June 14

Today was a harvesting day, despite the virtually constant drizzle/rain. Tomorrow we pack the boxes for the CSA's and we need to do some of it today. Of course, everything is better the later it's harvested, but if you're careful about the way you do it, some things can be picked a little ahead. There's only so many hours in a CSA day, anyway!

We harvested leaf lettuce and sugar snap peas today. We cut the lettuce and collect them into a mesh laundry bag, filling it only about 1/2 way so the greens have plenty of room in there to move around. The warmer it is outside, the faster you have to move. (Today, heat was not a problem.) If it is hot, the lettuce will wilt pretty quickly, and there's no recovery from that. We bring the bags into the barn, and submerge 2-3 of them at a time into cold water in an old steel water trough. It's about 2' wide, 4' long and 3' deep. We swish the bags around to get the dirt off, then, spin the bags in an old washing machine. Seriously. It's like a giant salad spinner. And, it was free from a recycling center. The old owner got rid of it because it was leaking, but we just need the spin cycle to work! After spinning, the lettuce is dumped from the bags onto a towel-lined (very large!) table. There, we fluff it, and sort it, checking for weeds, or other things you wouldn't want to see in your salad. Then it's bagged and weighed. Today, we cut 10 laundry bags, which got us 18 bags at 12 oz each for the full-size shares, 51 bag at 6 oz each for the half-size shares, and 4 bags at 8 oz each for the people that order "extra salad" a la carte. There are 73 bags of salad greens in the walk-in cooler waiting to be put in their CSA boxes tomorrow morning!

Then, we moved onto the peas. She tried something new this year: She planted oats along with the peas. (Forgive me, there's a term for that kind of planting, but I've forgotten it. Overplanting, maybe?) Anyway, the oats grow faster than the peas, so by the time the peas are starting to reach for the sun, lo and behold, there is something right there for them to climb up...an oat plant! The oats seemed pretty thick to me, it was hard to walk through the "rows" of peas, but the peas were really clinging onto and climbing up the oats! They didn't seem to mind having someone else in their "bed" with them! And, with the oats kind of thick in there, there were virtually no weeds. It was just the oats and the pea plants. This bed was already planted when I got here, so I'm not sure about which was planted first, or if it was at the same time. Certainly saved a lot of trouble supporting the peas, or having them just laying on the ground.

We also counted out more of the garlic scapes we'd pulled last week. (4 each for the full shares, 2 each for the half shares.)

Tomorrow, we have to helpers coming. We'll need to harvest green onions (10 ea /5 ea), spinach (2 bunches/1 bunch) and bok choy (4 bunches/2 bunches). The members will also get radishes (2 bunches/1 bunch) but they came from a different farm. Someone she knows, and farms with the same philosophies that she does (low or no spraying of pesticides/herbicides, with an emphasis on maintaining and improving the quality of the soil whenever possible, etc.). There are also 21 members that will be getting a dozen eggs this week.

And, dang it, it's could rain all day tomorrow too! Oh well. Makes me appreciate a nice hot shower at the end of the day!!!

June 13

A quiet, at-the-farm weekend for me. Cynthia has been terribly lonesome, so she went to see her boyfriend and his family in Isanti. I've been helping a friend with a craft project for her son's grad party, and doing some other sewing and things like that. Watched a movie last night, and took lots of pictures around the farm today.

Added some pictures to the album I have on Facebook, if anyone wants to see them, here.

Tomorrow and Tues, H will be gone at a conference, so I will be "in charge" of the CSA packing day on Tuesday. C will be here, of course, and we have a helper coming in for an a.m. shift Tues, and another one for a p.m. shift. I've got the list of what will go in each box, and a plan of when to harvest each item. Some of the boxes will then get delivered to one of the drop off sites Tues afternoon. (The rest, H will deliver on Wed.) I've done this twice already, C's done it once and our a.m. helper was here last week, too, so between us we should be ok! Still a little stressful for me. Just have to follow my list and remember to breathe.

The weather radar shows a huge green blob headed our way, so it might be time to hunker back down in my room to finish up some of my projects!

June 11

Pizza night last night was kind of a bust. Only about 25-30 pizzas. There was actually only a little rain between 4:30 and 9:00, but it rained pretty much the whole afternoon until then. Some did come anyway, and I think it was a good ease-into-it kind of night for Cynthia. Lots of down time is a little boring though. The time goes much faster on a 100+ pizza night, even if it goes until 10:00-10:30.

As usual, the day was spend prepping ingredients and the yard. With 3 of us for the first time this week, it went much faster than normal. We actually got a break between 1:45 and 3:30. That gave me a chance for a quick nap and a shower before evening chores at 3:30, and starting to roll out dough at 4:00.

Fridays are a late-start-day. Poured down rain most of the night, and well into the morning. Somehow got my jeans wet through my completely unattractive rain pants. What's up with that? Then, we headed into the kitchen for a jam session. Strawberry-Rhubarb, to be precise. 48 pint jars and 52 half-pint jars. Then, blessedly, done for the day. (I can now fully appreciate the concept of a "summer kitchen" because, the sun did come out this afternoon, and the air became quite warm and sultry. As the weather guys like to say in August: Hazy, Hot and Humid. Yuk.)

Went into Winona to hit the Walmart to buy (among other things) my new grandchild it's first teddy bear!!! Would have dropped by to see A&K and extol the virtues of having close-in-age cousins, but they are in Janesville at K's sister's wedding. ;-)  Congrats, Molly & Robert!

I'm staying at the farm this weekend. I have a grad party and a wedding for NEXT weekend, so I thought I'd save a few $$ in the Explorer. (My last tank got 19.5 mpg. Better than the Wrangler, but still pathetic.) Just checked into the possibility of Amtrak or Greyhound, and it's actually about the same in price as the1/2 tank of gas I'd use driving. Amtrak is a bit cheaper, but they are close.

One more picture before I leave you all: The chickens came back from their "field trip" today:

June 9

Absolutely gorgeous weather today! Upper 60's, sun-sun-sunny, and a nice breeze to keep it from feeling hot when you're working. How do I order about 5 months more of these?!?!

Today was a field day. Translation: Weeding, weeding, weeding. It wasn't bad, though. The new intern, Cynthia and I had lots of time to talk and start getting to know each other. Tomorrow is Pizza Night. No holiday weekend, no live music, possible rain in the afternoon/evening. We'll see how it goes!

 

Marshmallow peeps +  8 weeks = 

 

Gold'n Plump

June 8

Gave my new farm-quality rain boots a work out today! Seriously... I think this was the best $20 I've ever spent.

Cool and rainy today, on CSA box packing day. Lots to harvest: Spinach, mizuna, green onions, and garlic scapes. Scapes are the tender tops the plant grows where the flower will appear. If given the chance the plant will expend its energy growing the flower. But, we don't want the flowers, we want bigger bulbs. So we pull the scapes. They look a little like the green part of a green onion. They can be minced and used just like minced garlic.

Yesterday we harvested leaf lettuce, peas, asparagus and radishes. And, for those who didn't get it  last week, rhubarb from the neighbor.

After all the boxes were packed and put in the walk-in cooler, we moved the meat chickens to some fresh grass. With all the rain, the grass was very wet, and they'd be able to give themselves a little bath before their "field trip" tomorrow.......

June 7

Way behind, again, huh?

Today was good. Cynthia, the new intern arrived last night, and we jumped into harvesting asparagus, lettuce, peas and radishes for the CSA boxes tomorrow. Then we weeded, and weeded, and planted and planted. We also had help from a CSA member doing a work shift this morning. Lots of hands made for lots of accomplishment!

I was a little distracted today, with E&S's announcement over the weekend of my up-coming change in status to GRANDMA!!!! Woo hoo!

Everything else seems pretty status-quo around here. All the animals and plants are happy. The weather was nice, not too hot. There's chances here and there for rain coming up this week, and a little more warmth. As long as there's a shower and a bar of soap waiting for me at the end of the day, it's all good!

June 1

Mmm. Now this is going to be fun.... Mizuna and Minced Chicken Stir Fry, Sauteed Radishes with Greens, Sesame Bok Choy, Spinach Salad with Garlic Dressing, Lemon Asparagus, Sauteed Pea Vines.....