From the interns:
Oooh, how exciting! We’ve never had hold of these blog-writing reins.
Joyous cool weather is upon us. Our sandals have stayed in our Quonsets and yurts these past few weeks as rubber boots have happily replaced them. Our rabbits are lonely today as they have lost their feathered hoop-mates; however, our frozen corn, broccoli, and peas have found new freezer-mates. We butchered our last 51 broiler chickens today. We always appreciate the circle of life, caring and feeding animals that will eventually nourish us, especially during lunch today! Our mid-day meal was exceptional, which isn’t anything new. Twas the day of Robin’s birth today and ‘twas Gigi’s day of birth on Sunday. Thus, we feasted. We had Nitty Gritty Chardonnay in wine glasses, squash, mashed potatoes, fresh chicken with Dale’s Creole rub, and carrot birthday cake; it feels like Thanksgiving every day on the farm.
It seems like every Monday when we come back to the farm, everything has changed. The broom corn has been bent down, the turkeys are dinosaurs, and the ewes are always in a new Electronet fenced pasture so we can’t ever find them (until we listen). There are also things that happen that we don’t witness. There is new watermelon wine, 86,000 new jars of tomato sauce, and pig tales. Adrienne and her almost 1 year old darling daughter Magnolia Rose farm-sat this weekend so Gigi and Robin could come and go as they pleased. They had a “vacation at the farm”. Adrienne, therefore, had a bit of an adrenaline rush in the morning to find pigs in the barn instead of in their pen just outside the barn.
Who, Us?
We interns were aware of how adventuresome our little pigs were two weeks ago when they got out of their pen and had a night out on the farm, but when we arrived this week we noticed a strange smell in the barn. We found out that they had somehow broken the latch on the Dutch-door and gotten into the barn. Thankfully, we had just organized the barn to fill it with new hay, so they didn’t have much room to play.
Anyway, vegetables, that’s what we’re supposed to tell you about. The squash are intermingling with the Brussels sprouts and the kale and evidently can travel long distances into other vegetables’ rows. The watermelons are now done, as are our backs from carrying your hefty boxes. We hope you thoroughly enjoyed them over Labor Day weekend.
We have also bid farewell to our tomato plants. They are rapidly becoming part of the beautiful healthy soil of Nitty Gritty Farm. Speaking of those 86,000 jars of new tomato sauce, yesterday, we shuffled, shelved, and shifted them all in the crawl-space. Note to future home-builders… MAKE YOUR BASEMENT EIGHT FEET, NOT FOUR FEET TALL. The food preserved in the basement helps us to feel confident that Gigi and Robin will not starve throughout the winter, nor will their interns starve next spring. We’re not sure how long this blog-thing is supposed to be, so enjoy your beautiful, organic, home-loved vegetables (and chicken!). Until next week…
Laura and Stephanie
What’s in your Share?
Winter Squash – Small Wonder Spaghetti Squash (orange round)
Peppers – Sweet: Gypsy (yellow), Sweet Chocolate (brown), Lipstick or Carmen (long red or green)
Hot: Aji Cristal (HOT yellow transparent), Conchos (green jalapeno), Bulgarian Carrot (orange small)
Onion – Sierra Blanca (white)
Kale – Red Russian
Carrots – Cosmic Purple
Eggplant – Dancer (pink) or Galine (purple), or Thai Green (long green) or Orient Express (long purple) or Orient Charm (long pink) or Kermit (round green striped)
Tomato – Pink Beauty or Green Zebra
Celeriac – Brilliant
Basil – Lime
Thyme - Orange
