“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.”
― Shel Silverstein

Diamond has found a new friend in our bottle calf Petunia.  Yes, another set of twins, and this one with a different outcome.  So Diamond and I are bottle feeding Petunia – and Diamond has taken on the task of cleaning her up….both ends:)  She also is in desperate need of a friend to play with, as our other dog and cats are seniors and she would say “boring” …. And Petunia spends most of her day alone – waiting for her next meal.  So an unlikely companionship….cattle dog and calf…but nonetheless.

Farm News:  We have lots of babies!  31 calves so far including Petunia, and 17 baby chicks, growing into a new set of layers for next years CSA.  They will be 6 months old before they start to lay eggs, so these girls should be just in the nick of time for next season.

What’s in the last CSA share?  I have tried to save the best for last – however some things did not cooperate this year.  So I won’t promise much….but a few things.  Almost October beans!  Yes I was determined they would be ready to harvest in October but ….the beans are mature but many of them have not turned the lovely color yet.  So they look more like cannellini beans, but are equally delicious.  Also, small fennel bulbs, baby turnips with greens, young tender collard greens, bibb lettuce, some sort of stunted Napa cabbage (not sure what went wrong) oregano, and a menagerie of other things left over in the garden.

As the weather turns cooler, a savory soup is such comfort food.  Following a recipe from Elizabeth Borelli

Fennel, White Bean, and Collard Green Sauté

4 servings

This lovely, appetizing dish is easy to prepare. Boiling the fennel stalks and greens in water until the liquid becomes concentrated, is a marvelous way to make your own aromatic consommé in one simple step. Serve this nourishing dish with wild rice or crusty whole-grain bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fennel bulb, stalks and greens included
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
•  2 cups navy or cannellini beans, precooked
• 3 cups collard greens, stems removed, sliced into thin ribbons
• 2 cloves garlic; or 1 teaspoon powdered or granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• juice of 1/2 lemon (1-2 tsps. to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning blend

To make consommé:

Remove stalks and greens from fennel bulb, rinse thoroughly, and add them to a large saucepan with 6 cups of water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover, and cook down for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, chop fennel bulb into inch-long, very thin slices.

When consommé is reduced to 2 to 3 cups, remove from heat, and pour the consommé liquid only into a glass jar. Set aside. Toss out the remaining cooked fennel.

Add olive oil to the saucepan, and return to medium heat. Add chopped fennel and sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup of consommé and simmer on medium-low for 5 more minutes, then repeat. Add ¼ cup more consommé, collard greens, and remaining seasonings and cook for 5 to 8 minutes longer, until greens are tender. Stir in beans and serve warm or hot. Label, date, and store remaining consommé in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Happy eating, and thanks for supporting our farm during this strange season.  I hope everyone stays healthy throughout the holidays and winter.  We will be at Main Street Farmer’s Market through Thanksgiving – and look forward to growing for you again next year.

Letty

“The centerpiece was a roasted stag. crowned with gilded antlers and stuffed with songbirds; they had hunted well. We were forbidden to kill the deer that fattened on our coleworts and stole our grain, and the venison tasted all the better for the salt of revenge.”
― Sarah Micklem, Firethorn

There have been deer in my garden.  First a Mom and fawn.   She would leave that baby laying in the grass below the garden while she went off during the day.  Sometimes I would see it stand up and look for her – and then bed back down in her camouflage of green.

So, I didn’t worry.

Then I noticed – the sweet potato greens in the bottom garden were starting to look nibbled on.  Ah – there’s enough to share I thought.  Nothing else seemed bothered.

I stopped seeing the youngster – and went out one day to check on the sweet potatoes.  Gone.  I could hardly tell where they had been.  I couldn’t understand.  I had been looking for deer in the early morning and evening – but silence.

Curtis went out to throw the coffee grounds out one night late – around 11.  He took the spotlight.  8 deer in the garden.  Rats……no deer!

Needless to say – I turned the hot wire on high and added a few strands….”the salt of revenge”.  However, the sweet potatoes are small at best this year.  We did salvage what we could.  Jennifer, my friend and right hand farmer, is an avid activist against food waste.  It piles up in our landfills and adds to global warming.  So, in her brilliance, promotes the small stringlike sweet potatoes as premade fries.  She is also a lover of any spud….so would encourage you to just peel the ragged things, and roast them until tender.  And of course feed the peelings to your dogs (as we do with Temple Top Treats) or compost them but do not! throw them away.  Alternately – use those sweet potatoes in the lentil root soup recipe below.

Farm News:  We are into our calving season and have had our first set of twins for the year.  We usually have two or three sets.  Twins are hard for a cow to raise.  They get confused if they have two – and can’t keep up with them both.  However, Nestle (appropriately named) claimed both her twins and has plenty of milk to feed them!  Hoorah.

What’s in the bucket/CSA share?  Sweet potato strings, turnips or daikon, red Russian kale, Siberian kale (why do so many kales come from Russia?), lettuce, mesclun salad mix, carrots, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, malabar spinach, Rosemary.  The malabar spinach has a red vein – and is a hot weather spinach.  I will harvest the whole plant- so add the leaves to your salad, , soup or lightly saute the whole deal.

Following – a recipe from Boston Organics for Lentil Root stew.

Ingredients

Recipe

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”

― Humbert Wolfe

Such a beautiful time of year!  We had a campfire and some friends out last night and the stars were just amazing.  Crystal clear.

Farm News:  We have had one calf so far.  Born last Wednesday AM with no fan fare.  But nothing since, for 5 days.  I guess those cows are waiting on a moon.

What’s in the bucket:  winter squash, carrots, round radish, sweet potatoes, arugula, sweet and hot peppers, thyme, and a boatload of greens….mustard, kale, braising greens.  A fall bucket indeed.

Recipe below for skillet root hash.  This is wonderful with a fried egg and braised greens  for a light dinner.

The Cow in Apple Time
Robert Frost – 1874-1963

Something inspires the only cow of late
To make no more of a wall than an open gate,
And think no more of wall-builders than fools.
Her face is flecked with pomace and she drools
A cider syrup. Having tasted fruit,
She scorns a pasture withering to the root.
She runs from tree to tree where lie and sweeten
The windfalls spiked with stubble and worm-eaten.
She leaves them bitten when she has to fly.
She bellows on a knoll against the sky.
Her udder shrivels and the milk goes dry.

I love this poem and I’m always reminded of it in fall when our apples come in.

We bought a cow a few years back.   I named her Ranger (for Free Ranger, or Lone Ranger….both fit) because she ignored our electric fences and went wherever she wanted.  She has a big white face.  One of her favorite places to range, of course, was my garden.  She always knew when she was caught red handed, and she would get this look on that big white face.  Raise that head up, look at me, and then take off, with carrots she had pulled hanging out of her mouth.

We finally got enough charge on that fence to keep Ranger out….but Ranger and I still look at each other and remember her free ranging days.

Nevertheless – I love fall.  The end of the vegetable season for a farmer, always a relief.  Our cows start calving in late October.  And it’s always the calm before the storm.  They are so quiet right now.  Busy eating and stockpiling weight for winter.

As such – our fall blast CSA starts Monday so….here’s what to expect, as promised lots of roots and greens!

What’s in the bucket:  Daikon and giant turnip root, mustard greens, breakfast radish, mesclun salad mix, arugula, mixed kale, sweet peppers, hot peppers, apples and cilantro.

I have been into fermenting lately and have made several batches of fermented hot sauce that are amazing.  You can ferment just about any vegetable – so don’t be afraid.  The most important thing is to make sure your brine is correct water to salt ratio…keep the vegetables covered in brine…let the jar breathe.

Below is a recommendation of ingredients – but feel free to experiment.   You could grate some turnips in there with the daikon.  Onion or garlic is always good.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound daikon radish, grated (with skin)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 hot pepper diced (take the seeds out if you want a milder hot)
• 1 cup non-chlorinated water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Put all ingredients in a quart glass jar .  Cover with brine.  You can put a ziplock bag with a weight of some kind in the jar to keep the vegetables submerged.  Then lightly close with a lid.  It will bubble, so don’t put the lid on tight or it might explode!  Let it bubble 4-7 days and then take the weight off and put it in the fridge.  You can taste it along and decide when to quit.

This should keep about 6 months in the fridge.  Use it like relish or pickles – as a side for meat or rice or beans….the options are endless!

Thanks for buying local food from our farm.  Happy eating!

Letty

“Outlaws….do their finest work in the slippery rays of the moon”

-Tom Robbins

Farm News:  Our Roo, Papa and one other chicken met their demise a week ago.  We think Diamond and her friend Bluebell were involved.  See poster above:)

This is the last delivery of the summer session.  I will be delivering in paper bags, so if you have a bucket lingering around – leave it out for me.

We have a short fall CSA in October/November.  I will be sending out an e-mail to all those who signed up with information on start dates etc.

I want to thank everyone for your support this year.  I know we are all on edge and suffering through our new reality.  I appreciate all of you – your ability to be flexible and kind.  It has been a busy season, I haven’t had this many in the CSA since I was in my thirties.  Let me tell you – there is a difference in what you can accomplish between 30 and 50, and how many hours you can put into a day.  So ….THANK YOU!

What’s in the BAG?  It will be a taste of fall.  Butternut and maybe a lingering spaghetti squash (don’t worry – it’s like the cabbage.  Let it sit on your counter for a month or two, until you aren’t tired of spaghetti squash anymore).  More field peas or October beans (the October beans were a victim to weeds and too much rain, and perhaps to me being 50:) – so not the crop I anticipated).  Peppers and lots of tomatoes and pie or sauce apples.   Lastly, hopefully everyone will get a sugar baby watermelon.

I will try to give a mix of ripe and not so ripe tomatoes – but they are all getting really ripe fast.  If you have time – go ahead and freeze the ones you cannot use in time.  They freeze great – and are wonderful in soups and sauces all winter long!  I’ve gotten where I don’t even peel them – just chop them up and freeze, but that is your preference.

As for the apples, my grandmother used to say “everyone deserves something sweet”.  And as she lived to be 100 and was as sweet as anyone I’ve known, I’ve decided she was right.  Once she got into her 90’s, she liked to eat dessert first citing that she might not live through the main meal.

So following a recipe for Apple Crisp

Vegan Apple Crisp

by: GENA HAMSHAW

PHOTO BY JAMES RANSOM

AUTHOR NOTES

A straightforward, fuss-free, no-nonsense apple crisp. Enjoy it for dessert, or hell, enjoy it for breakfast. Coconut oil helps to create an irresistibly sweet and buttery topping — without so much as a hint of butter! —Gena Hamshaw

SERVES6 to 8

• For the apple filling:
• 7 cups (about 8 to 10 medium sized) sweet-tart apples (such as Gala or Jonagold), peeled, cored, and chopped (1/2- or 3/4-inch pieces) or thinly sliced (1/4 inch thick)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ³/₄ cup organic sugar or organic light brown sugar
• 1 ¹/₂ teaspoons cinnamon
• ¹/₂ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¹/₈ teaspoon clove
• ¹/₈ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¹/₂ tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
• ¹/₂ cup water

• For the crumble topping:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ³/₄ cup quick oats
• 1 cup organic brown sugar
• ¹/₂ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• ¹/₄ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¹/₂ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¹/₂ cup melted coconut oil

Happy eating, stay well, stay sweet and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune….”

-William Wordsworth

It seems counter intuitive to plant seeds into hot, dry soil.  But otherwise – no fall garden will arise.  It is always harder.    To plant in a season of exhaustion.  Like singing out of tune.

Farm News:  2 more weeks of summer session CSA.  If you are a half share – this is your last week.  We are in the midst of weaning calves and trying to get out farm ready for fall.  Cleaning fence rows and planning for a second cutting of hay.  Also trying to replant the garden for fall – an exhausting,  busy time.

What’s in the bucket:  Something old, something new….  potatoes are back.  We stored a few for this moment – when you started to miss them.  And of course – an onion to go with the potato.  And lots of tomato!  SOOOOO, potato, tomato, onion, spaghetti squash, garlic, basil, field peas (yes – you still must shell them:), okra and peppers.

Spaghetti without the pasta:

Curtis and I had this the other night – kind of a no recipe recipe.

Roast that spaghetti squash.  Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, brush both halves with olive oil – sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast it skin side up at 350 degrees about 30 minutes.  Flip the squash over, and roast until fork tender and a little brown on top.

Loosen the “spaghetti” in the squash with a fork and grate with cheese (we used Sequatchie Cove gruetli – a hard cheese like parmesan will work too).  Top with chopped tomatoes, onion, basil, red pepper and garlic (I mixed mine together before roasting the squash and let it sit – but this is not necessary)

Other options for toppings:  make it Mexican flavored by stuffing with black beans or cooked field peas, cheese, tomato, onion and jalapeno.

Happy eating, and thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”
― Sylvia Plath

We disced the garden and we are starting over for fall – the odd uneven time.  The time between seasons.

Farm News:  Tomatoes.  It is tomato season and it has become a rescue mission.  Rescue from the crows.  The crows are also eating my sweet peppers as they turn colors – darn!  Eat Crow!  Eat Coon too!  The crows pulled up all my corn but 4 stalks – and the coons got the corn off those 4 stalks before it was even ready to pick.   Rats!  No Crows!  No Coons!

What’s in the bucket:  Spaghetti squash, cucumbers, LOTS OF TOMATOES including cherry tomato, pink eye purple hull field peas (yes you must shell them – don’t eat them with the hull on), walla walla onion, garlic and assorted (mostly hot) peppers.

If you are tired so tired of Cucumbers – following a tip from Medical health news and recipe for Cucumber water – throw those cukes in some water and hydrate!

“A sunflower field is like a sky with a thousand suns.”
― Corina Abdulahm-Negura

The sunflowers come and go so fast.  But they are lovely.  Beautiful in a vase – but ever more beautiful in a field against the sky.

Farm News:  Still fighting the crows in my tomatoes.  Put a fake hawk on the top of a post….just to see.  It took about 15 minutes for them to figure that one out.  They are smart!

And something is eating my tiny watermelons.  They aren’t even ripe.  Rats!  No Coons?  Crows?

What’s in the bucket:  green beans, summer savory, cherry tomatoes, peppers, tomatoes – and OK I’m sorry but….cabbage!  I thought it was giving up.  But I’ll admit – I overplanted because I thought my transplants didn’t look good.  Just stick it in your produce drawer and wait a few weeks – you’ll be glad it’s there.  And they keep forever!  And maybe some cucumber or squash – although they are playing out.  UNLIKE the CABBAGE!

Summer savory and green beans are perfect companions.  Try them together in this recipe:

Green Beans with Summer Savory
SERVES 4
Ingredients
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh summer savory, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut in 2-inch lengths
• Water

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onion in the butter until soft but not brown. 2. Add the salt, pepper, savory, and flour, and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. 3. In another pot, boil the beans in water to cover or steam them in a small amount of water until just tender. 4. Slowly stir 1/2 cup of the bean cooking water into the onion mixture and bring the mixture to a boil. Immediately add the cooked, drained beans. 5. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Happy eating and thanks for buying local food from our farm!

Eating crow is a colloquial idiom,[1] used in some English-speaking countries, that means humiliation by admitting having been proven wrong after taking a strong position.[2] The crow is a carrion-eater that is presumably repulsive to eat in the same way that being proven wrong might be emotionally hard to swallow.[2] The exact origin of the idiom is unknown, but it probably began with an American story published around 1850 about a dim-witted New York farmer.[3]

The crows are eating my tomatoes.  Just as they start to turn ripe.    They pulled up all my sweet corn….I planted it three times.  I’m infuriated.  Crows get their bad name from eating other things besides tomatoes and corn – but nevertheless….

Farm News:  The crows are eating my tomatoes.  I also think they have been eating my bell peppers.  I am so aggravated!

What’s in the bucket:  Tomatoes, the ones NOT eaten by the crows!!  Luckily they haven’t ravaged my cherry tomatoes yet.  Cherry tomatoes, basil, Daikon, cucumbers, squash, green beans, edamame soybeans, peppers.  AND – yahoo PEACHES from Jones Farm – and Blueberries from our farm and from our friends at Broadfork Meadows Farm.  This will be the last week for fruit probably – other than from our farm – maybe a few blueberries and pie apples from our trees.

Even though lettuce is out of season – you can still make a refreshing salad as a side dish.

Following a recipe from the Spruce Eats .  Serve this with a piece of King Salmon from Thomas Persinger.  He has the most amazing selection of ethically sourced fish.  http://www.marithymeseafood.com

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore

Curtis looked out the window Friday night and said “now those are my kind of fireworks!”  What a beautiful sky – and absolutely silent.

Farm News:  Heat and humidity.  That has been the story for this week.  But it is July, and to be expected.  These are the days when my horses greet me at the water hose for a sprinkle down with cool water.  The days where I wear out faster, and move slower.  The days when I wish the sun to set earlier – so the dark will cool the steamy soil.

We are changing seasons.  We are half-way through the summer CSA.  Some spring stuff left – some summer stuff starting.

What’s in the bucket:  cool cucumbers with dill!   savoy  or green cabbage, beet root, summer squash, potatoes, a few cherry tomatoes and/or green beans and/or peppers (mostly hot peppers starting to come in)

A few suggestions if things are starting to pile up in your fridge.  I always send out a kraut recipe this time of year – and I have a good one if anyone wants to have it.

However, lately I have come to appreciate fermenting by adding a culture.  You don’t have to crush and smash your cabbage, and if you want to add other veggies such as fennel, carrots, onions – they retain their flavor instead of just tasting like kraut.  I get cutting edge cultures.  They have instructions about how much salt and water to add.  You can order on amazon.   And you can ferment just about any vegetable with them.

ALSO- a CSA member shared a recipe for a beet cake.  She confessed to not loving beets – but said she made this cake 2 weeks in a row.

I made the cake for a friend’s birthday cake – and it was fabulous!  And I am not a very good cake baker.  SO…..  Beets store well if you aren’t ready.  I also made some of the beet puree to freeze – so perhaps I could make the cake anytime (it’s that good:) Plus, it’s gluten free as well as dairy free.

Recipe Below – from bonappetit.  For Heartbeet chocolate cake.

Happy Eating….Happy Baking….Thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm.