Welcome Minnie and Daisy to the farm. Barn cats play an important part of controlling field mice and other rodents around our place. As you can tell, we all love having these kittens around.
Thank you to everyone who expressed concern over how our crops fared the storms. We are happy to share (see photo below) that they have recovered as much as can be expected. They have stood back up, standing tall and looking like a crop is in their future. I shared the photos last week as an opportunity to help everyone better understand what happens to farmers’ crops when storms roll through.
One comment from our blog post sticks out – “After all my years of farming, one thing I have learned, is that we do everything we can to ensure that the crop we put in the ground will grow and reap a harvest with whatever weather conditions Mother Nature gives us. If you were thinking positively when you planted it, chances are…it will be ok.”
This comment reminded me that farming presents more learning lessons than one realizes. In fact, it reminds me a lot of life and parenting. We do all we can to ensure that we are helping our children grow up to be productive, loving and caring people who provide back to this world more than they have been given. We think positively about their future. While we are preparing them, similar to preparing to growing a crop, we do the best we can hoping that whatever storms come their way in life that they to, like the corn, will stand back up, stand tall and reap a productive lifetime.
Garden Science
This is a photo of the top of the corn plant last week. Take time to check out the different plants. They really are unique.
The ornamental corn leaf feels different then the…
broom corn leaf…
then the field corn leaf. All are unique to the type of corn variety that it is.
Great news. All types of corn are standing back up and standing tall on their own. When I refer to types I mean: sweet corn, field corn, ornamental corn, broom corn and popcorn. Corn genetics are an amazing thing. Thanks to the plant scientists, these plant varieties were able to withstand that strong wind and straighten back up to keep on growing. I think it also helped that we were all praying for this to happen. God is good!
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 remember to wash your vegetables before eating.
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – With a lot of lettuce in your boxes, check out Martha Stewart’s lettuce salad recipes or this potluck taco idea for picnics and family gatherings.
Prizeleaf and Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love these beautiful lettuces – Prizeleaf is green with reddish tips and Red Oak Leaf is a red lettuce leaf. They add such a wonderful color to salads and sandwiches.
Spinach and Beet Leaves – We thinned our beets and have combined them with the spinach for a healthy salad mix.
Carrots
Carrots – Some beautiful carrots this week.
Kale – Here are some recipes for this vegetable. Two varieties Dwarf Blue Curled Vates and Ursa Kale.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi – You either have a purple or green kohlrabi in your box.
Beet – Dark Detroit Red Beets – Learn how to cook beets here.
Picking green beans can literally be exhausting.
Green Beans – Plenty are growing – let us know if you would like any to can or freeze. Here are some recipe ideas.
Watermelon Radish
Radishes – Watermelon radishes – let us know what you think about this vegetable.
Golden Egg Hybrid Summer Squash – The best-tasting squash in Burpee’s taste trials for 2 years in a row.
The zucchini and summer squash harvest this week.
Zucchini – The zucchini is growing like crazy. Learn how to save it for use during the cold winter months From the Farm Table and try some of the recipe ideas from Martha Stewart.
Onions – red onions – These onions took a beating in the storms. They had stopped growing so we harvested them this week.
Fresh Basil – some of you have basil in your herb pots and some do not. Check out these basil ideas.
Fresh cut arrangement – Zinnias
Recipe of the Week
Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
3 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup applesauce
3 cups Flour (opt: substitute 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 cups Zucchini, shredded
Shredding zucchini is super easy and fun with this salad shooter.
Instructions
Beat together the eggs, sugars and applesauce.
Stir together all the dry ingredients and add to the egg-sugar mixture. Stir in the shredded zucchini.
Coat four mini loaf pans with cooking spray. Sprinkle sugar on the bottom. Pour batter evenly in all four pans. Sprinkle tops with sugar.
Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
