foxlinecityfarm

We had another enjoyable week in the garden.   Time to get some major weeding done that has been on the “MUST do” list for some time and it feels really good to see these areas cleaned up.  Our fall crops are coming along and I think we will start picking wonderful winter squash and pie pumpkins soon.  The spinach has germinated well even in the heat of the last 2 weeks.  We were a bit worried and now relieved.  Lots of fun stuff yet to come.  We are excited for the change in the season and really looking forward to the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors around the corner….

WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX

French Fingerling Potatoes-These are sure delicious.  Wonderful fried, roasted or in soups or stews.  One of our favorite potatoes.

Lettuce-That wonderful romaine is back and also a buttercrunch too this week.

Edamame-This is a fun snack.  We quickly boil in salty water-pod and all for about 4-5 minutes, drain and then eat by pulling the pod through our teeth to get the beans out.  We eat them hot or cold.  The beans can also be removed from the pod and added raw to salad or cooked in a stir fry or sauce.

Pepper Medley-It is a great pepper year!  A beautiful collection.  All sweet or mildly “hot” except for the those small pretty dark green jalapeno beauties for salsa.

Zucchini-A combo of patty pan and long slender varieties.

Cucumbers-I know week 3 of thinking they were done…..but really now it is done.  The end for the season.

Cherry Tomatoes-A Quart again this week.  If you did not try it last week do give it a shot this week.  Oven roasted cherry tomatoes are fantastic.  Slice in half, lightly toss with olive oil, put a bit of parchment on a cookie sheet and evenly spread the cherry tomatoes out.  Lightly salt and place in a preheated 250 degree oven.  2.5-3.5 hours until done.

Paste and Slice tomatoes-The usual bounty…..choose a few.

Garlic-A nice big head of a variety called Music.

Eggplant-STILL going…..beyond amazing.  I have never seen anything like it.

Basil-a new fresh juicy crop that was just trimmed for caprese salads.

The colorful pepper harvest ready to be packed in the weekly boxes.

Maeve helping with the pepper packing….

The tomato harvest…..

We can feel the season shifting in the garden….cooler nights, heavy dew in the mornings and the days growing shorter.  It is fun to go and peek at the winter squash and pumpkins and wonder about the sweet potato harvest that we will be digging soon.

We planted the spinach, several varieties of  radishes, 2 types of turnips and baby pac choi last week.  All crops that like cooler temperatures and have a shorter growing time.  We started a variety of leeks in the greenhouse a few weeks back that are suppose to winter over well and we are going to give this a shot this year.  We will transplant these baby starts out into the garden this week and hope for jumbo beauties in the Spring.

We have not included any eggplant in the boxes this week….even though the plants are still producing like crazy.  We took the bounty to the farmers’ market to give everyone a break.  It is the year of the eggplant for sure.  There are a few in the extra box just in case a few of you want some.

A pretty box this week…..enjoy.

WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX

Corn-Another delivery from Scott’s relative this morning.

Lettuce-A head lettuce called Tropicana.  This will be the last harvest of this heat loving variety.  We have planted cooler lettuces in the garden for the remainder of the season.  I am excited for the Romaine to return and it looks like it may be ready next week.

Brussels Sprouts-These are the early little gems.  We have 3 varieties planted out in the garden.  Delicious roasted or sliced and sautéed.

Curly Parsley-Nice big bunch.  Try making a parsley pesto.

Pepper Medley-A wonderful assortment of sweet or mildly hot peppers.  Beautiful colors.  It is an amazing pepper year for us.  The plants are still loaded with fruit.

Jalapeño Peppers-A few called El Jefe to flavor your salsa.

Onions-All the onions have been dug and our drying on racks in the shed.  These are short season onions.

Zucchini-The new patch is really starting to produce and the other oddball thing is in 1 evening tons of little slender guys  just grew huge!  It was pretty amazing.  The rain and temperature must have been just perfect.

Cucumbers-I think this really is the end…..a few for everyone.

Cherry Tomatoes-A quart sized box for everyone.  Try oven roasting this week.  They are wonderful and sweet.

Tomatoes-A great harvest of paste and slice to choose from.

Cinnamon Basil-2 varieties to try out.  Really tasty with fruits or pasta dishes.

We have another smaller harvest of watermelon this week and they are in the extra box if anyone would like one….also, a few shiitake mushrooms have started to appear and we put them in the extra box as well.

A few photos of the autumn crops in the garden.

a pretty heirloom pumpkin in the garden

pie pumpkins ripening up.

acorn squash resting on the reflective plastic mulch.

Another super box this week….it is the best season ever for us.  Enjoy the bounty.

Lettuce-A  juicy buttercrunch this week.

Leeks-We have a wonderful leek crop this year.  This is the early variety with 2 more harvests to come.

Potatoes-We created a nice medley this week. 6+ pounds for everyone.  All 3 varieties suitable for all types of cooking.  Bake, fry, steam, mash.  Adirondack Blues, Carola (the buttery whites) and Red Norland.

Cucumber-Snackers and Slicers-This may be the last week.

Green Beans-I thought last week was it for this rotation and then we had one more harvest….the plants have been pulled so this will be it until Autumn.

Summer Squash-Patty pans or assorted zucchini.

Celery-Enjoy the wonderful flavor in soups and stir fry.  We use the leaves on our sandwiches and salads.

Rosemary-The herb of the week.  Seems perfect for all those potatoes.

Eggplant-I know!!!! AGAIN!  I am shocked myself. We are sharing this bounty with you all…. Really we have decided that eggplant is the new zucchini around here.  When oh when will it end…..

Tomatoes-The usual box of pretty cherries and all the paste and slice you wish.

Jalapeño Peppers-For your weekly fresh salsa.

WOW! Every day this past week when we thought about the box it seemed to grow and grow in quantity.  So, a super jumbo bounty box this week folks!  Lots of watermelon again ready for harvest in the patch and the never ending amazing eggplant is still just chugging away.  We were able to get all the Fall plantings in last week-I’m not really sure how that all happened as the week flew by but I am glad and all the little seedling beauties we transplanted have already started to grow in size. We picked the first zucchini out of the new patch and are amazed that the winter squash is coloring up.  There are even some pie pumpkins out there too that I think are ready to be harvested.  With the shorter days and cooler temperatures we are starting to really notice the turn to Autumn in the garden and our thoughts wander to planting spinach again and wintering over carrots and parsnips.

What is in your box.

Lettuce-A beautiful juicy buttercrunch.

Tomato Assorted-The Wonderful huge bounty that will be the norm for the remainder of the season. A box of cherries, all the paste and slice you would like….our patch is really thriving this year.  The trellised vines are now over my head and just loaded with fruit.  The Heirloom color variation is quite beautiful.

Eggplant-WOW! is really all I can say here.  I am astounded with the bounty.  3 weeks in a row.  I LOVE! those little mini guys.  Our perfect snack.

Onions-A collection of 3 varieties

Cabbage-The last of the cabbage until Fall.  These little tiny guys are the perfect size I think.

Cucumbers-A box of the snackers and a few long slicers too.  I did notice that the cucumber patch is starting to slow down a bit in production.  Fewer blossoms and the vines do not seem as vigorous to me either.  So enjoy them now-next week may be the end.

Collard Greens-A few leaves for everyone to experiment with.  I like to use them like a tortilla and make a sandwich or lightly braise and make a stir fry.

Zucchini-A few as we still are on rations….

Peppers-This is my other big surprise this season.  The plants are loaded with fruit!  There are several varieties out there we have not even started to pick.  All sweet or “mildly hot” except for a few little shiny green jalapeño.

Watermelon-Pick a Beauty.  Assorted size, shape, and color.

Green Beans-This really REALLY! is the last picking.  I was totally surprised we got 1 more picking out of this planting.  More to come in the Fall.

Garlic-A beautiful fresh head.

Greek Oregano-A nice big bunch for sauce with all those wonderful tomatoes. Remember you can dry it on the counter and store it in a glass jar once dry.

Basil Plant-This too, I could not help myself….for those tomatoes.

Have a wonderful week.  Enjoy the Bounty.

A wonderful box this week!

Kale-A nice big bunch of 7 assorted varieties.  We have been eating bowls full of the kale crisps around here like potato chips.  Delicious!  Also, fantastic on sandwiches.

Cucumbers-Jumbo boxes of all the varieties and also a few of those long skinny guys.

Cabbage-The nice smaller sized head that is perfect for the week.

Pepper Medley-These beauties are making their appearance  and we have a great crop this year.  Lots to come.   The assortment this week are all sweet EXCEPT! everyone has 2 smaller sized dark green jalapeños.

Eggplant-We are thrilled with the crop.  HUGE!  Everyone has a pint box filled with cute little mini guys called Hansel, Gretel, and Fairytale and also 1-3 larger ones too depending on the size.

Green Beans-This is the last of our early plantings.  2 rotations more are in the ground now for Autumn Harvest.

Zucchini-We are still on “zucchini rations” but everyone has a few in their box.

Ground Cherry-A pint for everyone of this old fashioned treat.  Just keep out on your kitchen counter for a sweet treat.  The flavor will sweeten up even more as they ripen.  Maeve loves these!

Heirloom Cherry-A beautiful box of these flavorful wonders.  It is really surprising how they differ in flavor from sweet to spicy/tangy.

Heirloom Paste/Slicer Assortment- A Nice big bowl will be waiting here for you to choose as many as you wish.  From now on tomatoes until Christmas!  Crazy to think this.  It also is pretty interesting to me that I planted the seeds for these tomatoes 6 months ago.  I said to Scott the other night that we have been focused on Tomatoes for 1/2 a year…..that does not even include the time when we are looking through the catalogues in December.  So pretty much tomatoes are a year round thing in our minds…..

Zinnias-Loose colorful stems for you to take home.

The LuSa Organic Shipment is here and ready for pick up too for those of you who placed orders.

Enjoy the Summer Bounty everyone.

Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!  CORN!!!!  

We are so excited about the food box this week.

Corn-As with years in the past we get our corn from Scott’s Cousin in Reedsburg.  We do not have the space to grow the volume needed and when we surveyed our members we all felt that outside source was ok as we all wanted corn…  This year a trade of some chain link fence has provided us with wonderful irrigated corn.  It was just picked this morning and tucked in your boxes.  I know what what we will all be having for supper tonight.

Potatoes-A bumper Crop! Everyone has 3+ pounds in their box this week. This beautiful white fleshed variety is called Red Norland.  An all around wonder.  Great mashed with the pretty thin skinned left on, delicious fried, and terrific in a cold salad.

Scott harvesting the potatoes…..you can see from this photo that we grow with black plastic “mulch” and drip line.

The potatoes look like pretty Easter Eggs!

Onion Medley-A collection of several different onions…little cute guys, green onions, and larger ones too for that potato salad.

Assorted Cucumbers-A box of snackers as well as a nice long European Beauty for slicing.

Celery-This is our miracle this week.  Celery loves water and I was unsure how this would do this year in the drought.  We kept the irrigation on this area frequently and the crop is beautiful.  Very flavorful.  Use the whole plant.  The leaves are more strongly flavored and also dry well for winter soups…we should have at least 2 more harvests of celery this season.

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley-A nice big bunch for buttered potatoes.

Eggplant-The plants are really producing.  Everyone has a large eggplant as well as a few tiny miniature cuties….We love the small ones raw with hummus or other dip.

Take a look at this nice looking couple…..they are safely tucked in 2 family boxes for this week’s pick up.

Tomatoes-A small mixed box this week as the vines are just starting to produce and we wanted to include them as a treat.  Last year we had tomatoes until Christmas.  Here we go with the harvest.  At full swing we will be harvesting over 100 pounds a day.  We have well over 100 plants and Scott keeps them trellised for easy picking.  Many of the plants are towering high over our heads already.

No lettuce this week….but we have many heads in the extra box.  Just not enough to include in everyone’s boxes.

Enjoy Everyone!  Have a wonderful week.

A Pretty Fancy Box!  WOW! We are really pleased with the box this week.  The harvest went really well and we are happy with all the treats!  Enjoy Everyone.

What is in your box.

Cucumber-A nice mix.  All vines are producing now except 1 variety yet to come.  Remember to add a few slices of cucumber to your drinking water it is very refreshing.

Dill-Jumbo Dill plants.  These huge plants grew right on dripline. We put another planting in too this year for a Fall harvest.  Make a quick salad with the cucumbers and/or beans.  Delicious with fish too.

Beans-Another bounty of these beauties.  When Maeve eats them she always says “nothing better” as she pops them in her mouth.

Chard-Thin succulent stalks with juicy leaves.  Delicious in a stir fry or with eggs.

Lettuce-We harvested heavy this week as we worried this crop may bolt in the heat next week and did not want to loose it.   A delicious head lettuce called Tropicana and extremely heat tolerant.  We are glad it could withstand the 100+ degree temps under the row cover.

Fennel-Tasty bulbs that add a unique flavor.  We had assorted random bulb sizes of these beauties for some reason….from jumbo to small.  The boxes contain either 1 jumbo or several small to medium.  Use the bulb and greens for seasoning.

Zucchini-Assorted long varieties as well as patty pans.  As mentioned we are going to have low yield for a few weeks depending how many plants remain. The new crop should be producing in about a month.

Cauliflower-Our little treasure of a variety called Amazing.  It is amazing to us to produce in this heat.  Enjoy fresh or roasted with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Broccoli-The offering this week is a cutting of all the side shoots off the main harvest the last 2 weeks.  What a bounty!  We have another summer rotation in the garden now and a 3rd cold/autumn variety of broccoli in the greenhouse too.  Hopefully we will have even more before the season ends.

We have decided to suspend the egg delivery for awhile…I don’t think many of us are baking right now!  Several dozen have remained each week and we can only eat so many.  Ann, the egg lady does charge a delivery fee from Poynette and it is really not cost effective to deliver 4-5 dozen.  When the weather changes I will see if we should start up again.  She will also be sending over a brochure to us for her Turkeys this year.  She is raising 2 varieties and taking orders for Fall.  I will post this information when available.

I have placed the Lusa Organics order.  Some items were out of stock.  They will ship when available….

Have a wonderful week Everyone.