Sundog Farms

Sundog CSA June 16th, 2025

Four days and the season of spring will end and summer will begin – Friday, June 20th. Summer solstice is the longest day of the year, the day that it seems the “sun stands still”. This day will be approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes longer than the December winter solstice date. No wonder we are tired! No rain this week on the hill but we are up to three snake “nabs”. The one that Dan caught, bit him. Izzy caught the third one so she has caught two so far. The rest of us take pictures and applaud before the “catch” is dropped in a bucket and transported to the creek.

Tonight was the first time that I heard the cicadas singing and it was only one lone male. I read that the male cicada emerges from the ground when the soil temperature reaches the 60s at a depth of 12 to 18 inches down. It is the male cicada who “sings” and the song is a mating call. It is made by this little built-in instrument the winged creatures possess called a tymbal. It is actually a clicking sound but the cicada does it again and again so rapidly that it makes the constant hum we hear as a “song”. The cicada emerging now in Kansas is known as “dog-days” cicadas and are annual rather than periodical. I like their song – it is part of summer to me.

The garden is growing and although there is bug pressure, the plants have a head start and are handling the pests fairly well. Signs of bug visits are holes in the leaves where they have “dined”. Please always wash greens and lettuce. Salt water dips with cold water rinses are fairly effective in getting rid of “visitors”. The kohlrabi and turnips continue to hold and we hope you are trying out recipes. If you find one you like, please share. And remember to try pickled turnips. They are a hit at our house.

Besides gardening/weeding (finally finished transplanting this week!) and mowing and working on lawnmowers, we are getting ready to start another building project. This one doesn’t seem as complicated as the two we worked on last year but . . . . . it seems that as you repair a problem, you find another repair that needs to be done so it could take longer than we think it will. Another chore taking extra time is my oldest cow had a calf that she is not able to provide with enough milk which means we are bottle feeding to supplement, leaving her with mom for comfort and those rough tongue washings! It has taken a couple of weeks but the calf is finally accepting our offering without having to “rodeo”.

Our friends, Eric and Crystal were kind enough to fetch us a few pigs to raise for the summer. They came on Saturday and have not really had time to decide whether they like us or not. We keep them in a pen for a couple of weeks so they know where their water and food supply is located and then turn them loose to roam with the cows and goats. Besides backing the trailer up, Dan was lucky enough to get to help unload!

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK –

  • Mixed Greens
  • Lettuce
  • Kohlrabi
  • Turnips
  • Green Beans
  • Onions
  • Scapes
  • Summer Squash / Zucchini

The following recipes are from Farm Fresh Recipes by Janet Majure.

Cashew Green Beans –

½ cup coarsely chopped salted cashews

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons honey

1 lb. fresh green beans, blanched and drained

Cook cashews in butter over low heat about 5 minutes.

Add honey and cook one minute longer, stirring constantly.

Pour sauce over beans and toss until coated.

Chinese-style Green Beans

1 lb. fresh green beans

1 tsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. peeled, minced ginger root

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon dark sesame oil

14 teaspoon 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.

Glazed Turnips

3 large turnips, peeled and diced

3 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoons sugar

Blanch turnips 5 minutes in boiling salted water; drain. (Do not cook until tender).

Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add turnips and sugar. Cook and stir constantly until turnips become golden. Serve hot.

Besides cicadas, hollyhocks and blooming yarrow in the pasture are a sign of summer –

I drive an old (1991) Ford Ranger pick-up (my brother-in-law, Chris, found it for me) which I treasure because for the most part it is reliable. Seth and I were in town this weekend, running an errand, driving my truck, and when we came out of the store, I noticed that there were two young men standing in front of my truck and my first thought was that I had made a driving or parking mistake because they asked me if I was the owner of the truck. I said that I was the owner without much enthusiasm and one of the young men waved his arm to the vehicle parked next to mine on the far side and said, “look”. There sat another Ford Ranger, same color and looking just like mine. These two guys then asked if they could take a picture of my truck and were so excited about these two trucks, sitting side by side that it made me smile. Their truck was a 1990 and they just kept telling me how much they loved these trucks. I drove home thinking how lucky I was to have a truck that made people smile! 😊

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