The weather this week is telling us that Fall will be here before we know it. 

On the farm, we’re keeping a close eye on our Fall crops, and enjoying our summer crops before we must say goodbye.

Last week we spent a lot of time with our winter squash. Holy moley it is all so happy this year! Our delicata plants are the largest they’ve ever been, and they’re producing big and beautiful squash. The acorn squash is already sizing up, and the sunshine squash are a beautiful light orange.  The plants have about 2-3 more weeks of growing before we plan to start harvesting them. 

There have also been talks about where we will put our Spring spinach. Our plan is to plant the spinach in the next few weeks so it has time to germinate and start growing a bit before it gets too cold out. Once it starts to get too cold, we’ll put a frost blanket over it, and tuck it in for the winter. During the winter, the spinach will enter a dormancy period (think hibernation but for plants) where it will stop growing, and instead conserve all of its resources until the Spring when the temperatures get warmer and the days get longer. Once Spring hits, the spinach will start growing again, and be ready to harvest for our final Winter CSA boxes.

Over-wintering frost tolerant vegetables is a great way to get a jump start on the growing season. Instead of having to wait the full 50 days for the spinach to be ready for harvest, we only have to wait about 2 weeks. This gets fresh greens in our bellies much faster, and seeing green gets everyone excited for the new season to start.

In your box this week:

Tomatoes – Zucchini – Cucumbers – Green Beans – New Red Potatoes – Cilantro – Basil – Sweet Onions – Jalapenos – Green Peppers – Carrots – Garlic

Shakshuka is a favorite in our household this time of year. Try out this recipe from Downshiftology for a great way to use up lots of produce from this week’s box. This recipe calls for Red Bell pepper, and a can of whole tomatoes. I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times with Green peppers, and using fresh whole tomatoes that you cook down. Yes, the fresh tomatoes make it take a little longer to cook, but you can’t tell the difference. Dice up your jalapeno for an extra kick!

Lots of people will be having their goodbye summer parties this weekend. This Cucumber Agua Fresca is a great way to celebrate summer one last time. It’s light, refreshing, and a great way to use up extra cucumber. If you want to make it extra fancy, try freezing cucumber slices and/or mint leaves in your ice cubes.

Last week was garlic harvest!

Last October, our crew lovingly hand planted thousands of cloves of garlic. We covered them with straw to tuck them in for their winter nap. This Spring we harvested and ate the scapes so the bulbs would grow big and beautiful. The lower leaves of the garlic plant slowly died. Once about half of the plant had brown/dead leaves, we knew the garlic was ready to harvest.

The first step of the process is to mow off the tops of the garlic. These plants can grow to be about 2-3 feet tall. All of the leaves and stem get in the way while harvesting and washing, so we mow the garlic down so only about 8-12 inches of stem is left. 

Janaki then drives the tractor over the bed and uses an attachment that gently loosens the bulbs from the soil. The crew then pulls out each bulb by hand, and loads them all on a wagon. The wagon goes back and forth from the field to our washing station by the greenhouse. 

Once the garlic arrives at our washing station, we give each one an initial inspection. This removes any garlic that might have gotten damaged during the harvesting process, or any garlic that didn’t form proper bulbs. All garlic that passes inspection gets a quick rinse to remove any remaining soil. It’s then placed on a drying rack in front of industrial sized fans. It will remain here for the next few weeks while the papery outside and the inside stem fully dry out.

Once it’s fully dried, some garlic will be saved for Summer Shares, some placed into storage for winter CSA boxes, but most will be sent out in our much sought after garlic preserving shares. Take this as your reminder that if you haven’t already purchased your garlic preserving shares, now’s the time. Once it’s cured, it stores great in a dry place with good air circulation, but this is also a great way to stock your fridge/freezer with minced garlic or power up your dehydrator to make your own garlic powder.

In your box this week:

Mini Carrots – Jalapenos – Green Bell Peppers – New Red Potatoes – Cucumbers – Lettuce – Onions – Tomatoes – Zucchini – Green Beans – Red Cabbage

I made this Panzanella last week, and I can’t stop thinking about how delicious it was. It’s a great way to use up an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers. We served it along side some grilled shrimp, but I also ate it on its own as a light and refreshing lunch.

Carrots are a staple here at the Food Farm. Most people eat them straight from the fridge, but sometimes you want to change things up. If you’re looking for a different way to use up your carrots, check out these Almond Flour Carrot Cake Scones. The warming spices make your house smell delicious, and the orange juice glaze is a wonderful addition. Bonus: they’re gluten and dairy free, with no mixer required.

Last week our hot weather crops finally started heating up. We picked the first of our peppers, outdoor cucumbers, and our outside tomatoes. The zucchini have been loving the hot weather as well. The melons are still small, but they are finally growing fast.

We also sent out the first of our carrots to our retail partners! If you or someone you know has been looking for our carrots, you can now find them on grocery store shelves around Duluth and at Super One in Cloquet.

Right now is kind of our “calm before the storm”. We spent a lot of last week weeding and hoeing things. Soon we will be so busy with harvesting, we won’t have time to deal with the weeds so now it’s extra important to stay on top of them. Most of them flower and put on seed really quickly thanks to the hot weather. If we don’t get the weeds out of the field before they drop their seeds, we will have an even worse problem next year.

We used some time last week to plant our final greenhouse items for the year, take down the fencing that holds up our peas, and get it put away so we can sow a cover crop on that field. Soon our attention will be shifting to garlic and onion harvesting and curing. Once the alliums come out of the field, we will be in full fall harvest prep. 

Normally in August, we have an open house at the farm. This year we have decided to hold this event a little later in the fall. If you don’t wait to wait that long to come visit the farm, you are always welcome to come out on a CSA day (Monday or Thursday mornings) to volunteer by picking and/or packing vegetables. We will also be harvesting garlic this week–probably on Wednesday. We planted more garlic than normal this year, so we would love all the extra help we can get. If none of these days work, feel free to call or email Janaki to set up a different time to come look around the farm. We love showing off all this beauty!

In your box this week:

Green beans – Beets – Broccoli – Carrots – Cucumbers – Onions – Parsley – Green Peppers – Jalapenos – Potatoes – Tomatoes – Zucchini

It’s green bean time! This French Green Bean Salad is one of my favorite ways to use up green beans and potatoes when I’m tired of my usual recipes. The bright vinaigrette with the fresh parsley makes this perfect for a hot summer day.

This time of year, Zucchini are in abundance. Your friends and neighbors are probably begging you to take some off their hands. If you’re looking for a fun and new way to use up some of that abundance, check out this Spicy Roasted Zucchini Dip. It’s perfect with crackers, veggies, or spread on a wrap.

Last week was a very exciting and much anticipated week on the farm. It’s the beginning of carrot harvesting!

We got to dust off the carrot harvester that has been sitting in storage since last Fall. It’s such a fun time on the farm when we start bringing out the harvesters. Whenever we bring out a harvester, we split the crew into two groups. One group is on the harvester using their quick reflexes to sort through the carrots or potatoes as they speed past on their way into the pallet box. This crew is in charge of removing any rocks, weeds, or defective veggies while we’re still out in the field so these things don’t make their way to our washing line. Group two is in charge of the washing line. This group accepts the pallet boxes when they come off the harvester, and run the veggies through our washing assembly line. This group is always working extra hard. The people at the beginning of the assembly line are sorting out anything that made it past our quick eyed harvesting team. The veggies then go through a rinse cycle to get nice and clean. After that, the veggies pop out onto a roller table where they go through one final round of inspections to ensure only the best veggies end up in our root cellar.

On a typical day on the farm, the crew is spread out working on multiple projects at once, but on harvesting days, it’s all hands on deck focused on one task. It’s also a cool time because we get to see the carrots come full circle. We were there when the carrots got seeded, we crawled around for many hours weeding all of them, and now we get to see all of our hard work in a beautiful orange bundle as they head off to all of you in your weekly boxes.

Speaking of your boxes, you’ll find lots of new goodies in them this week. If you’ve never had them, or even heard about them, New potatoes are potatoes that are prematurely harvested. They’re generally smaller in size, a little sweeter, slightly less starchy, and have a very thin skin. The thin skin does mean you will want to enjoy these sooner rather than later, and it is highly recommended that you store them in your fridge rather than on the counter like you might with a mature potato.

We are also introducing peppers! I always like to give people a little warning before we send Jalapenos for the first time. The variety that we grow on the farm are big, beautiful, and incredibly spicy. Jalapenos are usually spicy, but the ones from the farm pack an extra punch, so I would recommend using just a little and adding more to your preference.

In your share this week:

Basil – Carrots – Cilantro – Hot Pepper – Bell Pepper – Cucumbers – Chard/Greens Mix – Lettuce – Green Onions – Snap Peas – New Potatoes – Tomatoes

This cucumber salsa is a bright and refreshing way to use up multiple veggies in this week’s box. This would be great eaten as is with chips or toasted bread. If you want to get a little more adventurous, try it as a topping for fish tacos or a beautifully grilled steak.

By now you might all be curious for a way to use up sugar snap peas that isn’t eating them straight out of the bag. If you need a little inspiration, try this Spring Garden Pasta Salad. It’s another great way to use up multiple veggies at once. The recipe calls for chard or kale, but a handful of greens mix would be perfect in this as well.