All smiles at the Farmer's Market! (Photo by Claire Burnett)

Greetings Folks!

Hope you are all enjoying this early October, I mean, mid-August cool front! In case anyone is wondering, it was 44 degrees on the farm yesterday morning! I hear there was snow expected in the mountains...not sure if that is indicative of an early fall or just global weirding, but we are not going to read too much into it this year.

Native Hill Farmers workin' hard to feed you! (Photo by Claire Burnett)

This time of year, all of our hard used equipment is breaking, truck tires need air and an oil change, coolers are failing, tractor seats are not really attached anymore and our shirts are only tucked in halfway. When we are not putting out a fire of sorts, we are spending a lot of time getting food out of the field and preparing for fall and even winter. More fall spinach, bok choy, turnips, radishes, and head lettuce were all seeded this week as well as winter picking greens that we won't be harvesting off of until January.

Peppers and eggplants are starting to trickle into the stand. We will have quite a reduced amount this year due to some crop failures in the spring but we anticipate having a token amount at market this season. Sigh, some years you win some, some years you loose some.

Cranberry beans are a nice addition to our bean selection this week. They are a flat Italian type bean with a velvety texture that can be enjoyed raw, lightly steamed, or even dried and shelled for later. The garlic has finished curing and we will start having it at the stand just in time for preservation time. Use it in dilly beans, pickles, tomato sauces, pesto, etc. Still enjoying tomatoes and will be for quite some time.

Our hyper local meal of the week: Organic sweet corn from Leffler Family Farm, Pork chops from Jodar Farms, Odell Brewing Company's IPA, and of course tomatoes and basil from us. Utter and complete satisfaction in 30 minutes or less!

This Week's Harvest

Kale
Chard
Head Lettuce
Cranberry Beans and Green Beans
Beets
Carrots
Lemon, pickling, and slicing cucumbers
Yellow and Patty Pan Squash
Zucchini
Potatoes (limited supply this week)
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Basil
Hot Peppers
Eggplant

Farmer's Journal

Week 15: Getting Food Out of the Field and Preparing for Fall