Last CSA pickup

Hey, it's the last week of the summer CSA!  My how time flies.  The chickens say "wow, I remember when we were just eggs!"

And the tomatoes remember when they were the star of the garden.  Eh, they look pretty grim now.

But there are more tasty veggies in the ground for this winter!  Here we have 50ft of lettuce, it just needs some heavy row cover for the chilly nights.

Rutabagas are lurking underground.

And Black Spanish Radishes...
These things just look awesome.  Bright white flesh, dark black rind, and deep green leaves.  Bam!  They're also darn spicy.  We like them roasted with other root veggies. But if you don't get around to it, they store for weeks once their tops have been removed.

 I'll channel my inner Mario Bros. 2 and get them pulled out of the ground.  (you know, on the old 8 bit Nintendo?  anyone? anyone?)

Uh, anyway.  There is plenty of parsley.

Today Rob and I put the next wave of beets is in the ground, though I'm not sure when they'll be ready.  The light rain was nice for the transplants, but the paths got a bit muddy/sticky.

Did I mention that the horseradish plants really took off?  Yep, they look like they'll eat you.  Watch your step!  If anyone would like some of this, stuff, I'll dig up a few roots later this fall.  If you have not made horseradish sauce before, beware!  When you grind it up in a food processor it's like you set off a chemical mustard gas bomb in your kitchen.  Run!  Grinding it up on your porch is advised.  The pungent sinus-clearing-deliciousness of fresh horseradish is worth it through.

Oh, we also put in spinach!  This winter staple is loving the cool wet weather...

...and so is rob.

We set up the yurt this past weekend for a little extra shelter.  It's nice to be out of the cold and rain for a bit.  Thanks to the folks who made it out to the farm this weekend for our gathering!  I hope to have more opportunities to meet more of you fine folks again!

So that's it for the summer CSA, but as you can see there are lots of tasty things in the ground.  I'll keep posting what I'm up to and let you know what we're harvesting through the cold months.  We hope you can continue eating in season with Blue Bell Farm!


Whatcha Eatin?

Roasted Rutabagas (and root veggies)
inspired by Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

1 1/2 lbs turnips or rutabagas, peeled and quartered (black radishes, and potatoes too!)
salt and freshly  mille dpepper
canola or safflower oil
3 small bay leaves
2 rosemary sprigs or 6 thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly oil a shallow roasting pan or baking dish.  Parboil rutabagas for 15 min or until barely tender.  You can add scrubbed and quartered black radishes and potatoes for the last 3-5 minutes of boiling or until they are barely tender.  Wick off the extra moisture with a towel.  Toss all the root veggies with enough oil to coat them lightly, then season with salt and pepper.  Transfer them to the dish with the herbs and bake, uncovered, until tender when pierced with a knife and browned, 25-30 min.

Rutabaga Fries

This one is pretty darn similar to the Roasted Rutabagas, but perhaps you find fries more appealing...

Peel and slice rutabagas into long batons or french fries.  Soak them in water for 30 min, then drain and towel dry.  Toss with vegetable oil to coat lightly and a few pinches salt.  Spread them on a sheet pan and bake at 400, turning occasionaly, until golden and tender, 30-40min.  When down etoss them with a little finely minced rosemary, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Baked Winter Squash

A practical approach to preparing squash for any number of uses.  Cut a squash in half, then scoop out the seeds and fibers.  Brush the cut surfaces with a thin film of oil and set the squash, cut side down on a sheet pan.  Bake at 375 until the squash looks wrinkled, soft and about to collapse, usually about 30 min.  The cut side should be richly glazed.  Place upright on a serving plate, season with salt and pepper, a tad of butter and serve.  Or scoop out the flesh, mash it with butter and return it to the shell.  You can also use this squash to make a puree, soup or pie filling.  (butternut pie!)

Commonground

The whole Blue Bell Farm crew was up at the Commonground Country Fair this weekend!  We attended workshops on solar heating, soil chemistry, tree felling, poultry health and more!  Saw some beautiful blue ribbon veggies in the exhibition hall,...and thought that we should have entered some Blue Bell produce to the competition.  We also volunteered at the info booth, parking cars and a late night kitchen shift.  Blue Bell purchased a new weeding tool that is sure to make life easier (in theory, we'll do a full report soon enough) and we got the fair special on some technical manuals. We ran into a number of good friends who we always seem to see at the fair, and said hello to the fellow Journey Persons.  There were amazing crafters, and an array of delicious veggies at the farmers market.  Of course, I forgot to pack the camera, so I have no pictures to show for it.  But rest assured, it was beautiful as always.  Minus a misty saturday morning I suppose, but that kept things moving nice and slow.  It's easy to get overwhelmed at such an event, but I think we all got fired up for the last push of work into the fall season.  It was good to be back on the farm today to affirm for ourselves that we too were growing delicious, beautiful veggies.  But also a reminder that for all those pretty things on display there was a tremendous amount of hard work going on behind the scenes.

Best thing I saw at the fair?  A donkey jumping competition.


Whatcha Eatin?

Edamame Appetizer

Bring a few cups of water to a boil
Drop in Edamame pods
Simmer 5-8 min
Pour through colander to retrieve pods
Sprinkle with salt
Squeeze pods to pop the seeds right into your mouth!

Potato Leek Soup
from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

3 fist sized potatoes
3 cups cleaned, chopped leek
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
4 Tbs. Butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C stock or water
3 cups milk
optional: snippets of fresh herbs, thyme, chives, marjoram, basil

Scrub potatoes and cut them into 1 inch chunks.  Place them in a saucepan with the leeks, celery, carrot and butter.  Add salt.  Cook the vegetables, stirring over medium heat, until the butter is melted and all the particles are coated (5 min)

Add the stock or water, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook until the potatoes are soft (20-30min).  Check the moisture level occasionally.  You may need to add a little extra tock or water if it gets too low.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the pan from the heat and puree it's contents in the milk (use a blender, or food processor itted with the steel blade).  Make sure the mixture is utterly smooth.  Return it to the sacuepan.

Add optional herbs (or not). grin in some black pepper.  Taste to see if it wants more salt.

Heat the soup gently, covered until just hot.  Try not to let it boil.  Serve right away.

(we have made a chunky version of this where we forgo the blender, it can be a bit scary blending hot liquids...)

Tomato Soup
specifically "Variation on a Cream of Tomato III"
also from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

Sick of fresh tomatoes?  Chop em up for a soup!  Tomato soup can be as simple, or as complex as you want, this recipe is somewhere in the middle, and uses your potatoes too.

1 Tbs. butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup thinly sliced potatoes
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stalk chopped celery
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
2 1/2 cups pureed, cooked tomatoes
1 tsp. honey
1 1/2 cups milk

Place butter, onion, potatoes, garlic, salt and celery in a large saucepan.  Cover and cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.  If necessary, add a little water or stock to avoid sticking.

Add all remaining ingredients, except milk (have the milk out so it can come to room temperature).  Cover and simmer about 30 min).

Add milk just before serving, heat gently.

Fall?

It's been cooler at night, can fall be on the way?  Not thinking about it, not thinking about it, not thinking about it...  Hey, there are still delicious summer tomatoes!

More here in a bit.


Whatcha Eatin?

Baked Tortilla Espanola

It's like a potato and onion fritatta.

1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil (can use less)
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced. (or the equivalent in unique sized CSA taters)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (1 Cup)
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped (1/4 Cup)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 large eggs
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in an 8-inch, oven safe skillet over medium heat.  Add potatoes, onion and garlic and stir well.  Gently press into an even layer with a spatula.  Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 min.  Stir, season with salt and pepper and press again.  Cover and cook for 10 minues.  Drain in a colander reserving oil.

Whisk together eggs, parsley, and thyme.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in potato mixture.  Heat 2 Tablespoon reserved oil in the skillet over medium heat.  Pour in egg mixture and gently press into an even layer.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Cook uncovered for 2 minutes.
Bake until set, about 5-10 min (watch it!).
Invert onto a serving platter if you're feeling fancy, or serve from the pan.

Cooler Complete

Hey, no updates for a while?
Yep.  I was working late nights to finish this:

The walk-in cooler is working!  The vast majority of the work is done.  It even looks mostly like my sketchup model...  Just a little cleanup needed.  And I need to dye my hair to match Mr. Clean White Shirt. (clearly not a farmer)

This is the heart and soul of the cooler.  The CoolBot, and air conditioner.  (I'm voting for the CoolBot with the soul, and the AC unit as heart, but I'm open to suggestion.)

The CoolBot tells the air conditioner to run, even when it is below 60 inside.  So, temperatures can get into refrigerator territory with just a standard air conditioner.  Never mind the oozy foam and dangly wires.  I'll pretty those up too before I write a full build report.

I inaugurated the walk-in with my cooler of eggs and cucumbers.  It looks a little lonely there now, but potatoes and CSA boxes will soon take up residence.

To think, just two nights ago I was finishing the roof...

...And then realized I could not get down.  Thank goodness for nearby trees for shimmying.  (and not having to go up on the roof for a while)

Meanwhile, out on the farm.  Weeds are creeping in.  I've been spending too much time building and not enough time weeding.  Rob!  Where for art thou? (He's been on vacation, but back soon!)

I did get more storage onions out of the ground. (These are the big ones!)  They're curing in the hoophouse now under a few layers of row cover.

The cayenne peppers are ready now too.  Wow, my tongue is burning just looking at that thing.  They'll be dried to use for red pepper flakes.

And the chicks are still doing their chick thing.  The once broody hens are ready to get out of there!

The dad is a Buff Orpington, so we are thinking that the one on the left came from a Buff hen, or a RI Red hen, and the one on the right could be from one of the Australorps, or Gold Laced Wyandotte.  I have to review Storey's guide to see which are sex-linked trait.  Nice critters. 

Whatcha Eatin?

We've been making lots of tomato sauce and salsa recently.  Those tomatoes just disappear if you chop them up with jalapenos, white onion and cilantro. Oh, and a bag of chips.

Leeks!  They're in the box this past week.  They're a bit milder than onions, great in soups and on the grill. But they don't caramelize like onions, so don't fry them.  Potato Leek Soup is a classic, and there are plenty of others.  Store these puppies in the fridge in a plastic bag.  If you forget about them and they start to look funky, just peel off the outer layers till you get back to the beautiful white and green portions.  When preparing Leeks, just slice off the last bit of roots, and then up a the top where the leaves start separating from the tight part of the stalk.  The lighter part is most tender for grilling, but all of it is good in soup.  You may notice that our leeks are almost comically long, I'm not exactly sure how that happened, but I'm doing some research on it.

Grilled Leeks
(from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison)

Slice trimmed leeks in half lengthwise and rinse well.  Steam them, cut side down, until barely tender, then brush with olive oil and season with salt.  Grill on both sides until light grill marks appear, turning as necessary.  Serve with extra virgin olive oil mixed with finely chopped parsley or chervil spooned over the leeks.  Mustard Vinaigrette on the side.




Crispy Kale Salad with Lime Dressing

This lovely number is from one of our CSA members.  Can't wait to try it!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/09/crispy-kale-salad-with-lime-dressing#ixzz25Z54gYjw

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons (packed) palm sugar or light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 red Thai chile or 1/4 red jalapeño, seeded, thinly sliced
• 24 small Tuscan kale leaves (about 5 inches) or 5-inch-long pieces torn from large stemmed leaves
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups (loosely packed) mixed tender herbs (such as cilantro, mint, and basil)
• 3 cups mixed shaved vegetables (such as carrots, beets, and radishes)
• 2 cups pea tendrils, watercress, or baby arugula
• 2 cups thinly sliced stemmed Tuscan kale leaves (from 1 bunch)
• 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber

• Ingredient Info:

  Fish sauce is available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets. Find Tuscan kale, also called black kale, Lacinato kale, or cavolo nero, at farmers' markets and some supermarkets.  (Blue Bell generally has a variety of Siberian kale in its mix which works similar to Lacinato)
  
  

Preparation

• Microwave sugar and 2 Tbsp. water on high in a medium microwave-safe bowl until sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds. Let cool. Whisk in next 4 ingredients for dressing. Set aside.
• Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 250°. Brush tops of kale leaves with oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets top to bottom halfway through, until kale is crisp, about 30 minutes. Transfer leaves from baking sheets to a wire rack; let cool.
• Mix herbs and remaining 4 ingredients with 6 Tbsp. dressing in a large bowl. Divide salad among plates; top with crispy kale leaves and drizzle remaining dressing over.

Old Tools and New Chickens

It's been a sunny and warm week!  Excellent weather to get lots of stuff done.  One item was an inherited chunk of metal of dubious use.  Thanks mom!  What the heck is this?

It came with handles, and after finding the right bolts, and fabricating a few other cross pieces, here we go!

It's a Kentucky wheel hoe, that was apparently my grandfathers, then in use by my uncle, and now I'm tilling the soil with it.  Neat!

And the machine in action, probably 80 years after it was built.

Meanwhile, over at the cooler-in-progress,  I got foam board installed on all the walls.

And the AC unit is roughly in place.  No earthquakes please...
It just needs insulation for the interior roof, and a roof roof.  This is a rather odd order of building a shed, but it's an odd building to begin with.

Back in the field, porcupines have taken out my melons.  Grrr!  They first, ate melons, so I covered them with row cover.  Then they dug under the row cover,  so I buried the edges.  Then they realized it was flimsy stuff all along and chewed right through.  The arms race may not be successful for melons this year.  Next step, a big fence.  Or perhaps robot guards with giant pincushions to trap em.

Yeah, those are my melons this porcupine is serving.

I take solace in my Jalapenos though.  Gorgeous!

And the storage onions we pulled out today.  After a bit of curing, these will last well into winter.

Golly I love how Sungolds look in the hoop house.

Ah yes, new chickens have been added to the flock to keep up with egg demand.  This weekend a neighbor had a small flock of layers he was parting with.  Hooray! I'll take em.  However, this is a feisty bunch.  After introducing them to their new accommodations, several of them tried to make a break for it.  I could not find one of them for a while, but later I found it trying to hot wire my truck!

Maybe I'll train it to change the oil.

Whatcha Eatin?

Potato Salad

Adapted from NY Times, somewhere around 2008.  You have a bunch of the ingredients in your box this week!

Dressing:
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 garlic clove minced or pureed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil.  (low fat version: 1/4 C plain yogurt, 2 T olive oil)

Salad
~1.5 lbs potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 Tablespoons finely chopped onion, rinsed with cold water and drained.  (knocks down the raw onion flavor a tad)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

Dressing:
Whisk together all dressing ingredients except the olive oil/yogurt.  Then add the olive oil/yogurt.

The Potatoes:
Dice potatoes to 3/4" cubes.  Steam above 1" boiling water until tender, but not mushy, 10-12 min.  Remove potatoes from heat.  Toss with remaining ingredients and dressing while the potatoes are hot!  (then the taters pick up all the flavor).

Mojitos

You got a warm afternoon? just add Mojito.

5-10 mint leaves

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

Lime Wedge

2 teaspoons sugar

1 oz Light Rum

Soda Water

Ice

Place the mint leaves, lime juice, sugar and rum in a glass and muddle. (smoosh the leaves with a blunt object to bruise the leaves and release the minty goodness to the rum).  Add ice and soda water.  Garnish with a lime wedge, and a pretty sprig of unmuddled mint.  You can even use the mint stem as a stir stick.

Chicken moving time

I got some good tractor practice this past week.  The big field where the chickens are located needed to be mowed.  Sign me up!  I had most of the field mowed with the old orange Kubota in two hours,... 20 minutes of which was spent getting the tractor unstuck from a mud hole...  Or rather, Austin came over and did a nifty bucket-lifting-the-front-end-and-putting-it-in-reverse move.  Thanks Austin!
The mowed field also let me move the chickens to new pasture easier.  The electro netting I use is generally fine to deal with, but it does get snagged on tall, woody plants.  Also, when moving chickens from one enclosure to the next there are a couple of feisty ones which hide out in the tall grass, and then explode out in the wrong direction when you try to herd them to the new enclosure.  It's a good raccoon survival instinct I suppose, but if they keep doing that, they'll have a stewpot to deal with!  Short grass = no exploding chickens.

Now, really, I should not be mowing at all.  The chickens should be doing most of it, and they'll move onto fresh grass that is not above their heads.  But if you're slow in moving the chickens to new pasture, the grass grows big, the chickens take a while to tramp it down/nibble on it, and then the next pasture area grows up too big.  So, mowing hits the reset button and I can try to get them moved along to new pasture more quickly this time.  Perhaps hoofed ruminants are in order!

Here are the chickens before moving to the new grassy area, and a nice sunset.

The chicks are being supervised by the broody buff orpington.

In non-chicken related news, I started digging up the potatoes this week.  The yields are not that great due to leaf hoppers and Colorado Potato Beetle, but it is still rewarding to dig through the soil and come up with a few handfuls of tubers.  We got some good root veggies seeded in the ground for this fall.  I'm still trying at beets darnit.  The soil seems a bit acidic for them, but they'll come along soon enough.  There are a few black radishes are in the ground, wait till you see those!

Whatcha Eatin?

You don't always have to cook kale!  This here is a cold recipe for the big leafy green.  Sorry CSA, no beets yet.

Kale Salad with Root Vegetables

-Large bunch of kale, chopped
-2 Tablespoons olive oil
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-grated carrots
-grated beets

Pour olive oil and salt over kale.  Massage the salt and oil into the kale for 2-3 minutes until the kale starts to soften and wilt.  Curious why you're doing this?  More info here.
Add the grated carrots and beets.

Dressing
-Juice of 1 lemon
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-1 teaspoon honey
-Salt
-Pepper

Chickens in the Mist

With a nod to Gary Larson, oh and I suppose Jane Goodall.  I give you chickens in the mist:

Yep, foggy week.  Hot, and humid.

The hoophouse, a bed of kale, chard, a line of weeds, and tomatoes

We pulled the last of the garlic out this week.  And there is a beautiful row of basil there.  Basil next to garlic?  They've been scheming up pesto all season.

Meanwhile in the chicken coop.  The cute little chicks have reached an awkward adolescent stage.  Some feathers are coming in, others are falling out.  Some try to fly, others are still hiding under the food dish.

Whatcha Eatin?

If you still have some cabbage lurking around from last week, (we did!) this is awesome.  It comes from Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.

Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds
[Bhuni bandh gobi]

The cabbage and onions get nicely browned and taste gloriously of fennel.  You could easily serve this with western-style sausages, ham, pork chops, or other roast meats.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs green cabbage (half a large head)
1-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 medium large onion, peeled and cut lengthwise into fine half rings
1 teaspoon salt
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I learned this looks like cinnamon...)

Remove coarse outer leaves of the cabbage.  Cut cabbage into long fine shreds.  A bread knife works great.

Put the oil in a wide, preferably non-stick pan, and set over medium high heat.  when the oil is hot, put in the cumin, fennel and sesame seeds.  As soon as the sesame seeds begin to pop, put in the onion.  Stir and fry 3-4min or until the onion has browned  bit.  Put in the cabbage.  Stir and fry for about 6 min or until the cabbage too has browned somewhat.  Now put in the salt and cayenne.  Turn down the heat to medium low and cook, stirring now and then for another 7-8min or until the onions appear caramelized and soft.  Add the lemon juice and garam masal. Stir to mix.

Serve over rice.

Caprese Salad (variation)

A cup or two diced tomatoes
Handful of minced basil leaves
2-3 cloves minced garlic
a half pound mozzarella cut into 1cm cubes
2-3 T Olive Oil
~1 T Balsamic Vinegar
Salt to taste

Mix it all up in a large bowl

Serve a dollop on bruschetta if you're feeling fancy.  Wasa crackers if you're feeling down homey.  Or just chow down with a spoon because you can't find any damn bread products.

Spaceships

So I don't have any good pictures this week.  But a satellite with a camera way above earth does.  Check out the New satellite photo of Blue Bell Farm on Google maps.  Yeah, ahem, I called in a few favors at NASA, said I wanted to see what my field looked like and they sent one right over.  Gee, thanks guys!

Satellite went over May 19th.  From left to right, the hoop house with it's sides rolled up is packed with veggies.  There's salad under the row cover right next to it.  The light strip down the middle of the field is straw covering the garlic which is just starting to pop up.  There are a few empty beds, and then it's a 2 beds of snap peas.  Then there is an empty bed, and then one of kale and broccoli under row cover.  At the edge of the field are the sage, thyme and oregano under row cover.  The chicken coops are arranged in a trio a the edge of the brushy area.  Looks like they got done eating all the grass at this point and were ready to be moved.



Whatcha Eatin?


Taco truck carnitas


After living in California for several years, I got hooked on simple, easy taco truck style tacos.  Carnitas!  Usually around $1 each, and topped up with all manner of veggies.  Preferably eaten on a dusty roadside in the blazing sun from a floppy paper plate.  Mariachi music optional.

Pile of corn tortillas
~1lb meat  (ground pork works especially well with this, but we also substitute fish, or a can of black beans)

Spices:
2 cloves garlic, minced
~1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
~1/2 teaspoon cumin
~1/4 teaspoon marjoram
~1/4 teaspoon coriander
~1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 dry chili pepper minced, or red pepper flakes

-Mix ground pork with all the spices.  Heat up a sturdy frying pan to an irresponsibly hot level.  Sear the ground pork until it gets just the slightest bit of char (go Malliard reactions!)
-Similar with fish, but be gentler, and ease up on the spices a bit.
-Can o' beans, heat in a pot with spices.

Top with:
White onion, minced
Cilantro, minced
Jalapeno, minced
Cabbage or lettuce, shredded
Fresh Lime juice squeezed over everything. (key ingredient!  sorry, can't grow em here. yet)
Bottom shelf Herdez salsa verde.

Sauerkraut

What?  Sauerkraut land is on the other side of the world from taco land?  How do you think the accordian got into mariachi music?

Anyway, if you find yourself with an excess of cabbage or hot dogs without toppings, here's a summary of how to make kraut.  Courtesty of Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz.  http://www.wildfermentation.com/


If you've never fermented anything, kraut is the gateway ferment.  Easy. Tasty.  Experiment with this and when/if the pickling cucumbers arrive you'll be ready for your own authentic fermented garlic dill pickles.


5lbs fresh cabbage
~3 Tablespoons salt
A few caraway seeds celery seeds, optional

Chop or grate cabbage, finely or coarsely, with or without hearts, however you like it.  Place cabbage in a large bowl as you chop it.  Sprinkle salt on the cabbage as you go.  The salt pulls water out of the cabbage, and makes the brine which the cabbage will ferment in without rotting.  The salt also keeps the cabbage crunchy by inhibiting organisms and enzymes that soften it.  Mix ingredients together (like a few caraway/celery seeds) and pack into a crock.  Pack just a bit into the crock and tamp it down hard using your fists or other sturdy kitchen implement.  This helps force water out of the cabbage.  Keep filling and tamping.  Cover kraut with a plate or some other lid that fists snugly inside the crock.  Place a clean weight (such as a glass jug filled with water) on the plate.  This weight is to force water out of the cabbage then keep the cabbage submerged under the brine.  Cover the whole thing with a cloth to keep dust and flies out.  Press down on the weight to add pressure to the cabbage and help force water out of it.  Press the weight down every few hours, or as often as you think of it until the brine rises above the plate.  This can take up to 24 hours.  If the brine does not raise above the plate in 24 hours, add salt water (1 Tablespoon to 1 Cup water) until the brine is above the plate.

Leave the crock to ferment on your counter at room temperature.  Check the kraut every day or two and press down the weight to remove air bubble that form during fermentation.  Make sure the kraut stays covered with brine.  Taste it every few days.  When you like the taste, put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation process.  (generally about a week or two)

Apply generously to hot dog or sausage.

Fermentation has some really cool science.  I heartily recommend getting Wild Fermentation if this sounds like a fun food project and you want to learn more.  

Oh, deer.

Hey it finally rained!  Excellent amount, not too heavy, no major washouts.  A day or two later you can really see the plants perk up.  The ram pump down in the creek was back in action and the reservoir tanks are now full.  Relief!  Running a farm with just a cistern really makes me conscious of my water usage around the farm and at home.  Watching the tap run at home, now I think "hey I could have watered 10 flats of seedlings with that water!"  or drank it... You don't miss your water till the well runs dry.  Sounds like blues song I think.

  

I had been blissfully free of herbivorous megafauna pests, until now.  The deer found my beans and a few weeks worth of head lettuce.  Blame the deer when we don't have head lettuce for a week or two.  They started in on the brussels sprouts too so I'm working on a fencing/row cover scheme to keep them out.  Or if anyone likes harvesting venison...

  

A different view from the bottom of the field.  I never seem to be at this end with my camera, unless I'm photographing deer damage.  From left to right: some weedy leeks a fine row of peppers, the pumpkin and melon vines, then the zuke, and cuke vines.  Earlier in the day I borrowed Green Spark's rototiller, so at least the paths look nice and weed free.

I stopped to admire the tendrils on a cucumber.

And the sunset!

Whatcha Eatin?

Pesto

Yeah, I know we did pesto with parsley, and garlic scapes, but pestro is really versatile stuff!  And you can freeze it in freezer jars for the long dark winter.  Also try freezing it in ice cube trays, then once frozen, pop the cubes out into a plastic bag.  Easy to thaw out just one cube, or 20 for dinner. 

Courtesy of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

1-2 garlic cloves
salt
3T pine nuts (we use walnuts b/c they are cheaper and easier to find)
3C loosely packed basil leaves, stems removed, washed, dried.
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan
2-3 T pecorino romano to taste (we never have this on hand)
2T soft butter (optional)
1/2C extra virgin olive oil.

by hand: smash the garlic with 1/2 tsp salt and the pine nuts to break them up, then add the basil leaves a handful at a time.  If you're impatient you can speed things up by tearing the leaves into smaller pieces first.  Grind them using a circular motion, until you have a fairly fine paste with very small flecks of leaves.  Briefly work in the cheese and butter, then stir in the olive oil.  Taste for salt.

in a food processor: use the same ingredients but in the following order: Process the garlic, slt and pine nuts until fairly finely chopped, then add the basil and olive oil.  When smooth add the cheeses and butter and process just to combine.

Pesto Pizza!  Cracker dip!  Pasta sauce!  If you CSA folks want a huge amount of basil just let me know.  For reference those were 0.18lb - 0.20lb bags in this past week's box.

Cucumber Salad 

see last week.  yep, still eating that.

Zucchini
This is mostly getting sliced up on salads.  But also in some stir frys.
I have been hoping to make a marinade with lots of herbs, slice the zuke the long way and grill them, but have not had access to a grill recently.

If you're feeling adventurous, check out these 75 zucchini recipes on Martha Stewart.
She recommends refrigerating zukes in a plastic bag.  I agree, but only if the fridge is not super cold!

Rain please

Remember this spring when it was raining all the time?  We could use some of that now.  The fields are downright dusty!  Fortunately, this seems to be good tomato growing weather.  Much less danger of getting those nasty late blight conditions like a few years back.  The zucchini are cranking away nicely, and it seems like every time I turn around there is another one lurking under the leaves.  Cucumbers and green beans were a pleasant surprise too.  I went to survey the field and voila!  Ready to harvest almost overnight.  The chickens seem to spend most of the mid day lazing about in the shade of the coop, and giving themselves dust baths.

  Early morning and evening they are out and about hunting for bugs in the new area of the pasture.  The paths they make through tall grass are amazing.  Not quite sure how they navigate back to the coops through the maze.

We pulled a bunch of garlic which is now drying in the hoop house.  Some will be saved for seed garlic this fall and the rest will be for eating!

Tomatoes are climbing high in the hoop house.  Never mind that one on the ground... (it actually just got trellised this evening.)

These are storage onions for the fall.  They're getting nice and fat.

Melons!  

Almost have some Jalapenos.

Here is the latest progress on the veggie cooler.  Super Rob made it possible to get those big beams on top without any scary maneuvers.  The front porch on this thing is going to be sweet.  And the veggies inside will be even sweeter.

Whatcha Eatin?

Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, thinly sliced (Peel if skin is tough, or not if it is tender.  If you can't decide, make race tracks with the peeler and effectively peel %50 of the cuke)

Toss cucumber with
1-2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
2-3 teaspoons finely minced dill (maybe more!)
2-4 Tablespoons minced onion or scallions
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
Sprinkle with garlic salt to taste.

Chill in fridge for 20 min or so.  But beware! It might get eaten...