It’s been another weird year. Is every year weird though? For everyone?

I think yes.

Every year, every moment, every week is a unique, fascinating, and beautiful rock to be appreciated on the infinite shoreline.

As they say.

Inside Box 16

The rain held off until we were done harvesting, washing, and portioning. It was the core harvest-day A-team: Marcia, Marty, and Deb on the veggies with Jim prepping the party tractor hay ride with the Boys.

Here’s what we got for you:

• Butternut Squash
• Potatoes (Reds or Russets) – The russets will break apart more readily, while the reds hold their shape better. Either will work in soup.
• Leeks – you know what time it is.
• Radishes
• Carrots
• Salad Mix – lettuces, arugula, tat soi, a bit of pea tentrils
• Sweet Peppers
• Herbs – Parsley & Thyme – don’t tell Jasper we gave any parsley away … he scarfs it down raw and en masse
• Pak Choi
• Eggplant

Kristin had a weird experience in the field this week.

(And she’s not the one who does drugs.) She was out planning what needed doing if it got cold. And then. The Corn did that rustling thing it sometimes does, and in doing so, the Corn straight up said “winter is coming” to her.

But if we make it through tonight’s chill, we should be able to continue stewarding the eggplant lineage.

Earlier in the week, we made it up to our beloved inland sea, Lake Superior. It was magically refreshing, building those shoreline foundational memories with the next iteration of our people.

The hummingbirds have all flown south. Last night, for the first time this year, we ran the woodstove before and after bed.

The pivot toward autumn means the annual farm party is coming soon, again. We put up a webpage with rudimentary info about it here.

More details will likely be added between now and October 11th (ask if you wonder anything, or have suggestions, etc.) We’ll put the party pics up there too afterward, I reckon.

But first, eat these things:

• Salad Mix! (bekana, lettuces, arugula, tat soi)
• Potatoes – Big, little, red, white – one or more of these adjectives describes what your box happened to get
• a couple of Shallots
• a couple Tomatoes (the plants are pretty much over it.
• Salad Turnips
• Carrots

• Daikon Radishes – no, those aren’t white carrots in there with the carrots. These can be sliced into little rounds like a regular radish. Or you could make a jar of delicious Vietnamese carrot daikon pickles. Or roast them, or one of the many things people do with them.

• Jester Acorn Squash
• Sweet Peppers (loose in the box)
• Thai Basil – does anyone know what to do with this stuff? Oooh, it can go into your Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with the Daikons!
• Santa Fe Hot Peppers – in a bag with the basil, to avoid confusion with the Sweets. Note: the ones with the sort of cracked skin and coloration are more mature and therefore hotter.

The boys are currently watching Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in the back seat of our sweet new mini van. post-apocalypse preparatory homeschooling, I believe they call it.

But.

It rained yesterday.

We got just over an inch; a downpour the likes of which we haven’t seen since June. It plumped up this morning’s salad green harvest, and revived all the crops, frogs, weeds, and humans.

Today it was cloudy, and felt deliciously cool and damp for harvest

the box part

• Striated Salad – Arugla on top,lettuces in the middle, bekana onda bottom. Mix or use separately as you enjoy arugula … an experiment of not mixing it all up as usual. (?)
• Eggplants
• Radishes – CSA hack: you can dry the greens and smoke them. I don’t think I would though, nor that you should.
• Tomatoes – unpecked by Red Bandit, the Marauderin Bawk Bawk.
• Cherry tomatoes of some sort or another or a mix of many
• Not-Hot Peppers
• Zucchini
• Red Onions
• Potatoes – Kennebec’s, Pontiac Reds, or Russets … you probably got some of a couple kinds.
• Spaghetti Squash
• Broccoli

This week we realized that we’re past the Summer Tipping Point.

First thoughts of winter’s coming, first morning chores with chilly feet, and an absolute mob of hummingbirds have descended upon the feeders … Canucks, having embarked upon their sugar-fueled journey toward Central America.

Another sign of the seasonal change – the surviving weeds of the field have changed gears from towering growth to seed production … which meant a couple days of epic weeding missions.

Very satisfying work. The family that weeds together … bleeds together? Hmm grim. Feed together? Whatever anyway the boys were great helpers, and we all wished we’d gotten a before/after set of pics. But this will have to do:

The drought continues. Our microclimate is a harsh mistress. Some people are into that kind of thing, though. .

Regardless, we abide, we humans, hummingbirds, and varied vegetable-producing, fruiting plants. And thus from the Barrens to your table come:

• Islander Purple Bell Peppers – not spicy.
• Melon (Cantaloupe or some other kind of musk melon)
• Norland Red Potatoes – you might get little roasters or big ones, but either way you’ve got about 3 lbs to work with
• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Eggplant – pretty damn good breaded and fried. Do it.

The coming of Autumn sounds just lovely doesn’t it? And on the way there, a less … abrasive session of summer sure does, too.

Here for it.

In bulletpoints:

• Ranger’s rescued little friend Bobby McGee learned that chickens are made of meat
• We took Ranger’s rescued little friend Bobby McGee to a wildlife rehab place for his next adventure
• For a few hours this morning we thought it was still Box Seven.
• Our van got destroyed
• We bought a new one
• My birthday happened
• The drought continues – just 2.46 inches total since July 1st.
• But the heat broke, which has been just lovely for existing.

Inside Box 8

• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Beets – Kristin fought a significant portion of the Greek pantheon to bring these into the boxes. Also, we had to apply boron, which we are deficient in, and which beets are very very needy of.
• Beans (green, yellow, & dragon tongue)
• a Cabbage
• maybe Tomatillo (local pick-ups only this week)
• Italian Basil
• Melons (musk & Golden Giant)
• A few hot peppers – if you don’t like hot peppers, do not eat.
• zucchini & summer squash
• varied cucumbers
• onions