FALL HARVEST

This week fall actually is in the air and it is somewhat enjoyable. The apples are ripening for fall cider, the winter squash are hardening for storage, and the last blossoms on the fireweed have turned into white fluff. Eric’s mind is wondering off the farm and into the woods and the pursuit of game. We love fall and all the bounty it brings, but it is also the last chance to get everything from the garden tucked away before old man winter rears his head. And who knows what the weather will bring from one day to the next.

The tomato field is finally ripening and they are flooding in now! The slugs are wreaking havoc all over the place, but there are still a lot of romas. Slim, tapered roma tomatoes have more meat and less seeds than regular tomatoes which makes them great for making pasta sauces, salsas, soup, ketchup, and much more. If you need romas for your recipes, just let us know and we can bring them to you with your share.

We’re preparing to take our first pigs into the butcher so we will have fresh pork for the farm to table dinner. They have spent the remainder of the summer happily within their fences rooting and eating and eating and eating. There was no shortage of mud for wallowing with all the rain. A dirty pig is a happy pig.

This week on the farm not a whole lot got done being we were picking tomatoes pretty much every minute we weren’t at market. That and Mrs. Farmer took a day off and traveled away from the farm all day on Thursday. If you came to the Rib Lake market, you probably got the scoop from Mr. Farmer. The winter rye has sprouted and is growing like it should. As the crops get harvested and the ground is cleared, we’ve also started preparing the soil by removing weeds and adding manure fertilizer for the coming season. Out comes the corn, potatoes, beans, cabbage, squash, onions and the list goes on.

With much left to harvest,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Fifteen Newsletter

GROWING ROCKS

You may have heard an apology for complaining about the cold weather in the newsletter two weeks ago. Several of you said it best, “If you don’t like the weather just wait five minutes.” We actually considered putting the AC unit in the window of our house this week for the first time this year. For the most part, the plants in the garden loved the heat. Things are growing well that we put in for late season harvest and we can’t wait to share them with you over the next month.

This week on the farm, we seeded the winter rye in two new areas on our property we plan to put into production in 2016. The fields were plowed and the discing was done, but both areas needed some serious rock picking. With a lack of time, we planted it as is and will worry about the rocks when the rye gets tilled under next spring. Eric finished planting as the boys were tucked in their beds and the sun was setting in the distance. If only we could sell rocks. We’d be rich!

The potato field got hit by the rippers in hopes to get the field prepped for fall cover crop and also get the rock picked that we tried to ignore this spring. We have a few rows left to harvest, but a majority has been dug. Turning the ground over a second time, we found all sorts of spuds we’d missed previously. In hopes to get them to help without whining, we tell the boys it’s like a scavenger hunt. It only works for a few minutes.

In your share, you’re receiving one of our favorite greens – arugula. The spicy, nutty flavor is one that grows on you. If you’ve eaten bland greens your whole life, you might find it overwhelming. If it is too strong at first, mix it into your salad or add it to your recipe in small amounts. This particular variety is extremely tender, so you might find it does not last as long as the lettuce in the fridge. It can be eaten raw or slightly cooked. More details on the back of the newsletter.

With dirt in our shoes and rocks in our pockets,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Fourteen Newsletter

A BEAN ADDICTION

This week you are getting a farmer’s market treat! Fresh cranberry beans. Please, we beg you, find a way to use these little beans fresh in a dish because they really are a short-season treat. Of course, they can be enjoyed all winter long as a dry bean if you insist. We’ve included storage and handling tips on the back of your newsletter.

Shelling beans are something that we have been experimenting with for the past four years. The story sounds like one you might hear from a real old-timer. A gardening friend gave us a handful of Iriquois skunk beans that she got from a gardener in New York who said they originated in Vermont where they were cultivated by native Americans. She insisted we grow some to help keep the variety alive. So we did! And we were amazed at the abundance of tiny, beautiful little beans (so poorly named) that we keep in jars proudly on display in our kitchen. Those same beans on display for several years, and eaten when the kettle calls, can be planted when it is time to replenish the supply. We’ve been growing shelling beans ever since.

The seeds for the Vermont cranberry beans you are getting in this week’s share came from High Mowing Organic Seed Company. While this is an heirloom with origins dating in the 1800’s, it did not come to our farm with an interesting backstory. With limited field space this season, this is the only variety of dry bean we cultivated for 2015. But there are six other varieties just hanging out on the counter top for their chance next year. Take a few minutes to shell them or get the little helpers to assist. This process forces us to slow down and consider where food comes from.

On the farm this week we planted out lettuce that will grow crisp and sweet in the pending cool, fall weather. We also took a sneak peak at the sweet potatoes and are excited about what we saw. Hopefully we don’t jinx ourselves. There was some mice damage, but not too bad.

With fingers crossed,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Thirteen Newsletter

MOTHER NATURE

Is there any profession greater impacted by weather than produce farming? We don’t think so. Our entire season rests in the hands of Mother Nature. We’re not talking about having to work in the rain a day or two, that we can handle. Rather the uncertainty of what the weather will bring averaged across the whole season. High temps and drought? Cold nights and rain? Wind, hail, flash-floods… it really is a miracle any produce is grown at all!

This past week of cool weather really put us into “fall” mode and is creating a bit of anxiety about the rest of the season. The new plantings are only starting to grow and cool weather is slowing their progress. If we would have predicted how quickly summer was coming to an end we would have done things a little differently. Perhaps more row covers or a second high tunnel. Alas, maybe summer will return this week and everything will work out in the end. Because we have got a field FULL of tomatoes that need some more time to ripen. It better warm up a bit! Please?

The upside to all the rain this past week is that the ground was soft enough to plow the old hay field on the back of our property. This area will be replanted next spring after we till under the cover crop with something different, something of more value. We aren’t 100% exactly what it will be yet. Our first round of grass hay sold well, but there appears to be a flood in the hay market in this area this fall that will likely carryover into next season.

In this week’s shares, we are distributing the last of our beans. There won’t be enough of one variety for everyone, so you will get whatever we have left. We really need a little heat for our corn to ripen nicely. We’re going to attempt to include it this week but we may not have enough ripen at once. Carrots! Probably our family’s favorite vegetable. Thank goodness the second planting came up strong and is doing fantastic. Expect these for a few weeks. And thanks for bearing with the whining of a bad weather spell!

With cold, wet feet,

Rebecca & Eric

Week Twelve Newsletter

NEW WEEK, SAME PLAN

Last week we had big plans to get new ground worked up and planted. The organic winter rye seed arrived on Monday as planned and we went to “breaking new ground” that evening and broke a weld on our new plow instead. Thankfully, Eric’s brother owns a welding shop so it was repaired by the end of the week. So we have the same plans today as we did at this point one week ago.

We’re excited about cover cropping some new ground and the area where the potatoes are growing. The deep-rooted winter rye absorbs nitrogen and minerals from far below the soil surface and brings them upward into the leaf blades. When you cut down winter rye in spring and till leaves under, the nutrients and organic matter go into the soil. This is why cover crops are called green manures, because they do the same job that manure does in soil. Not to mention, cereal rye is allelopathic, which means it produces several compounds in its tissues and releases chemicals from its roots that inhibit germination and growth of weed seeds. We’ll try getting the plow back out on Monday to get the ground ready for drilling rye.

On a positive note, we did get all the fall radishes, turnips, parsnips, arugula, spinach and lettuce planted where spring crops once grew. One step back and two steps forward. Can’t wait for some new veggies!

There are some unusual red fleshed potatoes in your share. For whatever reason, the wireworms seem to have preferred the red skinned potatoes and left alone the golds and russets. So you will have to cut the damage off these potatoes in order to use, but they are too neat not to share with you despite our reservations.

We’re making plans for our farm-to-table event coming up in early October. Watch your newsletter for details in the near future!

With cover crops on the brain,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Eleven Newsletter

TURNING NEW GROUND

We’re exactly half way through the farm-share season and planning for some variety in the next two months. Some greens we had in the spring that were done by the time our shares started will be making their way back into our kitchen are the weather starts to cool and the days get shorter. Think arugula, spinach and mesclun/mustard mix. We’ve also started a few different types of radishes and a second round of peas.

The corn might amount to something yet! The stalks are all tasseling and the ears are starting to swell. Still not a lot, but we should have about one week’s worth for everyone. And the potatoes! We dug the row of the late yukon golds and found the beetles had not infected this variety. What a sense of relief. Perhaps not all is lost.

Eric worked at a neighbors farm in exchange our first plow this past month and we have plans to turn over some old hay ground this week that will be put into vegetable production in 2016. Among the many lessons we’ve learned this year, working on weed control with cover crops the season before is essential. Winter rye seed will be planted as a weed suppressant this month. It has chemical properties that kill weeds and it comes back in the spring. It can be tilled under in the spring as a green manure.

We’re planning “Peak Harvest Celebration” at the Medford Market on Saturday, August 15 to bring people to the market who haven’t checked it out in a while. We have a caterer coming in to prepare dishes featuring the food that we grow on our farms. We Grow will have tomatoes and beans included in the dishes available for sampling. Not to mention, there will be drawings for farmer’s market gift certificates given away every half hour to those in attendance. And a big zucchini weigh-in open to all area gardeners. Please help spread the word!

Looking forward from here,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Ten Newsletter

NOTHIN’ BUT SUNSHINE

The garlic is out of the ground! Our two high school gals worked with us half the day Wednesday to get all the remaining garlic out of the ground and hanging in the high tunnel to dry. It feels like fall when you start putting things away for winter. But the reality is, we aren’t even half way through We Grow’s first CSA season. Many good things to come!

Speaking of putting things away for the winter, we put up our first nine quarts of dill pickles on Thursday night. Only about 50 more to go! The pickling cukes are JUST starting to come in, but could really use some rain or the vines are going to dry up quickly. Those of you who asked about buying cucumbers for pickling, please let me know when you would like them.

We had a bit of excitement this week when Dene and Gus discovered a broody hen with the  cutest little chicks come out of her hiding spot in the brush. She’s been missing for three weeks and we had assumed she was a coyote dinner. We were wrong, she had been sitting on a clutch of eggs and was able to add some new faces to our growing flock.

That bean patch featured in the newsletter photo last week isn’t quite as exciting to be in this week. Everything else we’ve planted this season, we didn’t plant quite as much as we probably should have. Well, that’s not the case with beans. We’ve got plenty. Thankfully people have been picking them up in 10 lb increments for canning and freezing. So far I’ve only had to put away about 3 lbs myself. The problem is picking them. It takes SO long! If you need beans and want to come pick them yourself, we’ll give you a great deal on them. And eating them in the field is another problem. You just can’t help it, they are so good. We probably eat a pound each while we’re picking.

With bloated bean bellies,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Nine Newsletter

BEANS, BEANS

Out with the old veggies and in with the new! Beans are a summer staple in our home and they are about to become a regular item in your share. We have planted several varieties (greens, golden wax, dragon’s tongue, blue coco) to keep things changing for you. If you have an urge to get creative in the kitchen with your beans, a member shared several recipes that you can find at wegrowfoods.com in this week’s “in your crate” post.

In the photo above you can see our beautiful bean patch. The pride of the garden thanks to the hard work of our garden crew getting the weeds under control early in the season. Just wish we had a little more space for feet! One of these varieties is a dry bean. We plan to share these dry cranberry beans with our members at the end of the season.

On the farm this week, we could use a shot of rain. We placed irrigation lines when we laid out the garden this spring, but have not hooked the system up to this point. If it doesn’t rain by Sunday, we will begin watering with water from our well and water we collect from washing veggies.

Our first major hay making experience is complete. We celebrated on Wednesday as the last square bale was in the shed. We made close to 700 bales. Small numbers for a “real farm” this is a big deal to us because neither of us were raised on a farm or had experience. So we’re learning from the advice of others as we go. I’m not sure we will ever make more than we did this week, but it is nice to change up the farm routine from time to time.

With real farmers’ tans,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Eight Newsletter

Recipes

Green Beans with Mushrooms and Sage

Two-Bean Tomato Bake Recipe (off-site link)

Green Beans Italiano Recipe (off-site link)

Pea Pod Salad

BEETLES AND TOADS

The peas are already on their way out. It seems like they just started fruiting and the first row we planted is already starting to fade to yellow vines. Unbelievable how quickly we are breezing through the summer.

We Grow’s shares may look a little different by the end of week seven as SO many things are on the verge of being ready. Green beans are about two inches long and coming on strong. Zucchini is coming along, but not in quantities large enough for every share yet. A new planting of mustard is on deck as well as the Swiss chard. The cabbages look fantastic, but will be a couple of weeks out yet. Broccoli is probably two weeks away.

We have been having a bit of trouble in the potato field. In the past, we’ve never had a problem. Matter of fact, any other year it was more of a problem figuring out what to do with our excess bounty. But this year, we have an infestation of wire worms. After some research, there is no treatment for wire worms (larvae of the click beetle) once they’re established. And we planted a LOT of potatoes. Like 1,800 feet of potatoes! We debated on the issue and decided we can’t just throw away all the spuds. We aren’t going to be selling them, but we will be giving them to our members and asking you to do as we have been doing and trim off the bad spots. They still taste delicious, but the flesh damage is a bit of an inconvenience in the kitchen and will prevent them from becoming a winter storage crop. The only good thing is we now have the knowledge on how to prevent this next season.

We went through our five bee hives on Friday and three are doing really well with two supers on top and two are not quite as productive. We were elated to see our new colonies fill out the new frames in such a short amount of time. There was some honey-filled rogue comb we had to remove, so we got to enjoy fresh honeycomb all evening. Fresh honey is amazing! We love to talk bees, so just ask if you want to learn more.

With sticky fingers,

Eric & Rebecca

Week Seven 2015 Newsletter

Recipes

How To Freeze Kale

Fresh Salsa