Sundog CSA June 27th, 2022

FIRST THINGS FIRST: NO BAG NEXT WEEK since the 4th of July is on Monday we will be skipping and be back with a bag for you on the 11th of July! Have a wonderful 4th!

Another week and more than another inch of rain on the hill. We drive over the Dragoon Creek (crick to the people living on the road) on the way to and from work and have seen a lot of people trying their luck at fishing off the bridge. The water is high, brown with collected mud and moving at a slower pace this week - no foam bubbles brushing the sides of the bank where the water has rushed or been pushed on its path to bigger pools. Fishing was a good option this week as the low hanging clouds dumped water for three days in a row.

The temperature is going to slide up and down the scale this week according to the forecast and is starting today at the low end with the numbers registering in the 70s. No complaints about heat until the middle of the week when it hits the 90s with rain clouds showing on the last days of the week. Even out here in the country, you can hear the sounds of laboring lawnmowers as this is definitely grass growing weather. The local hay supply should be good if farmers can get it cut and baled between rains.

Our pigs are all the same color although they did not start out that way. Red, black and in between are now the color of earth as they have been spending their days in every depression that is filled with water and working with their potter’s skills on smoothing out any wrinkles in the earth that might be uncomfortable for their little piggy hides. Today was wonderful for the cows as the cooler weather slowed down the flies and they were relaxed, sitting out in the grass and chewing and daydreaming. We were pulling weeds this afternoon and had some new crew members join us in the garden. My sister, Brenda, sent over a beautiful big rooster named Muffin. Muffin has made a big impression on one of the red hens and she has become his “groupie”. So today, they followed us around in the garden and as we pulled weeds, they scrambled in underneath bean and beet leaves to find any startled bugs or uncovered worms. The chicken crew is good for Hank as he has been going to “chicken training school” daily since Monday when he held a chicken in his paws and was licking her and thinking about eating her. Izzy is taking him into the chicken pen, feeding the chickens treats close to Hank who has to sit and let these almost irresistible new toys walk within inches of his nose. Giving up cat chasing is the next class he is going to be taking. 😊 Hopefully he manages to “pass” both classes and is not held back for a retake!

Monday evening brought a new addition to the hill. Judy and Tina brought over a new goat to join the herd. Things started off a little rocky as we had forgotten to turn on the electric fence and so Cassie (new goat) was soon walking down the driveway and heading back home! Tina, her owner, managed to talk her into giving us a try and so this week has been spent with us trying to convince Cassie that we are one of those amazing goat homes that she has heard about, so she isn’t so homesick for Tina! 😊

Squash plants have been dying before we can harvest - very discouraging so we are changing location and sticking some other kind of seeds in the squash bed in the hopes that it sends a strong signal to whoever or whatever to move out!

Finding toads and rehoming them, mowing grass, pulling weeds, baking bread, doing laundry, watching the night time skies so full of lightning bugs that our eyes can’t keep up with the blinking on and off, sweating a lot, getting steely eyed about who owns the last non-leaking pair of boots (ME), tilling dirt, slogging in mud – and here it is the end of another week!

It is a challenge to try and grow with whatever the weather and the season hands us. Each year though our resolve grows stronger to continue as we read about the ineffectiveness of herbicides and insecticides in the long run and the possibilities of long-term impact on the earth. There are still those days when we watch the squash die and the carrots struggle with invaders that you wish you had some kind of remedy – back to Neem oil and soap!

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

• Carrots – we had them for supper tonight and they are so good!
• Beets
• Kohlrabi
• Onions
• Kale
• Cabbage
• And something else! 😊

RECIPE SHARE: Thank you Connie!

This week Connie sent us a note about the peas and shared how she had been fixing them and it sounded so good and so simple that we tried it and then we had it again two nights later and then again with our last few peas! It was super delicious!

Tonight, we added carrots to the mix since we had a bunch of rejects due to some worm pressure. That was also a good mix as the carrots were almost as sweet as the peas.

PEA PASTA - - I just took angel hair pasta, butter, cream, chives, basil. I added the peas and topped with Parmesan cheese.

From the Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballentyne

I like to gather a handful of beet greens and marble sized beets and sauté them in butter with a few scallions. If there are peas ready, I’ll throw those in the pan, along with some sliced radishes. The secret is to cook these very tender young vegetables ever so quickly.

HUGE Beets: Don’t throw out woody, overgrown beets. They are excellent grated or pureed. Grated beets can be sauteed in a little butter until well coated. Then add a little water, cover the pot, and cook the beets for 4-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. They will be tender crisp and simply delicious. Overgrown beets can be pureed for use in soups and dips. To make a puree, cook the beets until tender. Peel and chop. Process in a food processor or blender with ¼ cup water for each pound of beets until the puree is smooth. You can freeze the puree or use it in your favorite recipe.

RULE: Beets should be cooked before they are peeled to retain color and flavor. Wash and scrub well, leaving one inch of stem when you trim the leaves and do not trim off the tap root.

Grated raw beets are absolutely wonderful added to green salads. I use even large overgrown woody beets for this salad garnish. The woodiness is undetectable. I prefer to use young beets, however. If the leaves are in good shape, I will trim the stems and add the chopped greens to the salad too. The greens are just a little tough so I chop them in small pieces. I add grated beets to salads at the last possible moment so they don’t stain the greens.

BEET SALAD: A particularly tasty salad is made by combining grated raw beets, grated carrots, nuts, grapes, and a vinaigrette dressing.

Farm Fresh Recipes by Janet Majure

Candied Carrots

2 Tbsp butter, diced

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Peel carrots and cut into 2 inch pieces. Drop into a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Drain. Return carrots in pan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Stir. Cover and cook 3-5 minutes, until sugar is bubbly. This recipe can accommodate up to one pound of carrots.

Meet Cassie!

Hank is taking swimming lessons along with his other summer school classes.

This guy is not in the Kansas bird identification book!

Believe it or not, this is one of the good guys! A wheelie bug.

Rototilling has taken on a whole new role in my life. I didn’t used to think much about starting up the tiller and heading out to the garden - at least I did not until this spring when I lost a gear and am basically back to running one of those old front tine tillers. Monday, I headed the tiller down the hill to the bottom tunnel to till in the tunnel. Because of the gear problem, I left the tiller in free wheel and forgot that downhill without it being in gear is a marathon so there I am running after a tiller that has gotten its second wind while I have definitely lost mine, trying to hang on and never mind the fact that I am bouncing over tree roots and then finally busting through the electric fence wire before we level out and I am able to catch the tiller and my breath. I look back at the wire, lying twisted and broken on the ground and somehow, I feel that someone should have been there as I busted through that electric fence and handed me some kind of ribbon? Or a medal? Or on a practical note, maybe I should feel like a winner because the fence was not plugged in! 😊

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