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Online Market is OPEN for Business (Week 38)


This post expired on September 15, 2023.

We filled the rain gauge to (almost) 1 inch!

Farm Where Life is Good

Life on the Farm (Week 38)

We have rain! Wowweeeee. Gotta love it. We might just get some beans this week. And the new seedings will be well watered-in. Yes, gotta love it! I am speechless as I sit and listen to it pattering on the roof. (Maybe the deer will actually be hunkered down tonight and NOT eating (any more of) your lettuce slated for next week?)

One inch is good for one week. Hmmmmmm. The math doesn’t add up?

The Market is open for the tail-end of 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

A colorful dish with rich, fresh summer flavor from the varieties of peppers. Pretty quick and simple.

Pasta ribbons with peppers
1-2 onions, quartered
1 celery stalk, rough chopped
1 carrot, rough chopped
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 garlic cloves
3 Tbsp olive oil
6 red, orange, or purple bell peppers, sliced thinly
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb linguine or fettuccine, cut/broken into 4in pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan-flavor vegan topping (Galaxy Foods)

Combine onions, celery, carrot, garlic and nutritional yeast in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion mixture and sauté until fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes.

Stir in bell peppers, cover and cook until peppers are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, but reserve ½ cup cooking water.

Add the pasta and parmesan topping to the pepper sauce. Toss and add reserved cooking water as needed to make the pasta moist.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4
Adapted from: Serving up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman


Lots of ingredients but fairly easy to find them all in the Asian section of the supermarket. Great way to eat up those fresh bell peppers and treat family and friends to some custom “take-out” right from your own kitchen!

Kung Pao

1 lb seitan (“wheat meat”) **White Wave brand is the best.
1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili paste with garlic
1 tsp sugar

¼ cup vegetable broth
2 Tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water

2 tbsp peanut or canola oil
2 red bell peppers, cubed
2 green bell peppers, cubed
2 fresh red or green hot chiles, seeded and diced
1 cup sliced water chestnuts
4 scallions, white and tender greens, sliced
¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
Cooked white rice for serving

Combine the wheat meat, rice wine, soy sauce and sugar in medium bowl. Set aside to marinate 30 min; toss occasionally.

Combine broth, rice wine, hoisin, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic in small bowl; set aside. Dissolve cornstarch in cup with water. Set aside.

Heat wok or large fry pan over high heat. Add 1 ½ Tbsp oil and swirl to coat pan. Add wheat meat and marinade and cook 5min. Transfer to bowl and keep warm.

Heat remaining 1 ½ Tbsp oil and add peppers, chiles and stirfry until soft, 3-4 min. Add chestnuts and scallions and stirfry 1 min.

Return cooked wheat meat to pan and stirfry 1min to heat thru. Add the broth mixture and bring to boil. Add cornstarch/water mixture and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Add peanuts and toss to coat.

Serve over rice.

Serves 4
Adapted from: Serving up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman

Did You Know…

There are 8 kinds of wheat that we typically eat. It comes in colors— red and white. It comes in different protein contents— hard (high protein) and soft (low protein). *And it comes in different planting-seasons— winter and spring. So you can have hard-red-winter wheat. Or soft-red-spring wheat. And so on…

The protein content dictates how we use it, and is really the only thing we generally pay attention to. Wheat protein is gluten; it is what makes dough rubbery— think pizza dough that is stretched and tossed in the air! The “hard” wheat varieties are used for bread making (you want that wonderful, chewy French baguette), while the “soft” varieties are used for pastries (delicate, melt-in-your-mouth pie crusts). All-purpose flour, which is the most common stuff we deal with, is usually a mix of varieties chosen to achieve a “happy medium” of 9-12% protein, reasonable (not great) for most uses.

The color does effect taste and the visual of the final product. Red wheat has a stronger flavor and a darker color. A whole-wheat, hard white flour makes a surprisingly light colored whole-wheat bread!

The planting season is only important to the farmer…and where they live. We pay attention to that for ya!



Rog and the new 1940s grain drill, heading out to plant before the rain!

Produce Subscription Highlights

Anticipated this week for the CSA produce subscription boxes:

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Beans
Potatoes
Onion
Celeriac (celery root)
Sweet pepper (variety)
Melon
Chives
Dill

Start your meal planning now!

We hope to feed you soon!

Roger and Lara



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