foxlinecityfarm

Scott packing the share. Look at all that food!  3 totes for each member.

A HUGE! share of Autumn Goodness from the gardens. 35 pounds in each share….

Potatoes-5 pounds of tasty superior potatoes.  Perfect for baking or mashed.

Sweet potatoes-Big orange fleshed Beauregard.  Perfect for autumn cooking.

Sweet potato bounty.

Garlic-A huge garlic harvest this year and a nice big bag in every share.  A mix of Music and German Red.

Ginger-We experimented with this crop for the first time this year.  We love it and have quadrupled our order for next year.  Perfect for hot tea with honey.  Wonderful added to soups and stews.

Squash-Acorn, sweet dumpling and butternut.

Onion-2 storage onions in each share.

Pac Choi-Delicious and very juicy.  Perfect from the hoophouse.

Pac Choi at harvest.

Broccoli-A nice sweet bag of side shoots. I love autumn broccoli best.

Romanesco/Cauliflower medley-Another great late season harvest in this balmy weather.

Scott with the romanesco harvest.

Just cut romanesco.

Daikon/Watermelon Radishes-2 of each varieties.  The watermelon radish is beautiful in salads.  Long storage life too in the crisper drawer.

Harvesting the radishes….

Just picked watermelon radishes…

and soaking in the wash tank.

Daikon at harvest….

and all scrubbed off and drying.

Carrots!-Sweet Fall beauties…

Another round of carrots from the carrot trough.

A great Fall Harvest.

A jumbo carrot.

And this guy is tucked in a share.

Cutting Celery/Parsley-a big bunch of each for Holiday Cooking.

Leeks-A fantastic late season leek harvest.

Big Bandit Leeks.

We finally got all the leeks out of the ground.

Mini Head Lettuce-Delicious juicy heads of Bambi.  This is one of my favorite lettuces to grow.

Bambi at harvest.

Red Head lettuce-Beautiful and delicious from the hoop house.

Winter head lettuce.

Asian Greens Blend-A big bag of this snappy mix.  Baby kales, pac choi, mild mustards and mizuna.

Asian Greens at harvest.

Spinach-Another big bag of fantastic greens….flavorful spinach.  We grow 3 varieties and they are all mixed in.

Just rinsed spinach.

Beta Mix-A colorful combination of baby beet tops and swiss chard.  This is my favorite mix.

Brussels Sprouts-A great Brussels Sprout year for us.  A HUGE! bag in every share.

60 pounds of those little beauties.

Tokyo Bekina-A mild asian green can be eaten fresh or sauteed. Tastes like a fluffy napa cabbage.

Line green tokyo bekina at harvest.

Fennel-A great addition to fresh salad or grilled.

Fennel in the garden.

Indian Corn-A bit of seasonal decor.  I have wanted this for a few years and once again thanks to Uncle Jim!  He planted it for us.  We are grateful.

What a beauty. An heirloom variety called Glass Gem.

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A nice long autumn for us in the gardens.  No frost yet and that fact is tricking us into thinking the growing season can go on and on.  Hard to believe that next week is our final share of the regular summer season.

It has been a wonderful summer for us.  We believe our strongest CSA season ever.  Great weather, fantastic and bountiful produce,  and Scott and I handled the workload.  Just about perfect.  We’re pleased with the variety in the shares all season long.  A few amazing harvests this season.  Our best summer onion crop ever.  Sweet, delicious and bountiful.  The peppers NEVER ended and we have never had a pepper crop produce like this all summer long.  Uncle Jim’s sweet corn was such a treat!  And the watermelons amazed us.  Early season peas were the best!!!! as well as those amazing early red potatoes.  We loved those little personal sized cabbages and early summer broccoli was bountiful.  Our carrot trough was a success with 2 abundant rotations planted this season and the hoophouse provided more leafy greens than were needed all season long.  Another “best ever” harvest was the eggplant.  The plants started producing early and never quit. We had 5 rotations of assorted beans this season and believe we had the perfect amount all season long. Looks to be another “best ever” harvest with the sweet potatoes too as we finish up digging this week. Ginger!  How cool was that?!  We will plant more next year as it was a fun addition to our CSA.  We were able to donate fresh clean produce to the food pantry and boys and girls club this season so other in our community could enjoy the bounty of our gardens.  A few disappointments too…..the slice tomatoes disappeared too early this year.  In the hot, humid, rainy weather mid summer the patch decided to wrap things up early. We are grateful for what we did have just wish it could have been longer, summer broccoli was non existent this season due to a battle with woodchucks we lost.  They thought the long rows were planted just for them and methodically chomped them down.  We still struggle with growing beets outdoors.  We had a few good beet crops just wish we had more. I planted the ground cherries in a really dumb spot (in hindsight) and they were overrun with weeds.  With every season there are a few crops that disappoint but it seems that another crop always steps up to shine and amaze.  Overall we are satisfied with this growing season and excited for next year already.

SUMMER SHARE #19

1 share to go! Next week is the final share pick up of the regular summer season.  The weeks just flew by.  670 pounds of Autumn goodness going home with members today.

Please return any extra green or orange share totes next week.  Thanks!

SNACK PACK

Asian Greens Mix-A leafy greens mix.  Enjoy fresh in salads or saute.

Morning Asian greens harvest.

Swiss Chard-A colorful blend of this Autumn treat.

Swiss Chard harvest.

1st rinse in the dunk tank.

Garlic-Another head in every snack pack share.

Sweet Potatoes-These guys are monsters!  The 3rd variety we planted this year.  A pretty red skinned white fleshed Japanese variety.  Dryer flesh.  Excellent for roasting and baking.

This week’s Sweet potatoes ready to be washed.

Peppers-We picked them all this week.  Enjoy the last of the bounty.

Honey-A jar in every share as a end of season delight.

Maeve and Scott spinning off the honey.

Squash-A butternut in every share this week.  Sweet!

Storage Onions-A few in every share.  Hotter in flavor than the sweet summer onions.

Scott cleaning the storage onions from the drying table.

FULL SHARE

Asian Greens Mix-A snappy mix of asians greens.  Great for fresh salads and delicious sauteed.

Asian Greens Mix in the hoop house ready to cut.

Swiss Chard-An autumn delight. A colorful tricolored trio.

Beautiful chard at harvest.

Bundling the washed Chard for this week’s shares.

Garlic-2 heads in each full share.

Sweet Potatoes-This week’s harvest is a red skinned white fleshed Japanese variety. Huge! and delicious.

Peppers-We picked them all with the cold weather on the way.  Several in every share.

Honey-A autumn treat from the bees.

Honey!

Scott pouring off the honey for the Full Shares.

Squash-A big butternut.  Rich sweet flesh.  My favorite for autumn soups.

Storage Onions-A few in every share.  Stronger in flavor than the sweet summer onions.

Zucchini-A few late season beauties in every share.

Cherry Tomatoes-A late season cherry tomato.  Super sweet but prone to splitting when removed from the stem.  We pondered how to solve this problem…..and picked them like bunches of grapes-stems intact.  These are included in your share unwashed as they are so fragile.  Enjoy this end of season sweet treat.

Last cherry tomatoes of the season.

BEST GUESS FOR FINAL CSA SHARE NEXT WEEK-sweet potatoes, kale, radishes, broccoli (still waiting-almost ready), squash, kohlrabi, celery/parsley, brussels sprouts, leeks and more……….

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Rain.  That seems to be the theme around here the last few weeks.  It is wet but all is well. We are still behind on our clean up duties and we could use some bright, warm sunshine for the final crops in the garden as they seem to be hanging out in this wet cloudy weather.  But overall we’re not complaining…. it has been a wonderful gardening season.  Fall crops are a favorite and the return of the cool loving leafy greens from the hoophouse are always a treat.  There is much to look forward to with Fall gardening.

SUMMER SHARE #17

 Hard to believe 3 shares to go for the Summer Season…October 13th is the last pick up.

306 pounds from the garden this week.  Enjoy!

SNACK PACK

Head Lettuce-A crisp, sweet flavorful head of Tropicana from the hoop house.

Head lettuce at harvest.  Perfect!

Asian Greens Blend-A neat mix of kales, pac choi and mildly spicy mustards cut small.  Add to fresh salads, or saute lightly in olive oil with garlic and onion.  A perfect side for any meal.

Asian Greens blend ready to be cut.

Garlic-A great garlic year for us.  2 hard neck heads in snack pack share.  Music and German Red are the varieties we grow.

Sweet Peppers-The pepper season is winding down.  We picked an assortment and a few beauty are in each share.

Beans-The last of the beans for the season….enjoy.  A great final harvest from the tri-colored blend.

Pretty yellow beans picked on our 1 day of sunshine.

Last green beans from the garden this season.

Sweet Potatoes!-They are here and they are amazing.  Our best sweet potato harvest ever we think.  We are very excited.  Let the sweet potato bonanza begin!  High yield, perfect size and a few JUMBO oddballs too. This variety is Beauregard. Great baked, added to stir fry or I love it in a hash combined with other potatoes and veggies.

Sweet potatoes at harvest.

Scott with 1 of the monsters we pulled out of the ground.

FULL SHARE

Head Lettuce-The last of the summer lettuces.  Leaf lettuces and Fall transitional lettuces will finish out the season.  The variety is Tropicana and it is delicious.

Asian Greens Blend-Baby Asian Greens cut small.  A combination of mini kales, pac choi and mild mustards.  A fun mix that can be enjoyed raw or sauteed.

Asian greens blend double rinsed, spun dry and ready for the shares.

Arugula-Another great cutting from this crop.  Big bags to eat fresh, saute, make a pesto or added to pizza.  I toss a huge pile on my eggs and it is great.

Morning arugula harvest.

Garlic-4 heads in full shares this week.  We had a great harvest this year.  We grow 2 varieties. Music and German Red.

Sweet Peppers-We are nearing the end of the pepper season.  A few of end of season beauties are in each share.

Sweet Potatoes-A wonderful harvest.  We planted 3 varieties and are starting with the orange flesh orange skinned variety called Beauregard.

Sweet Potatoes at Harvest.

Zucchini-The final planting is slowly producing in this gloomy weather.  A few in each Full Share this week.

Kohlrabi-A jumbo German variety.  HUGE!  and not woody at all.  Good storage life too in the refrigerator.

Jumbo Kohlrabi!

Radishes-Fall radishes are just starting.  We picked a few in the rain and they are sweet and snappy.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-SWEET POTATOES, LETTUCE,  SWISS CHARD, RADISHES, GINGER (YES! GINGER), BRUSSELS SPROUTS, AND MORE…..

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We really need to weed!

Just kidding.  This is a stand of ornamental grass up by the house. It gets HUGE! fluffy plumes on top late in Fall and I love it…. The storms last week flopped it around a bit and Scott was going to tie it up.

Another great week for us.  Some big harvests came from the gardens and we are chugging along with clean up.  It is still pretty wet out there and we work through the raindrops to get the work done.

A downpour storm blew in quickly and I had a few more beans to pick….

We visited Uncle Jim and checked on the broom corn he planted for me as a treat.  It’s ready and I have started Autumn Wreath Making.

Peeking on the broom corn with Uncle Jim.  He planted it for me as a treat to make Autumn wreaths…..without him we would not have the amazing potatoes, sweet potatoes or sweet corn for our CSA.  We are grateful for the space to plant at his farm.

1st wreath of the season.

The hoop house is transitioning again. Late Fall crops and over wintered spinach seedlings are filling up the available rows.

Scott prepping the soil for spinach.

We checked the sweet potatoes and the crop looks strong and we will start harvesting next week for sweet treats in the final shares.  We planted 3 varieties this year and sampled them all.  Delicious!

Just dug Sweet Potatoes.

A sampling of the 3 varieties we grew.  

SUMMER SHARE #16  436 pounds of goodies from the garden this week!  Wonderful late summer produce going home with members today.

4 shares to go in the season.  October 6th is the last pick up.

SNACK PACK

Head Lettuce-A great harvest of romaine.  This is the last of romaine for the season.

Edamame-Edible soybean.  Steam or boil for 3-5 minutes in salty water.  Drain.  Pop from the pods and enjoy.  Add to fresh salads or great in pasta sauce too.

Edamame all cleaned from the stalks ready for the shares.

Beans-Another great harvest of  tricolored blend.

Yellow beans at harvest.

Mini Sweet Peppers-A pretty assortment of these cute little guys.

Mini Sweet Peppers.  They look like bags of candy!

Sweet Peppers-We picked a variety again this week and a few will be in each share.

Potatoes-Fantastic Fingerlings.  A great potato harvest.  Fingerlings are delicious fried or broiled.

Carrots-Another harvest from our carrot trough.  These carrots were planted in July.

Pulling carrots from the carrot trough.

Sweet summer onion-We held a few back for a late season surprise.  Enjoy!  A great sweet summer onion harvest.  Store in the refrigerator.

FULL SHARE

Head lettuce-A bounty of romaine this week, and this is the last of the romaine for the season.

Tokyo Bekina-A favorite leafy green.  Great fresh in salads,  added to stirfry or wilted down and added to pasta dishes too.  Tastes like a fluffy chinese cabbage.

Edamame-Edible soybean.  We wait all season for this treat!  Boil or steam pods in salty water 3-5 minutes.  Drain and pop the beans from the pods and eat or add to sauces or salads.

Beans-Another jumbo bag this week of that fantastic tricolored blend.  A great late season harvest.

Picking purple beans on a sunny day.

Scott weighing out the beans for Full Share.

Mini Sweet Peppers-A big bag of these tasty treats.

Finishing up the portioning of the mini sweet peppers.

Sweet Peppers-I think our best season ever with our pepper crop.  We picked an assortment again this week and a few will appear in each share.

Potatoes-Fingerlings are the treat this week. Perfect roasted, broiled or pan fried.

Purple Potatoes too!-A nice sized bag of these wonders.  Best mashed potatoes ever and fun to surprise people with lavender mashed potatoes for supper.  Makes a great potato salad too.

Carrots-A snappy harvest from our carrot trough.

A crazy guy tucked into a full share.

Scott cutting the tops off after harvest before they go in the wringer washer.

A quick rinse in the old wringer washer.

Sweet Summer Onions-We held some back as a late season surprise.  Store in the refrigerator.

Zucchini-The last zucchini planting is just starting to produce.  Finally!  We waited patiently through the cloudy, cold rainy days and here they come.

1st picking of the new zucchini patch.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-head lettuce, sweet potatoes!!, garlic, swiss chard, peppers, mini asian greens blend, beans and more……

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Transitions. A favorite time of year.  I love the dewy damp mornings, the sunlight is “thicker” somehow, and the colors outside becoming rich and bold.  Our world slows a tiny bit and that feels pretty good.  The last rotation of regular season lettuce was seeded in and the short late season crops are going out in the gardens.  Lots of end of season plantings.  More spinach is always a must as it is such a treat when the weather turns cold.  We are way behind on our clean up goals from all the rain the past weeks and have high hopes that we make big progress on this important duty in the coming week.

Fall radishes seeded in.

Hard to believe we will be eating this in about 3 weeks….

Little seedlings in the greenhouse for Fall transplanting.

Happy 1st Day of school to all the kids in our CSA Family!  Looking forward to a great year.

Maeve getting on the morning bus. First Day of 2nd Grade.

SUMMER SHARE #14 

A delicious share this week….all 708 pounds of it.

SNACK PACK

Cherry Tomatoes-A colorful 1/2 pint in every share.

Tomatoes-A few to choose from.  The patch is slowing down.

Leeks-A mid season variety from the garden this week.

Scott hauling the 1st load of leeks from the garden.

Potatoes-This week-Superior.  A nice dry potato for potato leek soup or great baked or mashed.

Superior Potatoes all washed and ready for the shares.

Cutting Celery-Fluffy flavorful stalks for the potato leek soup or add a spark to fresh salads this week.

Beans-A great harvest!  Last year we had a member request “big thick old fashioned yellow wax beans” on the end of year survey.  Here they are!  We paired them with a thick long green bean.  Makes me think of my Grandma Lang and her black peppery bean soup she made for supper.

Scott getting ready to bag the beans.

Sweet Peppers-Yet another great pepper harvest. An assortment of these sweet gems are in every share.

1st load from the pepper rows.

Head Lettuce-A summer crunch this week from the hoop house.  Perfect and sweet.

Summer crunch ready to harvest.

Pretty Tropicana.

Melon-A choice of cantaloupe or watermelon.

Melon harvest.

FULL SHARE

Cherry Tomatoes-A pint this week.  The patch is slowing down after a bonanza cherry tomato summer.

Tomatoes-A few in every share.

Leeks-Another great leek harvest.  A mid season variety.

Washed and ready for the shares.

Potatoes-A big big of perfect Superior potatoes.  Perfect for a potato leek soup, mashed or baked.

Cutting Celery-Thin leafy stalks this time. Great flavor as an addition to soups, sauces or adding a snap to fresh salads.

Bean Medley-A CSA member’s request on last years’ survey. “big thick old fashioned wax beans”.  We listened and paired them with thick old fashioned green beans. Wonderful in warm casseroles or thick soups.

Sweet Peppers-An assortment this week from the ever producing pepper rows.

Picking Peppers…..

Head Lettuce-A romaine and summer crunch from the hoop house.

A variety called Sparx.

Hot Jalapeno Peppers-A few in every share to spice things up this week.

Melon-A choice of watermelon or assorted cantaloupe.

Raspberries-A partial share this week too.  IF you did not take them last week grab a 1/2 pint this week.

Morning Raspberry picking.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-beets!, lettuce, baby arugula, edamame??(hopefully), peppers, potatoes, garlic, and more……

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Rain and more rain was the theme this past week.  Almost 5 inches fell here in 5 days.  All this rain limited what we were able to do in the gardens.  It’s mucky out there so we had a bit of a “staycation”.  Catch up on maintenance duties inside and out, worked on the paperwork pile that stacks high in the summer, organized school clothes, played fun games, and visited the Cave of the Mounds.  A fun forced break in our routine.

Astronaut Scott Sullivan visited the bees this week.  Sweet honey in our future.

Our watermelon patch provided WAY! WAY! more delicious watermelon than needed.  We donated to the Baraboo Food Pantry again and the St. Clare Daycare Center.  A Perfect summer treat and we are happy to share.

Late season crops look great!  Our last rotation of beans set flower, edamame is plumping up, winter squash looks plentiful, and brussels sprouts abundant.  Maeve sampled a first sneak of the early season brussel sprouts.

1st brussels sprout of the season!

SUMMER SHARE #13 

Another great share….a big pepper harvest this week and enjoy the delicious fingerlings. Our experimental tomatillo crop had a great harvest and it is in the “extra” area along with the never ending abundant eggplant and other goodies.

We broke the 1000 pound mark again this week thanks to those watermelons.  1044 is going home with the CSA Members.  Enjoy.

SNACK PACK

Head lettuce-We are hitting our goal of lettuce every week all summer long.  A great head of Tropican from the hoop house.

Tropicana ready to be harvested.

Kale-Finally!  We have been trying to include this to the weekly shares for 5 weeks but the shares have been too large.  It’s here and it’s delicious.  An assorted bunch in every share.

Kale in the wash tank.

Sweet Peppers-A jumbo sweet pepper harvest again this week.  A great crop for us this year.  Assorted Bells and other sweet peppers appear in each share.

Great Pepper Harvest. 

Mini Sweet Peppers-An assortment of these cuties.  ALL sweet and all delicious.

This week’s mini sweet pepper assortment.

Close view of those beauties….

Spaghetti Squash-A “personal” sized spaghetti squash.  Great for 1 meal.  Slice open, bake and scrape out “stringy” insides which resemble spaghetti noodles.

Melon-The abundant watermelon harvest continues and the cantaloupes are starting.  Choose a perfect one to take home.

MORE! Melon.

Cherry Tomatoes-Another pint mix of the assorted beauties.

Washed cherry tomatoes.

Paste Tomatoes-Choose a few to enjoy.

Fingerling Potatoes!!-They are here.  Another favorite potato in our house. Just out of the ground.  Enjoy.

FULL SHARE

Head Lettuce-A sweet head of hoop house grown Tropicana.

Getting ready to harvest the lettuce in the early morning.

Kale-An assorted bunch.  We spent 5 weeks trying to sneak this in the shares and final have room.  Enjoy!

Kale washed and ready to be bundled.

Sweet Peppers-Delicious Bells and Bull Horn peppers this week.

This week’s pepper harvest.

Bag of Mini Sweet “cupid” peppers-Delicious thick walled snackers.

Cupid sweet peppers ready to be picked.

Cupid peppers portioned out for this week’s share.  

They look like strawberries!

Beets-A goal for us this summer was bountiful beets.  Another harvest from the outside gardens.

This week’s beets.

Fennel-The perfect pairing with Beets!

Melon- Amazing watermelons and sweet cantaloupes.  Choose 2 melons to take home.

Super Sweet Melon!

Cherry Tomatoes-A Quart again this week of this sweet treat.

Washed and ready to be added to the shares.

Paste Tomatoes-Choose a few….

Chinese Cabbage-A mid sized head.  Perfect added to salads, makes a great slaw or fantastic in stir fry.

Fingerling Potatoes!  Just dug delicious fingerlings.  Enjoy!

Scott weighing out the fingerling potatoes.  Last packing job of the day….. note-darkness outside, can you guess the time?

Raspberries (PARTIAL SHARE) NOT all Full Shares will receive raspberries this week. The raspberry season  just started and not enough to fill the share.  Choose a container this week or next week-A sweet treat thanks to Neighbor Gene who tends the patch and welcomes us to pick.

1st raspberries of the season.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-LEEKS, SUPERIOR POTATOES, LETTUCE, PEPPERS, CANTALOUPE, CHERRY TOMATOES AND MORE…..

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A bit of Autumn is in the morning air.  Cool, damp, dewy mornings signal to us that the season is quietly transitioning. This little whisper is putting a hustle in our step to get those final crops of the season in the field and the last rotations in the hoophouse and overwintered crops started.  A few times this past week we mentioned “we are out of time!”.  The summer is slowly rolling by.

We had some time to get our tomato canning and drying done this past week with the bounty tomato haul from the patch. We slow cooked down the tomatoes and made a thick sauce to freeze.

A mix of the pretty heirlooms for our sauce.

1st batch cooked down and ready for the freezer.

With all the bounty from the garden we have been able to regularly attend the Baraboo Farmers’ Market.  Always a fun Saturday and Maeve is helping out this year too.

Saturday at the Baraboo Farmers’ Market.

We were pleased that we had extra time as hours were not spent on huge labor intensive harvests this past week.  We are between bean crops and with the cucumber and zucchini crops pulled we finally had time on our hands to focus on some major cleanup and  weeding and work on some primping around here.  The garden walkways were cleared, existing crops weeded and greenhouse and hoop house spiffed up.  Finally!!!  It feels great.

Big news is we started the melon harvest. We have been monitoring the field for 2 weeks and after a final check……

Ready to check a golden midget watermelon….looks promising.

Beautiful! We’re ready…..Finally!  

After peeking under the canopy of greens at the start of harvest we had a HUGE! “Holy Cow” moment. There were tons of melon beauties under there. TONS!  We had no idea. 5 hours later the harvest was done and hundreds of melons were pulled from the field.  Never have we had an abundance like this before.  We donated a load to the Boys and Girls Club for the kids to enjoy.  Nothing better than sweet fresh watermelon at the end of summer.

1st melon from the field.. A golden midget.

A quick taste test.

Scott picking up the melons.

We planted several varieties and they are SWEET!

SUMMER SHARE #12

Another fantastic share this week with many colorful treats.  AND we jumped over the 1000 pound mark thanks to the watermelon harvest.  1387 pounds from the garden this week.  Enjoy!

SNACK PACK

Cherry tomatoes, slice tomatoes, tomato sauce kit(paste tomatoes, oregano, jalapeno pepper, garlic, celery), romaine lettuce, carrots, potatoes, melon, sweet peppers,

Cherry Tomatoes-A pint of the pretty mix.

Washed and ready for this week’s share.

Tomato Sauce Kit-Everything needed for the perfect homemade sauce.  Paste tomatoes, garlic, peppers, celery and oregano.

Washed Celery for the Tomato Sauce Kits.

Slice Tomatoes-Choose a couple.

Head Lettuce-Another great Romaine harvest from the hoop house.  Our seasonal goal is fresh lettuce every week.

Carrots!-Delicious snappy carrots from our hoop house.  Perfect!

Scott pulling carrots.

Finishing up my side of the row.

What a bounty!

Look at that funny guy!

Potatoes-This week’s choice is Superior.  A dryer potato and delicious.

Superior Potatoes.  Perfect!

Sweet Peppers-Beautiful Carmen Italian Fryer Peppers and a Sweet Bell this week..

Another Jumbo Pepper harvest.

Watermelon-A sweet, sweet harvest. 1 watermelon in each share.  Choose a beauty.

FULL SHARE

Cherry tomatoes, slice tomatoes, tomato sauce kit (paste tomatoes, oregano, jalapeno, celery), romaine head lettuce, carrots, potatoes, 2 watermelons, sunflower bouquets, spaghetti squash, sweet peppers.

Cherry Tomato-A quart mix again this week.

Ripe cherry tomatoes above the top of the trellis.

Washing the cherry tomatoes before packaging.

Tomato Sauce Kits-Everything needed for the perfect homemade sauce.  Paste tomatoes, celery, garlic, and peppers.

Slice Tomatoes-Choose your favorites.

Romaine Lettuce-Another sweet head from the hoop house this week.

Carrots!-A huge bag of these beauties.

Scott starting the carrot harvest in the hoop house.

Another Funny guy.

Washed carrots ready to be weighed out for the shares.

Potatoes-Perfect Superiors this week.  A nice dry potato.  A great baker.

Scott weighing out this week’s potatoes.

Watermelon-Choose the perfect 2 for you.

Sunflower Bouquet-A pretty late season bouquet.

I always leave a few sunflowers out in the field for the insects to enjoy….A sunflower visitor.

Sweet Peppers-A pretty collections of assorted sweet peppers.

The plants are still loaded….!

More pretty peppers…..

Spaghetti Squash-The 1st pick through the field.  Enjoy!

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-melon, potatoes, leeks, beets, fennel, lettuce, tomatoes and more……

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Well, we had a bit of excitement around here this past week.  Scott discovered around suppertime on Friday that the compressor was not running on the cooler.  It must have just cut out as the temperature in the box was still at 40. Not the thing you want to have happen on 1 of the hottest days of the year and at the start of a weekend.  We were relieved that the cooler was not packed with produce as the CSA pick up was the day before and a delivery went to the Baraboo Food Pantry that morning.  However, there were several totes of our daily harvested items that needed a cool home and more veggies to coming from the garden the next day.  We needed to solve this problem fast.  We are extremely grateful to those that helped so quickly……Shane from Weber Enterprises was here shortly after the call that we had “cooler issues”, the wonderful women at Invictus offered cooler space in their walk in for as long as we needed it and Brian and Tracy Jordan Baker fielded our flip flop and flop flip thinking and questions if this was the time to expand our cooler and the options available to us.  The story ends well.  The cooler was back on before the weekend was over and life moves on as normal with very little anxiety or trouble thanks to the amazing people that are part of our life.

SUMMER SHARE #9

690 pounds this week from the gardens….it just keeps getting better.  A crazy good year for us.  Enjoy it all.

SNACK PACK

Sweet Corn!-We do not grow the corn.  Scott’s Uncle Jim conventually grows the corn at his farm in Reedsburg.  Enjoy this treat!

Head Lettuce-Delicious and perfect head lettuce from our hoop house.  A small miracle at this time of year as it is very difficult to grow lettuce in high heat and humidity.

Pretty lettuce ready for a morning harvest.

Zucchini-A few long assorted summer squash picked small. This is the last of it for awhile. We are going to pull the patch next week as the plants are slowing down and also the area is turning into a jungle out there.  New plants are already planted and zucchini will appear again a few weeks out.

Sweet Pepper-1 in every share.

Peppers ripening on the plant.

Sweet Summer Onions-A great crop for us this year after a “so-so” crop last season. Must be refrigerated.  Enjoy!

Beans-1st picking of the next rotation.  A tricolor blend with more to come.

We had to call in additional help to make our way down the long rows.  Scott’s daughter Amy lent a hand on a hot morning.

Scott making his way down the other end of a long bean row.

Cucumber mix-Another big bag.  The last bag for awhile as we are pulling the vines from the trellis and the 2nd round should be producing soon.

Dill-Harvested small and tender to add to your cucumber salads.

Cherry Tomatoes-A great harvest this week with more to come.  We remove all the stems and wash before packaging so they are ready to eat.

Maeve was your cherry tomato cleaner this week.

Slice Tomatoes-The beauties are here and a bumper harvest.  Delicious!

1st big tomato harvest of the season.

FULL SHARE

Sweet Corn!-We do not grow the corn.  Scott’s Uncle Jim conventually grows the corn at his farm in Reedsburg.  Enjoy this treat!

Head Lettuce-A perfect head of a summer variety called Muir from the hoop house.

Beta Mix-Another offering of this fantastic leafy mix.  My favorite.  A combination of baby beet tops and assorted baby Swiss Chard.  Enjoy fresh or saute.  We  pulled the crop for the season.

Beta Mix in the wash tank after morning harvest.

BIG Patty Pans- Several members asked if we could grow these out to a larger size.  We did!  Hollow them out and fill with your prefered “casserole” combination and bake.

Summer Squash-An assorted mix.  We are pulling the patch on Monday and the new patch will be producing in a few weeks.

Sweet Peppers-A couple in each share.  A great crop for us this year.

Jimmy Nardello Sweet peppers ripening on the plant.

Jalapeno Hot Peppers-A few to spice up this weeks meals.

Sweet Onions-A great harvest of these delicious summer onions.  Must be refrigerated.

Just pulled Sweet Summer Onions ready to be cleaned.

Beans-1st picking off a pretty tri color blend.

1st picking of the yellow beans.

Holy Cow!  What a harvest.

Cucumbers-A nice big bag and this will be it for awhile as we are pulling the vines from the trellis.  They will reappear in a few weeks from the next rotation.

Dill- Picked small  to enjoy with your cucumber salads.

Cherry Tomatoes-A great crop for us this year.  16 varieties in this pretty mix.

Cherry Tomatoes on the vine.

All washed up and ready to be boxed.

Slice Tomatoes-A great harvest of many varieties and colors.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-corn, head lettuce, leeks, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, beans and more…..

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Look what we found in Maeve’s Pine Tree.

All is well and we are happy.  Another HOT! week in the garden and the plants (and weeds) are loving this weather. Fun and a bit amazing to see the growth and production in the gardens in the heat.

Watermelons growing fast in the hot days and nights.

We are on top of the massive harvests coming from the gardens and had some big transplanting and seeding jobs to take care of this past week and we watched the weeds grow. We went from feeling great about our weed management to a bit overwhelmed in 1 week.  Darn.   Next week we have projected as our “maintenance” week.  New Carrot and beet beds need to be tended to,  our “living” walkways manicured, primp the tomato patch and prep areas transitioning to Fall planting.  This is the time of year for that fast growing portulaca weed and we have a healthy “crop” out there.

Scott hand dug all garlic in our garlic beds in 2 days.  “Best crop ever!” we kept saying over and over as the bulbs were coming out of the ground.  With the help of Scott’s mom on Sunday we got the entire crop processed and stored for curing. We are estimating 2000+ beautiful bulbs came from the patch this year. We save part of the harvest as our “seed garlic” to replant for next season’s crop.   The harvest is a huge job and one that we usually drag out for days in past seasons.  The patch is tilled and ready for a new crop this coming week.  It’s ALL done and we are pleased.

Scott hauling up another load of just dug garlic to be processed and cured.

SUMMER SHARE #8  WOW! 648 pounds in the shares this week.  A great bounty from the garden.  

SNACK PACK

2 lettuces, zucchini, cucumber medley, eggplant, sweet onion, early red potato, fennel, carrots, pepper, cherry tomatoes.

Head Lettuce(2 varieties)-The Hoop house is chugging along with wonderful lettuce.  We are grateful as it gets a bit tricky to grow lettuce in high heat and humidity.  A bounty and delicious.  A head of a snappy summer crisp and a personal favorite…..Little mini butterheads called Nancy.  Dark green sweet and juicy.

Summer Crisp at harvest.

Cute little Nancy heads ready to harvest.

Zucchini-An assorted few of the summer staples picked small.

Cucumber Medley bag-A big bag of assorted snacking cucumbers.

Cucumbers loaded on the trellis.

Eggplant-The plants are loaded! A great eggplant year for us.

Eggplant harvest.

Sweet Summer Onions-Here they come!  Big beautiful sweet onions.  We just started the harvest with many weeks to come.  These are NOT storage onions and must be kept chilled in the refrigerator.

Cleaning the onion harvest in the shade.

Early Red Potatoes-A treat of fresh dug early reds.  Great roasted, steamed or fried.  Delicious chilled in potato salad too.  Enjoy!

Potatoes at harvest.

All hand dug.  A bumper crop this year.  “THANK YOU!!” Uncle Jim.

Fennel-A snappy flavor that is a great addition shaved in fresh salads, delicious with apples, make a pesto with the fronds,  or grill with mix veggies.

Scott processing the fennel as it chills in cold water at harvest.

Carrots-More delicious carrots from our new carrot trough this year.

Pulling carrots from the new carrot trough.

What a bounty!

Sweet Pepper-1 in every share.

Cherry Tomatoes-Here they come! A beautiful mix in every share.

Just picked cherry tomatoes.

FULL SHARE

2 varieties of head lettuce,  zucchini, cucumber medley, sweet summer onions, early red potatoes, fennel, carrots, cherry tomatoes, pepper, jimmy nardello pepper, beets, cherry tomatoes, 1 slice tomato!

Lettuce(2 varieties)-Great lettuce from the hoop house this week.  A big fluffy head called 2 Star and cute little butterheads named Nancy.

2 Star at harvest.

Butterheads chilling in the dunk tanks.

Zucchini-An assorted mix of the summer staple.  Picked small and tender.

Cucumber Medley Mix-A really big bag of mixed snackers.

Favorite white cucumber on the trellis.

Long English Cucumber-2 in each share.  Thin skinned and delicious.

Sweet Summer Onions-A great crop for us this year.  Big sweet onions.  These are not Storage onions and must be kept in the refrigerator.

Onion Harvest.

Early Red Potatoes-Another huge harvest this season.  A treat!  Enjoy steamed and chilled in salads, roasted, or fried.  Nothing beats the flavor of fresh dug potatoes.

Early red potato harvesting….

I love this pictures….rusty work truck, fashionable headwear, styling dirty work clothes and GREAT! potatoes. Perfect!

Fennel-Beautiful bulbs from the garden.  Enjoy shaved in fresh salads, delicious roasted with chicken or other veggies, and the fronds make a great pesto.

Beets-We had to add a few to go with the fennel. A perfect pairing.

Carrots-Another great harvest from our new carrot trough.

Carrots after washing.

Sweet Pepper-A nice big sweet pepper from the garden.

Jimmy Nardello SWEET Pepper-From the looks of it you would think it would be hot…a sweet heirloom.

Pepper harvest with Jimmy Nardello on top.

Cherry Tomatoes-A sweet and colorful assortment in every share this week.

Eggplant-The plants are powerhouses this year for some reason.

Slice Tomato-Choose 1 beauty from this early harvest.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-Cherry tomatoes, kohlrabi, mini cabbage, lettuce, beans, peppers, lettuce, summer squash, cucumbers, garlic and more…..

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Another big week in the gardens.  A HOT! one too.  We plugged along in the thick muggy days and got the work done.  The plants love this weather and even though we wilt a little in the heat and the humidity it makes us very happy to see the gardens thriving.  Our focus for the week was harvest.  With the high temperatures, bright sunshine and a few perfect rains many crops need to be harvested daily.  Zucchini, cucumbers and beans all need to be picked every morning now.  The harvests have been huge and we spent many hours crawling down long rows wondering when we would reach the end.  Our tomato plants are thriving too.  Scott spent 16 hours over several days in the tomato patch securing the new growth to the trellises.  It looked like a jungle over there!  Nice and neat now and the vines are loaded with fruit and supported well.  We have started picking the cherry tomatoes and a few heirloom slicers are just starting to show some color.

Cherry Tomatoes ripening on the vines.

look what we found this morning!

The watermelon patch seems to double in size in this hot weather and we peeked and found a few tiny beauties.

The melon patch.

A watermelon growing in the sun.

Scott weeded and prepared new beds in the evenings when the heat was not so oppressive-often times with a head lamp on.  Small transplants of cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower fill the rows growing strong for late summer harvests.

New seeds are started weekly in the greenhouse to ensure a steady supply of new crops from the gardens and hoop house…..

This week’s seed starting.

And germinating quickly in the heat.

SUMMER SHARE #7

632 pounds from the garden this week.  Another fantastic share of great produce.  Enjoy.

SNACK PACK

Romaine head lettuce, beta mix (combination of baby beet tops and colorful swiss chard), green beans, zucchini, patty pan, cucumber mixed bag, sweet pepper,  garlic, small cabbage and basil plant.

Romaine Head Lettuce-Another great harvest of Romaine this week.  We way over plant lettuce in the hoop house at this time of year to ensure a steady supply.  It often times suffers in the heat and a few lettuce crops may fail.  Not this year!  An over abundance of fresh perfect greens this week.  Enjoy!

Gorgeous Romaine at harvest.

Beta Mix-A surprise to us.  With heavy shade to protect from the heat and ample watering we were able to get a great harvest off this difficult summer crop.  Baby beet tops and assorted colorful baby swiss chard.  Great for fresh eating or saute.

Beta Mix at harvest.

Green Beans!-A huge bag.  We had a great harvest off our first bean planting rotation this week.

Morning Bean pick.

Scott making his way down the bean row.

Zucchini-Several of these tender summer squashes picked small.

Pretty Zucchini flowers in the morning.

Patty Pan Summer Squash-A couple of these little gems in every snack pack share this week.

This week’s patty pan harvest.

Cucumbers-A nice big assorted bag in every share.  The vines are just starting to really kick in.

Cucumbers on the trellis.

Peppers-We have started our pepper harvest!  1 in every snack pack share. All Sweet peppers.

1st pepper harvest of the season.

Garlic-1st garlic of the season too.  1 head in each snack pack share.

Scott hand digging this week’s garlic.

Gorgeous!

Mini Cabbage Head-The perfect size for fresh eating, slaw or added to stir fry.

Basil Plant-We were hoping to have these with the 1st tomatoes of the season but with all this heat they are ready now!  Big beautiful plants.  Enjoy.

FULL SHARE

Romaine head lettuce, Lime green Buttercrisp Lettuce head, Beta Mix (combination of baby beet tops and colorful swiss chard), Green Beans, Zucchini, Eggplant, Cucumber mixed bag, Long English cucumbers, Sweet Peppers, Jalapeno peppers, garlic, medium head garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil plant.

Romaine head lettuce AND a beautiful head of a summer buttercrisp.

Summer buttercrisp lettuce chilling in the wash tanks after harvest.

Beta Mix-A combination of baby beet greens and colorful swiss chard.  Enjoy fresh in salads or saute.

Beta patch after harvest.

Green Beans! A super huge bag for all the Full Shares this week.  A bounty harvest.

I finished my side of the bean row.

Zucchini-Another great harvest this week and several assorted beauties in the shares.

Zucchini ready to go in this week’s shares.

Cucumbers-A nice big bag of assorted snackers.

The cucumber bagging team.

Long English Slicing Cucumbers-2 in each full share.

Peppers!-Our crop looks great this year and the first pick of the season. 2 sweet peppers in each share.

Jalapeno Peppers-We snuck a few off the plants for each Full Share.

Jalapeno Peppers at harvest.

Garlic-Fresh dug and delicious. 2 heads in each share.

Cabbage-A medium sized head.

Scott making his way down the cabbage bed.

I follow behind and pick up the heads and remove the outer leaves before they go in the wash tank to chill.

Basil Plant-A beautiful plant we were hoping to add to the shares with the 1st slice tomato harvest.  With this heat they are ready a week or 2 early.

Eggplant-2 for each full share this week.

Just picked and ready for the shares…..

Cherry Tomatoes-A few for all full shares!  Enjoy!

1st Cherry Tomato harvest of the season. 

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-fennel, beans, cucumbers, summer squash, potatoes, carrots, cherry tomatoes, summer onions!!! and kale-really! (we held off this week due to the over abundance of lettuce from the hoop house.)

Beautiful Onions for next week’s harvest.

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