in your mouth sweetness.

Cherry Tomatoes-This may be the final pint of the long cherry tomato season.

Cherry tomatoes are still ripening in the garden.

Winter squash-A pretty carnival winter squash with sweet flesh similar to a sweet potato in flavor.

Rinsing off the squash from the field.

Beans-A great harvest again off our last bean planting of the season. Green and purple in the shares this week.

Sweet Peppers-A mix picked this week and several sweet beauties in every share.

Mini Sweet Peppers-A HUGE! bag of these pretty gems and they taste like candy.

A bright harvest of mini sweet snacking peppers.

Cabbage-The mini heads are back! Perfectly sized and sweet.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-honey!, head lettuce, brussels sprouts, winter squash, potatoes, peppers, kale, baby arugula, super cool radishes, ginger!!!, beans and more…..

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September 14th Summer Share #16

Posted in Uncategorized on September 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »

What a beautiful week. We loved the weather and love the late season crops that are maturing. We have started the big potato harvest of the 4 remaining varieties out in the field and are thrilled with the yield and quality. And we are more than thrilled with the new potato digger. Hopefully next week the entire potato crop will be out of the ground.

Always fun to find these special potatoes…..

We peeked at the sweet potatoes and they are sizing up nicely. We planted 3 varieties this season and will start digging after the 1st frost.

Maeve is helping out with the watering in the hoop house with the goal that this will someday be her full responsibility.

Maeve watering the spinach.

More late season radishes were seeded in this week. Cold loving lettuces started in the greenhouse and we weeded……pear processing continues here with the wonderful abundance from the pear trees this year. 18 quarts of juice so far from the steam extractor and more sauce this weekend.

Steam extractor in action.

Pears ready to cook down….

A few floral orders came in too this week and fun to create beautiful bouquets for special people. We are a bit behind on our clean up goals around the garden but we sure enjoyed our days..next week I am sure things will all be shaped up and perhaps we will even start the winter squash harvest.

SUMMER SHARE #16

We love the share this week….great variety and edamame is here! A family favorite….525 pounds of garden goodness this week. Enjoy!

SNACK PACK

Superior potatoes, head lettuce, spinach, shishito peppers, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, edamame, and purple and green beans

Head lettuce-Beautiful head lettuces this week….again! We are so glad the lettuce has been amazing this season and we are able to provide fresh lettuce every week.

WOW!

Spinach-The 2nd picking from the hoop house of our early season spinach. It is delicious thanks to the cooler temperatures the past few weeks. More to come!

Spinach at harvest.

Beautiful Spinach….

Edamame-A favorite here. Shell and eat raw in salads or lightly steam or blanch in salt water and enjoy as a snack.

edamame ready to pick.

Leeks-Beautiful late summer leeks. 2nd harvest of leeks…

Superior Potatoes-The perfect potato to pair with the leeks for potato leek soup. Superior is a dry potato perfect for baking, mash, or soup!

Picking up potatoes after the digger went through.

Cherry Tomatoes-A mixed pint in every share.

Sweet Peppers-We picked several sweet varieties and 2 in every snack pack share.

Shishito Sweet Peppers-A few more of these sweet snackers. This is the end of the shishito harvest this season.

Perfect shishitos.

Beans-I am going to call these “Grandma Lang Beans”-My grandma would make a creamy green bean soup with big thick walled green beans and these beans bring back that memory to me. I think these are the best beans we grew this season and a BIG! change for us. I usually prefer thinner filet type beans and we tried these for a little something new. Delicious and LOVE! them.

FULL SHARE

head lettuce, daikon radish, edamame, leeks, potatoes, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, shishito peppers, green and purple beans

Head lettuce-Perfect lettuce this week, HUGE! sweet and delicious.

Beautiful late summer lettuce at harvest.

Daikon Radish-2 in each share. Great diced up in salads to add a snap to fresh salads. This is the start of our larger outside radish harvests.

Daikon at harvest and up to the wash tubs for scrubbing.

Edamame-Edible soybean. Shell and eat… Fresh is delicious, lightly steamed or blanched and salted is a great snack.

Taste test in the field at harvest.

Leeks-Our second variety of 5. Perfectly paired with the potato variety this week.

Loading the leek harvest on a pallet in the field.

Superior Potatoes-A dry flaky potato. Mashed, baked or soup. Just perfect.

More potato LOVE!

Roma Tomatoes-A few firm beauties. This may be the end of our larger tomatoes for the season.

Cherry Tomato Mix-A pint in every Full Share.

Sweet Peppers-3 assorted beauties in every share.

This week’s pepper pick…

Shishito Sweet Peppers-The last of the shishitos for the season.

Green and Purple beans-Big thick walled beans, a big bag to enjoy..and a big change for us and we LOVE! them.

Purple beans at harvest.

Broccoli-A big bag of those delicious side shoots that continue to produce.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK.-butterhead lettuce, cabbage, beans, squash?, cherry tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, carrots? and more…..

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September 7th Summer Share #15

Posted in Uncategorized on September 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

We love this time of year as we transition to Autumn. Favorite late season crops started so long ago in early Spring are reaching harvest, we bundle up in the morning in caps and warm clothes and daylight changes and the colors are so pretty. It’s energizing.

A symbolic activity around here is the removal of the shade cloth from the hoop house to allow full daylight in for the late season crops. Autumn has arrived! We have fully transitioned the hoop house this past week to late season harvest. ALL the late season spinach and winter over spinach varieties transplanted out, cool loving leafy greens and lettuces all in-AND! another round of those favorite turnips are germinating.

Scott pulling off the shade cloth from the hoop house.

Late season turnips germinating in the hoop house.

The winter squash patch looks fantastic this year! Bountiful and many varieties including tons of pie pumpkins that return this year at the suggestion of a CSA member. We are excited to start the harvest in the next few weeks. All the storage onions are now out and hanging to cure and our final bean crop just about ready to harvest if it would ever warm up.

We look forward to these last few weeks of the summer share with great crops to finish up a great season for us.

SUMMER SHARE #15

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE- We are pretty excited about this share this week….A favorite crop has arrived….brussels sprouts and tons of them. A great share full of tasty treats this week…..633 pounds of delicious produce going home with members today.

Remember to return your totes for reuse….we are running a little low in the rotation. Thanks!

SNACK PACK

head lettuce, asian greens mix, pears, red and orange carrots, pint cherry tomatoes, slice tomato, brussels sprouts, sweet peppers, mini sweet peppers, sweet onion and zinnia bouquet.

Head lettuce-We harvested 3 varieties this week and 1 or more appear in every share. Such a great lettuce year for us.

Pretty lettuce ready to harvest.

Asian Greens mix-A juicy mix of mini green. Enjoy fresh in salads or saute.

Asian greens mix at harvest.

Pears-We started harvesting off the 3rd variety of trees this week. Big delicious fruit. Leave on counter to fully ripen.

Our 3rd variety of pears we harvested this year. Enjoy!

Carrot Mix-Orange and red crunchy carrots this week.

Red carrots at harvest.

Cherry Tomatoes-The Cherry tomatoes are still chugging along in the cool temperatures. We are thrilled. Sweet!

Cherry Tomato picking late in the day…..

Slice tomatoes-This may be the end of our Slice tomato season.

Brussels Sprouts!-We planted a HUGE! patch this year of 3 different varieties. Here they come….a favorite.

150 pounds brussels sprouts in our 1st picking of the season.

Sweet Peppers-A great harvest this week of assorted sweet peppers and a mix in every share.

This week’s Pepper Harvest.

Mini Snack Sweet Peppers-These beauties ripen late in the season and they are so worth the wait. Perfect for snacking and school lunches.

Mini sweet peppers harvest.

Sweet Onion-The very last of the sweet summer onions…storage onions next week.

Zinnia Bouquets-A pretty late season bouquet from the garden.

The pretty zinnia patch.

Zinnia bouquets ready for the shares.

FULL SHARE

head lettuce, SPINACH!, pears, carrot mix, quart cherry tomatoes, slice tomato, broccoli side shoots, brussels sprouts, sweet peppers, jimmy nardello sweet peppers, sweet onion, kohlrabi, zinnia bouquet

Head lettuce-3 delicious varieties came from the hoop house this week. 2-3 heads are in every full share.

SPINACH!-A true sign of the arrival of Autumn. Our 1st Spinach harvest. 1/2 pound in every full share.