Farming in the smoke

Greetings Folks,

Week 14 has been a hazy one for all of us on farm and off.  We are doing our best to farm in the smoke, but it is a little like ignoring the thousand pound gorilla in the room...its hard to not notice and let your mind wander a little bit into the future of a hotter and dryer west.  It helps to focus on the positive stuff like all the great food coming off the farm and the nice reprieve we had from the heat during the beginning of the week.  In addition to remembering all our favorite apocalypse movies, we have mostly been harvesting tomatoes, selling tomatoes, eating tomatoes, and of course dreaming of tomatoes. We also took a small tomato break (and I do mean small) to weed and plant more fall crops...many of which should be starting to show up at the market by the 2nd week in September...which in case you needed a reminder, is only one week away!

I think the time has come to start talking about peppers.  It takes a long time to get sweet peppers on the farm in Colorado, mainly because our nights are so cold, but we are finally into peppers season. Peppers are similar to tomatoes in that they set fruit and then "ripen" to their sweet color; however, unlike a tomato their "unripe" form is very edible and recognized in the culinary world as a "green" pepper.  I use quotations around the green part because not all unripe peppers are green, some are purple, or white or lime green and we grow all types on our farm (which is perhaps one reason why you folks chose to get your produce from us rather than the store).  

In addition to all the different color bell peppers that we grow, we are also growing some sweet peppers that are different shapes.  Carmen and Escamillo sweet peppers are red and yellow and are elongated in shape.  They look a bit lite an Anahiem pepper but instead of the spice, you get a deep sweet flavor that is great for fajitas or pizza.  Try roasting them on your grill or oven in some olive oil and salt and adding them to pasta or putting them out as a topping for a bread and cheese plate.  

Jimmie Nardello peppers, or just Jimmies for short, are a farmer favorite.  They look like a long curly cayenne type pepper but are sweet and fruity.  Although they are a little more work to cut and de-seed, they are worth the trouble!  Sauté or grill and put them on everything....literally. 

Although the majority of our peppers are sweet, we also grow a variety of hot peppers that are sold as a medley at the market.  I like to get two pints and do a quick pickle with them.  They are ready right away to add to pizza, tacos, and burgers and will keep for a couple weeks in your fridge.  Just a processing tip, be sure to wear gloves as the capsicum oil from the hot guys can haunt you for days. Don't ask me how I know that.

Tomato Update:  We will still have boxes of roma, beefsteak, and heirloom boxes at the market this week.  We will also have 10 lb flats of cherry tomatoes that are great for roasting and freezing.  Don't miss out on these, we will only have them for a very limited time!

See you all very soon!
Katie

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This Week's Harvest

• Kale
• Chard
• Head Lettuce
• Beets
• Carrots
• Sweet Onions
• Summer Squash (Garden Sweet)
• Zucchini (some Garden Sweet)
• Fingerling Potato Mix (Strohaur farm)
• Sweet and Hot Peppers
• Heirloom and Cherry Tomatoes (by the piece or bulk)
• Roma and Beefstake Tomato Boxes
• Green and Purple Beans
• Eggplant
• Cucumbers
• Flower Bouquets

With our shirts only half tucked in

Hello Folks,

Its the last week of summer vacation!  Which may not mean much except more traffic for folks without kiddos, but it certainly does signal a change in the light and the transition to late summer.  Town will be bustling again, new routines to get used to, new sports schedules.  We hope it won't stop you from finding time to pick up your vegetables because there a lot of them coming off the farm right now.  We have been very busy harvesting and sorting tomatoes and other summer fruits, seeding loose leaf greens for an expected September harvest, and "beautifying" the farm...aka weeding.  We are planning for fall cover crops and turning our attention, with our shirts only half tucked in, to the last legs of the race. 

If you hadn't heard yet, its tomato time.  We will have boxes of heirloom seconds, boxes of slicing tomatoes and boxes of romas all at the market this week.  We are counting on everyone to do their part and pick up at least one box of tomatoes over the next 3 weeks.  There looks to be some cooler weather in the forecast for Sunday, so it will be a great time to turn on the stove tops or ovens and get some tomatoes put up for the winter.  Roast 'em, sauce them, salsa them, or just freeze 'em whole.  You won't be sad this winter when you have them stashed safely away for tomato soup and grilled cheese in the dead of winter. 

Beans are finally abundant on the farm again and we have a lot of varieties to choose from.  Green are your classic, but don't be afraid to spice things up and pick up some dragon lingerie (aka, sexy beans), or some purple majesty.  Its certainly the most colorful time on the farm, so taste the rainbow while we got it!

Also, the flowers on the farm are off the hook right now.  So much so that we need to start doing some you pick.  If you are interested, bring your own scissors or snips and follow the signs.  Pretty sure for all you single folks out there it would be a grand slam date night...but its fun for the kids too.  Flower patch is open 8-6pm, check out sheets for CSA members are in the farm stand.  

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Katie

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This Week's Harvest

• Kale
• Chard
• Head Lettuce
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini (garden sweet)
• Summer Squash (garden sweet)
• Beans, green, purple, dragon lingerie
• Fingerling Potatoes (strohaur)
• Tomatoes, Cherry, Slicing, Heirloom, Romas
• Peppers, sweet, hot, shishito
• Sweet Onions
• Basil and other herbs
• Flowers

Summer's last hooray

Greetings Folks!

Regardless of the fact that the first day of fall doesn't occur until the middle of September, there is little doubt in my mind that August is summer's last hooray.  So much of summer is just a state of mind, a time for indulging, vacation, music, celebration.  As we approach the last three weeks of August, I started to panic a bit...so much summer fun that I kept putting off and now that we are in the home stretch, I am hoping to squeeze it all in. Maybe one last trip to the river to swim.  Maybe one more sunny outdoor concert.  Maybe a quick over night camping trip up the canyon.  There are many parallels that can be drawn with all the fresh food in the summer.  I haven't even had a Colorado melon yet and time is slipping away!  When am I going to get sick of heirloom tomatoes? Is it still too hot to turn on my oven?  sigh.  After much hand ringing with my co-workers about missing out on summer, we came to the consensus that there is not much more that says summer than farming...which made me feel slightly better because there has been A LOT of that lately.  

There has been a lot of farming lately because we are in the middle of the "glut".  The time when there is more food being picked than can possibly be eaten.  Heirloom tomatoes are at their peak and we will be offering $15 boxes of uglies at the market this week and next.  Heirloom uglies are great for cooking down into jam, saucing with some slicing tomatoes, or roasting and freezing for a small taste of summer in the depths of the winter months.  Slicing and Roma tomato boxes will be available starting next week and we are predicting them to hold steady into the first week in September. If you have been waiting to put away pesto for the winter, don't wait too long.  Basil doesn't love temperatures in the 40s and is a great thing to do while it is still hot out because you don't have to cook ANYTHING!  

Some of you have discovered the pints of shishito peppers that we have been sneaking into the market and farm stand the last two weeks.  We are picking them nice and small this year, so they should be pleasantly mild and prefect for blistering in your skillet with some sea salt.  Oddly addicting, set them out for your friends to nibble on before serving the whole banana of a main course...perhaps a summer southwestern succotash or elevation burger with the "works" (meaning caramelized sweet onions, heirloom tomatoes, pesto, and a piece of good head lettuce). Eggplant is abundant right now.  Make some room in your stomach for eggplant parmesan or some Shaksuka and sleep fat and happy.

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Katie

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This Week's Harvest

• Kale
• Chard
• Head Lettuce
• Cucumber 
• Zucchini (some from Garden Sweet
• Yellow Squash (Garden Sweet)
• Carrots
• Beets
• Tomatoes...heirloom, cherry, slicing
• Eggplant
• Peppers, hot, bell, shishito
• Fingerling Potatoes (Strohaur)
• Sweet Onions
• Beans, Green and Dragon Lingerie
• Flowers

Turn it into energy and happiness

Hello Folks,

Welcome to the middle of the lake week...or at least that is what we call it on the farm.  We are officially 12 weeks into our summer CSA program which means we have 12 weeks left of summer markets and farm stand fun.  There is no turning back now, so all we can do is keep swimming until we reach the other side.  The second half of the swim usually feels like we are swimming with the current and a nice breeze at our back. Now is the time to bring in the food and get as much of it to our community as we can possibly pick.  This means it is your job to come get the food and turn it into, as one CSA member put it, "energy and happiness."  Its a tough job, but I know y'all are up for it!

We are continuing to harvest summer crops that are coming on with abundance right now.  Hard to know what to eat right now as there is so much good stuff. We are starting to partner with a few different farms to bring you folks some things that we did not have space to grow on the farm this year.  This week we will have fingerling potatoes from Strohaur farms and yellow squash from Garden Sweet. Both farms are local and organic and we hope that you will enjoy supporting them as much as you support us.  

This week we are looking for "fast" food and have been eating very al fresco.  With the continuous cucumber abundance (quite a year for those little suckers), I have been making more salads than ever before.  This week we paged through Joshua McFadden's "6 seasons" cook book and found a nice recipe for cucumber and celery salad with apricots and herbs.  I had never had anything like it and would bring it fresh to a potluck any day. Now that I'm thinking about it, those cucumbers would also pair well with the abundance of heirloom tomatoes we have for a nice cool gazpacho. Served with a crusty bread and a glass of chilled white wine, I can't think of a nicer super for a warm summer evening. 

 If it hasn't been obvious to you all, now is the time for caprese.  The heirloom tomatoes are in full swing and it is a real show stopper to have a big bowl of multi-colored tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella topped with salt and balsamic reduction.  No one complains in our house when that appears on the table.  If you are looking for a quick week night supper, Andrea Beamis has an easy recipe for chickpea and summer vegetable tacos.  Deviating complete from a traditional taco flavor, this version combines roasted  summer squash, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes  with chickpeas and a herbed tahini sauce. Easy to scale up for unexpected guests and pairs well with a cold beer after a long work day. 

A few FYIs.  There have been a few folks asking about the tomatoes in the "refrigerator" in the farm stand.  To set the record straight, the fridge is really a cooler that we have set to a tomato friendly temperature.  This allows us to keep the tomatoes from getting over ripe as well as keep insects and critters from eating them.  There should not be any decrease in the quality of the tomatoes coming from this fridge, so please indulge.  

Speaking of tomatoes, a quick attaché about them.  We grow them in unheated tunnels which means the temperature fluctuates with the temperature outside.  "Cat facing" or the scaring that you see on the outside of the tomato is caused by extreme temperature swings, not unlike what we have seen this summer...hot-cool-hot-cool.  Unless we grow these things in a controlled environment such as a greenhouse, we will not be able to keep the tomatoes from developing scarring.  Consider them beauty marks and enjoy them with reckless abandon anyway. 

Also, its time to start thinking about winter!  If you have been enjoying our summer CSA program, don't let the fun stop when the colder months approach.  The shares run from the beginning of November to the end of March and include fresh greens, storage crops and pantry staples. We will be continuing our tradition of Wednesday evening pick ups at Equinox Brewing, so be sure to stay for a pint when you pick up your box! 

Looking forward to seeing you all soon,

Katie

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This Week's Harvest

• Kale
• Chard
• Head Lettuce
• Carrots
• Beets
• Sweet Onions
• Beans
• Heirloom and Cherry tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Summer Squash from Garden Sweet
• Fingerling Potatoes from Strohaur
• Eggplant
• Basil
• Peppers, bell and hot
• Cucumbers
• Flowers

A race with Mother Nature

Hi-Ya Folks,

Week 11 has proved to be an extra busy week on the farm and its doesn't look like we are stopping the party any time soon.  In addition to getting food out of the field we have been planting the heck out of our fall crops and starting to figure out the great cooler shuffle as we transition into mid summer on the farm. We are tuning up the carrot harvester for our big mid season carrot push and trying to make some curing space for the onions that will need to be pulled right about the same time.  Flowers are bursting, hundreds of little sunflowers with their heads turned to face the sun, make the farm a joyous place to be in late July and we are still playing twister in the cucumber and zucchini patches as we work around the monster plants that have over grown their fields. 

With food literally spilling out everywhere, this time of year feels like a race...a race with mother nature to see how much perishable food I can fit in my stomach before it gets too ripe.  Recalling the order of operations from seed to food, we have moved from leaf, to root, to fruit.  Fruit, for all of its glory, is by design a short lived being.  It holds the seeds for the next generation and when the plant drops its fruit, it will degrade and replant the seed.  Lucky for us, the fruits of many plants are delicious, but we have to gobble them up before they start trying to replant themselves. 

One way to do this is to cook them. When I can't keep up with all the beautiful fruits of the season, I know its time for ratatouille.  One of my favorite summer dishes, this can use up a lot of produce and fast.  I make an extra big batch and resign myself to thinking about winter, putting half of it in the freezer for the colder months.  One of my favorite ways to make it, is to chop up all the veggies, and add lots of oil and balsamic vinegar.  I cook it down in the oven until it is good and gooey and then slather it on some thick cut sourdough toast with ricotta or goat cheese.  It tastes just as great this way coming out of the freezer and can be served in a similar way as a quick appetizer for hungry winter guests. 

Freezer pesto is a must do in our family. We make a huge batch to get us through the long winter and now is the time to get it going.  With tons of fresh basil on hand, the kitchen literally turns green as we stay up late processing all the freshness.  Look for bulk bags at the market this weekend!

Looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!

Katie

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This Week's Harvest

• Kale

• Chard

• Head Lettuce

• Carrots

• Beets

• Basil

• Zucchini

• Cucumbers

• Heirloom Tomatoes

• Cherry Tomatoes

• Beans

• Sweet Onions

• Flowers and Herbs

• Peppers (small amount)

• Eggplant