Hogs feeding on oats at the edge of our cherry orchard.
This week has been a whirlwind of somewhat exhausting activity — some of it planned, some of it very much unplanned. In the category of planned activity, we welcomed some very dear old friends for a two night visit. They came from big cities (Brooklyn and Seattle) to enjoy all the sights, sounds, and tastes of the farm! We picked and ate plums straight from the trees, swam in the river, got licked by curious cows, and dug holes (there was a three year-old involved). We also sat up late talking, and so — some tiredness is setting in tonight!
Smokey farm!
But, the unplanned things were also interesting (if a bit crazy making in their own ways). First, this weekend brought some dramatic “weather” to the region. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about — the influx of dense smoke from wildfires throughout the region. We went to the beach on Saturday to visit Casey’s parents, and we hoped for a reprieve from the smoke, but alas that was not to be found. Truly the whole region joined in the summer’s hard fire season for those days of smoke. I felt like we were living in a post-apocalyptic farmscape, and we literally breathed with relief when the winds shifted Monday morning bringing us fresh air again. Our hearts go out to those of you living with such poor air quality for weeks and months on end! It hurts the eyes, lungs, and soul.
In addition to fresh air and friends, Monday brought another unexpected adventure of sorts. Jasper drove down to our favorite butcher in Brownsville to pick up a fresh batch of ground beef and lamb (yay!). On his way to the butcher from I-5, the box truck stopped working! All the fans seized up, and it quickly overheated, causing him to pull over and figure it out. Thankfully, he was in a safe place for that. Double-thankfully, he was on his way to the butcher, so he didn’t have a load of meat in the truck. And, thankfully, it turns out he was within slow easy driving distance of a recommended fleet mechanic. He crawled there, and Casey drove down to pick him (and the meat) up. That fleet shop looked at the truck the next morning, diagnosed an easy and affordable fix (yay again!) and had it fixed by this afternoon. So, our truck is already running again and parked back in our driveway. And, we’ve got several boxes of ground beef and lamb in the freezer too. Oh, hoorah!
Enjoying what is likely to be one of our last “river days” of this summer.
And, finally, this week brought a surprisingly abrupt end to some of our summer routines. Just in the last week, we found ourselves suddenly at the end of a lot of summer rhythms — several people who have worked and helped out here on the farm are moving on, which shifts the feel of our work a lot. And, after a few more days of fun social time and a mini vacation to the beach, our family will be jumping into the beginning of new fall rhythms. Notably, we’re starting our school routine next Wednesday! It’s a bit ahead of public schools, but we homeschoolers can do such things! Dottie will be in preschool, and Rusty will be in kindergarten. We are very excited, even if the arrival of this shift seemed to take us by surprise!
To add to the fall “vibe,” the weather forecast for the weekend calls for several days of “rain possible.” In spite of plans to go camping this weekend, we eagerly anticipate some wet weather. Oh, how all of the west coast could use it!!!!! Even though it is fairly certain now that fire has passed by Holden Village’s infrastructure, so much land is still ablaze in that region and beyond. Many people are still living in exile from their homes (or taking the risk of sticking around to help). These people are on our minds and hearts daily. So, rain. Yes, please!
We hope you are savoring these final days of your summer routine — playing outside while you can! Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Asian pears — We were surprised to learn last week that Asian pears are a new fruit for many people! We apologize for not taking time to introduce them to you, although I imagine many of you made your own happy acquaintance this week without my help (yummy, yes?). For those of you who would still like more information about this fruit, Pyrus pyrifolia is a pear type native to Asia (ok, no surprise there). However, it differs fairly significantly from European varieties — so much so that I consider it a unique fruit type. Unlike European pears, Asian pears ripen on the tree. They also do not soften when ripe — the flesh remains crisp, often even crisper than a crisp apple. So when you touch an Asian pear, it will be very firm in your hands (like an apple). But, trust us that we have only picked Asian pears that are ripe, sweet, and very much ready to eat. The flavor is sweet without being syrupy, and they are very juicy. To me, eating a cold Asian pear on a late summer day is the ultimate in refreshment.
- Grapes — More delicious Concord grapes! Remember that these have seeds in them! I plan to make some juice later this week. It’s easy with a steamer (available usually at Bi-Mart or Wilco). We find the resulting juice to be more concentrated than we really want to drink, but it’s great cut with soda water. Or, I also use it to make jello — I just add gelatin, no extra sugar needed at all with this sweet stuff!
- Prune plums — Time for the next season of plums! These are European style plums — firmer flesh, freestone, and perfect for drying into prunes. For plum lovers, these are often the best of the best. I do love them so! We will dry some prunes sometime soon as well! It’s easy to do in a food dehydrator. We just cut these in half, pop out the pit, then put them on the tray! For larger plums, it helps to somewhat flip the plum halves “inside out,” to expose more of the wet inner flesh for drying.
- Red plums — These plums are still around too! Enjoy them while they last!
- Lettuce mix — We enjoyed eating more salads again this week. I keep making my favorite mayo-style dressing, and it’s a hit with guests to our house.
- Basil
- Tomatoes
- Tomatillos
- Hot peppers
- Green beans — The next (and final) batch of green beans are on!
- Cucumbers
- Chard
- Kale
- Beets
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Zucchini & summer squash
- Eggs
And this week’s extra goodies from the farm:
- Eggs — $6/dozen ~ One of this week’s guests is a vegetarian, and we adapted our usual farm fare for him. We left out the meat and then fried an egg for him to eat with whatever vegetables we served. Of course he marveled at the color of the yolk. Because farm fresh eggs are amazing!
- Pork chops — We still have lots of thick, perfect pork chops! We’ve tried a few different butchers this year, and these chops come from one of our two favorites. They do a superb job — clean cuts. They are beautiful. $12/lb
- Lamb — We just picked up a new batch of lamb, so we have everything in stock: chops, roasts, shanks, and lots and lots of ground lamb! Prices vary depending on the cut.
- Ground beef — IT’S BACK! We are so glad! Since we picked it up on Monday, we have eaten hamburgers every day. It’s just so good that we can’t get enough and we missed it. $7/lb in 1 lb packages.
- Bratwursts & ham — Coming next week!
