Sundog Farms

Sundog CSA July 15th, 2024

Rainfall this week has changed drastically from the last couple of weeks. In the gauge I found .05 from Wednesday evening’s unexpected cloud spill! It was about 11:30 when I first heard drops on the porch roof and it continued dripping until we finally had .05. People, animals and plants are wishing for a happy medium and our wishes are evaporating as the sun heats us up and dries us out! We lay on the back porch this afternoon after picking and weeding in the gardens and high tunnels for 3-4 hours. Other family members came out to look at us, sprawled in front of a fan with wet rags on our red faces. Seth, in an effort to support, laid down with us as we slowly recovered and vowed that it was time to pick in the mornings rather than afternoons. Beans demand to be picked dry and we were not looking forward to itchy okra rows with dew on their big scratchy leaves! We will definitely re-think this next week’s pickings if the heat wave continues. We worked outside yesterday afternoon with no problem but think that the humidity was lower!

We hate squash bugs. There is nothing that we can find redeeming about these little critters and no purpose other than making the life of cucurbits miserable and finally killing the entire plant. If only our little banty chickens did not scratch as they cluck and squawk their excitement over bug finds, we would let them loose to eat till their little gizzards are stuffed! They got out one evening though and we were reminded of their approach as we looked at the remains of Seth’s concrete block cucumber planting. The plant has since recovered but it was a setback and the consequence was a lockdown for the banties for a few weeks!

We have finished another project here with the stairs set in place and the fence up around our old chickmobile. We had left the building in the pasture for the last 20 plus years as that was where we raised pastured poultry for so long and it was convenient to transfer growing chickens to the mobile “tractors”. We decided that it would be better used if we moved it to the side of the garden so we aired up the tires cautiously since they had been flat for several years and they held! We backed the truck up and hooked this huge “building on a wagon” up and moved it very slowly and very carefully! Our new chickens love their pen and their new location and we like being able to see them in the mornings as they dash out in excitement for a new day while we slowly wake up, heading to the barn. Our excitement level does not come close to matching theirs! Check out their new stairs!! 😊

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

  • Green Beans
  • Pole Beans
  • Squash
  • Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes – of all sizes
  • Okra
  • Potatoes

It is exciting to see the tomatoes start to come ripe. And it has been a few years since we have had an okra crop. We think that it will continue if we get a little rain here and there as the plants look strong and bugs are leaving those scratchy plants alone so far. Bean beetles are present as we pick but they are not doing too much damage to this planting yet. The chickens gather noisily for grub/worm snacks and Izzy has one lady who will leap at least a foot in the air to try and get the bug or worm out of Izzy’s hand.

RECIPE SHARE –

From Nikol - thank you!

I may have shared this with you before, but we had it for dinner last night with the last couple weeks’ assorted squashes and this week’s basil, and it’s so good I had to send it again. If you’re trying for healthy, it’s still delicious with half the butter (that’s how we make it). This time, I also folded in some ricotta blended with scape pesto from a few weeks ago.

Zucchini Butter Squash - This recipe originally appeared from Smitten Kitten and Nikol has experimented with it, with the changes listed above.

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for pasta water and to taste

8 ounces spaghetti, cooked al dente

1 cup pasta water, reserved

1 ¼ pounds zucchini, trimmed, coarsely grated

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (OR USE ½ this amount as Nikol suggests in her changes)

4 garlic cloves. minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste

½ cup grated Parmesan

Handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

Boil your spaghetti in well-salted water until it’s one minute shy of fully cooked. Before you drain it, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and set it aside. Melt butter in your empty pan over medium high heat and add the garlic, stirring it into the butter for one minute before adding the zucchini, salt and red pepper. Cook the zucchini, stirring from time to time for 13 – 15 minutes. It will first let off a puddle of liquid, the liquid will cook off and the zucchini will become soft and concentrated. If the zucchini begins to brown, reduce the heat slightly. Stir frequently for 2 more minutes, chopping it down into smaller bits with the edge of your spoon or spatula, until it reaches an almost spreadable consistency.

Pour in ½ cup of the reserved pasta water and stir up anything stuck, then add drained pasta and cook together for 2 minutes. Use tongs or two forks to pull the zucchini sauce into the pasta strands, tossing frequently, and adding some or all of the remaining pasta water as needed to loosen. Toss in half of the parmesan and basil and mix, then transfer to a serving bowl. Finish with remaining parmesan and basil.

Nikol’s CHANGES: at this point in the recipe, Nikol added some ricotta, blended with scape pesto.

Cal and Kathy sent in one of their favorite recipes for squash/zucchini

        BISQUICK ZUCCHINI BAKE

4 eggs 2 cups peeled shredded zucchini

½ cup oil 1 cup Bisquick

1 small onion, chopped 8 ounces grated Cheddar cheese

Parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon oregano

Spray 8” baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mixture in pan and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool or serve slightly warm.

And from ONE UNITED HARVEST –Creative Recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms

Recipes collected by Julie Sochacki

String Bean, Summer Squash and Pepper Stir Fry - Recipe shared by Friends of Old Maids Farm, Connecticut

2 tsp. ground cumin 1 Tablespoon paprika 1 tsp. ground ginger

1 Tablespoon sugar pinch of cayenne pepper salt and pepper to taste

4 Tablespoons oil 2-4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced 1 large zucchini, sliced

1 large yellow squash, sliced 6 oz. fresh green beans 1 Tablespoon lime juice

I Tablespoon Honey

Mix together the cumin, paprika, ginger, sugar, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Cook the garlic and onions for a few minutes, Add the remaining vegetables and seasoning. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables begin to soften (6 to 8 minutes). Add the lime juice and honey. Heat for 3 more minutes and serve.

Guardian of the beans and we were definitely respectful of him as we carefully bypassed this bean plant. Above pigs are so – so - so content, but as you can see with Bert’s expression, they are considered to be trespassing.

You have to find shade wherever you can find it and, in this case, you have to move with Mimi!

I was thinking about the weather today as I was winding my way through the tomato rows in the high tunnel and glancing out the side, I saw the goats who are on duty in the pasture right next to the tunnel with their chore of keeping weeds to a comfortable level, quietly watching me. They were lounging and chewing and I was sweating and picking and we just kept glancing at each other through the tomato leaves. I could not believe that they could comfortably lay out in the hot sun with such calmness and they were probably wondering why I would go inside a plastic enclosure on a 100 degree plus day and stay there with water running down my face to pick tomatoes. After I thought about it, in my sweaty condition, I could not decide which one of us was making the better decisions!

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