Making Compost

Each season Ken makes compost. Each year he combines the winter chicken bedding with hay and straw and leaves and other organic matter that varies from year to year.  In the past he shoveled chicken bedding and shook out all the baled hay.  A few years back he purchased a manure spreader.  The manure spreader breaks clods, shakes out hay and mixes the components beautifully.   He loads the spreader, cuts the baling twine, and …

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Rye Update

The inside circle on the drive has changed a great deal.. Ken just mowed the rye he had planted late last season.         Last year during the spring Ken dug up the perennial flowers and I divided them and removed as many weeds as possible         Then he ran chickens through the area to scratch       Next he ran pigs through to dig it up     …

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Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, basil, beans, carrots, and parsley     Field Notes.  Planting, mulching, and harvesting continue.  As the days shorten this becomes more of a juggling act!  Ken picks several crops like tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, etc several times a week; that takes a chunk of time.  He spent part of Sunday making next year’s compost.   In the midst of all this I …

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Summer Recipe Ideas: Cucumber Salad and Cole Slaw

Most years we have a lettuce gap during the heat of the summer.  During this brief time I focus on the many other salad options. For a cucumber salad we have found that a combination using small seeded cucumbers, breaking the skin and salting results in “burpless” digestible side dish.  Asians often salt sliced vegetables to alter the green flavor of chlorophyll and enhance the vegetables’ sweetness. First I take rinsed cucumbers and run a …

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Tomatoes – One of those Love Hate Relationships

Although I love tomatoes, there is one part of me that dreads tomato season.   I find selling tomatoes challenging.  We grow tomatoes for flavor, texture, and thin skins.  They are wonderful.       Many people want a perfect looking tomato that is perfectly ripe.  One can determine ripeness by rolling a tomato in one’s hand and feeling its firmness or ripeness.  Many people pinch tomatoes and a couple days later bruises appear – these …

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Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week’s CSA box has tomatoes, potatoes, beets, chard, zucchini, cucumbers, green peppers, beans, Walla Walla sweet onions, and parsley.     Field Notes.  Ken has been transplanting fall crops.  We dug the garlic and it is curing on racks.  Ken keeps up with weekly tasks like tying up tomatoes. Fun fact: Daylight shortens three minutes each day during August.  Several cultures have a harvest holiday in August; In old Celtic …

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Putting Food By – Freezing Beans and Broccoli

Summer’s bounty can extend through the year with a minimum of work.  Gardeners and farmers know crops taste best in season, but freezing or canning food at its peak is nearly as good.  I take time when we have enough extra to freeze and can “treats” for later use.  Today I blanched and froze beans and broccoli. First I nip the ends off the beans Then place them in boiling water.  I usually watch for …

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A Summer Shower

The soil was dry.  Ken has gotten hoses out to irrigate.  This afternoon we had a lovely summer shower.  Although it was brief, the dust settled, the steam rose from the ground and the rain barrel filled.  All good.

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A Return to Weaving

After a morning of picking and putting up some beans and broccoli, I took a break from those pressing summer tasks.   I returned to weaving a rug I had started before spring was upon us.  It felt good to be at the loom and hear the summer rain. While I was weaving I thought of Ken out in the field.  When the summer shower started I am sure he and Oscar took refuge in the …

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Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week’s CSA box has cabbage, kohlrabi, potatoes, green peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, onions, and parsley   Field Notes.  Ken got a new area set up for the pigs, and we moved them Friday.   Ken is also irrigating green houses, planting fall crops, and more.  The soil is dry, but I am careful what I wish for – some friends  just got six inches of rain!   Ken checked his …

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