Sundog CSA July 31st, 2023

The first few days of August are forecasted to be cooler than the last few days of July and we are grateful for double digits rather than triple digits. Today (Sunday) was really hot as we picked vegetables and weeded a few rows here and there. Some of the tomatoes were wrinkled as though dropped in hot water and when we tried them, they tasted a little like they had been cooked which makes sense when the temperatures are topping 100 each day inside their plastic covered shelter. Outside, the beds are struggling with the lack of moisture and the winds which picked up this past week also. We moved fairly slow most of the day – with the exception of finding the hornet nest accidentally. Hank, Izzy and Seth’s dog, took the sting for the team as we hurriedly pushed and pulled our full garden cart up the hill, forgetting to take pictures of our “picking team” which was why they were posed in front of the hornet nest in the first place.

RAINFALL UPDATE: Saturday we had .15 in the gauge which was an unexpected bonus. The clouds piled up and thunder rumbled and we left where we were pulling weeds and watched as .13 came down. Headed back out to a clear sky only to leave 30 minutes later when another little cloud dumped .02 on us, so a total of .15 on Saturday. And tonight, when we were least expecting it, we had a thunderstorm. The sun lost the lead as clouds pushed in and took over the sky, turning everything a dark blue. Thunder increased in volume and was almost a continuous rumble and then the winds picked up and rain blew in sheets. Watching from the barn window, slightly wet from bringing up beets from the bottom tunnel, was the best part of today. The rain felt and smelled so good and our hopes are that everyone got wet tonight! Sophie took shelter under our giant elm as the rain gauge filled up to .55 😊

Garden work this week was mostly picking vegetables that were at risk of sunscald with the high heat but we have also been working on making rows to plant some fall roots. The old saying about turnips was “wet or dry, the 25th of July” and combining that with a favorable moon sign root day means Wednesday is a good turnip planting day. Even if all the signs are right, we are going to need some cloud cooperation!

The concord grapes that we planted a few years ago are heavy with green grapes and they had started to fall off with drought and heat. Hopefully this rain and the cooler temps will be enough to get them to purple. The goats don’t seem to care if they are green or purple, they gulp down either color when they have a chance. I will throw in a weird “goat fact” here - goats love tomatoes! So, our goat milk customers get a range of poison ivy flavored milk to green grape or ripe tomato flavors.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK: Grown in an organic manner! 😊

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Large tomatoes of all colors and sizes
• Peppers – sweet
• Onions
• Cucumbers
• And a few squash

• Beets

  BEET GREENS: My cousin Dale was down getting some goat milk and was telling me how much he loves beet green smoothies. So, if you are a “smoothie lover”, take those beet greens, chop them up after removing the center stem and add frozen fruits like berries, bananas, pineapple, apples, maybe some yogurt? Get creative and make small batches as fresh is the best way to use them. REMEMBER: Beet greens are high in iron, full of vitamins and have magnesium and potassium.

Some facts about your beets and their tops: Before storing in the refrigerator, cut the greens off the root, leaving approximately two inches of greens attached to the crown to prevent bleeding. For the same reason, leave the root stem in place. For longer storage life, do not wash your beets before you refrigerate them as wet beets tend to rot. Store your greens in a roomy unsealed plastic bag. Try to use them as soon as possible. Beets themselves are high in vitamins A and C and also the carotenes. They are also a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium. (Above info “From Asparagus to Zucchini; a Guide to Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce)

RECIPE SHARE:

Quick Beet Greens – A Donsecz, Vegetarian Gourmet, Spring ‘93

1# beet greens, shredded

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, toasted

Toss beet greens, garlic and oil in large sauce pan or skillet. Cover and sauté until greens are just wilted. (Add a splash of water if necessary to prevent greens from sticking to pan). Toast sunflower seeds in dry skillet or hot oven several minutes, tossing often and stir into greens. Four servings.

Beet-Chocolate Cake - Zephyr Community Farm

2 cups sugar ¼ cup oil

2 cups flour 3-4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

½ t. salt 4 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder 3 cups shredded beets

1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine dry ingredients. Sift or mix well together. Melt chocolate very slowly over low heat or in a double boiler. Allow chocolate to cool and then blend thoroughly with eggs and oil. Combine flour mixture with chocolate mixture, alternating with the beets. Pour into 2 greased 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 325 for 40 – 50 minutes or until fork can be removed from the center cleanly. Ten servings.

If you are overwhelmed with tomatoes, here are a few ideas from The Rolling Prairie Cookbook by Nancy O’Conner.

Toss thick tomato slices with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some fresh basil. Or spread goat cheese on a slice of Italian bread and top with a slab of tomato and a dab of pesto – broil if you’d like. Homemade pizza is the best with tomato slices instead of heavy sauce. If you are using fresh tomatoes in cooked dishes, you will probably want to peel them. Submerge whole tomatoes in boiling water for approximately 10 seconds. Remove and plunge them into cold water. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, just slip the skins off. Remove the core. If you want to also remove the seeds, cut the tomato in half lengthwise. Squeeze gently over a bowl. The seeds and gelatinous substance around them will come right out, leaving the meat of the tomato.

Or try this recipe for sauce you can use later: “One United Harvest” recipe book (Creative recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms Collected by Julia Sochacki)

OVEN ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE

2 ½ pounds tomatoes, halved lengthwise 2-3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced salt

4 thyme sprigs or 2 T. chopped fresh basil freshly ground black pepper

Put the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with the onion and herbs. Drizzle the oil over all and season with salt and pepper. Bake tomatoes until soft, shriveled and falling apart, 45 minutes to one hour. Remove from oven, remove the thyme branches if using thyme. Puree with a food processor or pass through a food mill. Taste for salt and season with pepper. RECIPE NOTE: Serve with pasta. Also, use as a dipping sauce for a calzone, as a base for red pizza or as an accompaniment with grilled fish or grilled meat.

Dried Cherry Tomatoes - Several years ago, a friend of ours, Judy Masters gave us a recipe for dried cherry tomatoes. You split them, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, a dash of dried thyme and then dry them in a low heat oven until they are chewy. They are delicious.

A friend of ours, Gary grows or grew Amaranth and somehow it started growing in the high tunnel and we do not have the heart to kick it out. It is beautiful and tall as you can see Katy peeking out from it today as we were picking

Milking cows by hand is something that I have done for longer than I want to count tonight. There are days when I wonder why I am still doing it and this was one of those weeks. It is hot in the barn, no matter how late you head out to extract milk. I am not sure if the heat bothers the cows as much as it bothers me? Sweat drips off me but their hides remain dry. 😊 Right now, I am milking Pearl, Fawkes and Nickel is last in line. If you have milked cows, you know that they milk in a certain order. They like things like order and structure. You might think that you are in charge in the barn but you are not. The cows own the barn. Pearl is one of those fairly easy milkers. She steps now and then but for the most part, she is working with me to fill the bucket. I finish up Pearl and with my fingers and hands warmed up, get ready for cow #2. Fawkes is doing me a favor by coming in the door. She resists milking and makes it lots of work. I travel during the extraction process because she has no interest in standing in place and moves and sweat soaked, I try to hold on to the cow and bucket and usually take a few licks by the time that the first bucket is filled. I hold her leg as she aims and I think that she is just messing with me because I would not be able to do that if she were serious but I always wonder as I set her leg down. Izzy waits for the call to bring the second bucket and there is a change out process that most factories would envy as I settle the empty in and she hauls the full bucket away. The second bucket is where we find out who is going to win. I have only so much time to get it done because if she finishes her feed before I finish milking, she wins the race and intends to leave the barn. I have resorted to putting a large rock in the middle of her feed pile and with that in place, I have been winning. I am waiting for Fawkes to figure out a way to even the odds. Cow #3 Nickel and I have an understanding. I understand that she has a Jersey attitude and she understands that she is a little cow. If she were big, I would be in trouble. I breathe easy and my hands uncramp and we settle in, her to eat and me to milk in that relaxed way that you read about in the fairy tale books about country living and Nickel even looks the part . . . . . . . . .

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