Newsletter – July 28, 2020

NOTE: This blog is posted by a volunteer. No one from the farm checks or responds to messages here. You must contact the farm directly with any questions, comments, etc.

Dear friends of the farm,

This week you are getting Yukon Gold potatoes, white onions, carrots, cabbage, squash, cucumbers, purple bell peppers, green beans, muskmelon, lettuce, a beefsteak tomato and a Terra Cotta tomato.

Fruit: We are in a lull for Western Slope fruit right now. If you recall, they had a late freeze that took away 90% of the fruit produced on the Western Slope. First Fruit used heaters and wind turbines to move warm air throughout their orchard saving around 50 to 60% of their fruit. However, the apricots and plums did not survive. So, until the nectarines ripen (maybe in August), we will not be seeing any fruit.

Muskmelons: Many of you know what a cantaloupe looks and tastes like. Muskmelon has that same cantaloupe taste, but it is stronger & sweeter with a slight musky taste. Half of you are new to this and are going to experience one of the best tasting melons we grow! Muskmelon is a very old melon originally grown in Egypt down by the Nile river. It loves sandy soils, hot days, cool nights and lots of water. We just happen to have them all! It has the same netting as its cousin the cantaloupe but can be identified by the ribs that run down from top to bottom. Hint: It is best eaten at room temperature. But if you like them chilled, cut open and let sit for 10 minutes before eating! (Like a fine wine, it needs to air for a few minutes; improves taste.)

It is the last week of July. Does it seem like this summer is flying by…or it is just me? Aurora is the first area that sends their kids back to school. Will that even happen this year? As a kid, Jerry and I never went back to school until after Labor Day. But, I have to admit; more kids lived on farms back then and were needed for fall harvest. Jerry Sr. told us that when he was a kid, they took off a couple of weeks in the fall to help get the last of the hay into barns plus hand pick the field corn for winter storage. That must have been fun…. He told us he and his two brothers would hand pick approximately 40 acres of field corn. Wow, can you imagine the amount of energy that must have taken? With all the big equipment around today, no one even thinks about how that was done just a mere 75 years ago!

Summer Squash Bisque

1 stick butter

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cups chicken or veggie stock

½ tsp curry powder salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ pounds summer squash, ends cut & roughly chopped

1 cup half & half or canned coconut milk

2 heaping tbsp white basmati rice or tapioca croutons for serving

Add butter, onion, curry powder and squash to crockpot on high for 30 minutes. Add rice/tapioca, basil, stock and cook on high for 5-6 hours. Puree with stick blender, season with salt & pepper and add milk; keep in crockpot for 20 more minutes. Serve with croutons!

Are you Kathy (or Cathy) that left a message about your hog?

A Cathy called the farm office about her hog, but the Monroes cannot find anyone in their records with her name. She did not leave a phone number. Please call back!

A quick reminder that Jacquie (nor anyone else from the farm) is not involved with Facebook or the blog. They do not read or reply to comments. Also, the Monroes do not have caller ID. If you leave a message, please repeat your phone number because many times they have a bad connection.

Thank you!

Newsletter – July 21, 2020

NOTE: This blog is posted by a volunteer. No one from the farm checks or responds to messages here. You must contact the farm directly with any questions, comments, etc.

Dear Members,

This is week 6 of an 18-week season and you are getting red potatoes, yellow onions, garlic, squash, cucumbers, purple peppers, eggplant, muskmelon, red and yellow watermelon and green romaine lettuce. We need to apologize for the watermelon. It has been sooo hot out here, we overwatered them. Do not be surprised if they are soft around the seeds. But they are extremely sweet and wanted to share that joy with you.

Honey: Only those of you who ordered monthly deliveries of honey will be getting that this week. Those of you who ordered honey one time will get that in either August or September when this years honey is harvested.

Organic Certification: We will soon have our organic inspection this year. Members have often asked us to explain the experience and suggested I write a little bit about it so everyone understands the difference between someone saying they are using organic practices and someone who is going through the actual certification. It isn’t an easy experience ~ especially when the government is involved! So, this is what happens…

Record keeping is a huge part of what we do. We must document everything that happens on the farm every single day. Starting with the purchase of supplies, seeds, equipment, water, etc. everything has to be listed. We need to keep labels from all our sources & copies of their organic certification for every seed we purchase from every single business. Then that seed will be documented as to when it was planted (direct seeded into fields or greenhouse plantings) and to what fields they were planted. Then every time the field was watered, cultivated, weeded, harvested, quantities of harvest and where that harvest went & every time we walk into that field… for every planting in every field will need be documented. This can be a daunting task when you think about the fact that Jerry has multiple plantings of just about every crop we raise! So, each field & crop will have its own set of records.

When the inspector comes to the farm; they start out with a three hour inspection of our documentation. They then pick a seed and Jerry will need to show them from start to finish in the records what has happened to that crop.

The next inspection takes place outside for an hour or two. Inspectors start going through all our sheds to see what is in them (looking for chemicals). Then they go through the equipment to make sure it is in good shape and not spewing oil or hydraulic fluids. If there is a leak, we have to show we are capturing these fluids before they hit the ground. Fields are looked at next. It is very easy to see if someone is organic just by how clean the fields are. It is nearly impossible for every field at all times to be weed free. Weeds are a fact of life in organic farming! They look for bug diversity to see if chemical weapons have been used. If the inspector questions what is happening in a field, they can take plant samples for chemical testing (which has never been done at our place!). They can then see if a chemical was used, what kind of chemical and is it approved for organic use on certified organic crops.

They then come back into the house and discussions then take place about any new requirements or regulations and things they want us to improve on. This can take up to two more hours.

So, the next time you purchase something from a certified organic farmer, give them a big hug……they deserve it!

Quote of the day: “A farm is a manipulative creature. There is no such thing as finished. Work comes in a stream and has no end. There are only the things that must be done now and things that can be done later. The threat the farm has got on you, the one that keeps you running from can until can’t, is this: do it now or some living thing will wilt or suffer or die. It’s blackmail, really.”

– Kristin Kimball

Newsletter – July 14, 2020

NOTE: This blog is posted by a volunteer. No one from the farm checks or responds to messages here. You must contact the farm directly with any questions, comments, etc.

Dear Friends of the farm,

This week you are getting Yukon Gold potatoes, red onions, red beets, fennel, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, muskmelon and the Full Shares will receive tomatoes.

The fronds and bulb are both eatable on this delicate, wonderful, spicy, sweet bulb called fennel. Many people love to shred the bulb and add it to slaw and salads. It is enticing cooked under roasts (it caramelizes) or roasted with root vegetables. The fronds can be added to potato & macaroni salads as well as fish. Yummy!!

The muskmelons are just starting to ripen. These wonderful fruits are in the same plant family as cantaloupe but are stronger tasting and sweeter. Best tasting when eaten at room temperature. If you like them chilled, allow them to somewhat return to room temperature. Open them up and let them sit for 5-10 minutes. Like a fine wine, the taste improves when allowed to sit open.

This is incredibly early for tomato picking. The plants are healthy and with the very warm weather, some of them are starting to produce ripe tomatoes. Hopefully within a week or two everyone will get tomatoes.

Oil: Those of you who ordered monthly deliveries of olive oil; you will get that this week.

Tips: Within the next month we will get into that time of year when you may end up with more produce than you can eat in a week. There are a couple of ways to deal with this. First, we want you to eat more than one vegetable each evening; so fix two or three. Second, you can decide what you want for the week and then freeze the rest using the CSU Freezing and Canning Guide (found on our website). Each frozen packet of food is one less vegetable you will have to purchase this winter. For leftover vegetables, add a food grade container to your freezer and place your leftover veggies to it after every meal. When the container is full, you have instant veggie soup. All you have to do is make your stock; be it beef, chicken, pork or vegetable. If you freeze as you go, you will be able to spread out your food dollar into the winter. Besides, anything you freeze from the farm will taste better than anything you buy fresh next winter. I own a food vacuum system and love to freeze my vegetables with this. Did you know that freezer burn comes from the air trapped in the bag? The vacuum system takes that air out and the vegetables last longer in your freezer.

FYI: If you intend to purchase a freezer; now is the time to order one. It has come to my attention that freezers are hard to come by and are on backorder for several months!

Creamed Zucchini Over Pasta; page 67 of our CSA Cookbook

¼ cup Healthy Harvest olive oil

1 cup dry white wine (I have used Marsala and loved it!)

5 cups zucchini, sliced or diced

1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 onion, chopped

4 Tbsp salted butter (important for the taste)

½ cup fresh parsley or 2-3 Tbsp dry

Salt and pepper to taste (I used very little salt)

4 cloves garlic (delish!!)

8 oz your favorite pasta

1/3 cup fresh basil or 2-3 Tbsp dry

Heat oil in pan, add zucchini, onion & garlic. Cook 2 minutes. Add basil, parsley, butter and wine & cook until soft. Blend with Parmesan. Serve over pasta. Variations: Do not blend but serve veggies diced (I prefer this). Add small bite size chicken. Can also shred zucchini, slice the onion after cutting in half, substitute cheddar or monterey-pepper jack cheese and mix with ¼ cup plain yogurt & serve over linguine. I like to experiment and recipes very rarely remain intact after I’ve spent some time with them!

Newsletter – July 7, 2020

NOTE: This blog is posted by a volunteer. No one from the farm checks or responds to messages here. You must contact the farm directly with any questions, comments, etc.

Dear Members,

This week you are getting Yukon Gold potatoes, sweet white onions, carrots, garlic, squash, cucumbers and lettuce. These carrots are coming from a cold frame we planted specifically for our CSA. Carrots take a long time to germinate (app. three weeks) and a long time to grow to a decent size. We plant them early in a cold frame so that you can get early carrots in the spring or early summer. You won’t get many and they won’t last long, but it’s a start until the field carrots start producing.

FYI: We received an inch of rain on the 4th of July. You will notice more sand in your lettuce and generally on all your produce for a while. This is normally when we stop giving you greens because of the constant heat (we will be in the 100’s at least four days this week). But Jerry wanted to experiment with new varieties of lettuce that is supposed to be more tolerant of high temperatures. Time will tell and hopefully you will continue to get some lettuce!

Fruit: You will be getting another three pounds of Skeena cherries this week. First Fruit tells me they are very much like the Brooks Cherries, but better!

Pickles: As it turns out, the pickles are having issues and are not producing like normal. I am not sure if you will get the opportunity to pick or not; but we have planted another crop of pickles. If the chance arises for u-pick pickles, you will be called upon!

Day in the Life of Jerry: I did this several years ago and it was so popular that it has been requested to be written again! Jerry starts his day (every day) around 5am. He runs around the farm checking the water he set the night before and changing it to new areas. ‘The Crew’ starts at 6am. He gives out assignments such as the harvesting or planting of crops, cultivation of crops by machine or hoeing of crops by hand. Someone will check on the animals to see if they are healthy and happy, has water and alfalfa. On Mondays, Jerry or Kyle has to plant the next succession of crops such as beans, corn, squash, cucumbers, etc. This will normally take all day and if there is a lot to be planted, it usually has to take part of Sunday to do this as well.

Tue, Wed and Thr is Distribution. All the crops are in cold storage until that morning (being picked the day before). The Working Members arrive at 6:45 and are ready to start their day by 7. First thing is to get everything out and lined up to be bagged for Non-working Members and loaded into trucks. This will take anywhere from one to three hours. Then Working Members are off doing farm chores. Jerry will then start his route to deliver produce to DC’s. Kyle will stay with the working members getting planting, hoeing and other chores completed.

When Jerry gets back from the distribution route, he will check on the guys or with Kyle to see that everything was completed or what problems may have arisen while he was gone. He will check his water and his fields. He is always inspecting his fields looking for insect infestation,

weed infestation, water needs, and crop maturity. If there is time he will cultivate with a tractor or landplane the roads and sometimes he must repair equipment. If the alfalfa is ready to harvest, he will make a phone call to a local farmer to come out and start the harvesting process. He will cut, windrow and bale the hay then Jerry and Kyle remove it from the field and stack it (usually done on a Sunday or later in the evening).

Fri. is a busy day of harvesting, washing, sorting, bunching, bagging and weighing of produce that is going to farmers markets. We have to pick fields more than once a week or your produce would be overgrown, tough and mealy. We use the crops that go to farmers markets as your insurance policy. Very seldom have our CSA customers really felt the impact of a truly bad year. We take the produce away from the markets and give it to the CSA! It has worked beautifully for several years now. There have been shortages, but not like it would have been if we didn’t grow for and attend farmers markets!

Sat. is the big farmer’s market day. We all go different directions and run a market. Excess produce is donated at the end of the day. When we get home from market, every truck is unloaded and the produce is sorted. Anything not edible is fed to the animals (veggies to animals is like eating candy to us!). We think this is why our animals’ taste so good, because they get their weekly dose of veggies too!

Sun. is our day off….except we never seem to get the day off! This is the day we run things to the mechanic, do paperwork (a lot of paperwork) and do any unfinished fieldwork like preparing beds for planting or cultivating and there is always irrigating to do. It is also the one day Jerry and I get to explore the farm together and see if there is anything new we can give the members. We spend a couple of hours walking fields and checking out plants. (This occurred before I broke my leg and I cannot wait until the day I can do this again!) And if we are lucky…incredibly lucky, we get a two-hour nap!

Every evening (about 6:30pm) Jerry ends the day by changing water and checking the animals. We have 200 acres of irrigated crops. About 70 acres are in vegetables and the rest is in pastures and alfalfa for animals. It is extremely important to rotate your crops on an organic farm. Every plant takes something from the soil. We have a four or five year crop rotation in our vegetable fields. Then we take out alfalfa and plant vegetables in its place. Because alfalfa is ‘mowed down’ three or four times a summer, there are very few weeds! Plus, alfalfa is a nitrogen fixing plant and the ground is perfect for vegetables!! Old vegetable fields will go into alfalfa; the two always being rotated every four or five years. So, I can honestly say that no one vegetable has been grown in one place more than once every 12 years!

Grilled Veggies & Pasta

Zucchini, halved lengthwise

4 Carrots, halved lengthwise, boiled 2 min.

½ onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices

Olive Oil, maybe 3 Tbsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Whole grain pasta (I like farfalle or penne)

2 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp dried Oregano

Optional Additions: Asparagus, red and green bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplant; all cut for the grill.

Cover grill with aluminum foil and heat on medium high. Brush oil onto veggies, salt and pepper to taste. Arrange over foil and heat ten minutes (or to your preferred tenderness) turning only once during the process. Cook pasta according to directions. Remove veggies from grill and cool slightly then cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces. Toss pasta and veggies together with 2 Tbsp olive oil, oregano and balsamic vinegar. This is excellent as a cool salad or eaten warm as a main dish.