Sundog CSA August 11, 2020

Another weekend of raindrops amounted to .47 total in the gauge from the two wet mornings – grateful land and inhabitants and although we wish that rain could come down in a way that would water some plants and skip others (mainly weeds), we are content having mud puddles and tall rubber boots. It is a strange weather pattern this month where the normal temperatures range from sweating to melting and although we have had a few of those days, we have also had some days that were plucked right out of the month of September.

The plants have responded to the welcome moisture and although the cool temperatures are not what the tomatoes, peppers and okra thrive in, it hasn’t been so chilly that they fold up. Challenges this week were mostly worms – all colors, shapes and sizes of these pesky critters are chewing on foliage and fruit. Even though we picked the chard down to the ground, the new growth has been chewed on almost as ferociously as what we sent to the goat pen. There are bundles of the hole-punched greens in the bags this week along with the beet tops. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we have green beans for the bag next week as the plants are finally looking healthy and starting to set on blooms. The long beans continue to produce and we hope that everyone is able to find favorite recipes for them. Cucumbers are finally producing in the bottom tunnel so they are in the bag this week also.

One night this week was spent cutting Jimson weeds and Buffalo burs out of the calf pens and burning the stickers along with some broken tree limbs. People and calves are able to move about much easier if you are not high jumping stickers and occasionally missing! Skinning tomatoes and canning them has been another project that we are working on in our spare time. Any tomatoes with soft spots or worm visits go into the canner crate to become part of our winter menus. Washing jars and counting pressure regulator “jiggles” has become part of our evening routine with Katy being the main processor of fruits. Katy and I have also been working on our pig feeding arrangement as in their excitement to get their feed one morning this weekend, I found myself underneath of several hundred pounds of hungry swine and not sure that I was going to get out easily. Katy came to my rescue and we finished filling pans with milk soaked grains. The pigs love their soaked grains and we love feeding them but we are going to change it up a little because telling them to take it easy and slowdown is just not working! J And more soap was poured into the molds this weekend as Katy and I continue our experimenting. It is interesting to realize that I have made soap for over 40 years and I learn something new with each batch we put together.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Tomatoes – cherry, salad, grape and large slicers! 😊
• Potatoes
• Beets
• Sweet Peppers
• HOT Peppers (labeled in the bags!)
• Cucumbers
• Swiss Chard or Eggplant
• Long Beans or Okra
• And Basil

RECIPE SHARE - -THANK YOU LAURI!

I got this recipe from Lauri this weekend and it triggered a memory. A longtime friend who is now living down south would come to the farm now and then and of all the crops that we were willing to share, it was chard and most specifically the variety with the wide thick stems that she would pick. And she creamed it and raved over it! So this was welcome - We will try it and think of Dalayna when we eat it!! Thanks for the recipe and the memory!

CREAMED SWISS CHARD

FROM LAURI —-Since the newsletter is promising chard, here is a delicious way to prepare it.

I sautéed the chopped stems and a chopped onion in butter. Then I added flour, stirred, then milk and seasonings, let this simmer until thick and then put the sliced leaves in to soften. Yummy!

Using the stems of the beets or the chard is a good idea if you can – How to Boil Beet Stems for Stir-Fry

https://www.emmafrisch.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-csa-beets.html

The days are filled with chores and a job and responsibilities and sometimes all those things add up to more than the hours that the sun lights up the sky over the hill and I find myself walking in from chores in the near dark. Those are the days when you forget that you can ride a bike or walk on stilts – you forget that you did not have to abandon those pleasures just because you have grown past your 20s or maybe even past your 50s? So every now and then, I hop on Izzy’s bike and take it for a spin around her trail that she has worn into the yard. It is not a bike like the old days type – this machine goes faster than my old truck at times and there is a dizzying sense that I am not going to be able to think to clutch the handlebar brakes instead of spinning my feet backwards and will land in a heap somewhere but so far I have remained upright on the two wheels. The stilts are another story as they require a very good connection between my brain and my feet – but I have managed to take steps and I count that as huge progress and it was delightful. I recommend these things to everyone as a remedy for days of routine - I have not joined the pig riders club(currently only two active riders, Seth and Izzy) but it is not “off the table” yet!!

Blessings of health and well-being from the farm – Seth, Dan, Izzy, Katy, Teresa, Jen and Zach

Kansas Buffalo Bur - not sure where they got the name from since they are more “sticker like” than “burr like”?

Jimson weed – pretty flowers – nasty weed!

A lot of pork to be sitting underneath!