Boy the summer is flying by. Finally stopped to take a photo of how bountiful the crops look.
The seasons are quickly changing and so are the colors in the garden. The melons, pumpkins, winter squash and gourds are turning color and will create a fun treasure hunt sooner than later. It’s hard to believe that another growing season will come to a close in about a month.
Next time you are here, we invite you to enjoy the beautiful colors in the garden. It really is quite peaceful in the evening.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with the produce, this is a great time to think about freezing or canning to preserve the vegetables to use later this year. Here is a great resource from the University of Minnesota.
Our last round of cold season crops are just about ready to harvest. The recent weather has leant itself to good growing conditions for these plants.
Believe it or not, we have already started some garden clean-up – putting to rest the end of different plantings of crops. But don’t let that fool you, there is a bounty of food to still come such as potatoes, melons, winter squash, tomatoes, pumpkins, gourds etc.
It is exciting to see the culmination of our efforts, but sad in a way, because we have enjoyed the array of colors in the field, and the excitement of finding something new every time we are out there. Stay tuned to see what Mother Nature has in store for us, and the bounty that is still to come.
Garden Science
Did you know that you can collect the seeds from your Marigolds. Check it out, inside dead or dried up flowers are the seeds. Plant them and watch them grow.
Same with the Four O’Clocks. After the flowers have dried up and died, the seed (black spot) is ready to be planted. So fun to watch the cycle of life on your flower plants.
Fun Fact
The average American eats 142 pounds of potatoes a year or almost 365 potatoes per person. That’s an average of a potato a day. Minnesota grows almost 5 billion potatoes each year, which is enough to feed the entire city of Los Angeles for an entire year! Source: Minnesota Farm Bureau
Boxes of Produce
This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they’re not on the list. Remember food safety in your kitchen when preparing, always wash your hands before working with your produce and always wash your produce before eating.
Some of the crops are ran under cold well water to take the field heat off of them so they last longer in your refrigerators. They are not washed – just cooled. So wash your vegetables before eating.
It was nice to see the young lettuce and spinach growing in the garden and ready for your BLT’s and salads. Enjoy we have more growing around the garden.
Lettuce and Spinach – New crop with more to come next week.
Carrots – Interested to hear what you think. These carrots came out of a different soil type then the ones earlier this summer. Your feedback is appreciated.
Sugar Snap Peas and Green Beans – A little break on this crop. We are waiting for the fourth crop of Sugar Snap Peas, and the third crop of beans to be ready to harvest in another week or two.
Broccoli – We made broccoli cheese soup this weekend – see the recipe of the week.
Kohlrabi
Beets – Loving the beets and hearing how you are using them. One of our shareholders mentioned smoothies for an option for people in her house that claimed they didn’t like beets. Here’s a recipe to try!
Yellow Onions
Just a few cucumbers this week. We harvested some dill to try some more pickle recipes, and a melon to see if they were ripe for the picking.
Cucumbers – Plenty of cucumbers. So many cucumbers that we canned a few different pickle recipes. Here are a few ideas Taste of Home or canned dill pickle recipe.
Peppers – A variety abound – enjoy! Watch out a few of the small peppers are mighty.
Tomatoes – Tomato varieties included in your boxes: Yellow Girls, Honey Delights, Big Boys, Roma, Fourth of July, Big Mammas, Honey Delights, Amish Paste and cherry tomatoes.
A little “air” time digging potatoes.
Potatoes – Kennebec is a great baking potato. Viking potatoes are great for making boiled or mashed potatoes.
Sweet Corn – Will return in a week or two.
Cilantro – We hope you are enjoying some salsa or other delicious dishes.
Fresh cut arrangement – A variety from sunflowers, Rudbeckia, straw flowers, marigolds and zinnias.
Recipe of the Week
Broccoli Cheese Soup
With all of the broccoli harvested this summer, I finally had a chance to try out some homemade soup. This week’s chilly fall-like weather leant itself well for this experiment. The recipe tried was the Pioneer Woman’s recipe. We liked it and would definitely recommend lots of pepper. I think that is the key!
1 whole Onion, Diced
1 stick 1/2 Cup Butter
1/3 cup Flour
4 cups Whole Milk
2 cups Half-and-half
4 heads Broccoli Cut Into Florets
1 pinch Nutmeg
3 cups Grated Cheese (mild Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Jack, Etc.)
Small Dash Of Salt (more If Needed)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Chicken Broth – if needed for thinning
- Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so, then pour in milk and half-and-half. Add nutmeg, then add broccoli, a small dash of salt, and plenty of black pepper.
- Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. Stir in cheese and allow to melt.
- Taste seasonings and adjust if needed. Then either serve as is, or mash it with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree it in a blender, return it to the heat and allow to heat up. Splash in chicken broth if needed for thinning.)
