Sundog CSA July 7, 2020

Sitting in here on Sunday afternoon, still smelling the unexpected blends of heat and rain coming in thru the window – very unexpected and very welcomed here on the hill. I was out in the garden making moats around my surviving squash plants and committing “bugicide” on every squash bug/beetle that I could find before mixing up some fertilizer and giving everyone a drink when the first drops started falling. I didn’t bother going in at first as thought that it was just a cloud teasing since for the past few days we have heard of other people getting rain in fairly large amounts while our gauge collected dust. Mud puddles were forming as I looked out the screen door of the milk house where Katy and I had taken shelter and her reading on the rain gauge said .58. Of course we wish it were more as the ground is very dry but that is so beneficial for the earth – much more than we could have done with a hose today! I checked to find out what average monthly rainfall for the month of June is in our county and according to K-State it should be somewhere around 5 ½ inches. This June we received 2.11 and when you factor in the hilltop location with its ratio of rock to dirt, it makes sense that our gardens are struggling!

Our pigs are gone and we are hoping that they return this evening for supper. We let them out because they do better out in the open but it is always a little risky at first as they learn the new boundaries. They met the cows and tried hanging out with the goats – rejection from both species! We also moved our 6 month old calves to another pen in the hopes that this rain would rejuvenate their pasture and we could take them back in a couple of weeks. It is always interesting to let animals out and hope that you can get them back in. The calves did really well moving and we are hopeful that they return just as easily. Horseflies and heat are the challenges for the milk cows and for us as we sit down on the stools to fill pails. Horseflies do not seem to have a preference as to whom they bite in the barn and I can see why cows kick at the initial injection as it definitely gets my attention! Guineas are on the black list this week for pecking holes in the tomatoes so yesterday we hung deer netting and found a screen door to block the openings at the tunnel and today we started putting up posts and netting around the outside tomato patch. That leaves the top high tunnel open and although we haven’t seen evidence that they have been in there yet, it is an option that they will likely follow through on. One thing we have found in the top high tunnel is tomato hornworms and they are on the menu for the chickens these days as we pluck them off whenever we can spot them.

Our “bee experts”, Judy and Gary came up to visit and even more important do some honeybee work with Izzy on her hive while Katy and I watched. It must have been a perfect day to work with these fast flying insects as they seemed fairly calm, even when being evicted without notice. We are eating the results of their work and enjoying every sticky minute!

Three days off from work was great and even better was having Zach and Jen at the farm for a long evening. We spent a little time cooking, a little time sweating and doing chores and a lot of time visiting. Zach has taken up bread baking and his skills are showing in the beautiful loaves that he made this weekend!

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Potatoes
• Tomatoes – these are the first of the ripening ones other than those the guineas sampled!
• Swiss Chard
• Onions
• Roots Bundle
• Sweet Pepper – first of the Whitneys, creamy color mix of white and yellow and deliciousness
• Basil

TOMATO INFORMATION: You might have to “counter ripen” some of these first ones – the cherry tomatoes seem to be fully ripe tho. We recommend that you cut the cherries in tiny wedges, invite each of your family members to the table or porch swing or wherever you do your celebrations in the summer. Take your best china to put this feast on as each of you sits and shares. It is one of the tomato traditions that I think makes the harvest that much sweeter!

Roasted New Potatoes

from Simply Recipes ~ https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_new_potatoes/

I have fallen in love a few times in my life, a few times with people and more times with cows and once, a long time ago, with a goat! 😊 My latest love story started on February 1st of this year when Tubiggs gave birth to one of the most beautiful heifers that I have ever seen – a blue roan. She is healthy and growing, stretching out the colors on her hide into soft patterns that change each day, but for all of these days she has not had a name. I just couldn’t think of a name that fit her until this weekend. I was working in the garden and looking at her and her pen mate (also nameless) as I moved dirt and weeds and I knew her name – just like that. She was Glory B or Glory Blue whichever you felt like yelling when you want her to come to the barn. And just like when you are giving a name, it takes a while to accept that name so Glory doesn’t come immediately when the timber echoes with the sounds of Glory coming from the humans who live here but she does prick her ears up so we think that she is ok with the choice. Hope so cause most important, Izzy approves!

Blessings and health to you from the farm – Seth, Izzy, Katy, Dan, Teresa, Zach, Jen

Close-up of one of “our” tomato hornworms!

as we harvest chard, we toss the goats samples and they are very appreciative. Katy’s buck, Galvy, is a strong believer in eating your greens! 😊

Meet Glory Blue