Sundog CSA June 26th, 2023
Picking vegetables today was a pleasure after the temperatures and humidity of Saturday! Our feet were sitting in hot, dry dirt though and we wished for moisture for the crops, not only on our hill but for all the planters of seeds who squint into the sun, watching for rain clouds to appear. Gauge totals this week were .16 hundredths one evenings and another .07 Friday night. Winds and heat swallowed that easily this week and the forecast is saying that triple digits could be possible before we pass from the month of June into July. We spent part of Saturday in the pasture digging thistles and observed that the pond is lower than we like to see it going into the summer months (and we are officially in the summer season as of last Wednesday!).
Our goal this week is to try and figure out how to water the bean beds as the pickings this week showed that lack of moisture in texture. We tend to eat our way through harvest and found the flavors of the beans to be good although a little chewy raw. The chard stems were good in texture and flavor. Potato vines are dying back so we decided to dig a few and found the harvest to be a little less on the ones that we dug last year – hoping for better results as we head deeper into the patch. And we are hoping that we have enough ripe tomatoes to send them out next week. We see red here and there but oftentimes, the red ones are where uninvited guests have nibbled and the fruits turn red – maybe in protest! Squash is doing well so far even though we have seen all kinds of pests and this week we saw our first blister beetles. Eggplants are looking better this week after a flea beetle attack and the peppers are growing taller daily it seems.
Here on the hill, we are excited to be getting closer to a third boundary fence going in as we have a supplies list and flags flying to guide us as we head to the north line. We hope to start that project in the next few weeks. My brother-in-law, Chris, put in a beautiful west fence and it inspired us to believe that we might be able to do something similar on the east side. We are also working on making a sort of highway in the cow lot. Working on the driveway gave us the idea that we could raise the level of a path for the cows so even in the mud season, they (and us) would be able to go back and forth with dry legs and we would leave our mud boots that reach to the bottoms of your knee caps in the closet. It is just an idea but Dan has been hauling rocks to our proposed “highway” site for a base. The problem that we did not anticipate is that the pigs have been removing or moving the rocks and putting them in other parts of the lot as they find the softest and shadiest spots to hang out in the mornings. Compromise is not a word that pigs really understand?
YOUR BAG THIS WEEK – – grown in an organic manner 😊
- Beans – Green and Yellow
- Potatoes - the very first of the season
- Swiss Chard - remember to use the stems raw, in salads or stir fry!
- Summer Squash or Zucchini
RECIPES - the following recipes are from One United Harvest which is a recipe book from “America’s Community Supported Farms” collected by Julie Sochacki. The recipes are meant to be shared —-
The Best Green Bean Salad (compliments of member Laurel Graney) This recipe was shared by Elizabeth Keen of Indian Line Farm. RECIPE NOTE: Laurel has adorned our potluck table with this outstanding salad on several occasions. She always has a handful of the recipes printed out because folks want to know how to have a repeat performance! -Elizabeth
1 ½ lbs. fresh green beans 1 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 c. diced red onion 1 c. toasted walnut pieces
Snap beans unto pieces, boil for 4 minutes and plunge into cold water. Drain and set aside.
DRESSING:
¾ c. olive oil 1 tsp. salt
¼ c. white wine vinegar ½ tsp. diced fresh garlic
½ cup finely chopped packed basil freshly ground black pepper
Combine oil, vinegar, basil, salt, garlic and pepper. Shake and refrigerate. Keep all ingredients separate. Just prior to serving, toss beans, onions, cheese and walnuts with dressing.
Green Bean Tomato Curry
This recipe was shared by Tracie Smith of Tracie’s Farm CSA, New Hampshire.
1 T. olive or vegetable oil 3 c. chopped green beans
1 T. fresh minced ginger salt to taste
1 T. cumin seeds a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
¾ tsp. brown mustard seeds Thai basil or cilantro
2 chopped tomatoes 1 tsp. turmeric
Heat oil in a pot. Add fresh ginger, cumin seeds and brown mustard seeds and sauté over medium heat until the mustard seeds pop, but don’t burn. Add chopped tomatoes and sauté for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until they become mushy. Stir in turmeric, chopped green beans, salt to taste and cayenne if desired, and simmer until beans are tender, about 15 minutes. Adjust salt and add Thai basil and or cilantro. Serve over rice.
SWISS CHARD SALAD – this recipe is from the Joy of Gardening Cookbook. I have changed it a little bit due to the fact that we are not sending red and green chard in the bag this week. It is a great recipe if you have not tried using the stems.
4 cups sliced Swiss chard stems 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 tablespoon white rice vinegar ½ garlic clove, minced or more if desired
½ teaspoon sesame oil ½ tsp. tamari or soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil 1/8 tsp. minced fresh ginger root
¼ cup minced fresh parsley salt and pepper
Steam the stems until barely tender, 3-5 minutes. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking and drain. Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the stems and toss to coat. Serve at once.
And the last recipe is also from the Joy of Gardening Cookbook.
Joe Goodman’s SQUASH
2 T. butter 1 cup diced onion
1 ½ tsp. paprika 1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. poppy seeds 4 cups diced summer squash
½ tsp. salt 1/3 cup water
2 T. all -purpose unbleached flour ¾ cup sour cream
1 tsp. lemon juice
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter, and sauté the onion until limp, 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, sugar, and poppy seeds. Add the squash, salt and water. Cook uncovered until the water evaporates and the squash is softened, 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the squash and stir to mix. Add the sour cream and lemon juice. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes more, until the sauce thickens. Serve immediately.
If there could be a LEAST WANTED POSTER for bugs, here are a couple that would be on it . . . . .
Blister beetles love Swiss Chard and below is a bean beetle.
We think that this little guy is a treehopper in nymph stage – maybe even a Buffalo Treehopper? I am not sure what he is doing on a green bean? The treehoppers do very little damage overall so he is not a candidate for the “wanted” poster! 😊
The best laid plans are always those that fall apart it seems. Friday evening, we headed to the pasture with a cow and calf. Our plan was to unload our cow, do a cow count of those already in the pasture and head home to work in the garden on a night that was free from other tasks. The unloading went well and we headed to the other end of the pasture and called our cows down to do the count. They came and so did some visitors – a couple of great big white bulls standing with our group of black Angus. I called the neighbor to the south and yes, they did have two big white bulls and yes, maybe there were missing and yes, they would come over and check. In the meantime, the big white bulls started an argument with our much smaller bull and he jumped the fence to the north so I made another call to that pasture owner and before the evening was over and before and after everyone’s critters were back in their respective pastures, we all met on this nice summer’s evening and talked a lot about barb wire and roaming livestock and the weight of the wheat on one neighbor’s truck and the fact that the fence the two white bulls had just busted through was only a few months old, having been recently replaced and other important news. Home to chore in the dark and wonder who would and would not be in the pasture in the morning . . . . . . .
Blessings from the farm - Jen, Zach, Izzy, Seth, Dan, Katy and Teresa