Sundog CSA July 13th, 2026

More water in the rain gauge this past week – almost another two inches that came pounding down, pushing green beans into the mud and flattening the corn stalks which were heavy with silken ears. We may need every drop of that water if the coming week’s forecast proves true since they are predicting another week of very high heat, both temperature and indices. We are not looking forward to a forecast like that! Garden tasks this week include continuing to dig for treasures in the potato patch which has become overgrown with weeds. The potatoes did not produce large amounts however the ones that we are finding are beautiful and fairly good sized for late plantings that experienced some drastic weather shifts as it went from cold to hot and remained fairly wet throughout their growing period. We are planting some late cabbage starts in the hopes that we can miss the destructive green loopers. Squash plantings are strong and although we see squash bugs and beetles, they are managing to continue producing fruits. We spent Saturday afternoon putting up some strong netting around the top high tunnel which has become a “snack stop” for our tiny Silkie chickens. After picking off a good sized “shirt full” of obvious chicken damage, we made the decision to hang netting. We are hoping for some ripe fruits soon with this prevention strategy in place. We continue to wage war on the bindweed invasion and this weed called “shaggy soldier” which spreads like wildfire and has survival skills on par with bindweed. The thistles, gifted to us by the south winds and traveling birds have also taken up lots of time as we continue to dig and destroy the heads. The seed heads are beautiful and it would be nice if they were not the thorny, invasive plant listed as a “category C noxious weed”. In this category, landowners are required to control the listed weed by some measure.

We had a late-night Friday as one of our cows required a vet visit. For some unknown reason, Fawkes has decided to stop eating. No temperature and the vet doesn’t think that she has anything twisted inside as far as he can tell from an outside check. She was dosed and given some B vitamins and is on furlough from the milking line-up. Every morning, we check to make sure that she is still ok and so far, each day, her ears are up and she is ready to head down to the field with the yearlings. She is drinking lots of water but has not touched her feed pan yet – to the delight of the 3 goats who spend the evenings with her in the “infirmary”. We are grateful for our vet, Steve, who is willing to gulp down his supper and spend part of his evening checking out a cow who is not cooperative or grateful!

And the biggest news of the week was that Seth got second place in the fishing derby this weekend and although he would have liked to have first place, he was super pleased to have caught a 2.6-pound channel catfish.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK

• Potatoes
• Green Beans - lots of them again
• Squash/Zucchini
• Chinese Cabbage – these are immature heads we decided to send because they are beautiful before the bugs visit!
• Oregano and Basil
• Okra – first pickings!

RECIPE SHARE

From “Farm to Table Cookbook” Beet and Blue Salad – Makes 4 servings 1 package (6 ounces) baby spinach 1 cup sliced cooked beets ½ cup diced red onion ½ cup shredded carrots ½ cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons canola oil 2 tablespoons maple syrup ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese Divide spinach among four salad plates. Top with beets, onion and carrots. Whisk vinegar, oil, maple syrup, salt and red pepper flakes in small bowl until smooth and well blended. Drizzle dressing over salad. Sprinkle with cheese.

Breaded Green Beans – Makes 6 servings 1 egg 1-pound green beans, ends trimmed ½ cup dry bread crumbs ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon olive oil ½ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon salt Ranch dressing (OPTIONAL) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg in large bowl. Add green beans; toss to coat. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oil, garlic powder and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture on prepared beans; toss to coat. Spread green beans on prepared baking sheet in single layer. Bake 12 minutes; turn green beans. Bake 10 minutes or until crispy. Serve with ranch dressing, if desired.

Quick Pickled Green Beans - Makes 3 ½ cups ½ pound whole green beans (3 ½ cups loosely packed) ½ red bell pepper, cut into strips (optional) 1 jalapeno, or other hot pepper, sliced 1 clove garlic, cut in half 1 bay leaf 1 cup white wine vinegar 1 cup water ½ cup dry white wine (SUBSTITUTE: equal parts of white wine vinegar and water) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds 1 tablespoon mustard seeds 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns Wash beans, trim stem ends, if desired. Place in glass dish just large enough to hold beans and 2 ½ cups liquid. Add bell pepper strips, if desired. Tuck jalapeno slices, garlic and bay leaf among beans. Combine vinegar, water, wine, sugar, salt, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and peppercorns in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt are dissolved. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Pour mixture over beans, making sure beans are fully submerged in liquid. Add additional hot water to cover, if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
TIPS: The longer you leave these sit in the frig – up to a several days, the better they taste!! Although it is worth trying them each day. Play with the recipe – add dry peppers or fresh dill etc. Leave out the coriander if you don’t have any. It is just a fun recipe!

From “Simply in Season, A World Community Cookbook” Vegetable Oven Pancakes 1 Tablespoon butter Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven heats, place butter in 9-inch pie pan and place in oven to melt. Swirl pan to grease bottom & sides. 2/3 cup coarsely shredded summer squash Place in bottom of pie pan. ¾ cup milk 2/3 cup flour 2 eggs ¼ teaspoon salt Mix in blender until smooth or whisk smooth in bowl. Pour over squash. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 – 25 minutes. ½ cup cheese Sprinkle on top, cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Above is a tomato that the Silkie chickens snacked on. And here is Seth with his fish at the derby and a picture of the cows at the summer pasture while doing a cow check today – all accounted for!

Izzy held a cicada while he undressed! 😊 He was fascinating and rather handsome.

Happy birth day to Lenni’s daughter, born today. This is Lenni’s first calf so we were a little worried with the heat forecast. She did great we guess because we only saw her come walking up with her new baby beside her and did not get to see this new baby being born.

Polly was my garden help as Katy and I weeded okra a couple of weeks ago. This week she just laid in the rows and did not even pretend to be a gardener. Next is a Green June Beetle according to Google Lens. A Black-Eyed Susan and a red Clover Blossom round out this week’s pictures.

A perfect Kansas sky out the barn door tonight as we worked on evening chores. I was waiting for Woodrow to finish eating and thinking about the past weekend’s fishing excitement. Fishing was different when I was growing up. My grandma would put on her old tan felt hat, grab her cane pole with its line wrapped around and a red and white bobber sitting close to the end and head out. We were allowed to go with her, carrying our own cane poles, down the dirt road to the pond, only if we were quiet and fished, pole in, sitting and waiting for the bobber to bounce, carefully grab our poles and wait for it to completely disappear before we yelled and pulled with Grandma’s help. No competition on those summer nights but instead a panful of cornmeal coated bullheads would grace the supper table the next evening. Once in a while, she would come walking home slow with her cane pole extended behind her and on the line would be a snapping turtle. If grandpa were not around, she would tie her pole to the peach tree with her “catch” sitting in the shade to wait. Grandma would clean fish but not turtles!

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