Raising Jane Journal

Saturday, July 7, 2012

In the Box and On the Farm

In this week's box:

Kale 
Beets
Red Bunching Onions
Summer Squash
Nero Tondo Radishes
Kohlrobi 

My favorite in this week's box has to be a toss up between the kale and beets. They are both just so flavorful, but I am excited to try this new spicy radish. The greens on these radishes are supposed to be pretty tasty.
The last few week's on the farm have been a variation on a theme, weed & harvest. Last week it was weeding the tomatoes for caging. To change things up I got to learn how to harvest swiss chard. It actually takes a bit of getting use to. As we harvest and bunch they are set aside in the shade of the other plants to be boxed at the end of the day. The bunches will actually begin to shrink right away and need to be soaked to clean them and perk them up before setting in the cooler for the next day's market.
Today upon arrival I learned my new tidbit of the week. When seeding a new bed, there is a small window of time between the fast germinating weeds and the germination of the seed that was planted when you can go in and torch the weeds without hurting the newly planted seeds in an effort at weed control. We spent the day fully in the Swiss Chard beds. "Harweeding". Yes, weeding and harvesting as we went along.
This little nest was found among the rows of chard. What an interesting place to build a nest. 
After weeks of nice weather on Saturday mornings, I finally caught my first hot one. At 8am it was already 88 degrees and humid. We took more frequent breaks and hit the shade for a bit. 
The Ruby Red Chard was going to seed and interestingly enough, it actually has a really wonderful smell. Similar to honeysuckle. It was a nice treat to work in.
I also found today that I have a fellow blogger on the farm who posts recipes from our box, so if you have been looking for some ways to use your CSA produce you can take a peak here, In other farm news, I brought home a nice free-range chicken to roast this week and get some stock going. It's been so long since I've done this and I'm looking forward to I good solid stock to add some flavor to all our produce. I've also taken the plunge and ordered our Thanksgiving dinner. In full mode of working for my food this year I will have an amazing opportunity to help with processing in exchange for my turkey. I am both excited and terrified but look forward to really knowing my food. 
This post can also be found at Fresh Food Wednesdays.



2 comments:

  1. Amy you have me excited for two reasons!:

    1. those little eggs! did you put them back or relocate them?

    2. chard going to seed smells sweet?? I would have never known!

    3. i adore that you post your CSA collection! I think CSAs are the best way to learn what's in season in your region. Wonderful!

    Thanks for sharing with Fresh Foods Wednesday! I hope you have something for us again this week :)

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    1. We placed the nest at the end of the row in the hopes that the mom would come back and let the owners of the farm know they were there. Thank you for hosting Fresh Foods Wednesday! What a wonderful opportunity to see what everyone is doing.

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