Summer abundance
Chelsea and I went out to the farm bright and early this morning to miss the storms and hot muggy weather. Even though we don’t function very well in the heat of the day, it seems like the plants love this weather. Everything is growing fast. Last night we harvested a bucket of zucchinis with the Community Farmers and there’s lots more to come. Last night we even found a couple heads of cauliflower popping through their leaves. How exciting – it won’t be long now until we’re harvesting cauliflower and broccoli by the pound. It will be tough to stay on top of all of the harvesting, so, to all of the Community Farmers: harvest as much as you and your family (and maybe even your neighbors) can use, and enjoy the tasty fruits of your hard labor!!
Yesterday we also delivered fresh produce to the Community Action Center (CAC) food shelf. We harvested pretty, bright yellow sunburst patty pan squash from the Sharing Garden, along with kale, kohlrabi, some zucchinis and LOTS of lettuce. It was a good step forward in our potential partnership with the CAC. We’re hoping to plan some events and maybe even cooking classes at the new community kitchen with help from Signe and Dan at the CAC. We love seeing our vegetables going to good use and to people who really appreciate them. It would great to get these people even more involved with the farm.
Today we worked on building a fence around the chicken coop. There are probably 170 broiler chicks who are chomping at the bit to get outside of their coop and chase some bugs around. If it doesn’t rain, maybe they will be able to get outside later this afternoon. We also continued our efforts to thin some of our root crops that we will be selling to Bon Appetit. The rutabaga and turnips we planted earlier this summer had enormous success in their germination (unlike other crops, like our melons…), so we’ve been spending lots of time thinning out the rows to allow the larger plants to mature without competing with the smaller ones.
Thunder and ominous skies marked the end of our time in the field this morning. As part of our effort to develop marketing strategies and value added products to make our project economically viable and sustainable, we have been bookmarking possible recipes. Today we tested out a recipe for kale chips, something we’d been hearing about but haven’t had the chance to try. The chips turned out delicious – a simple, nutritious snack that you might like to try at home.
Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
olive oil
sea salt (or other seasonings – maybe curry powder? or garlic salt? Pamasan cheese? feel free to experiment with the recipe and let us know what you discover!)
Wash and dry kale leaves, then use a knife to remove the tough rib down the middle of the leaves. Place the strips of kale in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss briefly to coat the leaves, then add salt or other seasonings. Lay the strips out on a baking sheet and bake at 300F for about 15 minutes or until crispy.
We’re not quite sure how well these chips store, but we hope to share samples with customers at the Riverwalk Market Fair this Saturday. If you’re skeptical and want to taste one before you invest in a bunch of kale, stop by our booth.
The brassica family (which includes broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, cabbage, brussels and more) prefers cooler weather. Luckily, our brassicas are still doing well, especially the kale and kohlrabi!
nhegmann
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