We are starting Week 6, and what an ending to Week 5…Dark, ominous clouds that moved from the Big Horn mountains and raced with time, sweeping towards the Wind River’s…hard and sudden rain, with some hail, but lots of hard-driving rain! Mud and mud and more mud, being carried away with the newly formed rivers following the natural slope of our homestead. This happened Wednesday late afternoon. Liz had returned from the delivery to Sheridan, I was in the shelter working on orders and Shares, and The Farmer was checking his new cut hay. BAM! it was upon US–
We are day three past the rain and still can’t get into parts of the garden. The corn had just been watered so with the wind, tilted into the electric fence, grounding it out. The Farmer’s hay was soaked enough that at least the strong winds couldn’t blow it away! BUT…Life goes on!
This week’s shares will be a combination of these prizes:
Romanesco is ready and it looks good, especially considering the challenges all the cool weather Brassica’s have faced this past HOT month! These are best the very freshest (as with most cauliflower and broccoli)…great steamed or grilled. Because they are denser, you can slice them without them falling apart as cauliflower often does. A little olive oil helps with the roasting. All the Boxes this week will get these geometric gems…The Farmer brought in over 100# Friday and there is the same or more he tells me–
Beans: Groups A, B, and C will have Dragon’s Tongue beans this week. Hopefully Group D will have Green Beans! Group D was supposed to have Green Beans last week but we ran out on Thursday…Friday we harvested 192# more of Dragon’s Tongue…thus Dragon’s Tongue for MOST…Super butter bean, try it raw in a salad. Loses its trademark purple markings when cooked, but flavor is SUPER! Greens should be harvested Tuesday…If interested in canning or freezing some Green Beans let me know! $25 for 10#…will send them with your Boxes and you can mail us a check, or you can text me and pick them up at The Farm.
Onions are coming into season! We are starting to introduce Candy Sweet Fresh onions this week…Group C had them last week and Group B gets them this week. As fresh onions they have not been dried and should be stored in the fridge. Group C may get the Green Onions, if they are large enough or we have the volume. In the garden we raise many varieties of onions: Sierra Blanca white and Candy Sweet yellow are our FRESH harvest stars, as well as several varieties of Red’s. We also have Highlander as our long-term storage onion, and Cipollini’s and Leeks that come into their own a little later in the season!
Peppers again as in the past: Either Green Bells, Islander Purple Bells, Antohi Romanian Frying Peppers (remember blah raw, super cooked…hold together well, too), or Shishito’s. (I made dinner Friday, a rare treat this time of year, and had some blemished Shishito’s in the fridge. I threw them into a bowl with some olive oil and seasonings, then Lloyd threw them on the grille! The ‘handles’ are strong so you eat them like an appetizer, and throw away the stem when done–yummmm!) Coming soon–Snack Peppers, multi colored, sweet, and in a zip bag–
Cabbage: Cabbages in the Shares have been Farao Spring green, Tendersweet flathead green, Red Ruby Perfection early on, and last week we started with the Kaitlin green which is a late season cabbage that we harvest at 60 days instead of 85 days. (That means it weighs 3-4 pounds instead of 8 pounds!) We have rotated through the Savoy cabbage, that smaller head framed in wrinkly crinkled leaves that likes to be boiled with cream. With the conclusion of this week, all the Share Groups have had it now and Formosa Savoy is almost gone! (The winter Savoy is called Deadon and its leaves are not as extreme with the wrinkles but it has a beautiful magenta blush on the top. We usually harvest Deadon in October…a little freeze makes them taste better!) Only Group A has a cabbage this week.
Summer Squash: As long as there is room in the Boxes we will include Zucchini or the other Summer Squashes. They are so loaded with health and are versatile! Ironically, they may be in short supply this week as the harvest Friday was weather damaged with pock marks…it went to Erica’s chickens! We harvest again Sunday…
Cucumbers: Suyo is the featured cucumber this week in Group A and C…prickly looking skin, long shape with a curl. Keeps well in the fridge, sweet, fun to slice into salads, or eat as a snack. Said to make great Bread and Butter pickles. The other varieties in the Shares are Striped Armenian’s (Group B if we have enough), Lemon Cucumbers and larger sized Harmonie’s used as slicers (Group D). Tasty Jade (Asian take on the English type) and Olympian are our back up’s–
Eggplant for Group A only this week. If you are one of those folks that lives for fresh eggplant, I’m sorry, we don’t put them in often…most people don’t know how wonderful they are! But if you are one of those who do…let me know and we’ll send some your direction, free as a member of the CSA. TEXT 431-1219.
Tomatoes! Yes…they are coming on…or they were…or they still are and we can’t get to them because of the mud! We will make every effort to get tomatoes into your Shares. Group D gets the advantage of shallow boxes to chose from on Pick Up Day at The Farm…tomatoes that have gone from garden to home, we hope never experiencing the clip of cold. (Anything you get in the store has been refrigerated…that’s the only way they know to ship them…) When you get your tomatoes, let them proudly sit on your counter where they belong. They will continue to ripen and develop their flavor and will not get mealy or mushy as happens in the fridge. For the boxed Shares, we’ve tried leaving them out of the cooler, but the risk of being missed or damaged is greater than one night nestled in a box with other veggies to keep them warm. (For THE Friday dinner we had two huge sliced Striped German Johnson’s…yellow tomato with interesting and unique pinkish swirls…super flavor! Hope we can get one of these prizes to each of you this season… somehow…they are so big and as an Heirloom are thin-skinned and tend to crack–)
Oh, about that FRIDAY dinner…we also had fresh green beans cooked in the cast iron skillet with olive oil and sliced almonds, chicken breasts butterflied and soaked in lime juice with a little sauteed garlic scapes in coconut oil added and a kiss of grated ginger root, cooked by The Farmer on the grille to perfection. Liz brought home a loaf of sourdough that we sliced and spread with Kris Robertson’s Quark fresh cheese from Diamond S Delights. I had to clean up the left-overs so had no room for my usual fresh strawberries over ice cream (only 3 ingredients!) with chocolate syrup (no HFC!) and grated walnuts (fresh from northern California last fall)…oh well, there is always tomorrow for my strawberries on ice cream…for BREAKFAST…wouldn’t do that when my kids were growing up!
That about does it for Week 6 intro of new, and the review of continuing… remember, we have some recipes posted at http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com under the Recipe tab. Eat your veggies–The Farmer’s Wife!
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