The Weblog

…from Farm Where Life is Good

We’ll give you an insider’s view of life and growing on the farm. Share the excitement of a great harvest and experience the disappointment of a crop failure.
We have it all!



 
View the Complete Weblog

Online Market is OPEN for Business (Week 35)


What is it we do with these again? (Rog contamplating Zephyr squash)

Life on the Farm (Week 35)

We are in a race between the weather and the winter squash! The plants are beautiful, the beds and rows are nicely weed-free with a clover interplanted covercrop sprouting, and the squash beetles are nowhere to be seen. Cucumber beetles have found the blossoms, but we are hoping that is just flower cosmetics. So if the weather holds out, and the first frost is late, we may be looking at a good harvest of winter squash this year.

No weeds, just nitrogen-fixing clover! Yay!

The Market is now open for a wide selection of warm weather produce.

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

Sometimes a sub-sandwich or wrap-sandwich just needs a little pizzaz. 3-4 slices of pickled peppers is just the key. And being a capsaicin (i.e. (E)-N-(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl) -8-methylnon-6-enamide, trans-8-Methyl-N-vanillylnon -6-enamide) wimp, I need the sweet ones to start with. So, I sneak only a little bit of fire in these beauties!

Pickled Peppers

11 cups peppers, sliced ¼" (seeded or not)
—options include combinations of sweet or hot; banana, jalapeno, serrano, paprika, peperoncino, habanero
6 cups white vinegar
2 cup water
3 cloves garlic, crushed

Prepare your jars, lids and rings.
In large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine peppers and set aside.
In large stainless steel sauce pan, combine vinegar, water and garlic. Bring to boil, reduce and simmer for 5-8 minutes until garlic has infused liquid.
Pack peppers into ½" head space, covering peppers.
Wipe rim, place lid and rings on and tighten.
Place jars in steam canner, and immerse insuring covered with at least 1" water.
Bring to boil, process 10 minutes.
Remove canner lid, waiting 5 minutes. Remove jars to counter and allow to seal 24hrs.
Remove rings, confirm sealed and store.


A bit of a twist on the fresh summer soup, Gazpacho. Take a trip to the Greek isles!

Greek Gazpacho

2 thick slices day-old bread, such as ciabatta or peasant white, crusts removed
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp freshly chopped oregano leaves
2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
5 Tbsp red wine vinegar
5 Tbsp good olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded chopped
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 red onions, chopped
1 seedless cucumber, unpeeled, and chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 1/2 lb tomatoes, pureed (approx 6 tomatoes)
4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground black pepper

Place the bread, garlic, oregano, and parsley in a food processor and process until everything is finely chopped. Add the vinegar and olive oil and process again until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Place the peppers, red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives separately in the food processor and process until very coarsely chopped. Add to the mixing bowl.

Add the tomato puree, salt, and pepper and stir well. Taste for seasoning, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve cold.


Light tomato soup with pasta to add body. Refreshing and simple. You will want to double this for leftovers!!

Sopa de Fideo (South of the Border Tomato Noodle Soup)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
2-5 garlic cloves, minced
7 oz fideo pasta or broken angelhair pasta (less or more as you desire)
4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
tortilla chips, crushed

Sauté onion in olive oil over low heat until soft. Add tomatoes and garlic and simmer until tomatoes are soft/dissolving.

Meanwhile, toast pasta in 2 Tbsp olive oil until just seeing color change.

Add broth and tomatoes to pasta; bring to boil and simmer until pasta cooked thru (approx 4min.)

Remove from heat; stir in cilantro. Top with crushed tortilla chips and serve.


If anyone has some good recipes for this weeks ingredients, pop on over to the website and enter them there for everyone’s benefit!.

Did You Know…

The next generations are the future of agriculture. (Well, of course you did, but maybe the significance of that has yet to come to the fore.) Will they be stewards or users of the land? Now is the time to cultivate (pun intended!) the ethic that will guide their choices in careers, eating habits and social endeavors. This Parent and Teacher Curriculum Guide is a canned (another pun!) program to help parents and teachers enter the realm of growing food with their kids/charges.

See what you think and pass it on.

Subscription Box Highlights

Anticipated this week for the CSA/Subscription Boxes:

Tomatoes
Carrots
Summer squash/Zucchini
Cucumbers
Sweet peppers
Eggplant
Broccoli
Chard
Onions
Jalapeno pepper
Cilantro
Parsley

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.