foxlinecityfarm

Another week of fast productive activity in the garden!  Big changes.  Many new crops went in.  Scott was cutting the pea vines down as fast as I could pick the last of them off the vine.  The trellis came down, the ground prepped, irrigation line placed and another round of green beans took their place along with a second planting of summer squash transplants.  24 hours and this whole area of the garden is transformed.  We planted all the summer broccoli transplants where the cauliflower grew and storage cabbage transplants where the fennel grew.  Another long row of lettuces went in with a shade cloth on top to keep them a bit cooler in this July heat.  Scott has the footings set for the new greenhouse and we again had a bit of time to weed.  We were reminded this week that much of our time now needs to shift to harvesting.  It takes FOREVER! to pick 2 60″ long double rows of beans every other day…..and every day visit the summer squash patch so the tasty zucchini don’t turn into baseball bats and crawl down the cucumber trellis rows carefully looking under all the foliage for the perfect cucumber.

Itty bitty watermelon on the vine.

Our wonderful garden helper Malachi Perche arrived this morning to start digging the garlic.  Our crop looks wonderful this year.  We have heard reports from many fellow gardeners that they have terrible garlic this year or even total crop failure due to the odd, cold, wet Spring.  We are grateful our crop is fantastic.  Garlic is planted in the Fall for the next year harvest.  It takes a long time to develop and lots of time to worry and fret.  By next week this area too will look completely different with all new plants.

Malachi digging the garlic.

Garlic sitting in the shade ready to be dried.

With prolonged higher temperatures here it is nice to see that the tomatoes are finally happy and really taking off!  We are seeing a blush of color on some of the vines and the eggplants offered up a few early fruits that will be in the extra box this week.  The plants look robust and lots of flowers.  The pepper plants are not as big as last year yet but they too are loaded with blooms and fruit is developing.

Tomatoes! The blue coloring you see on the tomatoes and ground is a organic copper compound to fight off Late Blight. Late blight has been documented early this year in Sauk County. We are well protected.

No lettuce in the boxes this week.  Next week it should reappear.  The crop loss we had the week of all that rain and heat left a bit of a bubble in our rotation.

The lettuce beds.

WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX

Another great harvest this week!

Green Beans-A pound for everyone.  Fabulous harvest.  Snappy and delicious.

Cauliflower-This was the final harvest of the Spring planted cauliflower.  It will revisit again this Fall.

Cabbage-The last harvest from the bed with these wonderful little beauties.  We love these!  Perfectly sized and crunchy.  Great raw in salads or sandwiches or sautéed.

Swiss Chard-An amazing crop this year.  It is the prettiest I have every seen it and oh so tender.  We will pull this crop this week and start up new in the greenhouse for Autumn harvest.  Swiss Chard tastes much better in Autumn from newly seeded transplants rather than the plants that had to weather through the summer heat.

Cucumbers-A nice assortment again this week.  Expect these little gems to be a staple in the box for many weeks to come.

Zucchini-The plants are just starting to really kick into gear….We pick the fruit small so they are tender and just the right size for a meal.

Cutting Celery-just like “regular” celery but grows bushy and leafy.  Perfect for salads and seasoning.

Chives-A tasty and mildly flavor.

Shelling Peas-The end of the harvest of our BEST! pea crop every…..What a run.  Enjoy!

Turnips-The end of this crop until the cold weather returns.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK!

HOLY COW!  Get ready for this…..potatoes, beets, carrots, lettuce, fresh garlic, rosemary, parsley, zucchini, cucumbers……

Next week’s carrot harvest.

Read Full Post »

We have had a productive week.  The greenhouse is emptying out of all those tomatoes and the next round of summer seedlings have started.  We finally felt it was warm enough to plant the tomatoes…..and then the overnight temperatures still dipped pretty low.  The plants needed to get in the ground they were about ready to walk out of their pots!  We planted 166 heirloom tomato plants.  The usual rainbow assortment of cherry tomatoes that look so pretty mixed together and delicious slicers and paste too.  We look forward to tomato season every year.  The pea vines are just starting to flower, the cabbage is heading up, and the potatoes leafing out nicely.  We got all the zucchini and summer squash in too.  Lots of things checked off the list.  With the rain and cool temperatures is seems as if many crops double in size overnight. Weeds too have enjoyed the moisture and cool temperatures but we have just started our second pass through the beets and carrots and staying in front of everything so far.  We are excited that our organic sweet potato slips are being shipped this week from Oklahoma State.  They are shipping late due to the cold.  It will be nice to get this last big job completed.  I am sure I will say this many times throughout the summer but this is sure a different growing season than last year.  Opposite in every way.

Hope everyone enjoyed the rhubarb last week.  I tripled the recipe and made 3 crisps.  Gave one away and somehow overnight 1 1/2 of the remaining 2 disappeared!  Scott said in the morning he has had his share of rhubarb for the season!  Unfortunately, Maeve told me it tastes like rotten tomatoes and would only take that 1 bite.

Maeve harvesting the carrots.

We started these carrots in the greenhouse on March 3rd in large crates and then moved them outside when it was warm.  TRUE baby carrots are always a delicious treat in the Spring.  They are oh so sweet and tender and makes me realize every year with the first bite that any commercially grown carrot tastes like chewing on cord wood.  Also, did you know the bagged baby carrots sold in the grocery store are really just big ugly ones mechanically ground down and then soaked in bleach to keep the orange color since they are skinless…..ick!

We wash the carrots in an old wringer washing machine. A huge time saver.  It works great for the beets too.

Filling the wringer washing machine to wash the carrots.

A peek inside at the carrots.

Scott and Maeve having a quick snack break.

WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX

As we were prepping the boxes this week we felt like bag maniacs!!  A reminder that the bags are biodegradable.  We dislike packaging/plastic as much as many of you do and avoid overly packaging the veggies as much as possible.  However, these leafy greens in the early boxes need to have a sleeve on them to stay ridged and fresh.  The bags help retain moisture and prevent wilting.

CARROTS- Just shy of a pound for everyone.  Beautiful TRUE Baby Carrots. A gourmet treat!  Very tasty roasted in the oven.  Carrots have strong cleansing properties and are effective in detoxifying the liver and great for your skin.

MIZUNA–  A leafy Japanese vegetable that is used in a Japanese soup called nabemono. A mustard green.  The taste is a combination of bitter and peppery.  The leaves are green and serrated; the stalks are narrow and white. Both leaves and stalks are edible. Can also be stir fried, pickled, and eaten in salads.  Makes a great pesto with a few cashews and tossed with farro or your favorite pasta.  It reminds me of arugula.  It also freezes well after a quick blanching for future meals.  Very rich in vitamins E,C,A and high in Magnesium.  Beneficial to all lung and airway functions.

SPINACH-A smaller bag this week as we picked heavily last week.  With this cooler Spring we are hopeful that it will stick around for awhile.

RADISH-2 little gems this week.  A longer one with a white tip called French Breakfast and a round beauty called Rover.

Harvesting the radishes. We grow them under row cover for pest protection.

Pac Choi--We have finished harvesting the crop this week.  This variety is called Win-Win Choi.

The romaine lettuce triple rinsed and ready to be bagged.

Romaine Lettuce-Delicious, crunchy leaves.  For some reason this variety is one of my favorites…These are the ones that work great as your “bread” for sandwiches as they are a bit more ridged.

This is a good week to have a nice mixed green salad with all your meals.  Lots of different flavors, colors and textures.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK

radish, salad turnips in scarlet and white, lettuce, and vitamin greens

Pac Choi and Mustard Greens Soup with Poached Egg

Minimalist farm-to-table recipes created with local fresh produce paired with homemade infused oils, dressings, marinades, pestos and sauces.  By eating seasonally, we reap the benefits of good health through nutrition from fresh, unprocessed and sustainable produce.

Recipe: Pac Choi and Mustard Greens Soup with Poached Egg

This recipe features local produce from 9 Bean Rows Farm, Birch Point Farm, Loving Dove Farm and locally produced products from Food for Thought.

Ingredients

Farm fresh local onion
Farm fresh local garlic
Farm fresh local ginger
Celery
Local olive oil
Farm fresh local carrots
Farm fresh local pac choi
Farm fresh local mustard greens
Tamari
White pepper
Farm fresh local eggs, poached

Directions

Mince one half cup onion, four large garlic cloves and an one inch section of ginger. Slice one cup celery and add onion, garic, ginger and celery to a large metal soup pot with two tablespoons olive oil. Cook the onion mixture for ten minutes uncovered on medium heat.

Slice one cup carrots into matchsticks. Remove two cups pac choi leaves from stems. Slice pac choi stems and chop pac choi leaves into one inch pieces. Remove two cups mustard greens from stems and chop mustard greens into one inch pieces.

Add carrots, pac choi stems, pac choi leaves and mustard green leaves to onion mixture with one teaspoon tamari, one quarter teaspoon white pepper and five cups water. Cover soup pot and bring to boil, then reduce to medium low and cook covered for five minutes.

Serve soup sprinkled with sea salt and a poached egg.

Remember Pinterest is a great source for recipes and information on vegetables you may not be too familiar with.

I’m having some trouble with posting recipes for some reason….I am not that good with the whole cut and paste thing just yet…Will attempt again this week.

Read Full Post »

It has been a wonderfully long cool Spring compared to last year.  What a difference.  The garden progress has been chugging along at a good pace.  We feel well weeded and on schedule.  Every day presents some small unexpected challenge and then there is the usual Spring lament of “where are we really going to plant all this!”  REALLY!  It’s difficult this time of year with short term Spring Crops like radishes and getting our rotations just right.  Scott and I have very different concepts of “space” and the discussion can get pretty interesting…but, it all settles down by the end of June and our routine is set.

Before the Summer CSA boxes start up and the weekly newsletters appear I thought it would be nice to take a quick peek at the garden….

The greenhouse a few weeks back.

Many of the plants in the above photos are already in the garden.  Hard to believe how much things change around here from week to week. It is a constant rotation of starting new seeds and planting.  We start lettuce every other week in the greenhouse and transplant out again with each harvest.  We also do several plantings of many items such as Broccoli, Cabbage, Summer Squash, Fennel, Basil, and Dill so there is always something germinating in the greenhouse.

Planting the Spring Broccoli, Cabbage, and Cauliflower.

Salad Turnips under the row cover, celery, celeriac, and cutting celery next, followed by rows of fennel and all the potatoes way back there.

It’s fun to take a look at the garden in the Spring and then again when we are in full swing….

The red stripes are where the tomatoes will live this year whenever it warms up enough to plant. Green Beans just germinating to the left.  All the Spring Asian Greens in the front under row cover.

Beautiful brussels sprouts (that we will not eat until Fall) and Kale, and Garlic.

Wonderful Peas!

All our leafy greens we grow under row cover. Chemical Free pest management and also the leaves stay a lot cleaner this way.

A peek at the chinese cabbage under the row cover.

Read Full Post »

With the weather turning a bit cooler I spoke with our egg friend and asked if she wanted to bring some eggs over for our Monday pick up this week.  She will have them here for sale.

She will also have some info. for us on her Turkeys.  $2-$3 a pound.  She is taking holiday orders.

We  have a bumper harvest of paste tomatoes if anyone is interested in canning or freezing sauce this week.  $1.50 a pound.

See everyone tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

What a bounty this week!!!!

It sure seems with the days of August come the gigantic harvests from the garden….

Lettuce-It’s back!! and it is delicious too.  This variety is called Tropicana.  Lots more in the “extra” area too if you want more for the week.

Cucumber Assortment-A nice sized box again this week and several long skinny slicers too.

Peppers-All sweet again except! a few of those tiny hot jalapeños.

Eggplant-This is the true wonder of the summer for us!  The plants are loaded with fruit.

Zucchini-A few again this week as we are still on “rations” due to that terrible vine borer bug that took out so many plants.  The new crop looks good and coming on strong.

Cherry Tomato Box-Beautiful Heirloom assortment.

Tomato Slicers/Paste- Take all you wish of these beauties.

Carrots- A 2 pound+ bag of assorted colors.

Watermelon-Tons! to choose from.  An amazing harvest….My other big goal of the year we met.  This is the crop I have been the most excited about this season.

Sunflower Bouquet-A pretty collection for everyone!  Enjoy Cut the stems daily to prolong the life of the bouquet.

The garden is thriving and the last of the Fall crops will be in by the end of the week (hopefully)….except for the radishes, turnips and spinach which we will plant in a few weeks.

The bounty coming in from the garden….

Saturday’s tomato harvest.

Maeve wanted me to take her picture with the Sunflowers.

Read Full Post »

I LOVE!! the Food Box this week……it has a little bit of everything for mind body and soul.

Big jumbo bunch of Assort. Kale.  We grew 7 varieties this year and they sure are pretty.

Maeve’s favorite way to eat kale-fresh picked raw from the garden!

I do think Kale will be our new favorite food around here this summer.  So many ways to prepare it.  Be creative.  (I am still have troubles getting the recipes to post.  I have several for Kale and they will be coming soon.  Fellow CSA Member Susan Holding is going to give me 1 more lesson this week)

Asian Greens Mix- A nice mix of these wonderful heathy greens that Scott fondly calls “fodder”.

Radish-A small bunch of the french breakfast for everyone.  This will be the last of the Radishes until Autumn.

Turnips-Perhaps the end of these too for awhile.  They do not enjoy the heat and the little white beauties decided to stay tiny.  The greens are delicious with the Asian Greens in a sauté.

Gigantic Bunch of Cilantro- 2 varieties here.  The fragrance filled the entire garage as we were prepping.

Black Cap Berries OR Peas-Both of these crops had low yields due to heat so we split them in 1/2.  You will get one or the other this week.

French Garden Mix-Sprouted Seeds of red clover, arugula, radish, fenugreek, curly cress and dill.  Incredible flavorful.  Store in Fridge and rinse from time to time shacking package to drain excess water.

Lavender Bundle- Sweet little bundle to put on your pillow, soak in the bath water or dry and keep in a dresser drawer.  Very aromatic and calming.

Sweet Pea Bouquet-I am surprised but we have a great crop (on very short vines) in all this heat.  Fragrant wonderful flowers.  A favorite of mine.  Enjoy!

All of the cool early season lettuce decided to give up in this extreme heat and draught….so, no lettuce this week.  Several heat tolerant varieties have been planted for many weeks and may be ready as soon as next week.

Read Full Post »

A Wonderful Fun!!!! Box this week…..

Peas Shoots-Keep these little beauties in the window on a dinner plate and give them a drink from time to time.  Snip a few for delicious pea flavor added to sandwiches, top a salad, or garnish soup.  We eat them as a fresh snack!

Garlic Scapes-These are the flower heads cut early from the tops of the garlic we planted last Fall.  Removing these heads before they develop ensure a larger more flavorful garlic bulb.  Chop and use as you would use garlic in your meal preparation.  Great garlic taste.

Italian Large Leaf Parsley-The most flavorful “robust” parsley flavor of all the parsley.  Keep in the fridge in a glass of water or sealed plastic bag.

Romaine Lettuce-Great in a salad mix with the other wonderful greens this week.  Fellow CSA member Chris Lemke mentioned to me last week they grill it!  Sounds delicious.

Spinach-The last of the Spring planting.

Pac Choi Assorted Mix- 3 varieties all bagged together in your box. We are really enjoying these wilted down in chick broth or vegetable broth with a bit of soy sauce.

Asian Green Mix-2 varieties here.  Yukina Savoy is the thick, crinkled dark savoyed leaves.  Vitamin Green is the smooth brilliantly green leaves. Packaged in your box in the same bag.  Both are in the brassica family and have a mild flavor.  Delicious steamed or in a stir fry but also offer a unique addition to fresh salads.

Spring Turnips-We love them raw with a bit of salt, sliced thin on our salads or a surprise in a sandwich wrap.  They sauté well in a mix with the above Pac Choi and/or Asian Greens.

Red Rover Radishes- Last of the radishes until Fall.

I’m having a bit of trouble getting the recipes in the recipe section……they keep disappearing!  It is that cut and paste thing!  I’ll get it…..Anyway I can’t say enough about Pinterest for a quick reference for recipes and I have noticed there are many  blogs with weekly postings for CSA box cooking on the internet.

Read Full Post »

Getting set for more carrots…..

Just a bit of rain but we’ll take it!  It is DRY!!! 50,000 gallons of water went on the garden in the month of May. We have been irrigating around the clock in this dry windy heat, and have been providing shade for the broccoli.

I feel like we are over the hump of “getting everything in”.  The last of the pie pumpkins and winter squash went out last week and the watermelon patch is set!!!  Feels really good that the green house is emptying out and we have started some new seeds for 2nd and 3rd rotations of many crops.  We have 2 plantings of beets in the ground now for several weeks and a 3rd rotation of 4 varieties all started. More of the smaller cabbage is started as well as the big winter storage varieties…. I started our 5th planting of lettuce yesterday all strong heat tolerant varieties.  We were very sad that all the buttercrunch bolted in the heat and we pulled more than 200 heads out and to the compost.  Yesterday, Malachi Persche cleaned out the Spinach bed after our last harvest for the season and Scott quickly prepped it for carrots.  The radish bed was cleared yesterday also to make way for more lettuces.

The tomato plants seem to grow several inches over night-every night!! and are beautiful and strong.  We have been picking off the first blossoms in order to give the plants a chance to settle in rather than use all their energy to make a wimpy tomato.  We put in 124 tomato plants this year and as usual I am excited to taste our old favorites and also experiment with a few new varieties.  Really looking forward to canning a bit more too this year now that Maeve is older.  There is nothing better than homemade catchup and tomato juice…..

I think the phrase for this season will be “things are really early”…..we have summer squash forming and perhaps a few to eat next week and the bean plants have blossoms.  Crazy!  Blueberries are coloring up and the blackcap berries are almost black.  I have a photo of Scott and Maeve picking blackcaps last year on the 4th of July.  The cool weather Spring crops have passed way too quickly but the heat loving summer crops are developing quickly.

Read Full Post »