Week #34 - Abundance of all shapes and sizes....

Harvest is in full swing both on our property as well as in the surrounding grain fields. The roads are busy with grain trucks rumbling past and the dust from the combines fills the air. Harvest on our farm lasts a long time and involves many activities. Given the diverse plants and animals we grow and raise, fall is an intense time! We pick for both our customers as well as for us and of course, then have to preserve, can, dry or store our food for the winter as well. This means lots of late nights in the kitchen....

The week held much excitement and milestones along with the steady harvest:

• Patty and her grown piglets have spent the week escaping their corral... at times joining the cows and goats and other times ranging around the property. I think its turning into a bit of a game now for them. Funny in the abstract but tiring and time consuming in reality. 
• We welcomed another new soul to the farm.... Oakley, a sorrel quarterhorse came to stay mid-week and is settling in well. Oakley was a rescue horse that has finally found her forever home. 
• Our youngest celebrated her fifteen birthday.
• We got off the farm to witness the marriage of Farmer Phil's nephew and his lovely partner. Congratulations to Kyle and Sam along with their children Sawyer and Lochlin.
• My second batch of kombucha was a success and my third is on the go. I learned much with my first batch! 
• We canned over 30 pints of salsa and pasta sauce! 
• Our middle child got his driver's license! (look out world!)
• We messed up the date for our chicken processing with the abbatoir and had to do a dash with about 2/3 of the birds in the back of the truck! 
• Oh and we harvested day and night.....I actually caught myself thinking wistfully of winter...

Looking forward to the coming week, as all my duckies (children) are home, I have the week off my off-farm job and Farmer Phil doesn't go back to work until the following week! Hope your week is filled with laughter and love. 

Only on her birthday can she wear her boots in the house

Patty always has the last word...

FFF CSA - Week 3/12 - What's in the Box? - New Potatoes

You say potato... I say potato! Either way they are great boiled, baked or bbq-ed! Our CSA shareholders are receiving another batch of yummy new red Norland potatoes in their basket this week. In my opinion, there is nothing better than new potatoes boiled and smothered in butter! You don't really even need to peel them as the skins are so tender. 

There are however, other ways to cook new potatoes that are easy and delicious. One option is to create some pouches from aluminum foil and place potatoes, perhaps garlic and any preferred herbs (basil or rosemary) along with butter or margarine, wrap up and place on the BBQ or oven. You can parboil (partially boil) the potatoes in advance if you want to speed up the cooking time on the BBQ.

For a bit of crunch, parboil the potatoes, then drain and place in a baking dish, crush partially with a potato masher, drizzle with oil and spice up with cajun or taco seasoning and bake in the oven until crispy. This recipe from The Pioneer Woman has some great instructions on how to do this with rosemary. 

What is your favorite thing to do with new potatoes? 

So... What's in the Box this week?

Overlooking our west gardens

• Rhubarb
• Swiss Chard
• Lettuce
• Baby carrots New!
• Kale
• Radishes
• Zucchini or Cucumbers (its a surprise!)
• New Potatoes
• Bouquet of various herbs including: 
• Chives
• Parsley (flat and curled)
• Cilantro 
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano

Note: We do rinse the produce but it would be prudent to wash all vegetables when you get them home. Keeping the herbs (ends) in a cup of clean water will keep them fresh longer. (unless of course, you are drying them for storage later.)

Reminder: Please return your empty box along with all re-usable containers (ice cream pails, plastic containers, etc) so that we can reuse them all over again. 

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter at @FenezFollies

Week #18 - Farm by numbers

Endless potato planting..

Patty and her brood outside for the first time!

Oliver and Graceson cuddle each night

Caesar, the rooster

Over 900 potatoes planted, 65 tomatoes - all snug in their own kozy koat, 9 pigs moved to their new home, 100s of plants seeded and moved countless times around the greenhouse, three bottles a day for Oliver (the goat kid), 150 new broiler chicks picked up and settled into the brooder, 3 successful hatches of layer chicks, over 2500 feet of irrigation drip tape connected, tested and ready to go! 

It was another busy week but the sore muscles and exhaustion is worth it. We are feeling like we are on track and on schedule. Hope your week was as fruitful and satisfying! 

Tucking it away...

FFF Photo a Day - Day 276

It's that time of year when we begin to tuck away food for the winter season. Our cold storage room is full to the brim with squash, onions, potatoes, and tomatillos. 

What are you tucking away to enjoy when the snow comes? #winteriscoming

Week #3 - 2015 FFF CSA - What's in the Box! - The Importance of Keeping Dry!

If you have been following our blog or social media posts this week, you will know that the farm got hit hard by heavy rain and wind on Monday night. Time will tell how the veggies will fair but we really didn't want/need any more rain after some of the heavy downpours last weekend! Alas, we are used to the fickle weather gods and will adapt! 

Despite the rain, we have a number of new treats to share in our CSA boxes! Our peas are ready and there is truly little on earth better than fresh garden peas! My personal opinion is the best way to eat them is standing in the garden....however, a close second would be simply eating them raw (shelled or pod and all) as soon as you get them home! Our shareholders will find a snack of peas in their box this week!

Potatoes are ready to go and with all the rain we are a bit concerned that they will rot in the ground if we leave them, so the boxes contain some tasty nuggets! 

New potatoes are small and sweet. (their sugar has not yet been converted to starch).  They don't have thick skins and rarely need to be peeled. Simply give them a scrub and pop in the pot to boil. Served with butter and salt or even cooled and tossed into a salad... a new potato is unlike the potato that you will get in the fall - so experiment! 

Lastly I wanted to share with you a tip or two for extending the life of the greens that you find in your box each week (or that you pick up from the store). As most are packed wet after rinsing, they can become mushy if not tended to when you get them home. In our house, we often use the ziplock produce bags that you can get at the grocery store. I find that they are worth in the investment (and we re-use them over and over). However, if you don't have these special bags, other plastic bags will work... the trick is to ensure that the greens are as dry as possible. Therefore, I recommend that you take the greens out of the bag/pail and lay them out on papertowel and then roll the whole thing up like a jelly roll. Storing the greens inside the papertowel in a plastic bag ensures it lasts a much longer time! 

So in summary... What's in the Box this week?

• Rhubarb
• Lettuce (mixed greens in bag)
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Peas
• New potatoes
• Spring turnips (turnip greens are edible too!)
• Broccoli (for full shares only)
• Peppers (spicy)
• Beets 
• Herbs in the red cup: 
• Oregano
• Chives
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Basil 

Notes to our CSA Share holders: 

We pick the vegetables within 24 hours of the box being delivered. We do rinse the produce but it would be important to wash all vegetables before you eat them. Keeping the herbs (ends) in a cup of clean water will keep them fresh longer.

Please return your empty box along with all re-usable containers (pails, cups, bags etc) so that we can reuse them all over again. 

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter at @FenezFollies

Potato salad anyone?!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 99

Our seed potatoes arrived today (Thanks Bruce!). 

We plant our potatoes into rows of black plastic mulch. This serves to heat up the soil, keep weeds down, and moisture from evaporating. 

With the stretch of warm weather that is expected this weekend, we are hoping that we will be able to lay our mulch soon! 

Last of the Sunshine...

FFF Photo a Day - Day 39

We finished off last summer's potatoes yesterday. We also only have six wrinkly tomatoes left and two small squash. Whether we like it or not, we are entering that irritating time of having to buy all our vegetables at the store.

It will likely be at least four-five months before we once again can taste real sunshine in our food. :(

Never ending bounty!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 21

You know you are spoiled when you have the opportunity to get tired of fresh produce directly from the garden. 

At this time of year we still have squash, onions, potatoes and even a few wrinkly tomatoes left from last fall's harvest.

Oh and a tremendous amount of tomatillos that I'm trying to forget about... We had such a bumper crop of tomatillos that I've run out of things to make with them. 

While I whine... it is always an incredible wonder to get a taste of summer in the middle of the cold winter months.

P.S. Anyone want some #$%! tomatillos?!  

Week #4 - 2014 FFF CSA - What's in the Box - New Potatoes - Simply Exquisite

This week has been another busy one on the farm. Our four new piglets are settling in nicely, and all the birds are now finally big enough to be outside on pasture. Grace our cow is due to calve any day now so we are keeping a close eye on her. We got our new sign up (check out our facebook page for pics), we have visitors from BC staying with us and our oldest son got his driver's license! We've had a great week... how about you?

 

This week you will find a feed of new potatoes in the CSA box! There isn't much better than the first taste of potatoes each summer.  New potatoes are picked before their sugar content has converted to starch making them taste almost like a whole new vegetable. We are growing the red Norland potato as well as the yellow Yukon Gold this year.  

 

New potatoes are simple to cook. Scrub them clean of dirt, boil them and smother with butter... Yum! No need to peel them, the skin is so tender and nutritious. An alternative is to roast them. Again, wash and cut into bite size pieces, toss with olive oil and herbs such as the fresh rosemary you will find in your herb cup and roast for 40 min at 450F.

So... What (else) is in the Box this week?

• Rosemary New!
• Dill New!
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Chives
• Peas
• Mixed greens - includes lettuce and spinach
• Beets
• Turnip
• Kale
• Potatoes New!

We pick the vegetables within 24 hours of the box being delivered. We do rinse the produce but it would be prudent to wash all vegetables when you get them home. Keeping the herbs (ends) in a cup of clean water will keep them fresh longer.

Please return your empty box along with all re-usable containers (ice cream pails, plastic containers, etc) so that we can reuse them all over again. 

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter at @FenezFollies