Sundog CSA July 18th, 2022

Was it only a few weeks ago when it was raining every other day or more often? And now we are counting the drops and trying to figure out which crops are going to be able to survive the next week. Looking at the eight-day forecast has five days in the triple digits and that is hard on plants, animals and people. Friday morning, the gauge registered .11 and Sunday morning it was .04. There are a lot of tiny little soybeans out in the fields and some late planted corn that show signs of heat/drought stress as we drive down the roads.

This week we are hoping to spray the tunnels on the outside with diluted white paint which lowers the temperature several degrees. It is something that we have been doing for several years and seems to have little effect on the life of the 6ml plastic that covers our frames. We spent several hours putting up netting as our three resident guineas have been doing a lot of tomato taste testing for us even though that is not their job! 😊 And we sprayed a solution of baking soda and soap on our tomatoes to lower the pH and fight the early blight that has appeared in the bottom tunnel. It was one of the organic solutions that was on a university of Minnesota site and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it helps. It also said that it works as a preventative. Squash bugs have wiped out the second crop before it even flowered. I think that we will wait and plant with the hopes that they move on or die from the lack of cucurbits. It certainly won’t break our hearts to lose them as hill residents. Bean beetles and spotted cuke beetles are another source of frustration. Positive news is that the eggplant and okra appear to be growing and we have hopes of production picking up soon.

Mulching, watering, hoeing, rain dancing – those are all the things on our to-do list this week!

Exciting news on the hill is a BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT:

Nickel, our Jersey milk cow presented us with a new born boy on Sunday morning. Monica graciously came out of “retirement” from her A.I. services and bred Nickel late last fall and we have been waiting. She was due to calve on July 16th, Katy’s birthday so only missed her due date by hours.

Other excitement was spending time with Zach and Jen as we celebrated Katy’s birthday on Saturday. The weather cooperated and we spent the afternoon visiting in somewhat comfortable conditions as the sun was smothered with a cloud cover for most of the day. Ending up with chocolate cupcakes that resembled porcupines with candles stuck everywhere, Katy blew with Seth’s help and hopefully all her wishes will come true.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK -

• Potatoes
• Tomatoes – FINALLY! 😊 All kinds, colors and sizes this week
• Green Beans
• Carrots
• Basil and Italian Parsley
• Green Pepper
• And we will be adding an extra - not sure exactly what each bag will get – surprise! 😊

RECIPE SHARE - Lauri sent me this recipe and we are hoping that Kale is back in the bag again soon.

Here are her comments about the recipe and the way that she used it –

A family friendly way to use kale. I made it as written except I chopped the kale stems and sautéed them with the onions and I used the entire small can of tomato paste, just because I didn’t want to deal with the rest of the can.

Recipe by ROMEL BRUNO

Ingredients 3 tablespoons Olive Oil 1/2 white onion, diced 1 large bundle of kale, leaves only, coarsely chopped kosher salt 3 large garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons tomatoe paste 1lb loose Italian Sausage 1/4 teaspon red pepper flakes 6 cups chicken broth or water 1lb short pasta 2 cups/8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar 1 1/2 teaspons hot sauce

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat and then add the onion, kali and 1/2 teaspon of salt. Cook, stirring occaisonally until the kale has cooked down and the onion is smaller.
2. Add the garlic and tomatoe paste until the mixture darkens
3. Add the sausage, breaking apart into smaller pieces and cook until done
4. Add the red pepper flakes, chicken broth and pasta. Stir to mix everything together.Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and then reduce heat to low. Leave the lid on, but stir occaisonally until the paste is done, about ten minutes. The sauce should have thickened from the starch in the pasta.
5. Add the cheese and hot sauce, mix well.

From Farm Fresh Recipes by Janet Majure

Chinese Style Green Beans

1# fresh green beans 1 tsp. vegetable oil 1 tsp. peeled, minced ginger root

1 clove garlic, minced 2 Tbsp. water 1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. cornstarch ½ tsp. brown sugar ½ tsp. dark sesame oil

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper

Trim beans; place in vegetable steamer over boiling water; cover and steam 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water, drain. Treat large skillet with cooking spray. Add vegetable oil and place over medium high heat until hot. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add beans: stir 5 minutes until heated through. Whisk together water, soy sauce, cornstarch, brown sugar, sesame oil and red pepper. Add to beans. Cook 30 seconds, stirring until heated through.

An up-close wheelie bug looks prehistoric. I felt like he was sizing me up last night as I met up with him picking green beans.

No wonder okra flowers are enticing – the insides are magic.

Nickel showing off her baby calf.

Now you see them and now you don’t. This tiny little hen has a lot of hiding places!

This is one grumpy looking guy but who wouldn’t be when you are rudely awakened by excavating equipment on a weekend morning -

Hoping that you are all able to stay cool this coming week. Blessings from all of us at the farm -

Seth, Izzy, Dan, Katy, Zach, Jen and Teresa