Even if we did not already have our Midsummer Abundance Festival scheduled on the calendar for Sunday, August 6, we would know that we are in the midst of the abundant season. There are so many different veggies ready each day, it is hard to choose which ones to prepare for our farm “Thanksgiving Every Day” meal. And with each of our farm interns and Gigi and Robin taking turns cooking amazing meals, we really enjoy the plentitude of the farm at this time of year.
With cooler nights over this last week, we have somewhat recovered from the heat and humidity of the days. And yet, most days, by in the morning we are all pared down to essential only clothing and sweating profusely. As we finished prepping our packing hoophouse this evening, the humidity feels like it is nearly 100%. The cool dip in the Sunrise River
On Monday, we pulled up all the bolted Bok Choi, filled a big pickup load and tossed the whole mess into the pig pen. Piggy Bok Choi heaven – rolling in it, mixing it with mud, eating tasty bites. The early peas stakes were pulled from the field, twines for trellising cut down and all the peas plowed under. Then the field was disked and dragged and sown to a cover crop mixture of rye, oats, field peas, buckwheat and clover – just in time for the heavy rains on Tuesday night.
With August just around the corner, we took a look at our farm calendar and realized that Emily will be heading back to college in just a few short weeks. Susie is planning a week to the east coast for a couple of exciting (farm-related) job interviews, Liz is thinking about working the Mn. State Fair for her other job and Holly will be back from Germany and still with us til the beginning of September. Even though we are really barely into the middle of our share season, August pushes us to think about what is next for each of us.
This week again, we harvested raspberries at Stark Wines as our part in our cooperation with them. Hot, humid, deer flies, but gorgeous, delicious raspberries and the promise of lots of Stark Raspberry Wine.
The tomato plants are setting a lot of fruit, the sweet corn silk is turning brown on the Sugar Buns early corn - the sign of corn that is filling in the ears and the corn plants themselves seems to be growing a couple of inches a day. The cantaloupes and watermelons are peeking out among the patchwork of vines almost completely covering the ground in their patch of the field, all indicators of how much more abundance there is to come.
Just this week we dried off (quit milking) two of the goats – Mezzo and Nimbus. We are making less cheese now but still making some cream for butter and maybe even some ice cream from the gallon a day of milk that we are still getting from Stormy.
The last of the lambs are going to market on Monday. And with August here, it is time to take the rams away from the ewes so that we don’t accidentally have baby lambs being born a month before we want them. Just this morning, Liz, Susie and Emily finished making a huge pig pen – opening the pigs up to a jungle of weeds and volunteer squash vines. They almost don’t know what to do with themselves in such space.
Remember – our MIDSUMMER FARM FESTIVAL – THE SUMMER ABUNDANCE FESTIVAL – is Sunday, August 7th from to . We will be cooking an amazing assortment of fresh farm veggies into stir fry to order, tapping our farm home brew (Belgian Tripel, Hefewiesen, and Robin’s Irritated) as well as pouring a few bottles of home vinted wine. We are also pretty sure there will be a performance of our Tuesday Night Jam Band as well as drumming and other music. Plan now to come see the farm – all the animals, the fields of plenty, see the farmers and interns who grow your food and see each other.
Until next week…
What's In Your Share
Basil – Genovese and Ararat
Beans - Derby
Beets - Merlin
Broccoli – Packman
Chinese Cabbage – The Blues
Cilantro – Santo
Garlic
Kohlrabi – Winner, Kolibri
Onion – Sierra Blanca
Potatoes – Norland
Radish – Summer Cross Daikon
Summer Squash – Cash Flow, Lita, President, Spineless Beauty,
Slick Pick, Horn of Plenty, Sunburst, Cavelli
Swiss Chard – Fordhook Giant
