August 5, 2014 by kharner

Priceless Moments

The corn has gotten so tall. The boys are standing by the blue popcorn.

After our CSA pick-up, we enjoy sharing about our evening and the conversations we had with all of you. We learn a lot from the time spent with each of you and appreciate the conversations and time more than you will ever know.

In fact, during each season we ask the boys what they enjoy most about the CSA. Their number one response is when you and your kids come out, and they have the opportunity to show you what is “growing on” and to teach and show what they have been seeing and learning that week. I know at times some of you may wonder if it is an intrusion of our time – I am telling you that it is not an imposition but rather a great opportunity for all of us to learn together.

Priceless moment examples – there are too many to list:

Last week seeing a few of the boys pull and eat carrots with our kids and to see their mouths covered with dirt.
One of our youngest shareholders, wandering through the garden and teaching her the vegetable, the color, the different way they all felt and teaching her how to harvest them…and then to watch her eat all of them like they were an apple – including a pepper! Then the look on the boys’ faces when I told her how this nearly 2 1/2-year-old had enjoyed eating everything including the pepper – simply priceless.
The joy of assisting a shareholder to harvest additional zucchini – one of her favorites.
The excitement on some of the kids faces when they dig potatoes or pick a vegetable for the first time.
Or learning from all of you the favorite ways you enjoy the produce.

These priceless moments provide us with renewed energy and excitement. Sometimes the growing season can be challenging whether it is weather challenges, insects or weeds. But remembering some of these priceless moments brings smiles to our faces and renews our enthusiasm for the project at hand. Thank you!

Garden Science

It has been dry, and we have been irrigating and watering the different crops. The boys have been watering our Big Moon pumpkins, and we also measured them this week. We are watching how much they grow in one week. Stay tuned.

The broom corn is also growing tall. Notice that the different varieties of corn have differences in their stalks, tassels etc.

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. 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.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – Wash your vegetables before eating – I love to use my salad spinner after washing the lettuces.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – A beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Try adding some fresh berries or dried fruit to your salads.

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – Wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – Remember to wash before eating.

Beets – One of my very favorite vegetables. The whole plant is edible.

Sugar Snap Peas – This crop matured quickly this week with the heat. Some of them may be quite large – you may want to peel the pod off and just eat the peas inside on the larger ones.

Green Beans – Try freezing or canning some of your extras or simply eat them raw. Learn more about this crop and a few recipes at America’s Heartland. Let us know if you would like any to can or to pickle. We donated 20# of green beans this week to the food shelf.

We were curious as to how much the cucumbers would weight. The cucumbers weighed 95 pounds.

We were curious as to how much the cucumbers would weight. All of the cucumbers weighed 95 pounds.

Cucumbers – If you would like to can any pickles let us know. We also have dill for you to use as part of your share.

Peppers

Picking the first tomatoes of the season.

Tomatoes – A taste of tomatoes this week cherry and Fourth of July tomatoes. Looking forward to this crop maturing.

Summer Squash/Zucchini – Here is a recipe for you to try.

Onions – Yellow, white and purple onions.

Kohlrabi – In addition to eating the bulb – similar to a cabbage. The leaves are similar to kale. Here is more information from Martha Stewart.

Cilantro – Here are a few ways to use this herb.

Fresh Arrangement – Hosta leaves and a Rudbeckia, Zinnia or Sunflowers.

Lemon Queen Sunflower

Recipe of the Week

Garden Omelet

I chose a variety of vegetables and herbs from the garden to use in the omelet: green beans, cilantro, yellow and purple onions and tomatoes. You could also use squash and additional herbs.

Next I washed and chopped all of the vegetables up.

Next, I washed and chopped all of the vegetables. Before any cooking begins for this meal, everything is mixed, prepared and the table set because it all moves very quickly.

One omelet: mix 3 eggs, 1 Tablespoon milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper, and herbs of your choice that have been washed and torn into smaller pieces.

Place about a Tablespoon of butter in your pan. Melt the butter and coat the inside of your fry pan with the butter. Next place your egg mixture into the fry pan at medium low heat. Gently push the sides of the egg mixture up as it cooks allowing the uncooked egg to run into the area you just pushed towards the middle of the pan. Continue to do this all the way around. Once most of it is cooked, place your ingredients onto the egg mixture and place cover over it. Turn to low. Cook until egg is firm and cheese is melted – about one minute.

Then gently roll out of pan onto your plate. Garnish with your parsley from your herb pots and a little cheese. I learned in 4-H foods project that a garnished dish will always taste better to the person consuming it, simply because of the way it is presented.

Then gently roll omelet out of pan onto your plate. Garnish with your parsley from your herb pots and a little cheese. I learned in 4-H foods project that a garnished dish will always taste better to the person consuming it, simply because of the way it is presented.

Garden Omelet

With a fork, beat:

3 eggs

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash of Pepper

Add herbs of your choice that have been washed and torn into smaller pieces.

Heat skillet. Butter pan with butter. Place egg mixture in skillet and cook slowly. Run spatula around edge, lifting to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath. Place choice of filling inside. I included vegetables, a couple of our favorite cheeses (mozzarella and sharp cheddar). Turn off heat or place on low. Place pan cover over the mixture for about a minute allowing cheese to melt. Fold sides over as you flip it onto a plate. Garnish with parsley and cheese.

July 30, 2014 by kharner

Excitement Growing in Garden

Boy were they glad to be finished harvesting the peas, cucumbers and green beans.

The boys were sure happy to be finished harvesting the peas, cucumbers and green beans.

There is a lot of excitement growing in the garden. As we walk through each night, it literally feels like a treasurer hunt – finding a variety of pumpkins, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, corn etc. It is so exciting and fun to see what has developed literally in 24 hours and to see your hard work actually paying off. It is also fun to see how many are growing per plant and to see how we can help that plant reach its production potential. When you are out – take time to look at this excitement that is growing.

What’s Growing On

This week we tied up the tomatoes and found our first red tomatoes! You should see more next week.

Our crop inspection each evening unveils a variety of surprises including butternut squash (pictured) and spaghetti squash.

Also we have cantaloupe, pictured, and watermelon growing. It is so fun to peak under the leaves to see these fruits growing.

Boxes of Produce

REMINDER: Delivery next week will be on Tuesday night.

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.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – Wash your vegetables before eating – I love to use my salad spinner after washing the lettuces.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – A beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Add some fresh strawberries or dried fruit to your salads and Enjoy!

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – Wonderful color to your salads.

Sugar Snap Peas – The new crop is in. They are growing strong.

Both of the boys work hard to harvest the produce. They are learning follow through, team work, hard work and satisfaction of completing a job.

We donated 40# of green beans to the food shelf. They were extremely grateful and excited. They had not received green beans as a fresh produce item yet this year.

Green Beans – The new crop is in. Let us know if you are interested in additional quantities – a free will donation is all we ask. We use the additional funds and at the end of the growing season donate a portion of the funds raised to Gillette’s Children’s Hospital and the American Red Cross.

Cucumbers – The cucumbers are also growing like crazy. If you would like to can any pickles let us know. We also have dill for you to use as part of your share.

Summer Squash/Zucchini – Check out the Zucchini Cinnamon Bread recipe below.

Onions – Yellow, white and purple onions.

Cabbage/Broccoli/Cauliflower – The purple cabbage is plentiful! Enjoy these crops will becoming to an end soon.

Herbs – Cilantro – let us know if you would like any dill

Fresh Arrangement – Rudbeckia, Bee Balm, sunflowers and zinnias.

Recipe of the Week

Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Last year, I saw a coworker of mine post this recipe on her blog, From the Farm Table. Thanks Sarah for sharing this delicious recipe!

I tried it this week, and the boys LOVED IT. Give it a try. I made a few modifications as I prefer to replace oil in my recipes with applesauce to decrease calories and to help my mommy guilt. Applesauce helps me to feel like the muffins are just a little healthier. Also, simply because of our crazy schedule it is easier and faster for us to bake muffins versus bread early in the morning.

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
¼ tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Cinnamon
2 cups Zucchini, shredded

1. Beat together the eggs, sugars and applesauce.

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients and add to the egg-sugar mixture. Stir in the shredded zucchini.

3. Coat loaf pans or muffin liners with cooking spray. Sprinkle sugar/cinnamon mixture on the bottom. (I used a cinnamon/sugar mix to decrease on the sugar). Pour batter evenly in all four pans. Sprinkle tops with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

4. Bake bread at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes (muffins – 12 minutes), or until toothpick comes out clean.

Spray your cupcake liner with a vegetable spray so the cupcakes do not stick to the liners. Before placing your batter in the liner, sprinkle the liner with cinnamon/sugar mix.

Spray your muffin liners with a vegetable spray so the muffins do not stick to the liners. Before placing your batter in the liner, sprinkle the liner with cinnamon/sugar mix.

Before placing the muffins in the oven, sprinkle the top with the cinnamon/sugar mix. Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes.

In the end, the entire dozen disappeared quickly, and the boys both gave these a two thumbs up. Enjoy!

July 23, 2014 by kharner

Unexpected Conversations

Sam and Steve doing some crop inspection in the garden.

When we are working side by side with our kids, we never know what types of conversations will occur.

One conversation with Sam was about weed identification. We looked at pig weed, lambsquarters, different grasses and velvet leaf. What was exciting to me, since I worked in weed science for three years, was that at his age – he did very well identifying weeds.

Another conversation was about corn and how corn kernels get on the cob. Learn more about how corn is fertilized and how kernels get on the cob on this blog which describes the dad (tassel), the mom (silk) and the baby corn (corn kernels).

This week, we have also had some tough conversations. It wasn’t around the garden but rather regarding our chickens. We lost some chickens this week to predators. Three of the chicks we hatched this spring were grabbed out of their pen, and then on another night one of our roosters was killed. We think the predator is a very smart, big raccoon. How it survived one of Minnesota’s coldest winters ever, is a mystery.

It has been a few hard mornings, awakening to these unpleasant and frustrating situations that we found during morning chores – finding dead chickens. But I know it is important for our kids to experience the cycle of life, to see Mother Nature at work and to understand that while animal care is our top priority – sometimes God has another plan in place. The good news – the rooster has some offspring, and a couple of the chicks appear to be roosters. So the boys are excited that the rooster’s genes will live on.

How do we handle these conversations? We take time to understand their questions, encourage their inquisitive nature and understand their emotions during these challenges with an end outcome of learning opportunities that will last a lifetime.

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” – Chinese Proverb

Garden Science

We have been staking the tomatoes slightly differently then we have in the past. We are excited to see how this works. We hope it will make harvest easier.

We replanted some carrots this week. Sam thought we should use his water gun as part of planting the carrots. Rest assured the area for this experiment was small.

We replanted some carrots this week. Sam thought we should use his water gun as part of the planting process. Rest assured the area for this experiment was small.

The boys have been inspecting the ornamental corn. It has been tasseling. Ask the boys about this process – I am sure you will be surprised at what is growing on in the garden.

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.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – Wash your vegetables before eating – I love to use my salad spinner after washing the lettuces.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – A beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Add some fresh strawberries or dried fruit to your salads and Enjoy!

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – Wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – Remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal!

Beets – One of my very favorite vegetables. The whole plant is edible.

Sugar Snap Peas – We are in between a crops. Some of them may be quite large – you may want to peal the pod off and just eat the peas inside on the larger ones.

Green Beans – They are growing strong ! Try freezing or canning some of your extras or simply eat them raw.

Cucumbers – The cucumbers are also growing like crazy. If you would like to can any pickles let us know. We also have dill for you to use as part of your share.

Summer Squash/Zucchini – Here is a recipe for you to try. Check out the Zucchini Brownie recipe below.

A few onions anyone.

Onions – Yellow, white and purple onions.

Keith was busy showing Grandma how to harvest cauliflower.

Cabbage/Broccoli/Cauliflower/Kohlrabi – These items have all been growing but not at the same rate which is allowing us the opportunity to rotate through to each of you. We hope you have been enjoying this addition in your boxes.

Some day Keith will value the opportunity he had to gather a bouquet of flowers for his Grandma’s share in the CSA.

Fresh Arrangement – Hosta leaves and a surprise flower lilies, zinnias or hydrangeas.

Recipe of the Week

While the zucchini is growing like crazy, it brings a few of our favorite recipes to mind. I couldn’t wait to make this one. It is a favorite in our house. Enjoy!

Zucchini Brownies – a favorite

Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients

•2 cups all-purpose flour

•1/3 cup baking cocoa

•1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

•1 teaspoon salt

•2 cups shredded zucchini

•1-1/2 cups sugar

•3/4 cup vegetable oil (I substitute with applesauce.)

•1/2 cup chopped walnuts

•2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting

•1/4 cup butter, cubed

•1 cup sugar

•1/4 cup milk

•1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

•1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

•In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, combine the zucchini, sugar and oil; stir into dry ingredients until blended. Stir in walnuts and vanilla. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° F. for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

•In a large saucepan, melt butter; stir in sugar and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook and stir 1 minute or until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in chips and marshmallows until melted and smooth; add vanilla. Spread over brownies. Sprinkle with walnuts if desired. Yield: 2 dozen.

July 9, 2014 by kharner

Seeing Blessings

The onions are growing and the carrots are delicious. The harvest was rewarding!

As we worked together in the garden harvesting produce, I saw the kids helping and very excited to eat the peas, green beans and carrots. But the blessings I saw were more than met the eye.

As the boys ate the vegetables, they would turn to our dog and feed him some. Yes indeed…our dog likes eating the vegetables! The excitement and enjoyment they displayed for what they had planted and grown was wonderful to witness.

I saw them eager to see how much they had harvested, and how proud they were of what they had grown. They searched the onions in search of the biggest ones, and I told them that this year’s crop finally resembled what our onion crops used to look like. The boys were excited to see the tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins growing “baby” versions, and the ornamental corn tasseling.

What I really saw was time spent together experiencing the hidden joys of what God provides to us. You see to me the real blessing of the CSA come in ways you can’t always explain but rather you feel. Its our family time. Time to talk, laugh, get frustrated but in the end accomplish good things together.

Its watching with pride as the boys learn skills, understand nature, learn good work ethic and follow-through and understand the greater power of God and his overarching control of Mother Nature. As you visit with them and Steve and I throughout the season, we hope in some small way we are able convey some of these blessing of agriculture to you as well.

Garden Science

The green cabbages are growing like crazy. A fun comparison of size vs Sam’s hand. We have been putting egg shells around the cabbages to keep the slugs away. So far it appears to be working. We had issues with them a few weeks ago and then began putting egg shells around the plants to manage this pest.

The potatoes are blooming. You will notice that the different varieties have different colors of blooms. They really are pretty. We still are picking potato bugs and trying to manage this pest!

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.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – One of my favorite garden crops. Remember to wash your vegetables before eating.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – what a beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Add some fresh strawberries or dried fruit to your salads and Enjoy!

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – Remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Some spinach salad ideas from P. Allen Smith.

Beets – One of my very favorite vegetables.

Sugar Snap Peas – Eat the pod and all! No need to peel the pods off – enjoy this vegetable as is! I know many of you look forward to these. We have a few more crops planted – with the hope that you can enjoy them for several weeks.

Sam was pretty proud of how full of peas we were able to get this large container.

Green Beans – A taste of what is to come.

The first green beans of the season. It is funny how the eating vegetables for breakfast sounds gross except for when you are out in the garden in the morning. It just seems delicious!

Summer Squash/Zucchini – A taste to begin the season.

Green Onions – Green onions are young shoots of bulb onions, and are milder tasting than large bulb onions. They have a small, not fully developed bulb end with long green stalks. Both parts are edible. Scallions are considered younger than a green onion because they should not have a bulb, while green onions should have a miniature bulb. Store by wrapping in a plastic bag and store in the vegetable crisper section of the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store away from odor-sensitive foods such as corn and mushrooms, which will absorb the odor of the onions. Can be eaten raw, or you can also grill or saute them.

Cilantro – Fresh cut cilantro can be used in a variety of dishes from salsa to eggs. If you are not planning to use it this week. I would suggest washing and freezing them in an ice-cube tray.

Fresh Arrangement – Hosta Leaves and Tiger Lillies

Recipe of the Week

Preserving your produce when you can’t use it when its fresh is always an interesting balancing act. Here are a few easy ways I address this, and it makes my cooking much easier throughout the year.

Onions - dry them or I wash them, peel off the outside skin and cut off the ends and then chop them with my Pamper Chef chopper and simply freeze for later. It makes it much easier when a recipe calls for onion.

Onions – I wash them, peel off the outside skin, cut off the ends, chop with my Pamper Chef chopper and simply freeze for later. It makes it much easier when a recipe calls for onion – no mess and makes preparation much easier.

Wondering how to preserve your herbs for making salsa or chilli? I wash them and place in a small ice-cube tray and then place in a small Ziploc bag so I have them when I need them.

July 2, 2014 by kharner

Excitement, Anticipation, Hesitation

As we surveyed the garden this week we had a mix of excitement, anticipation and hesitation.

Excitement…We are so excited to see the crops that were emerging. We provided you with a taste of summer squash and/or zucchini. The sugar snap peas are so close and are flowering like crazy. The pea pods will grow at the end of the flower. We began to see cucumbers and tomatoes developing. The potatoes are blooming which is an indicator that they are beginning to produce potatoes under ground. The green beans are flowering which tells us that they to will be growing green beans shortly. We have also seen little pumpkins growing.

Anticipation…It is difficult to not wonder or anticipate what type of crop will be harvested. It is simply so much fun to imagine the possibilities of what the with you have a potential of yielding.

Hesitation…But we hesitate to get to excited. As we have seen this spring, Mother Nature is impossible to predict, and she never takes a day off. High winds, hail or heavy rains could wash all of the crops away and be gone in a matter of minutes. In addition, the potato bugs are always an underlying threat. Constant monitoring is necessary. Otherwise, they will take over and eat not only the potatoes but the tomatoes and other crops.

So as the crops begin to emerge, we continue to pray for cooperative weather, manageable situations and a bountiful harvest to share with all of you.

What’s Growing On

In addition to a lot of weeding, we installed stakes and twine for the tomatoes to grow on. The tomatoes are beginning to flower and are getting small tomatoes on them.

In addition to a lot of weeding, we installed stakes and twine for the tomatoes to grow on. We do this so that the tomatoes stay cleaner. The tomatoes are beginning to flower and are getting small tomatoes on them.

We installed teepee fences for the vines to grow on and to maximize our space. The “teepees” are made out of the hog fences from my parents that they were no longer using. We also are using old pallets for the vines to grow on.

We also help out with the garden at the boys school and were able to plant a few items this past weekend.

Garden Science

We replanted another round of a variety of vegetables. We are hoping that we have more carrots that grow this time around. We are trying a trick that Steve’s grandma used to do – mixing the carrot seeds with sand. Carrot seeds are very small. So when you plant them it is easy to plant them very close together and then they don’t grow well. I am also curious if the sand mixture is more conducive to a higher germination rate.

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.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – One of my favorite garden crops. Remember to wash your vegetables before eating.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – what a beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Add some fresh strawberries or dried fruit to your salads and Enjoy!

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – Remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Some spinach salad ideas from P. Allen Smith.

Beet Leaves – These are young plants that we are thinning out of th rows – eat the whole plant. It will add color and nutrition to your salads. Learn more here.

Summer Squash/Zucchini – A taste to begin the season.

Cilantro – Fresh cut cilantro can be used in a variety of dishes from salsa to eggs. If you are not planning to use it this week. I would wash it and freeze them in an ice-cube tray. See how I do this.

Fresh Arrangement – A pot of herbs for you to enjoy at your home. The pot includes basil, parsley and thyme. Some ways to care for and use them can be found here.

Recipe of the Week

Garden Salad

One of my favorite items out of the garden is fresh salad. Like many of you I to struggle with making the time to prepare a salad each day to bring to work for lunch. So on the weekends, I try to make up a container with a salad that I can bring with me each day to work. This way, each morning I simply need to put it in my cooler and walk out the door.

Another recipe to use your lettuce and spinach with is Lazy Tacos.

My salads are simple. A combination of the lettuces, spinach and beet greens topped with peas, broccoli, carrots, cheese and hard-boiled eggs from our chickens. I then sprinkle some dried fruit on top and sometimes croutons. No salad dressing needed for me. I always know that after eating this I will be happier and healthier. Enjoy!

June 25, 2014 by kharner

What does that mean?

Weeding and worms - that is what is growing on in the garden. Lots and lots of weeding occurred this weekend. The weeds are then fed to the chickens. In addition, the ornamental corn is growing like crazy and a great place for Sam to sit to be shaded from the sun.

Weeding and worms – that is what is growing on in the garden. Lots and lots of weeding occurred this weekend. The weeds are then fed to the chickens. We weed so that our crops receive the nutrients and water from the soil instead of the weeds. The weeds can choke the plant out of its space and cause our crop to die or not be productive. While we are weeding, the boys also have a jar near by to put worms in. Not only do they like to use the worms as bait when we go fishing, but they simply think worms are cool. In addition, the ornamental corn is growing like crazy and a great place for Sam to sit to be shaded from the sun.

As we were working in the garden, the kids asked me some good questions that I thought some of you may like to know as well. So below are a few clarifying terms that I hope are helpful.

Annual – A plant that grows for one growing season. Most of our crops our annuals and are replanted every spring.

Perennials – Plants that grow back on their own for more than two years. A perennial crop produces year after year. Crops that are examples of perennials would be rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries and blueberries.

Germinate – When a seed that you have planted begins to grow.

Replant – When a seed does not sprout. We had to replant some seeds because they rotted in the soil. The soil was to wet over an extended period of time because of all the rain we received. Once the soil dried enough, we replanted it in the soil. Now we are hoping that it will germinate or begin to grow.

Pests – We deal with a variety of pests in our garden. A pest is a destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food or livestock. Pests we deal with our weeds, insects (ex. potato bugs, squash bugs) and wildlife (rabbits and deer).

What’s Growing On

We also were replanting different crops. The constant wet weather caused some of our seeds to rot and not grow in the garden. So we replanted some of these crops this past week.

Not only do the insects like to eat our crops. So do the rabbits, see what they did to the cabbage.

This is the way the cabbage looked before the rabbit enjoyed a meal.

Garden Science

Potato bugs can lay up to 800 eggs at one time. While everyone has been diligent in searching for the adult potato bugs and the eggs, we weren’t fortunate enough to find all of them.

Sam is holding four stages of potato bugs. On the leaf are the eggs, the largest bug is the adult and on either side of the adult are red dots which are different stages of baby potato bugs. We have been researching our options and recognize that constant monitoring is necessary so that an infestation does not occur. An infestation will cause them to not only eat the potato plants but other crops as well.

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.

Rhubarb – one pound equals about 3 cups. Wash, cut the ends off, cut off any bad parts. No need to peel. You can freeze it in a Ziploc bag (no blanching) and use for months to come. Our family loves it in muffins, breads, jam, pie, crisp, sauce and torte. Check out our recipe ideas below.

Asparagus – Fresh cut asparagus from the Chute’s Farm Fresh Gardens in Aitkin, Minnesota. These farmers are friends of ours who we know from Farm Bureau and also the Minnesota Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program. They had some extra they wanted to share with us, and the delivery time worked out well. Enjoy! See how asparagus is harvested in California.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – One of my favorite garden crops. Remember to wash your vegetables before eating. See how lettuce is grown throughout the year so it is available in our grocery stores even on our cold Minnesota days.

Prizeleaf Lettuce – what a beautiful colored lettuce to add to the salads. Add some fresh strawberries or dried fruit to your salads and Enjoy!

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – Remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Some spinach salad ideas from P. Allen Smith.

Beet Leaves – Many times I have seen in high-end restaurants beet leaves in my salads. Well here is your opportunity. These are young plants that we are thinning out of th rows – eat the whole plant. It will add color and nutrition to your salads. Learn more here.

The boys gather, clean and pack the eggs. They hope you enjoy them!

Eggs – Enjoy some fresh eggs from our chickens. The varied sizes and colors come from a variety of breeds of chickens as well as different ages of chickens. Please feel free to ask the boys about the different sizes. They will be happy to identify the hen that laid it.

Fresh cut arrangement – Hosta leaves…these last forever in a vase of water. After a week, give them a fresh-cut, and they will last longer. The greenery in the house is a day brightener.

Recipe of the Week

This is Keith’s favorite – Rhubarb Torte. It is one of my favorites as well! We were so excited to have some tonight that we ate two pieces for “supper” before you all picked up your boxes tonight!

Rhubarb Torte

Mix together the crust until crumbly
•1 cup flour; •1/2 cup butter; •Dash of salt;
•2 tablespoons sugar;

Pat it into a 9x13 pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Pat it into a 9×13 pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

While the crust is baking mix together the next layer. •1 1/2 cups sugar; •2 tablespoons flour;
•1/3 cup cream; •3 egg yolks beaten; •3-4 cups rhubarb; Cook until thickened. Pour over crust after it has baked. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.

Mix on high until stiff – 3 egg whites.

Then add and beat into the egg whites:
•1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar; •Dash of vanilla; •Dash of salt; •1/3 cup powdered sugar.
Spread over middle rhubarb section. Bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes to brown slightly the meringue.

Fresh out of the oven.

Rhubarb Torte

Crust

Mix together until crumbly

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Middle

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cream
3 egg yolks beaten
3-4 cups rhubarb

Cook until thickened. Pour over crust after it has baked. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.

Top

3 egg whites (whipped until stiff)

Then add and beat into the egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash of vanilla
Dash of salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Spread over middle rhubarb section. Bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes to brown slightly the meringue.

In the end, I have happy boys eating rhubarb!

More Recipes

Thank you to one of our shareholders Tracy Modory for sharing this easy jam recipe that was a success in her house. Looks delicious!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Refrigerator Jam

1 1/3 cup strawberries
2/3 cup rhubarb
2 tablespoons honey (or to taste)
2 T chia seeds

Process all ingredients in a blender, transfer to jars and refrigerate overnight. The chia seeds will gel, thickening the fruit puree. No need to cook the fruit. This can also be frozen after refrigerated overnight and thawed when ready to use.

June 17, 2014 by kharner

Weather Watching

The weather the last few days has been tumultuous. During these types of moments, I find myself frequently checking weather, checking social media and watching the clouds. You might find this odd. I find it normal. Because it is what I grew up with – checking and watching weather.

I remember many moments where we would watch the clouds roll over with varying results. The ones I remember the most are the clouds that were green and eerie which would burst open to the ground full of rain, wind and hail. After the storm, we would go to the fields to check the crops. More often than not, we would find the crops shredded by the hail and laying flat because of the rain, wind and hail. To say this was disheartening is an understatement – money and time gone. All of that hard work was gone: dad planting, mom doing field work, my brothers and I picking rock (walking back and forth in the fields to throw rocks larger than a baseball into a loader bucket or hay rack – this is done so the rocks will not break a very expensive part of the equipment) and walking beans (hoeing and/or spraying weeds that would choke out the plants resulting in a poor yield – the sole purpose was to kill the weeds). Most years my parents had crop insurance on the crops, and we replanted the crops. This post by a friend of mine may help explain. But what people don’t understand about farming is a farmer is at the mercy of the weather, and Mother Nature never takes a day off.

What does all of this weather mean for our CSA? Well if we were to get damaging wind, rain and hail – there would be no crop to harvest. We would have to replant and wait for it to regrow. We have no crop insurance for our crops. That is why we were out during “breaks” in last night’s storm – harvesting. I was watching the weather and fearing wind and hail were going to damage the crop last night. We were fortunate that this time we did not receive the damaging storms. We instead received about 2 inches of rain this weekend and a 1/2 inch of rain yesterday. A far cry from the 8 inches – 12 inches of rain some received in southwestern Minnesota.

So how do farmers handle not being able to control Mother Nature. Well, most of the farmers I know have a very strong faith in God because they understand that God will provide in his own way. With that said, many of the farmers I know are also avid weather watchers. While it may be out of our control, Mother Nature is still simply amazing to watch.

What’s Growing On

At 6 a.m. before the rainstorms, Steve was out hilling the potatoes and tilling some weeds. We hill the potatoes plants to provide a better growing medium and area for the plant to grow potatoes. Potatoes grow under the soil.

At 6 a.m. before the rainstorms this weekend, Steve was out hilling the potatoes and tilling some weeds. We hill the potatoes plants to provide a better growing medium and area for the plant to grow potatoes. Potatoes grow under the soil.

This blade is attached to the back of the tiller and pushes the soil to the sides thus "hilling" the potato rows.

This blade is attached to the back of the tiller and pushes the soil to the sides thus “hilling” the soil around the potato plants in their rows and providing more area for the potatoes to grow.

Steve and the boys installed the cucumber trellis this weekend. This will allow the cucumber plants to grow on the fence. The cucumbers will grow and drop between the slats in this old fence. Thus keeping the cucumber cleaner since they are off of the ground. The fences are upcycled from my mom and dad’s farm.

Sam was busy inspecting the crops this weekend. We had a lot of questions regarding the mulch and why we have mulch on some of the crops. We mulch the vines and tomatoes to help with weed and plant disease control as well as regulate moisture to the plants so that they grow more consistently. For example, inconsistent moisture can cause splitting and blossom end rot issues with potatoes. In addition, especially with the tomatoes, the mulch helps to keep those vegetables from getting as much soil on them – thus keeping them cleaner.

An interesting comparison, Sam’s hand compared to the cotyledons of a pumpkin plant. Cotyledons are the first leaves of the plant to emerge from the ground.

Garden Science

Keith and Sam burying egg shells buy some of the Big Moon pumpkins. They have decided to bury eggs shells by these two pumpkins all summer and see if this will make a difference in the size of the pumpkins at harvest time.

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.

Rhubarb – one pound equals about 3 cups. Wash, cut the ends off, cut off any bad parts damaged by wind or hail, chop into 1/4 – 1/2 inch pieces. No need to peel You can freeze it in a Ziploc bag (no blanching) and use for months to come. Our family loves it in muffins, breads, jam, pie, crisp, sauce and torte. Check out our recipe ideas at Taste of Home.

Asparagus – Fresh cut asparagus from the Chute’s Farm Fresh Gardens in Aitkin, Minnesota. These farmers are friends of ours from northern Minnesota. They had some extra they wanted to share with us, and the delivery time worked out well. Enjoy! We love to eat it cooked and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Here is some fun information about asparagus.

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce – One of my favorite garden crops. 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. See how lettuce is grown throughout the year so it is available in our grocery stores even on our cold Minnesota days.

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Check out some of

Radishes – wash, cut off the tops and also the bottoms, slice and enjoy in salads. Some enjoy dipping in salt.

Fresh cut arrangement – Hosta leaves…these last forever in a vase of water. After a week, give them a fresh-cut, and they will last longer. The greenery in the house is a day brightener.

Recipe of the Week

Thank you to one of our shareholders Amy Sillanpa for sharing one of her mom’s favorite rhubarb recipes!

Rhubarb Crunch

1 cup flour

3/4 cup uncooked oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

4 cups diced rhubarb

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix first four ingredients until crumbly. Press half in 9 inch square greased pan. Cover with 4 cups rhubarb. Combine last four ingredients and cook until thick and clear. Add 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring. Pour over rhubarb. Top with the rest of crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serve war or cool with whipped topping.

June 11, 2014 by kharner

First Delivery

Welcome to our CSA! Yes, the boys do help in fact they were out before 7 a.m. picking your rhubarb. The leaves are so big on these plants. I remember as a child using the leaves to make “clothes.” They definitely would not work as a prom dress!

How Does this Work – Few Reminders as we Begin

Welcome to all of our shareholders. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you and for you through out the growing season. We work hard to earn your trust and respect in the food that we grow for your families and ours!

All of you should have received an email with more details of dates and specifics with the CSA. We are excited to see the daily changes and growth in the garden. Look for weekly blog posts for guidance throughout the season which will provide you with updates, ideas for your box of produce and recipes.

Pick-up and Delivery

Remember that pick-up and deliveries will be on the schedule you have arranged with Harner Brothers CSA with harvest on Wednesday evenings – please note the exceptions to this which were in the email. The first exception is next week which will be TUESDAY night. It is your responsibility to know that the pick-up or drop-off time will occur at the agreed upon time, and it is your responsibility as a shareholder to know this and be responsible for the produce at that time.

If you are unable to utilize your share that week, it is still your responsibility: find someone else to pick it up or donate it to the food shelf. Each box is labeled for each family. The same boxes will be used for your family throughout the season. Boxes and containers should be returned the following week. Bags will only be used once.

Garden Science

A lot has been done in the garden this past week including weeding, insect control and planting another crop of snap peas, green beans, beets, lettuces and spinach.

Our biggest challenge this week are potato bugs! We have done a lot of research over the last few years and will keep you posted as we work through this. Last year, we planted dill and marigolds with the hope that these plants would draw in beneficial insects to eat the potato bugs and the potato bug larvae. To say we were surprised and disappointed that the potato bugs survived the winter, well that simply is a gross understatement. Every night, we are out there picking potato bugs and their eggs off of the potato plants. What is even more frustrating is how they eat the potato plants as they emerge from the ground, and before the potato plants emerged, the potato bugs were eating the tomato plants.

Just a few of the potato bugs from one of the nights pickings.

The potato bugs must taste so bad that the chickens won’t even eat them. So how much do we dislike them…the boys smashed them with a hammer, if that gives you any indication.

Keith and Sam assisted Steve in putting up a fence for the peas to grow on. Yes we are upcycling an old child gate for this purpose.

Other garden activities included installing a fence for the peas to grow on. Yes, we are upcycling an old child gate for this purpose.

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.

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – I love this beautiful red lettuce leaf. It adds such a wonderful color to your salads.

Spinach – remember to wash before eating. A combination of these vegetables will make such a wonderful meal! Check out some of Martha Stewart’s spinach recipes.

Beet/Beet Leaves – Many times I have seen in high-end restaurants beet leaves in my salads. Well here is your opportunity. These are young plants that we are thinning out of the rows – eat the whole plant. It will add color and nutrition to your salads. Learn more here.

Radishes – wash, cut off the tops and also the bottoms, slice and enjoy in salads. Some enjoy dipping in salt.

Herbs – chives – wash then chop up chives into small pieces.

Eggs – from time to time we will provide a few fresh eggs in your box from our chicken flock. We hope you enjoy them!

These eggs were all collected this week. Talk about variety from pee wee to extra-large.

Fresh cut arrangement – Peonies and Hosta leaves…these last forever in a vase of water. After a week, give them a fresh-cut, and they will last longer. The greenery in the house is a day brightener.

Recipe of the Week

Rhubarb Torte

One of Sam’s favorites from a dear friend from Wisconsin. We hope your family also enjoys this super easy quick rhubarb dessert.

Wash your rhubarb cutting off the end where I pulled it from the ground and give a fresh-cut to the top. No need to peel. Simply cut into small 1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces.

Combine 2 c. flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons milk, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 cup butter. Cut it together using a pie cutter.

After you have combined the crust ingredients spread it out in the pan and gently pat it.

Place 6 cups of cut rhubarb on top of crust. Sprinkle 6 ounce package of strawberry or raspberry Jello over the rhubarb. Next in a separate bowl combine 2 cups sugar, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter and cut together using your pie cutter. Gently spread over your rhubarb and Jello. Place in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Top with ice cream or Cool Whip. A happy kid is my result. Hope it is yours as well…Enjoy!

Rhubarb Torte

Combine using a pie cutter:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup butter

Mix above ingredients and pat into a 9×13 pan.

6 cups cut rhubarb, cut into about 1/2 inch pieces
6 ounce package of strawberry or raspberry Jello

Place rhubarb over crust then sprinkle Jello over the rhubarb.

Top with:

2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter

Mix and put on top of Jello.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

June 2, 2014 by kharner

The Mad Dash

The spinach, lettuce and radishes are looking great. The rain, heat and humidity have given a needed boost to these plants given our late spring.

If I could have only captured the moment on camera on Saturday night as we were attempting the mad dash to finish planting our tomatoes. The scattered thunderstorms had been popping up all afternoon, and it was one of those days where the directions of the storms were a bit unpredictable.

Steve and Sam were getting a few more supplies from our garage which left Keith and I in the garden. You also need to know that weather has always fascinated me. If given the opportunity, I would have loved to have been a tornado chaser.

So, I looked south across the section and saw heavy rain showers rolling across the field. If you have never seen this, it is a sight to see. It is one thing when it is a light rain (that is a somewhat calm beautiful view). But when the clouds are dark and you can hear the wind blowing and the rain hitting the ground over a mile away, you know it is time to find shelter FAST. Keith had never really experienced this, but thankfully, it was one of those moments when he listened to me – the first time. Perhaps it had something to do with the tone in my voice:) So anyways, I looked south and saw the storm rolling in very quickly. We rapidly picked up our equipment and sprinted into our garage, barely making it before you could hear the thunder of rain hitting the ground. There are many times in my life that I was not so lucky and ended up soaking wet to the bone.

This time we were a little wet, and I was laughing so hard after I crossed the threshold of the garage because of the crazy mad dash to the “finish” line. Keith on the other hand was asking me if we were going to have a tornado. I told him no – not to worry and said now you will always understand what it looks like to see a storm rolling in. It appears I will attempt another mad dash to finish the tomato planting this week between storms.

Yet, just another example of the crazy life and family experiences from our home.

We have had about 1.3 inches of rain in the last 24 hours.

We have had about 1.5 inches of rain since Saturday. This is less than others around us have received. We are thankful for what we have been given.

Crop Update

The rhubarb is growing like crazy while the other crops are trying to catch up. The boys were excited to share some with their Grandma. In addition, we do sell rhubarb for $3 per pound. Part of the proceeds go towards disaster relief and Gillette Children’s Hospital.

The boys were checking out the cucumbers that have emerged and doing some weeding so the weeds don’t overtake the crops.

We finished planting several varieties of tomatoes on Monday night. What a good feeling to have them in the ground!

Your Boxes

All of you should have received an email with more details of dates and specifics with the CSA. The planting was late this year, but the heat and humidity of the last two weeks have really helped out many of the crops. In addition, we received over an inch of rain since last night.

We are excited to see the daily changes and growth in the garden. Look for weekly blog posts for guidance through the season which will provide you with updates, ideas for your box of produce and recipes.

Pick-up and Delivery

Remember that pick-up and deliveries will be on the schedule you have arranged with Harner Brothers CSA with harvest on Wednesday evenings. It is your responsibility to know that the pick-up or drop-off time will occur at the agreed upon time, and it is your responsibility as a shareholder to know this and be responsible for the produce at that time.

May 28, 2014 by kharner

Window of Opportunity

When planting season rolls around it feels somewhat like ABC’s Wide World of Sports would say, “The thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat.” Meaning if you can beat the weather and get your crop in the ground, you feel victorious, thankful and relieved. Where as, if Mother Nature is relentless with poor weather conditions and the window of opportunity to plant is slim to none, it definitely feels like the agony of defeat. But in agriculture, you can’t give up. Persistence and optimism is a must to complete the task at hand.

The weather has definitely jumped from winter to spring. The plants are growing like crazy with the highs in the low 80s with humidity. If this weather continues, it is likely that the first delivery will be the first week of June. Look for additional details in your email box this weekend.

Here is an update on what was accomplished this past week. A lot of crops are growing and changing. Pray for cooperative weather throughout the growing season. After all, we can’t control Mother Nature. We can only control our attitudes and positive outlook.

What’s Growing

The rhubarb is ready to be harvested. We do sell additional rhubarb throughout the growing season for $3 per pound. Part of the proceeds is donated to charities the boys have chosen: American Red Cross and Gillette’s Children’s Hospital.

Great news, the soil was dry enough this weekend to complete 90 percent of the planting. Here you see us planting purple cabbage. All that we have left are the tomato and pepper plants.

Here is a carrot that emerged from the ground this weekend. The white root is what will grow into the carrot.

This is a small radish. The red root will grow into the delicious vegetable, or as the boys say, “the hot and spicy vegetable.”

In addition to the radishes, the spinach, peas and some lettuce varieties are growing in the new raised bed.

The crops we planted the weekend of May 18 emerged from the ground today. Here Sam is examining a green bean plant. Note the brown part by his fingers is the seed pod that is still attached to the plant.

Planting Update

5-24-14 Keith, Steve and Sam measuring between mulch rows

The boys learn a variety of skills while in the garden. Here they are learning how to read a tape measure as Steve measures the distance needed between the rows that have mulch.

Underneath the mulch, we installed a drip irrigation system so that we can supply the vine and tomato crops with a more consistent water supply. Throughout the season, I have the boys researching the crops to learn more about their water and nutrient needs. Look for the kids’ updates in future blogs.

There is a mulching machine on the market, but we have not yet invested in it. Instead we are building strong boys. They like to pull the roll across the field to help build their strength for the sports they enjoy playing.

After transplanting our vine plants and planting some seeds, we watered and fertilized them.

We also planted a few more seeds including cucumbers, several pumpkin and gourd varieties and broom corn.

Of course, all work and no play doesn’t work well. The boys again found great joy in looking for worms and creating their own “pool.”

Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Garden Omelet

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What’s Growing On

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

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Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Zucchini Brownies

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Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

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What’s Growing On

Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Garden Salad

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What’s Growing On

Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Rhubarb Torte

More Recipes

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What’s Growing On

Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Rhubarb Crunch

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How Does this Work – Few Reminders as we Begin

Pick-up and Delivery

Garden Science

Boxes of Produce

Recipe of the Week

Rhubarb Torte

Rhubarb Torte

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Crop Update

Your Boxes

Pick-up and Delivery

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What’s Growing

Planting Update

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