Sundog CSA June 28, 2021

Raining on the roof as I write this on Sunday afternoon! The clouds finally loosened their grip on the moisture that they held starting on Thursday evening when they stingily let .03 drops of rain fall on our hill, followed by another .17 on Friday during the day. Then the gauge started filling up as Friday evening’s soft soaking raindrops totaled .69 and Saturday afternoon’s roof drumming added another .49! The Saturday moisture was one of those downpour types and not nearly as beneficial as the Friday evening steady and slow cloud release. We needed the rain here on the hill and appreciate the temperature cool down that has come with the moisture.

NEW residents on the hill this week, courtesy of Judy and Gary are 12 baby pullets of various colors. They arrived here on Friday evening and spent the first night in the house and then moved out to the “chick mobile” on Saturday. They joined a few other residents - a couple of Silkie hens who have hatched out babies and one Silkie hen who is sitting on a nest of eggs. So, it was kind of “musical chickens” Saturday evening with everybody landing in a different space, at least for a few days. I am not sure where everyone will move if Izzy’s duck, Buckbeak” hatches out the turkey eggs that she is currently sitting on? Buckbeak is determined to sit on eggs and her duck eggs were infertile so we had Izzy switch them out at dark one evening. Izzy came back successful with the “beak bites” on her hands to show how Buckbeak felt about the switch!

Gardening chores this week were pulling of dead pea vines (the heat baked them), tilling and planting beet and okra seeds. The deer continue to be a nuisance when it comes to snacking on crops and have managed to keep our beet rows at a height of about 2-3 inches. Weeding the rows seems to be like sending out an invite to “open snack” night. We are trying again in another part of the garden closer to the barn and hoping for better results. We also spent several hours in the tunnels pulling grass and weeds and then delivering it to the pig pen where it was much appreciated! The cows ate the pea vines as their afternoon treat, with a little help from the goats. We replaced transplants that have not made it through the heat on Wednesday evening as the rain chances looked good for the rest of the week. Hoping that the forecast is fairly accurate because it would give them a head start on establishing a toehold in our rock and clay soils. Predictions are for light rain and cooler temperatures for the coming week. The first tomatoes came to the table on Saturday evening and we all got to eat one cherry tomato! 😊 By the end of July, we will be eating as many as we can hold and that will be wonderful but I am not sure if any of them will equal that first tiny little tomato, sitting in your mouth and then kind of exploding with the taste of summer. Of course, they were Sungolds! 😊

With the rains, the seeds that have been sitting have pushed through quickly - squash, cucumbers, okra (first plantings) and some second plantings of beans. We are hopeful for green beans as the plants are holding those first tiny little beginnings of beans – maybe just waiting for the rains to lengthen them. We were worried as some of the bean leaves were showing signs of drought stress, turning brown at the edges. It seems like that has happened to us the last few years – beans blooming and then dying before they produce anything. June has become one of the hardest months to grow in with the higher temperatures and lower rainfall amounts – both impacting the plants that are typically in growing stages where the heat and drought affect their ability to produce or even survive.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Asparagus
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Swiss Chard
• Kale
• Cabbage
• Wild Bergamot/Bee Balm
• Carrots - -Uzbek Golden and Kuroda Orange from Baker Creek

INFORMATION on NAPA type cabbage –

Napa cabbage is high in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B, folic acid, Copper, Iron, Calcium, Manganese, potassium, phosphorus and is antioxidant rich. And it is a high dietary fiber food, both soluble and insoluble! 😊 There are a couple of easy ways to use this nutritious vegetables - slice it thinly and eat it raw in salads/slaw or use it in stir fry recipes along with other vegetables for a fresh, crunchy all in one meal.

The New Enchanted Broccoli Forrest by Mollie Katzen has a recipe for “A Dinner of Sauteed Vegetables” and several of the offerings in this week’s bag are options. One of the keys to success with stir fry recipes is to have everything ready to drop in the wok and to have ingredients grouped as to their cooking times.

So here are Mollie’s instructions - -heat up the wok alone first – for up to a minute. Then add a little oil (canola or peanut), and if you are using onions, add then now, and sauté them alone first. Then add whatever “group 1” vegetables you are using and sauté them until partially done. Next, add “group 2” items and cook until everything is almost done. Selections from “group 3” come in at the very end, as these vegetables cook practically on contact with the other ingredients.

Potatoes, sliced thin mushrooms spinach

Celery peppers chard

Carrots zucchini escarole

Broccoli summer squash scallions

Cauliflower asparagus (if thin) bean sprouts

Cabbage

Eggplant

Winter squash

Asparagus (if thick)

GROUP 1 – Plan on having ¾ lb. raw vegetables per serving.

You DON’T have to use all these vegetables. You can use some or even just one. It is easier and a good way to practice if you are new at this.

REMEMBER: The more thinly a vegetable is sliced, the more quickly it cooks.

Basic Goal: To cook the vegetables quickly (over high heat, stirring almost constantly) so that each vegetable is done to its individual perfection. GOOD THINGS TO DO: Hover over the wok as you sauté. Stir Very Much! Have everything all ready before hand and within arm’s reach of the stove. Keep the heat high and keep the vegetables moving in the wok. Work quickly.

Try one of several of these in your sauté. Have all extras prepared before hand and add them during the last few minutes of the cooking.

EXTRAS

Chopped, toasted Nuts

Pieces of tofu

Sliced water chestnuts

Cooked noodles (rinsed and drizzled with sesame oil)

Sesame seeds

Soaked sliced black mushrooms

Some recommended seasonings: wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, grated ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, Chinese sesame oil, or a combination such as

Hal’s Special Sauce - -10 minutes to prepare - Enough for 3-4 servings

½ cup orange juice - OPTIONAL: pineapple juice instead of orange juice

¼ cup soy sauce

1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 Tbs honey

2 tsp. Chinese sesame oil

2 Tbs. cornstarch

Combine the first 6 ingredients. Place the cornstarch in a bowl, whisk the liquid mixture into it. Set aside, but keep the whisk handy as you will need to whisk the sauce again just before you pour it into the sauté. ADD this sauce (don’t forget to whisk it from the bottom just before, to redistribute the settled cornstarch) to the wokful of vegetables about 2/3 of the way through the cooking. Once it is in the wok, stir the sauté from the bottom constantly, so the sauce gets to coat all the vegetables evenly, and so it won’t stick to the bottom.

Bee Balm Tea

The individual petals of bee balm flowers pull out easily and can be dried to make a beautiful bright red tea. In season, the petals can also be used fresh.

Bee balm tea is a digestive aid that helps relieve nausea, upset stomach and gas.

Like most herbal teas, it takes a bit longer to steep than a standard black tea, around 15 minutes. Try 1 tablespoon of dried flower petals or 2 tablespoons of fresh petals to every cup of water. The water should be just below the boiling point because herbal flowers are a bit more delicate than teas made with roots or stems.

Bee Balm Salad Toppers

To add color, nutrition and flavor to summer salads, try adding a few bee balm petals.

Finishing up chores a little before ten tonight and finally walking to the house. The day was filled with all kinds of weed pulling, potato digging, carrot hunting and onion skinning and we smell like earth and onions in the still air of summer. Lightning bugs who don’t really seem to care what we smell like almost surround us as we walk through the back yard and out of nowhere I hear another sound of summer - an evening owl. One of the pleasures of summer is “talking” with owls – hooting back and forth with them as though we know what we are agreeing to or what gossip we are passing on. Pure pleasure to hear their clear tones – at least on my end of the conversation. I wonder what they think as they hear my amateur “hoots”?

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