Last week was filled with more harvesting. We got the rest of our first planting of potatoes out of the ground. These will hopefully last us until close to the end of October when we will be ready to harvest the storage planting of potatoes.

We’ve also been harvesting carrots weekly to keep up with shares and wholesale sales. We are down to about 4 beds ( a third of the field) left of summer carrots. We’re hoping these summer carrots can last us to the end of October. We really like for our Fall carrots to go through a hard frost or two to help sweeten their flavor in preparation for storage.

Last week was also packed with visitors. We welcomed a tour group from the University of Minnesota Extension. They were here to learn all about local produce and how the farm operates.

Our seed rep. from Johnny’s Selected Seeds stopped by. He got to tour around the farm with Janaki so they could talk crops, diseases, and equipment. Our seed reps are super knowledgeable in all things related to seeds. They help us learn about new varieties that are hitting the market (and which of our old favorites will be discontinued), and teach us about which varieties would be best to meet our growing needs in our specific climate. We appreciate their help every year.

We were also super excited to see more construction crew activity last week. Electricians and refrigeration guys were out, so the cooler units should be operational by tomorrow. The garage door company came to put our two new doors on the front of the expansion. The construction team was out on Friday to put up the frame for the lean-to, and to frame out our new bathroom. The lean-to will be a great covered extension that we can park our delivery van under in the winter. Having a covered space is nice to ensure the van can continue making deliveries all winter long and to give us much needed storage for all of the supplies we use. The crew is most excited about the bathroom. It will be the first bathroom for the farm crew with electricity and plumbing. No more freezing in the outhouse in negative temps!

The visitors we’re most excited for is all of you! We’re having our open house this Saturday, September 27th from 10am-noon. There will we hayrides, farm tours, and lots of dog snuggles. It’s free and open to everyone. Bring your friends, neighbors, or the whole family. We can’t wait to see all of you and show you around.

In your share this week:
Lettuce – Winter Squash – Tomatoes – Potatoes – Carrots – Zucchini – Pole Beans – Broccoli – Cucumbers – Melons – Onions – Parsley – Peppers – Hot Peppers

It looks like we’ll finally get some sunshine and warmer weather this week. If you’re looking for one more warm weather salad recipe, this Cantaloupe and cucumber salad is a great one. The melons are ripening like crazy on the farm, and pairing that with a fresh greenhouse cucumber, it’s like summer on the plate. It’s sweet, crunchy, and a little earthy. Perfect on its own, or get a little wild and try it as a topping to some fish or tofu tacos.

This time of year, I tend to crave cozy meals, but always have an abundance of veggies in my fridge that need to be used. This vegetarian lasagna is a great comfort meal that’s packed with veggies. I also love it because the recipe gives you a great base of flavors to start with, but leaves room for you to make it your own. You could swap kale or chard for the spinach. You could use eggplant or winter squash instead of zucchini. You could add sausage or ground beef for extra protein. Skip a layer of marinara and swap it out with a layer of pesto. The possibilities are almost endless.