Well, the pea plants finally conceded to entropy via powdery mildew, as they do when they’re over it. They had a good run!

There were many beautiful moments to appreciate this week.

The smoke brought a spell of subtle but notable bad vibes that felt great to have behind us; when the air cleared it was easy to be grateful for air that doesn’t hurt. There are almost no mosquitoes, The house wrens sound like robots, the deer fence keeps working, the day to day farm life is less dramatic these days. Kristin did find some ominously-sized bear scat in the back meadow, though.

Inside Box Eight

• Beans
• Cabbage
• Eggplant – If you got a big one, it’s name is “Thanos.” Great marinated & grilled. Or breaded and fried. Or baked.
• Shallots – whatever you don’t want to use now, can be simply left on your counter; the tops will dry. (Don’t put them in the fridge, as the tops can get sorta slimy.)
• Broccoli Microgreens
  “These offer a concentrated dose of nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium. They are particularly rich in sulforaphane, a compound with potential cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties. These tiny greens can also support heart health, improve digestion, and boost the immune system” So, yeah.
• Basil – complements tomatoes, if you don’t turn into a pesto instead. Don’t put it in a cold fridge or it will blacken.
• Cucumbers – not too many, but we sure were tempted; we have too many and this may be a cry for help right here
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes

Enjoy the air, the beauty, and your food!

Another summer week flew by with astonishing, bewildering speed. Heat. Humidity. Smoke. Market. Rain. Weeds. Crops. Kids.

And sky.

inside Box Eight

• Tomatoes – just a couple for now. They’re not quite ripe yet; let them finish their thang on your countertop for a few days … experiment, become a scientist; more are coming …
• Cherry tomatoes
• Potatoes 
• Cucumbers –Let us know if you want to make pickles; we will hook you up!
• Zucchini 
• Curly Blue Kale
• Peas – winding down (??!)
• Beans – winding up
• Red Onion
  That summer salad that is just lightly dressed cucumber, tomato, and red onion tossed together ? Mmmm.
• Radish microgreens 
• Garlic
  • Recommendation: Toum – a garlicky mayonnaise like condiment
    I had success wit t-his method and recipe. Recipes commonly call for removing the green garlic germ but I did not do this and think that since the garlic is so fresh, this step could be skipped. 
    
    Immersion blender method:
    
    44g garlic cold garlic
    4g Diamond Crystal kosher salt
    Cold 30g fresh juice
    12g ice
    Cold 210g neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola (I put mine in the fridge)
    
    Pulse garlic, salt, lemon juice and ice to make a slurry then add oil in a steady thin stream. I move the blender head up and down as I’m blending.

What happened this week?! I don’t even know. Let’s look for photographic clues.

Looks like mostly I tried to get a picture of a dragonfly on an anise hyssop flower and failed to ever get it in focus. Hmm, what else.

Today I found the current Secret Nest that several chickens have been secreting their eggs in – more than a dozen piled up. If someone is sitting on them tonight I’ll let it ride, otherwise we will claim our eggs for consumption. 

It rained more. Ranger chased a lizard, stalked a rabbit, and ate a squirrel. We foraged for berries but came up pretty scant, then returned to discover that our own raspberry bushes were abundantly producing. The chokecherries are just starting to ripen. Rog made coffee ice cream  WWOOFer Grayson and Rog helped battle the quackgrass rhizomes on the western field edge (the one that killed our mower), and we put beets, daikons, and turnips in there.

Oh! And the mega-weed row, between the vining squash and cucumbers, was vanquished without tractor or mower: Kristin led the WWOOFers in stomping down the beastly ones, inward, prior to steamrolling and covering the whole mess up with a roll of landscape fabric – choking then off from the sun, so they can return to the soil and the vining crops will have a lovely open area upon which to sprawl.

We want to start some fall lettuce but it’s so hot that they don’t wanna germinate.The tomatoes are just starting to finally ripen .. the frequent cloud cover has slowed their roll considerably. The peas somehow keep staggering on like zombies.Unstoppable, delicious zombies.

Today’s harvest went quickly and easily – The GrandSehrs hung with The Boys, while we knocked out the harvest and prepping and packing with Marcia, Marty, WWOOFer Rog & WWOOFer Grayson  – plus CSA Member & Southside Dropsite Host Extraordinaire Walter, who camped by the River last night, where he discovered a beautiful chicken of the woods mushroom to share with us all!

A lovely day to end a lovely week at the Farm, in the Woods, beneath the Sky and among y’all on the Earth.

Enjoy your veggies!

inside Box Seven

• Chicken of the Woods Mushroom – tear into strips, sautee in butter for ten minutes. Don’t dry em out, so don’t be shy with the butter. Or add water if needed.
• a tomato, or some cherry tomatoes – the very first to ripen!
• a Cabbage – is it time for cole slaw? There will likely be more later. But not as many as last year.
• Sunflower MicroGreens – a triple serving, with the shells carefully removed by yours truly
• Garlic
• Onions
• Zucchinis
• Cucumbers – if you want to make pickles, use the short ones. Fridge pickles are easy and delicious. Or just snack on them.
• Eggplant
• a Pound of Peas – from the Tunnel of Eternal Peas seen above