Sundog CSA August 9, 2021

The rain gauge held .44 and one dead fly this morning. We were so ready for some moisture and so was the garden. The smell of rain after a hot, dry spell is hard to put into words – I just know that you want to breathe it in so deep that it cleans out the dust from your lungs. I feel lucky that I can smell on most days! 😊

Saturday was bean picking day – dry tough beans that you will find in three different sacks in your bags this week. All are green beans and yet they were different in texture as we picked them. The magic though is not in what they look like in the bags because the appearance of two of the varieties is not something you would choose if offered choices. The other variety is much better looking, snaps and is a good bean. The three varieties that we planted were Romano (flat pot), Tendergreen Improved and Blue Lake Bush 274. Those rubbery. dry beans (Romano and Tendergreen Improved) taste amazing when you cook them! We have experimented with all three varieties this week and used a recipe that may not appeal to everyone but I will stick it in just in case you would like to try it. The beans are simmered in chicken stock and seasoned with either bacon ends, smoked ham hocks or smoked sausage and added to the entire pot are things like onions, garlic and cayenne. A person could add some small jacketed potatoes to make an entire meal in one part with the addition of a salad.

Other garden chores have been weeding only now we are laying the weeds down to try and cool the earth as we move along the rows. Katy and I are both gardening barefoot these days and the dirt is “hot” as you dig your toes in and balance along side bean rows and tomato cages. Shading the earth brings down the temperatures a few degrees and saves moisture. Pests continue to be squash bugs on the cucumbers and zucchini and the pesky army worms. Our weapons are the black lights and squashing. True bugs are beginning to make a dent on the tomatoes also. In order to cut down on these populations next spring, we will have to remove all the mulch and weed piles. Bugs tend to make themselves at home and probably spend their winters plotting and planning for spring, just like I do. We just have different goals! 😊

Baby chicks are growing and showing the world their feathers as they come in, sticking out awkwardly like a new haircut. We have been moving poultry from house to house as we try and find safe housing for each of the little flocks. As soon as the gardens begin to empty out of all the bright colored vegetables that invite chickens to peck holes, we will let everyone out again. We look forward to garden season but our poultry flock does not! They do enjoy eating our turnip patch and scratching around in other ground covers that we have planted as the freezes empty out the plots.

The cicadas sing us to sleep in the evenings these days. They are one of the sounds that make up warm summer evenings along with croaking / singing frogs from the nearby pond and the coyotes learning to “yip”. Izzy was able to film a cicada as he left his shell behind.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Tomatoes - all kinds and colors – cherry, paste and large slicers
• Cucumbers
• Squash and Zucchini
• Chard
• Basil
• Peppers - sweet
• Eggplant
• Beans - 3 kinds - try our recipe!

We found this recipe on “divascancook.com” - SOUTHERN GREEN BEANS

Ingredients:

1 pound of fresh, green beans (we used each one of the varieties to make sure that these drought impacted beans would taste good)

½ cup of finely chopped white onion 1 garlic clove ½ cup or more chopped smoked sausage or smoked bacon

1-2 cups of chicken broth 1 tablespoon butter 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Seasoning salt and black pepper to taste

Wash the green beans. Snap off the ends of the green beans (we cut the Roma beans) and cut or snap them into pieces. Set aside. Finely dice the onion, garlic and smoked sausage. Set aside. In a saucepan or pot, melt butter. Add in onion, garlic, smoked sausage and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add in red pepper flakes. Add in green beans. Cover and simmer for 1 – 1 ½ hours. Check the green beans every 5 minutes after the one-hour mark. You don’t want to overcook them or they will be mushy. Season with seasoning salt and black pepper. Serve and enjoy.

RECIPE SHARE – thank you Lauri!

SWISS CHARD RICE PILAF – Lauri wrote that this was her “favorite Swiss chard recipe yet”.

http://www.landsandflavors.com/swiss-chard-rice-pilaf/

ZUCCHINI AND TOMATO SAUTE - Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams

The original recipe uses bacon in this hearty vegetable dish, but if you prefer. Substitute olive oil and then it becomes a sort of ratatouille. Either way, you use up a lot of zucchinis in a very fine fashion.

5 slices bacon, chopped, or 3 tablespoons olive oil Pinch of sugar

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped salt and black pepper

1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped

Sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until it is half-cooked or substitute olive oil and heat. Then add the onion and zucchini and cook together, covered, until the zucchini is done, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato along with remaining ingredients; toss just to mix. Cover and allow the mixture to stand for 2 minutes. You don’t want the tomato to cook; it should just be heated through. Serve immediately.

ITALIAN BREAD SALAD – One United Harvest – Jeane Duffer, Barklee Farm, Sagle, Idaho

This is an easy evening meal on a hot dry day!

2 cups sliced fresh vine-ripe tomatoes ¼ cup sliced fresh basil leaves

2 cups garlic croutons balsamic vinegar

1 cup sliced fresh whole-milk mozzarella cheese olive oil

Fresh minced garlic fresh ground pepper

Toss tomatoes, croutons, cheese and basil leaves in a bowl. Sprinkle with vinegar, oil, garlic and pepper. For a more elegant presentation, leave basil leaves whole and arrange tomatoes and cheese individually over croutons on salad plate. Sprinkle with garlic and drizzle with oil and vinegar. Serves 2 as a light supper or more as a side dish.

I was thinking about the pictures that words make in your mind when you hear them such as Seth told me this evening that he was working at his construction job site which is actually my tomato patch. My tomato patch is not what comes to mind when you hear about someone working construction? And then I apply it to my life as I walk to my “milk barn” which is really a chicken house! 😊 We brought it home in pieces one summer and my dad put it back together like a large puzzle only made it taller. My kids grew up going to the “milk barn” just like Seth is growing up going to the “construction site”. So maybe tomorrow instead of “going to work” , I could say that I was going out for the day and it would feel more like a vacation?

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

Birth of a cicada!

Georgia before coffee…

Blacklighting in the tunnel!