Sundog CSA July 21, 2020

It is thundering, rich and echoing sounds to the south that just keeps rolling. We are hoping rain is heading our way on this Monday evening. It is dark enough that we can see streaks of lightning open up the blackness for split seconds and then before my eyes can adjust, it is dark again. This morning the hill was showered with .65 - a part of an inch that soaked in easily. Our friend, Judy, to the south reported that her land had two inches of water so far. We are hoping for at least that much slow easy rainfall as our gardens are to the point of being desperate.

The forecast on Sunday evening seemed to be one of the more promising and we spent time hoeing in cover crops on our potato patch which was tilled to the best of the tiller’s and our ability. The clods were solid and immovable and we found ourselves fighting to keep the machine upright. We did a good job harvesting spuds as the “calls to rescue” tilled up potatoes were few and far between. Seth and Katy broadcast turnip and field radish seeds while Izzy and I buried some legumes in rows. It seems to help the ground to be covered and in the fall when the gardens are done, the poultry are grateful for the crop as they run around the farm on “fall and winter” break. The rest of our garden time this week was putting in new rows of beans, squash and cucumbers as we have not been able to get a crop going with all the bugs and drought.

Another project this weekend was teaching our pigs to drink from a nipple waterer as we try and keep them supplied with cleaner water. That wasn’t really a hard job as they caught on quick however with the high heat indices; we wanted to make sure that they were getting a good supply so we spent a lot of time running back and forth to make sure they were drinking. In addition, we daily fill their “wallow”.

Soap-making took up some time also as that is another passion of mine that I am hoping to pass on to future generations. Katy and I worked on a few batches, adding lavender from the garden and mixing fats – just in general experimenting. We also did our weekly cow check and are concerned about what looks like a snake bite on one of the smaller cows so will have to keep an eye on that. Izzy hatched out 13 eggs in the incubator so we worked on making repairs to one of the smaller coops that my sister gifted us with in order to move feather critters around. The raccoons are challenging us as we try and keep poultry safe in their houses at night.

Izzy and Seth spent a little time working on their pig riding skills this weekend with Izzy getting the most mileage out of her “steed”. Seth prefers goats as they do not use a mud wallow! We may end up with a rodeo this fall!

As we filled the bag this week, we are hopeful that if the drought breaks, the quality of the produce will improve so keep your fingers crossed!

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Sweet Peppers –
• Amazing Cherry Tomatoes
• Slicing and Snacking Tomatoes – in other words a bag of different sizes and colors!
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Swiss Chard
• Basil – lots of varieties

RECIPE SHARE - thank you Lauri for the beautiful pictures and recipes

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/green-curry-with-brown-rice-noodles-and-swiss-chard

Lauri said, “ I used regular rice noodles and added some seared pork loin I had left over.”

Lauri also sent this picture and added comments — “ It was a long wait from Tuesday but I saved all the yummy cherry tomatoes and most of the fragrant basil for this delicious Caprese salad for lunch today. Served with black pepper crackers. “

Lauri didn’t send a specific recipe for this salad so when I looked it up, the ingredients list were tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. It looks super and it is definitely on our menu this week!

Rain is coming down fairly steady as I finish this newsletter and I am hoping that the gauge is filled in the morning when we go out to do the chores. And I am very grateful as Seth and I, in our desperate wish for moisture had made a plan on Friday night. We were sitting out on the old loading chute watching high fat clouds float slowly over and talking about how we needed rain. And we felt like the clouds passing us had rain that we were not sharing so our plan was to lure in a big bird with a call that Seth practiced ( I was dubious as I listened), rope him and hitch a ride up high enough to catch a cloud and squeeze the rain out of it. I am really glad that it is raining as there were several hitches that we were going to have to work out before we had water on the ground! 😊

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