As some crops that love summer’s heat start to wane, the beautiful fall greens thrive. this year we have several wonderful new – to – us greens from our participation in the UW vegetable trials. Ken plants them in a “nursery.” Then he transplants them out. Here is a light green Tokyo bekana – a loose head tender leafed Chinese cabbage – great raw or braised …
After a morning in the kitchen, and some friendly delightful customers, i headed upstairs to work on weaving my last rug on this warp. I started with army green and added the end border stripe I did narrow grey and then the pink beige that was the narrow border stripe on the previous rug of mostly blue. You can see that prior rug on the cloth beam …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, cukes, peppers, onions, garlic, beans, beets, greens and lettuce. Field Notes. Ken transplanted fall greens. Ken starts them , moves up to 2″ soil blocks and then transplants to the garden. This means more time in that garden space for other things and more importantly transplanting a small seedling in a clean bed gives the plant a decided edge over the weeds. Ken is …
A few days ago Ken needed a break. He started a building project; he is taking a very old cart and converting it to a portable chicken coop. I also needed a break from produce work; I love tomatoes and peppers, but I have sorted many this season… So, I headed upstairs to a loom that has about enough warp for one more rug. I was experimenting with two different warps to figure out how …
It is a great pepper year here! After Ken had started the pepper seed, we had an opportunity to participate in a U W Madison seed trial program, and there were some great peppers in the trials – in addition to our usual excellent varieties. I froze a couple batches of chopped peppers for later use. Then Ken requested I make a red pepper jam. So I checked the internet and found two very similar …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, cabbage, kale, eggplant, carrots or beets, basil and parsley As I write this on Monday, Ken is thinning the fall beets and carrots. They are varieties from a UW vegetable trial program. We have found some new great varieties in greens, tomatoes, and peppers that we would not have tried if we were not participating in the …
Last summer Ken tried something new – he chopped and froze bell peppers. Peppers do not require the blanching that most vegetable do. Previously we dried pepper slices in the dehydrator, and I often used them in things like chili and stews that I cooked for a long, low temperature on the wood cook stove. Frozen peppers do not need to be re hydrated, and can be placed in a dish just before serving to …
This time of year as the tsunami of produce arrives, it is time to think of the future in addition to the present. Preserving that summer bounty is crucial to eating year around local food. In addition to freezing berries and this year, peaches, I also make jam. Our jam is maximum fruit with minimum sugar, and pectin. I searched for the recipe that gave me the least amount of cooking time and additional ingredients. …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, garlic, cabbage. greens, parsley, and basil Field Notes Ken has been cultivating adding compost and mulch to the area next to the mobile high tunnel. This will add organic matter and fertility when the tunnel is moved to that location. He has also been planting, weeding, and of course, picking. either of us need …
Greetings from the Garden! This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, garlic, greens, parsley, and basil. Field Notes. Ken had a weekend off! This year we each are trying to take some time for other things to avoid burn out. It is one of the more difficult times of the year on a farm; it is easy to focus on the farm’s needs and forget what the people need …
