Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm! Welcome to CSA Week 6. This is NOT an egg week.
Hot days and hot nights have been the norm around here
recently. I think it was a bit cooler
this morning, but this afternoon brought the heat right back. It looks as though we will have a cool down
the middle of this week and then hot and steamy again in time for next
weekend. Saturday, storms blew through
the farm and we received over an inch of very needed rain. An inch of slow, steady, soaking rain would
have been preferred, but we are thankful for any rain we get. This is a dry year for us and we are so
fortunate to have the ability to irrigate.
And our irrigation system has been working overtime recently as we keep
fields watered and plant roots cool.
Farmer Don's war on weeds continued this week with a big
project around the pond. We have always
kept part of the pond bank mowed and left the rest more natural. However, recently, we had been, once again,
losing chickens to a predator. The signs
and symptoms of these attacks seemed to be a bit different than our usual
predator, which we think is a raccoon. Last
weekend I was enjoying some pond time with the dogs when I spotted a weasel
along the edge of the pond. Now we are
thinking the weasel is killing chickens and eating eggs! With some mowing and weed eating, the pond
has been reclaimed, as Farmer Don says.
Hopefully the lack of cover will make the weasel not as
comfortable.
In the fields, we are continuing to harvest summer squash
and cucumbers. Patty pan and eight ball
zucchini will appear in some of our summer squash mixes this week. Lettuce, chard and kale also continue to
produce. Our field grown tomatoes are
looking really good and Farmers Don and Matt finished staking them this
week. Tomatillos and tomatoes are
blooming and beginning to set fruit. Our
pepper plants are finally starting to become established and are growing
nicely. The next item to appear on the
available list will most likely be escarole.
Escarole is the green in Italian Wedding soup or as my Mother liked it,
with hot bacon dressing. Green snap
beans have tiny beans on the plants and we are waiting patiently for them to
size up for harvest. Our eggplants are
looking healthy. We have uncovered them
and the Asian eggplant are beginning to flower.
This week is most likely the last week for peas. We harvested our garlic last week and it is
curing in the barn. Farmer Don feels
this is some of our best garlic. Look
for garlic to appear on the availability in the next few weeks.
We try to keep a variety of different herbs on the
availability each week. Most of these
are harvest from a kitchen herb garden we have planted near the house. We do have field plantings of basil, cilantro
and dill. We should be harvesting from
these soon. We often do not bring herbs
to the markets we attend. If you are a
market customer and would like some fresh cut herbs, please email the farm and
we will do our best to fill your request.
Speaking of markets, we will again be at the Pittston
Farmers market on Tuesday, the Back Mountain Market on Saturday and the
Mountain Top Market on Sunday. This
Saturday is also a Forks Farm Market, so you can also find us at Forks this
week as well. Please consider coming to
one of these markets. Support us and our
fellow farmers. If you visit, be sure to
stop by our table, say "hello" and "shake the hand that grows
your food".
In the kitchen this week, we have been avoiding the oven so
as not to heat the house up anymore.
Salmon packets on the grill are one of our favorites. We do a filet per packet and add whatever
veggies we have in the fridge and top with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of
lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. The veggies
this week were squash, peas, chard and scallions. I also usually add some fresh herbs, with
purple basil, lemon basil, dill or lemon balm being favorites. Speaking of herbs, another of my favorite
summertime treats is fresh brewed iced tea.
To the tea I add a handful of herbs (mint, lemon balm, lavender, etc)
and sometimes a bit of honey. So
refreshing, over ice, on a hot summer day.
Since we are in the midst of zucchini and summer squash
season, I thought I would pass on some recipes and cooking ideas. I think most of us know zucchini is really
nice grilled. Zucchini can also be eaten
raw in salads. I have an old Moosewood
Cafe cookbook with a zucchini salad recipe.
It is a simple recipe, involving julienning the zucchini and adding some
fine chopped scallions and peppers (if available). The prepared veggies are then tossed with a
simple herb vinaigrette. Tonight we are
having one of my Mom's favorite ways of preparing zucchini. I never remember her following a recipe, but
it is a fairly easy dish. Brown sausage
in a Dutch oven or large frying pan. Drain
excess fat if necessary and add chopped onion, garlic and some mixed Italian herbs to the pan. Once the onions have softened, add cubed zucchini. When the zucchini is getting close to being
cooked, add some canned or fresh tomatoes to the mix. Continue cooking, allowing any excess
moisture to reduce if necessary. My
Mother usually added cooked elbow macaroni to this dish as well. Top with grated parmesan cheese. In recent years, I have also been making
zoodles, or zucchini noodles. I use a
mandolin slicer, but you can also use a spiral slicer or test your knife skills
and hand slice them. Zoodles can be
topped with a variety of sauces, including a simple tomato meat sauce, any
variety of pesto, grated cheese or curry sauces.
Before I end, I need to send a reminder out to our members
who have arranged to pay for their shares using a payment plan. Your second installments are NOW
overdue. The next (or third) payment
will be due around the first of August. Thank
you for your cooperation on this!
For any of our members and farm friends who are on social
media, the farm has a facebook page, a pinterest page and a blog! I post farm updates, these newsletters and
pictures to our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Dancing-Hen-Farm-111155465564952/)
and to our blog (http://dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com/). Please follow along!
It is Monday again, which means harvest and pack day. I should head down to the pack line and see
if my help is need for portioning. So,
until next week.....
Be sure to look to the sky tomorrow, as Tuesday is a full
moon. A full Buck or Thunder Moon.
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