Sundog Farms

Sundog CSA September 28th, 2026

LAST DELIVERY of the 2026 season. It is really hard to believe that the entire season is over already and yet our summer crops are showing us by losing foliage and refusing to set fruit. I would almost bet that those tomato blooms will not produce a crop before frost! And neither will all those pepper blooms! Our second planting of squash is also finally blooming. Rainfall this week was .61 with much lower temperatures and more rain in the forecast.

We spent part of this beautiful day doing daily chores and then picking produce for the bags. Then Katy and I donned our protective gear, texted Zach to pray for us and headed to the bee hives to ROB them. We have had great mentoring over the past year from Shawn and thought that we were ready to do this on our own so here we are at the hives with all our tools and gear. I looked like someone about ready to land on the moon but I have to say that I remained unscathed while Katy was pierced once on the arm as we pried and lifted our frames of honey and examined them as though we knew what we were doing. We tried to remember what the people did on the videos we had watched as well as copy Shawn and our other friend, Gary who had also removed honey for us one season. We did pretty good on the first hive, talked in low voices and pretended that the loud buzzing cloud was normal. Second hive was a little different and maybe it was because in between those two hives, Katy had noticed that we also had an audience of goats and it dawned on her that they were outside the fence watching us – not inside. So, some chasing, and retying wires etc. before we moved on to hive number two. Those bees were ready for robbers. The noise of their group buzzing was loud enough to bounce the frames and after frame number ten was in our tote, we decided that we really did not need frame number eleven and up! Some of the bees were serious about retrieving their honey and followed us from place to place until we finally moved into the milk barn and shut the doors. We have some serious work to do because we saw a worm and some hive beetles and we are pretty sure they are not compatible with healthy hives. Anyway, yay for us!

Even though we are successful robbers of honey, that was not the best part of our weekend. Saturday, Zach came down to visit with us and spent the day cooking and baking! Pies - and more pies lined the counter tops and they actually turned out decent even though they were made between all kinds of conversation. Zach is always a tiny bit suspicious of what we are planning so even though Izzy thought that he would like being a part of the honey robbing team, we did not broach the subject since it was a rainy day and bees do not like to be bothered in the rain.

YOUR BAG THIS WEEK

  • Potatoes
  • Tomatoes
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Cucumbers
  • Peppers – both hot and sweet
  • Small Onions
  • HONEY – samples of Sundog Honey! Fresh from the hives 9/27/ 2026
  • Basil

RECIPE SHARE

From One United Harvest, Creative Recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms, Collected by Julie Sochacki Stuffed Pepper Soup 1 cup chopped onion ½ cup tomato juice 1/4 cup chopped celery 3 cups water 1 garlic clove, minced 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 2 cups chopped green bell peppers 2 teaspoons white sugar 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon sea salt ½ pound lean ground beef or tofu crumble 1 teaspoon ground black pepper ¼ cup uncooked white rice ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 1 (16 oz.) can crushed tomatoes In a large skillet, sauté onion, celery, garlic and green pepper in olive oil until soft and tender. Do not brown. Stir beef into cooked vegetables. Cook until browned, about ten minutes. Stir rice into the beef and vegetable mixture. Add tomatoes, juice, water, parsley, sugar, salt and pepper to the mixture. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is cooked. Adjust liquid if needed. Stir in cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish each serving with a parsley sprig. Serves 6.

Recipe shared by Nancy Nowak, Maple Creek Farm, Michigan

Pop’s Peppers and Eggs - (I have shared this recipe before – it is good enough for a repeat!! Hope you try it!) 2-3 garden fresh medium bell peppers 6 eggs scrambled 1 Tablespoon olive oil Put 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and heat to medium. De-seed peppers and slice, rinse in cold water, do not pat dry. Add peppers to the skillet and cover. Sauté the peppers for approximately 15 minutes or until tender. Add scrambled eggs and enjoy sandwiched between warm French bread.
RECIPE NOTE: We eat this for breakfast or dinner. My dad has fixed this for years. It’s so simple, but it is one of my favorites! – Angela Recipe shared by Angela, Texas

Examining our “loot” and a picture of one of the hives after the “robbery”. And a picture of our “Seth powered” Honey extractor. And Seth’s catch of the afternoon when he and Dan went fishing.

Thank you for supporting our gardening efforts and sharing part of our summer with us! We hope that you enjoyed the vegetables and that the weekly deliveries “fed” you in more ways than one!

I have a very small herd of “mismatched” cows. I have Jersey cows that are part Angus which means they are part dairy and part beef. They look like small black beef cows, sturdy with short legs and wide frames and they milk like filling the jars is their number one goal in life. I have one purebred Jersey who believes that she was born to rule and milking was an afterthought. Then there is a towering reddish brown rangy looking cow whose size gives her an edge and a place in the herd – an average milker with an above average appetite. An old cow whose pedigree shouts dairy has no interest in milking but produces amazing sturdy calves without drama and is a pleasure to look at as her hide is painted in the shades of red on a background of cream, stands alone most of the time. These cows are not related and some traveled many miles from their home of origin to end up here on the hill. They don’t get along all of the time. They want their position at the hay ring or the feed trough and will push and shove others aside in order to get what they want and, in that shoving, a lot of hay is trampled and wasted and sometimes they find themselves back where they started – on the outside of the ring. And yet tonight, as I stand at the door and wait for Woodrow to clean her plate after milking, I see Pearl washing Mimi’s ears. It makes me wonder why they can’t work together all the time and benefit from that effort? Just think – they could all have clean ears!! 😊

Wishing all of us a beautiful fall, a short winter and an early spring! Blessings from the farm – Teresa, Izzy, Seth, Dan, Katy, Zach and Jen