Week Five

Did you get hit with storms this week? We did. We were grateful for the rain, but could have done without the hail. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to damage any of our crops. The wind, however, did. Our hoop house was torn up a bit by it. Hopefully we will be able to get it fixed before we need it this fall.

We spent this week sweltering, putting up more fence to keep animals out of the garden and in the pasture. Fence building is work best done in the winter, I think, but the need is here now and so here we are. There is still planting to do and always, always weeding. And our attention is beginning to turn to preparing and planning for our fall CSA season.

We have been having trouble with potato beetles this year, which we have not had problems with before. So tonight, Samantha and Lila went and caught five of our hens and put them in the garden to do potato beetle patrol. We are hoping that they get the bugs and don’t eat the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower plants which they like. Hopefully these five hens (Mrs. Jocelot, Barbie, Stripey, Karen, and Fly-ee, in case you were interested) will help with the bugs.

Also this week, we put up jars of black raspberry jam - which might be my favorite. It will be a part of our fall share baskets. But we have been eating some of it now. It is so good.

In your basket this week there will be:

beets

carrots

chard

kohlrabi

red cabbage

potatoes

kale OR baby zucchini mix

We still have kale and we don’t have quite enough of the zucchinis yet to give everybody some. So we will give some of you one thing and others the other. And next week we will switch. Our library shareholders (and those who pick up there) will get the zucchini this week.

And as for kohlrabi...it looks really strange. The greens are good and can be used like you would use kale but the best part is the round, UFO looking thing. It is a member of the same family as cabbage, broccoli, kale, and cauliflower. There are many ways to cook it. Many people like it raw - shred into salad or chopped into pieces and served like a crudite with some kind of dip.

My favorite way (and this passes the kid test) is to grate it and saute it in butter and olive oil for about 5-10 minutes til as tender as you want it. Sprinkled with salt and pepper, it tastes like really sweet broccoli. This is all the kohlrabi until fall. It really does better in the fall and is a staple for us through the early winter when it is even sweeter. So consider this a teaser. We hope you like it.

Hope you are having a good week. Remember your baskets and let us know if you want eggs!