(CSA Newsletter: Week 24)
- Fava beans — See “about fava beans” for more info and cooking directions!
- Fennel bulbs — Want to try something fun, simply and different? Try roasting a pan of chopped fennel bulbs and cauliflower until tender. Then, toss with pasta and cheese for a delightful vegetable-filled gourmet version of mac and cheese!
- Cauliflower — Even outside of mac and cheese, fennel and cauliflower go well together. Roast them together and then serve as a simple side dish.
- Broccoli
- Carrots — Tired of carrot sticks? Try making an Asian veggie stir fry with carrots, broccoli and onions. Or, make a gratin with the same ingredients and add fava beans, fennel and/or cauliflower too!
- Summer squash OR Dinosaur kale — Your choice between kale and the very first picking of this year’s summer squash and zucchini … this is fairly late in the season to be starting into what we consider summer vegetables, but it’s certainly better late than never! Just another sign of our cool, wet spring in action. Craving a salad this week? This kale is tender enough to chop finely, dress and eat fresh!
- Onions — The sweet onions have dried down now, so we recommend storing them in a cool dry place (rather than in the fridge as when they were fresh and wet inside).
As part of our summer field trip schedule, we always try to get to other farms too. This weekend, we visited three on social occasions (but managed to check out the fields too): Kookoolan Farms in Yamhill, Gathering Together Farm in Philomath, and Growing Wild Farm outside of McMinnville.
At all three farms, we saw new ideas in action and many diverse choices in similar farming considerations (irrigation styles, bed prep, field layout, etc.). The farms are of different ages and scales: Gathering Together has been in operation for several decades and operates on much more land that the other two relatively young and small farms.
Suffice to say, each farm looked dramatically different to us, but one thing was consistent across all three farms (and our own as well): the cool, wet spring is still making itself known in the fields.
The spring was visible mostly simply through the age of summer crops — they were all much smaller than what we would expect for mid- to late-July. In our own fields, many of our crops are behind, especially our fruiting crops: cucumbers, summer squash, melons, winter squash, beans, eggplant, peppers, and more. They are far enough along that we trust that we’ll have eventual harvests of most of these — and some have already begun.
But, we’re also glad that we planted extra non-fruiting crops, such as carrots, beets, and fennel bulb. We’re also glad we planted our tomatoes and some of our peppers inside our new permanent greenhouse — they are actually ahead of our normal expectations.
At our farm (as well as at others), we have also found ourselves with some extra weeds in some of the spring planted beds. For many weeks this spring, it was too wet in our fields to weed with our hands, let alone hoes or the cultivating tractor. Consequently, our spring broccoli and a few other crops ended up maturing without hardly being weeded — in spots, it’s difficult to even see the broccoli through the grass unless you walk right into the bed!
It’s certainly been an interesting year. Each season brings new surprises and challenges to the art of farming, and each year we respond to these new experiences with slightly greater perspective and calm.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t get frustrated or annoyed with extra wet or cold weather during planting season, but we no longer assume that we’ll never plant or that our late crops will never produce mature fruit.
We also know that, actually, some things might not produce. At this point, it’s very possible that we won’t have ripe melons, give how far along they are and how mild the season continues to be. But that’s also why we plant diversely. This year already, we’ve had bumper crops of spinach and peas, and the broccoli has been sweet and beautiful. Cool weather is good for some crops!
Honestly, if each subsequent year offered exactly the same weather, farming might not be as interesting to us. I mean, you could just program robots and computers to do exactly the same planting and watering plan every year, and you’d get exactly the same harvest dates and yields. B-o-o-o-ring.
As the folks at Kookoolan Farms noted over dinner, the best parts of farming are the tasks that “make you think.” Amen to that. And, for better and for worse, responding appropriately to the weather always makes us think.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
