Life on the Farm (Week 33)

Peaches are here and will be delivered this week on Wednesday, unless other arrangements were made.

What a great week it was! A little bit of warmth, a little bit of rain and lots of sunshine. I am sure the cooler nights are helping the cauliflower and rutabaga, but not so much the tomatoes! Take your pick and adjust the global thermostat.

Rog finished clearing, tilling and seeding the first high tunnel position into buckwheat— a nice covercrop for weed suppression, organic-matter building and if it hurries up, some pollinator feeding. A month or so of that and it will be time for a fall planting of oats and peas; these two winter-kill and will mulch the soil thru the winter. That will give us more nitrogen and organic-matter for next season’s heavy users in the new tunnel position (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers).

HT1 summer rehabilitation

The Market is open for more summertime orders.

Ordering will be open from Sunday morning until Monday 8pm. Get your orders in now so harvesting can begin specific to your requests.

Deliveries will be made Wednesday per usual to your chosen Dropsite Location .

Recipes for your consideration

Tomato and Corn Salsa
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ tsp salt
½ cup fresh sweet corn, blanched 3min and cut from cob

Combine all ingredients; chill and serve.
(From: Big Vegan by Robin Asbell)

Peach and Spinach Smoothie

2 peaches, pitted and rough chop
¼ banana, peeled
1 cup vanilla coconut milk
2 big handfuls spinach
2 sprigs parsley
½ tsp vanilla extract
Handful of ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and whiz on high until well blended and smooth.
(Adapted from: Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas)

Three-Potato Salad with Arugula

1 sweet potato
3-5 blue potatoes
2-4 yellow potatoes
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on diagonal
½ colored bell pepper, fine dice
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
3 big handfuls arugula leaves, stemmed and chopped
Toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds for topping

Boil, bake or microwave potatoes until done but still firm; plunge into cold water and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel and cut into ½-3/4 in dice.

Combine potatoes in mixing bowl with celery, bell pepper, olives, olive oil, vinegar, dill, salt and pepper. Stir gently.

Stir half of the arugula in with the potatoes and line serving platter with the rest. Mound potato salad onto the platter and scatter seeds atop. Serve at once.
(From Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas)

Peach Almond Freezer Conserves

No special equipment for freezer conserves. Chunks of fruit and nuts in a thick, spreadable, sweet topping for baked goods, crepes/pancakes or accompanying a savory main dish.

1 ½ cup sugar
1 pouch freezer jam pectin
3 ½ cup finely chopped pitted and peeled peaches
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted
¼ tsp almond extract

Toast almonds in a 350F oven on baking sheet. Stir occasionally and toast approx 5min until golden. Remove and set aside.

Boil medium/large pot of water. Once at boil, drop peaches in one at a time for approximately 30 seconds; remove with slotted spoon and drop in bowl of cold water. Rub/peel off the peel. If not coming easily, drop back in boiling water for 30 seconds more.

In medium bowl, combine sugar and pectin, stirring until well blended. Add peaches, lemon juice, almonds and extract. Stir for 3 minutes.

Ladle jam into plastic or glass freezer jars, leaving ½ inch head space at top. Apply lids tightly. Let stand at room temperature for 30minutes until thickened. Serve immediately if desired, or refrigerate (up to 3wks) or freeze (up to 1 yr.)
(Adapted from: Complete Book of Home Preserves)

Did You Know…

Vegetables do not ripen after being harvested.

I didn’t know this. Well, I guess I knew it for individual produce, but never put it together as a statement.

Fruits on the other hand, well, they are quite varied in their behaviors.

Fruits that never ripen after picking:
Cherries
Citrus fruits
Grapes
Olives
Pineapple
Raspberries/blackberries/Strawberries
Watermelon

Fruits that ripens in appearance but not sweetness after picking:
Apricots
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Nectarines/peaches

Fruit that only ripens after picking:
Avocado

Fruits that ripen with sweetness after picking:
Apples
Kiwis
Mangos
Papayas
Pears

Fruit that ripens in every way after harvest:
Bananas
Tomatoes

To speed up the process of ripening of fruits that do ripen after picking, place them with ripe apples in a paper bag and loosely close it by scrunching the top of the bag. Apples emit ethylene gas that make fruit ripen quickly. Take note of this: ethylene gas speeds up the breakdown of all produce so ban those apples to their own segregated and sealed areas of your cold storage.

Produce Subscription Highlights

Anticipated this week for the CSA produce subscription boxes:

Tomatoes
Carrots
Cucumber
Loose leaf lettuce
Chard
Kale, Red Russian
Beans, wax or greeners
Onions
Cauliflower (maybe)
Sweet pepper (variety)
Jalapeno peppers
Summer squash and zucchini
Basil
Parsley
Cilantro

Start your meal planning now!

We hope to feed you soon!

Roger and Lara

**If you’d like to stop receiving emails, just jump into your account on the website (farmwlig.locallygrown.net, My Account) and scroll to bottom; check appropriate box.