All posts by QueSehraFarm

CSA Week 3 Newsletter

The Weekly News:
 

It was a mostly gray and rainy week; good for mosquitoes, early season cool weather crops, and harvesting. A black bear yearling had been hanging around the field, but not messing with the crops … the neighbor saw him hightailing it out and across the road, so he may have been introduced to the electric fence.

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We had a booth at the farmers market in St. Croix Falls on Saturday morning; it was our first market we have ever attended, and it went great. Met a lot of interesting folks and sold almost everything we brought with. Worth waking up at 5am to harvest for!

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The weeding and mulching continued throughout the week, using our giant rolls of paper as a weed barrier beneath the hay mulch.

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On Monday, we went to pick up a free children’s playhouse (to repurpose as a chicken coop) from Craigslist with Kristin’s dad – thinking that it might take a few hours to cut it down from its stilts and get it out of there on his trailer.
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However, the thing was built to last thousand years and Wade thousand or so pounds. In spite of a brilliant plan to get it cut down and lowered onto the trailer, it wound up flipping over and smashing into the ground just as we almost succeeded in our mission. (for the record, our approach was sound, but the owner’s son failed to keep one of the support beams in place …)
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Six hours after we started, we finally had it wrestled back up right, secured on the trailer, and ready for the road.
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Of course then the truck stalled out for a bit, but we got it running again before finding out just what AAA would have to say about towing our billion-pound 8 1/2-foot-wide future chicken coop the rest of the way out to the farm.
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We were joined new a new WWOOFer yesterday -Abe from Minnesota. He’s already been a big help in the field and in the processing area, as well as proved a quick study in splitting firewood with the Monster Maul (is time to start getting wood split and drying for the cold weather not all that far away)
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The Weekly Box:


New this week:

  • Cilantro – add it fresh to stir fry, salads, salads,etc. the exit with cream cheese and spread it on a bagel. Great with Mexican food.
  • Turnips (white) – oh my god. You have never tasted turnips like these. You can literally just eat them raw like apples, and enjoy them. Seriously. 
  • Turnips (purple top) – a more standard flavored turnip, still delicious but perhaps not as likely to be enjoyed raw and alone. Delicious sliced up in salads or stirfried. 
  • Kale (dinosaur, dwarf curly blue, and red Russian varieties) – there is so much you can do with kale! We enjoy it as baked kale chips, cut up in salads, or as cooked greens. Can be steamed, sautéed, or snacked on raw. Great in soups too!

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Salad Mix of the Week: with red ruby & oak leaf lettuce, baby kale, beet greens, and baby bok choi.
Familiar faces in your box include:

  • Pea tendrils – lots of them! Go great in a stir-fry, as a raw snack, or added into the salad mix. 
  • Arugula – you know the drill; add some for peppery green goodness in sandwiches, salads, pesto, etc 
  • Curly cress – very spicy! Add some kick to any recipe. Maybe not desserts. Unless you really want to I guess. cut off the ends and put in a case or glass of water, if you want it to perk up overnight. 
  • Redhead lettuce – add to the salad mix or use separately on anything where lettuce is tasty. 
  • Broccoli – the spring broccoli is starting to run out, but still producing side shoots – and the next wave of fall broccoli seeds have just sprouted in the greenhouse. 
  • Bok choi, bagged with Tatsoi – these Asian greens have been slightly damaged by flea beetles, but are still perfectly tasty. Perfect for stir fry, or raw, or chopped up in salads.
Thank you for returning your share boxes for us to reuse! See you soon,
the Sehrs
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CSA Week 2!

Howdy everyone!

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The Weekly News

What a rainy week! Thanks to our sandy soil we never flood, so the deluge has been nice for the crops … but it’s also been a joy for the weeds, which can seemingly quadruple in size overnight. So, it’s no surprise that we did a whole lot of hand weeding this week, as well as mulching like crazy to prevent future weedsplosions.
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We also scored two free massive rolls of paper from Craigslist (each weighs 450 pounds!), and rigged up a hanging spool system beneath the semi trailer “barn” on the edge of the field.
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This will allow us to easily pull out 200 feet at a time, to serve as weed barrier beneath the mulch, in the walkways between rows.
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You might think that moving to the sticks from South Minneapolis would result in some comparatively silent nights; nope. The nocturnal sounds here have been off the hook and fascinating, especially recently with the bright moon and the increase in animal activity this brings. We live on the upper edge of the Saint Croix River valley, pretty much surrounded by wooded state land. The nights here are busier than Chicago-Lake Liquors. There are foxes that scream like possessed babies, coyotes that yelp and howl, black bears that are silent until you startle them and they go crashing through the forest like drunken sasquatches, whip-poor-wills that loudly call their own name all throughout the night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTATW8H8zpQ), several types of owl, choruses of crickets & tree frogs, and some downright mysterious sounds.

For example, there was the mystery of the all-night drumming we heard coming from the direction of the river, on multiple nights. We would’ve thought it was hippies camping out and having a drum circle, if it had not been so continuous – going on steadily all through the night, and if it had any discernable rhythm. But the more we listened to the constant drumming sound, the more convinced we were that it was not likely actual drums being played, and that itwas coming from more than one direction along the river. If it weren’t for a lucky result when I tried Googling “drumming sound Saint Croix River, we would likely have never figured it out …

So, sheepshead fish live in the river, and they spawn in June, preferring exactly the type of environment found directly across from us. Sheepshead are the only freshwater member of the Drum Fish family – so named for the loud drumming sound the males make when spawning (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/freshwaterdrum.html). This is little-known phenomenon is almost certainly what we’ve been hearing, drumming up from the river bottoms.

The weather was also quite the noisemaker the last few night – the wind was insane Monday night; we woke up Tuesday morning to find that the mosquito fortress my sister gave us as a wedding present had been utterly demolished, as if by a truck. Fortunately, the mosquito population has really been decimated by the swarms of dragonflies, and we won’t need the shelter just to avoid death by insectile anemia.

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And last night, we were bombarded by hail – which is plenty loud on our metal roof, as well as on the shipping container and our collection of 55 gallon drums …
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Hmmm, in other news we saw a dung beetle on the side of the field and Gabe was amazed, not knowing they existed around here. There was a giant spider that caught and killed a cricket. A carrion beetle with orange symbiotic mites A pair of pileated woodpeckers, Fresh black bear tracks. Sandhill cranes, dinosaur-bird style. We painted a banner for the Saint Croix Falls Farmer’s Market.
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Our first  WWOOFers moved on after helping out tons, headed for the gorgeous Michigan Upper Peninsula.
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Widget hunted rabbits. We got the well pump to run off the solar power system instead of the generator (thanks to a friend of the farm that donated both a second battery and a powerful inverter!). The broccoli pulled a sneaky trick and went to flower under the row cover when we had our backs turned – the few days of heat kicked it into warp drive – we’ll still get smaller side shoots from it, but we plan to plant a second wave of fall broccoli to come up after the heat of summer has passed by.
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The Weekly Box
It’s salad season – enjoy your fresh local greens while they are here, because soon the summer heat will come and end many of these … the bag of spring salad mix this week contains oak leaf lettuce, beet greens, sunflower greens, pea tendrils, baby swiss chard, baby curly & red Russian kale, wild spinach, mizuna (the frilly, spicy stuff), and a little bit of amaranth leaf.
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Some stuff you had last week is back this week, including:

  • Radishes (Hailstone, Easter Egg, & Champion varieties)spicytastic if eaten fresh, mellow & mild if roasted – kind of like small, slightly radishy potatoes.

  • Radish greens – these make great pesto – you could combine them with the arugula for an absolutely delicious pesto. (You can also use pea(nuts or sunflower seeds instead of spendy pine nuts!) Try to use them in the next couple of days, and don’t try to eat them fresh – they need to be cooked to be enjoyed.
New stuff this week:

  • Broccoli – the sneaky stuff started flowering on us while hiding beneath the row cover, but don’t fear – the yellow flowers are not only pretty, but pretty tasty … every part of the broccoli plant is edible, including the entire stalk. You don’t see the flowers in grocery stores because they are fragile and don’t keep forever or ship across the country. Enjoy eating the flowers; they are a hallmark of fresh and local broccoli! You can oil up the entire broccoli bouquets and grill them whole, or cut them up – the thicker parts of the stalks can be chopped up and stir-fried, or add them to soup.IMG_8252
  • Baby bok choi – steam or stir fry! Would be good with the radishes and broccoli for sure.
  • Ruby Red Lettuce – it’s red, it’s lettuce, it’s delicious. Nuff said.
  • Ruby Streaks Lettuce – you could use these to make lettuce wraps/boats filled with tuna or egg salad!
  • Arugula  – Add to the salad mix, or to radish leaf pesto, or eat it straight, or on sandwiches!
  • Spring Onion(s) – just a li’l teaser, more coming next week!

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Send us your pics of what you create with your produce! Don’t forget to return your boxes when you pick up your new one – see you all soon!
– the Sehrs

 

 

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CSA Week 1

So it begins!
We had beautiful weather for our first harvest of the year, and help from a pair of WWOOFers that are spending two weeks camping, helping, and learning on the farm with us.

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Similar to the two-month “working honeymoon” (http://www.quesehrafarm.com/category/honeymoon/) we took this winter, Tom & Taylor are traveling around the country for up to a year working on farms for room and board – before returning to Iowa to start their own farm up.

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Your box this week contains the earliest risers of the season:

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  • Radish Greens – these are super nutritious, and delicious in stir fry, soup, etc. One simple preparation is to chop them up with a clove or two of garlic, cook them together in a little oil for a couple of minutes with some salt or soy sauce.They cook down in size considerably, and have a much more pleasant taste and texture cooked than they do fresh. Cooking with also hide the minor blemishes caused by hungry flea beetles (the holey damage is purely cosmetic, and very difficult to avoid in with organic practices). Eat them in the next couple of days – they don’t keep for long! Some recipes can be found here: http://www.thekitchn.com/dont-toss-those-radish-greens-145724
  • Curly Cress – horseradishy goodness. Too strong and peppery to throw into the salad mix we thought, but delicious once you taste test a bit of it and experiment. Try adding some to sandwiches, deviled eggs, steak, soup, or salads, in a quantity that suits your tastes.
  • Sunflower greens – great for snacking on plain, on sandwiches, or added to your salad mix. We prefer them raw and have not much enjoyed them when cooked – they lose their appealing texture.
  • Green onions – can be used whole or chopped up, sauteed, added to your radish greens, or perhaps chopped up with oil and vinegar to make a dressing to go with your:
  • Salad Mix of the Week: this seasonal mixed bag includes Arugula, Ruby Red lettuce, Oak Leaf Lettuce, Amaranth (the beautiful red leaves), Pea Tendrils, Baby Kale, Baby Bok Choi, Wild Spinach, & White Clover flowers.IMG_1287
  • Red Russian Kale (large-size shares only) – we had just enough for the big box shares this week, but everyone will get some soon enough!

Wash your stuff before you use it – we do rinse and spin dry most everything, but it could still use a rinse before eating to get any remaining grit off!

Note: we’ll need the boxes back to use again and again, and we’d love to get the produce bags back if they are clean enough to reuse!

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Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks, leading up to today’s harvest!
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flame weeding quickly destroys swathes of newly emergent weeds to prepare rows for planting

 

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veggie burgers with sunflower greens, cooked on the mini rocket stove
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hay mulch saves a lot of weeding later, and helps keep the soil moisture steady

 

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the Que Sehra Farm woods

 

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Gabe finding his first morel mushrooms

 

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hats n’ coffee mugs

 

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planting sunflower greens in the mosquito fortress

 

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swarming giant mosquitoes, thwarted by our new shielded pagoda. a couple days later, the dragonflies arrived and devoured these jerks en masse.
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barefoot hand weeding

 

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greenhouse plants being gradually sun-hardened before moving out to the field

Welcome to the 2014 CSA!

Howdy everyone,

Welcome aboard & thanks for joining forces with us this year!

It’s been an incredibly busy spring, getting settled into our new off-grid home on the Farm while also getting the field & plants rolling for the season.
soaking beans for planting
soaking beans for planting

The late lingering snow on the ground kept things off to a slow start at first, but now temperatures are much more seasonally appropriate – cool season crops are growing in the field, the warm weather crops are being sun-hardened in the greenhouse and about ready to hit the fields as well.

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So far this spring we plowed the field, built the greenhouse, upgraded our solar power system, finished the deer and varmint fencing, set up the gravity drip irrigation system, and started thousands of plants both indoors and directly in the field. We’re now moving toward a permanent-bed field, so that we can work on enriching specific patches of soil over time, and let the walkways remain constant from year to year.

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purple seed potatoes
purple seed potatoes

 

friends helping wire the electric deer fence
friends helping wire the electric deer fence

We’ve also invested some work in future seasons; planted hundreds of free raspberry bushes and a cherry tree, dug out and started filling a hugelkultur bed, and inoculated a big stack of shiitake mushroom logs.

planting hundreds of free raspberry bushes (thanks to the late Afton Raspberry Company!)
planting hundreds of free raspberry bushes (thanks to the late Afton Raspberry Company!)

 

mulching the new raspberry beds
mulching the new raspberry beds
laying the foundation of the Hugelkultur bed
laying the foundation of the Hugelkultur bed

 

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planting the sour cherry tree
inoculating mushroom logs with friends
inoculating shiitake mushroom logs with friends
the "root cellar" aka "The Hole" - our off-grid fridge
the “root cellar” aka “The Hole” – our off-grid fridge
For awhile it was quite cold and chilly, and we waited for the sun’s warming rays. Then it got sunny and hot, blazing away at us out in the shadeless field – and we remembered that chilly isn’t so bad. Then the rains came, bringing clouds … of mosquitoes. All day and night long for the last couple of days. Holy. Crap. So now we can’t wait for the hot, dry sun to return and bake down upon us again, scorching away the mosquitoes. We’ll be grateful for it this time …

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CSA Shares
Assuming that we survive this onslaught of bloodsuckers, the first of the weekly CSA boxes should be ready in about two weeks. After a lot of deliberation, we’re going with Wednesday evening for share pickup. We will have two pick-up locations – one in South Minneapolis, and one in Vadnais Heights. Please let us know which location is best for you!
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attacked by the damned row cover
attacked by the damned row cover
tamed row cover
tamed row cover
saving garlic from beneath the deep winter mulch
saving garlic from beneath the deep winter mulch

Farm Visits

CSA members are welcome to come visit throughout the year, just to check things out – or to get your hands in the dirt alongside us.

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We always have several projects pending – if there is something specific you’d like to help out with, get in touch so we can coordinate. Some of the things we have lined up include:

  • transplanting from greenhouse to field
  • weeding (very relaxing!)
  • mulching
  • repairing the pull cord on the generator
  • building a solar dehydrator
  • assembling the pallet fort / guesthouse
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Keeping in Touch

We’ll send out weekly email updates like this throughout the season, with links to the full-photo version in the blog.

If you’re on Facebook, ‘Follow’ us on there to see updates from the Field and such.

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Get in touch if you have any questions, comments, ideas, suggestions, constructive criticisms, jokes, or just want to say hello!
See you all soon; happy Spring!!

the Sehrs

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White April

Geez, it’s already been almost three weeks since we last posted – time flies when you’re keeping busy.

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So what all have we been so busy with?

We finally processed all of the coconuts we harvested on our WWOOFing honeymoon, creating all kinds of delicious treats … macaroons, tarts, coconut butter, frozen bars, coconut milk, flavored ice creams (vanilla and lemon grass), and more we can’t remember now (really, Kristin made all the delicious food, and Gabe helped – primarily by smashing open all the coconuts).

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We’ve been staying out at the farm more and more – if we didn’t have seedling started back in town under lights, we’d be out there full time now. The wood stove has been working great to keep us warm at night – and now that we figured out the power of the flue, we’re not rocketing the temps up to 90 in the trailer at night anymore. The snow has melted off … twice so far … buuut we just got hit with over a foot of new snow yesterday. Looks like it should melt off later in the week though – and stay away til next winter.

over a foot of snow on April 17th
over a foot of snow on April 17th

 

We pruned the apple trees, cut down a couple of oak trees for shiitake mushroom log cultivation, and cut, hauled, and split a bunch of new firewood for cooking and heating.

!!TIMBER!!
!!TIMBER!!
haulung firewood from the woodlot
hauling firewood from the woodlot

 

fresh cut mushroom logs awaiting innoculation
fresh cut mushroom logs awaiting innoculation

 

pruned apple tree
pruned apple tree

We’ve organized our storage sheds and the living space of the trailer, created a toolshed workshop, built a couple simple rocket stoves from scavenged bricks, started decorating inside and out, and added steps up into the semi and shipping container.

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rocket stove 1.0 in action with 2.0 being built in the background
rocket stove 1.0 in action with 2.0 being built in the background

 

organizing the tools
organizing the tools

 

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We burned downed oak branches for a whole day to make a big pile of pure wood ash to enrich our soil (ash contains potash, a vital nutrient for growing plants), raked and bagged up a huge amount of oak leaves for mulch & compost, and took soil samples for analysis.

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we packed 5 of these giant ~4x4x4 bags with dry oak leaves before the next wave of snow hit
we packed 5 of these giant ~4x4x4 bags with dry oak leaves before the next wave of snow hit

 

We took down the existing individual fences around the new apple trees and made one big fence around the group, mowed down a bunch of old crops and weeds, broke down last year’s processing tent (we are reusing the cattle panels, and moving processing operations over behind the new semi trailer), and continued nurturing the growing seedling and planting new seeds (1,250 planted so far).

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We’ve planned and started building our first greenhouse, made almost entirely from free materials (an old cedar garage door from a construction dumpster, rescued abandoned cattle panels, sliding glass doors from the Free section on Craigslist, scavenged lumber, and materials from both our childhood homes/dads – an old storm door from Kristin’s, and redwood deck boards from Gabe’s.)

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Next up we’ll be upgrading our solar system to roughly triple the current power.

Then when this thick blanket of snow finally melts away over this coming weekend, we can get to work finishing off the greenhouse and then moving the baby plants up to the farm until they’re ready to transplant into the field – but before that we have to plow, amend the soil with boron, and plant some cover crops out beyond the cultivation area. And then it’ll be time to build fences, dig a root cellar, erect a new processing area shade cover, corral the compost pile, build some hugelkultur mounds, some bat houses, a solar dehydrator, hop trellises … etc … I think we’re going to be staying busy!

And loving it.

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