Sundog Farms

Sundog CSA June 12th, 2023

The month of June has been bringing us small rain showers with cooler temperatures. Our gauge totals are low and yet the benefits of this moisture have been more than if we had a downpour that washed down the hill without that slow soak. The weeds have definitely responded combination of temperatures and cooler weather. I noticed today when I was pulling “pigweed” in order to find a growing row of okra, the root growth of the weeds has strengthened since last week. It takes some “pull power” to get them out and they wrench out of the ground with a sound. The sound registers with me and I feel no guilt as I toss the noisy plant over the fence to Sophie who munches with whole hearted, slobbering enthusiasm!

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Turnips in your bag this week are a little different than the usual varieties that we plant. We have planted a couple of these varieties in the past and had little or no germination and this year, germination was weak due to lack of moisture in April and May. The few that made roots are beautiful and we hope that they taste good! Izzy is ready to use Lauri’s Turnip Pickle recipe this week – one of her favorite summer treats. This is one of the crops that we will be trying as a late summer or fall planting. Here are the varieties and descriptions from Baker Creek seeds –

Nagasaki Akari Kabu A stunningly beautiful and delicious turnip traditionally grown in lovely Nagasaki, Japan. This sweet turnip has a plum to wine color skin with a hint of delicate purple in the sweet, crisp flesh. Great for pickling and a delicious raw turnip for fresh eating and salads. Ready 50 days from sowing. Incredibly good!

Tokinashi This 50-day white turnip is a traditional vegetable of Japan and listed among the illustrious group of Dento Yasai, or traditional cultural vegetables of Japan. Father of forest gardening, Masanobu Fukuoka, grew this variety as a wild under-story crop. With a reluctance to bolt or become pithy, this popular type has an incredible sweet taste and rich flavor. The roots are nice and smooth with crisp, white flesh of excellent quality. Can be planted in early spring or late summer, into fall, and enjoyed all year long! The crunchy, juicy roots are enjoyed fresh or pickled.

Hida Beni Red Supremely crisp, sweet and mild, the white and red, fine-grained flesh makes this a top fresh-eating salad turnip. These beautiful, large, red-skinned turnips are cultivated mainly in Takayama City, Japan. Its origin was from a former part of Takayama called Hachigago, where a local turnip of reddish-purple hue was widely grown. In 1918, this red-colored mutant was discovered from these Hachiga turnips and named Hida Beni Red Turnip. It is excellent for making pickles and matures in just 45-50 days.

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RECIPE SHARE - thank you Lauri!

This week’s bag has a chard bundle – one of the greens that will work well with this recipe.

image0232 Lauri said that she started with a recipe from twopeasandtheirpod.com for Green Chile Enchiladas. And then she got creative to make this recipe her own.

I changed all kinds of things .. red enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, the onions from the bag, and cream cheese instead of ricotta. They were so good! I just picked up feta cheese and phyllo dough so I can make spanakopita … and chard would be yummy in that!

Lauri

THIS WEEK’S BAG – growing in an organic manner 😊

  • Turnips
  • Cabbage
  • Lettuce - we have been making lettuce sandwiches – wrapping the washed leaves around strips of onions and calling that cooking!
  • Mixed Greens
  • Chard
  • Garlic Scapes
  • Chives - picked and bundled by Izzy
  • And the first pickings of Summer Squash!!!!! 😊

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The beautiful detail on the petals of the arugula flowers were worth stopping to admire as we picked greens Sunday evening. And the spicy flavors add to your salads & sandwiches.

A brand new hatch of wheelie bugs and a pollen loaded bumblebee inside this not quite opened hollyhock - image0235 image0236

I have a part time job a couple of nights a week and on those nights, after I get home from work, we hurry to the barn to milk early since I usually am not off until 9:00 or so. Katy is the chief goat milker and I am in charge of the “taller” milkers! 😊This past Tuesday, the temperatures and humidity combined to offer a perfect invitation to “biting flies” who came in flocks or at least it seemed like there were families and their friends as the cows and I both swung wildly at the sharp penetrations made by the little beasts. Katy was fanning their legs and I was trying to keep the bucket upright and extract milk at the same time while shooting arms and shaking legs. Sweating and frustrated, we gave up and I raced in to try and compose myself, wipe the sweat off and switch gears and forget that I still had to face the barn. Signing off around nine, I stepped out the back door and headed to the barn, resigned to another round of misery only to find that the flies had deserted, the cows were calm and milking was almost normal - I say almost because I found myself still doing a little bit of preventative swings now and then, just in case there was a leftover fly wanting to try out his new “needle”. The cows watched me warily as I filled the bucket and we all relaxed when the last squirts hit the pail. Chore time is rarely dull and when it is, we are grateful!

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