Sundog Farms

Sundog CSA August 3rd, 2026

When I think of August, I think of the “dog days” of summer so I looked up the term to see where it came from and what it really meant. I found out that I missed the major part of what is defined as “dog days” since they last from July 3rd to August 11th and they are tied to the star Sirius, the brightest star in the night skies. Sirius is a part of the constellation Canis Major which translates to Greater Dog. The term “dog days” starts to make sense when you think of the ancient Greeks and Romans watching this bright star rise before the sun during this time period and it was also during this time period that the heat of the sun was intense so the conclusion they came to was that the star Sirius and the sun caused the intense “dog days” of summer. They called this time period, “dog star days”. I may have missed the dates but I did not miss “dog days” which have been intensely hot and humid and I would be very happy to see a small cool down at least for the rest of this summer season. The past couple of days have been so beautiful and if I could order the rest of the year to duplicate them, I would!

Racoon report: Well, it is good news and bad news. We harvested corn today from a patch that was definitely targeted by the raccoons and I am sure that they will be back tonight. They will be surprised to find it stripped of corn ears for the most part and in fact, we removed a lot of the stalks, at least the ones that they did not knock down in their hunt for the “perfect ear”. Not only did they take out the patch we were working on but the small patch that we had not ever harvested corn from yet. I am grateful for the harvest we have had and am planning for the next season already. There is corn in your bags this week and corn on our weekly menu also!! Remember we are not spraying so you are going to find worms at the top of your ears sometimes (hopefully not many)!

We spent time in the tunnel this weekend – still pulling persistent bindweed. Although there were visitors who came without invitation to the tunnel this week – rabbits and rogue chickens, we were able to start harvesting a few more tomatoes. The tomatoes made it through the intense heat of the first part of the week and also the soaking rains of the last part of the week and we are hopeful that the blooms we see will result in baby tomatoes since the temperatures have moderated. Our cherry tomatoes have not recovered from their “goat trimming” but there were more than last week. And we picked the very first peppers – both hot and sweet! The squash bugs have taken out our first planting so our hope is that the second planting misses their second “hatch-out”.

Rainfall amounts on the hill for the last week of July were high with our gauge registering over three inches for those last few days. 3.27 was the final number after adding Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK

  • Sweet Corn
  • Tomatoes – Big, medium and a few cherry tomatoes
  • Okra
  • Peppers – sweet green and jalapeno
  • Squash
  • Basil – courtesy of Nikol - Thank you!!

RECIPE SHARE

From One United Harvest: Creative Recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms, Collected by Julie Sochacki

Summer Veggie Pie – Quick, easy, fresh and delicious 2 cups chopped tomatoes (no need to peel) fresh herbs 2 cups other chopped veggies (onions, summer squash, peppers, corn, beans or any other fresh vegetables 1 box cornbread mix, mixed according to box directions OR a batch of cornbread according to your favorite recipe Chop all vegetables into an ovenproof casserole dish. Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes or microwave for 8 minutes until vegetables are partially cooked. Remove from oven and top with the cornbread mix, mixed according to the package instructions. Bake for an additional 20 minutes until cornbread is nicely browned. Serves 4 to 6.
Recipe shared by Robbins Hail from Bear Creek Farms, Missouri

Corn Fritters (Use leftover corn on the cob) 3 cups cooked corn (cut off the cob) 2 tablespoons flour 2 eggs. Separated, whites beaten until soft peaks form ¼ teaspoon salt Black pepper to taste oil/butter Mix corn, egg yolks, flour, salt and pepper. If mixture is very dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or sour cream. Fold in beaten egg whites. Fry pancakes in oil or oil/butter mixture at medium to med/high heat. These are great hot with salt or can be served with maple syrup. Yields: 12 to 15 three-inch fritters. RECIPE NOTE: They also freeze well, and they then can be microwaved. Corn fritters are great for breakfast, but I like them as a side with a good garden rich dinner. RECIPE shared by Patty Aune, North Carolina

ROASTED CORN RELISH (Compliments of Pete Fenczik) 4 ears of corn ¼ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon chopped parsley or basil 16 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves 4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion salt and pepper, to taste 4 tablespoons finely chopped roasted red pepper ½ tsp. cumin seeds, toasted & ground (or use cumin powder) ¼ cup lime juice Shuck the corn and remove the silk. Broil or grill the corn until slightly browned, turn frequently to avoid burning. Cut the kernels from cob into a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients to the kernels and let stand one hour. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve or refrigerate. Recipe shared by Stephen and Gloria Decater, Live Power Community Farm, California

OKRA PILAU 2 cups thinly sliced okra 3 fresh tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded 3 bacon slices, diced 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste ½ cup chopped green pepper ½ cup chopped onion ¾ cup long grain rice, uncooked 2 cups chicken broth Sauté okra and bacon until lightly browned. Add green pepper and onion and continue cooking until vegetables are tender. Add rice, chicken broth, tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil. Stir once, cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender. (If using converted rice, increase the chicken broth to 2 ¼ cups and the cooking time to 25 minutes.) Fluff lightly with fork and serve.
RECIPE shared by Jolinda Hamilton, Hamilton Farms, Arkansas.

If you find yourself with too much sweet corn for this week’s menus, you can freeze it. There are different ideas as to the best way to do it – shucked or unshucked or on the cob or off the cob. Any of those ways seem to work as long as the corn is not in the freezer too long. It is a tasty treat in the fall or winter when most fresh vegetables are only a memory! 😊

Hoppers are not allowed in the tunnels and if we catch them, we give them a one-way ticket to the chicken pen. The second and third pictures are of a nighttime visitor we found when we took a midnight stroll this past week. I heard a calf bawling and so Seth, Katy and I went out to investigate and found that Gussie had gotten herself separated from her herd mates so we called everyone up, checked them out and decided everything was ok and started to head in when Seth spied this little possum up the tree by the calf pen. He was snacking on something and not happy at being interrupted. Next pictures are clouds through my bedroom window screen one night and the next one is the tail end of the rain clouds sliding away with the sun tinting their undersides. Last is Hank, Izzy’s beloved dog, doing what he does best – begging for cookies!

Katy and I spent time this afternoon thinking about the raccoons who had visited our corn patch and as I sit here typing the newsletter with the clock heading towards the midnight hour, our hope is that our electric fence is working well and that the dew has fallen thick so that when they drag their loot across the wires, a memory forms about a corn patch on the hill being dangerous to thieve from - - - -

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