Week Thirteen

In the Bag
~Edamame (fresh soy beans)
~Cucumbers
~Potatoes
~Carrots
~Onions
~Cherry Tomatoes (Black Cherries and Sungolds)
~Tomatoes of varying sizes and colors.
~Eggplant
~Green Peppers
~Potatoes
~Summer Squash
~Sweet Corn
~Basil

Farm Report

The weather has begun slipping toward fall here on the farm. Temperatures at night are slipping below forty degrees, and I am purposely writing this before checking to see if it really frosted last night, so I don’t have to tell you about the dead vegetables. We covered what we could, but the squash field is just too immense to tackle. If it did frost, we will get what we can from it, and say “better luck next year!”

We had a disappointing few hours digging potatoes yesterday…the bed we dug just didn’t yield as many as the last three. Either we were digging the wrong spots, or these varieties just didn’t do that well.

You may have noticed your delivery driver has changed. Matt has taken over the Monday deliveries for the rest of the season, as I have secured a teaching job at UW-Stout that doesn’t allow me to drive on Mondays. Looks like Thursdays are out for me too and our esteemed helper Britta is off to new adventures, so my brother, Louis, will be taking over the Thursday drops.

We have a new volunteer arriving today who will be here the rest of September helping out around the farm.
Edamame
If you have never eaten edamame, you will be in for a treat…but it’s important to cook it right! Steam the entire shells for about five minutes, drain the water, sprinkle with sea salt if you have it. To eat, pull the beans from the shell with your teeth…the pods just break open to let you do this.

Then discard the pod, don’t eat them. You could, but they are chewy and not very good. These are just a one-time treat for you to try. Enjoy.

Harvest Party September 19th

Don’t forget our farm harvest party will be September 19th…we hope you can make it. Festivities will start mid-afternoon sometime with pumpkin and squash harvesting and hay ride, then followed by potluck and cider pressing. Maybe our friend, Nick will even bring his potato-gun. It’s sure to be a good time.

It may be almost be too late for chilled soup, but try this one: Chilled Dill Soup (begin four hours in advance so it can cook then chill thoroughly)

1 cup chopped onion
4 cups sliced raw potato
3 cups water
2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
1 medium cucumber
1 ½ tsp salt
fresh black pepper
2-3 Tbs fresh dill, chopped
freshly chopped chives or scallions

Place onion, potatoes, water and salt in a saucepan. Simmer until potatoes are soft.
Cool above mixture to room temperature. Puree in a blender until very smooth, adding pieces of cucumber as you puree. Whisk in milk.
Whisk in sour cream until uniformly blended. Add dill and pepper. Chill until very cold.
Taste to correct salt and pepper. Serve topped with chives or scallions.