Farm Fresh Newsletter, July 21, 2011

Hi Everyone,

Wow!  What a hot week.  Last week was so busy for us on the farm, our first week as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, and so much to do as well - harvesting, planting, and unfortunately we've had to start watering as well. 

For the few weeks, we've had barely a trace of rain.  Combine that with the crazy heat we're having all this week, with heat indices well over 100 each day, and it makes for dry fields and thirsty crops.  I only like to water when things get bad enough, and we're there.  So each day I've been deciding what should get water, then directing the sprinkler tape to that row or bed.  I try to give at least an hour of water before moving to another crop.  In the hot afternoons I shut the water off completely, so there are only a few hours each morning when I am watering.  The weather forecast has predicted rain each day this week, but as of this writing (Tuesday) we haven't received any.  There are some areas of crops that I can't reach with my 200 feet of hose, and if things get bad enough Lenna (our farm intern) and I will have to begin hauling 5 gallon buckets.  Let's hope for rain.

The heat has made for shorter work days - we are quitting by noon, it's just way too hot to be outside in the afternoon sun during the heat wave.  So many things I'd like to be doing right now are being put off, such as more planting and weeding. 

But for now we still have plenty of fresh, Certified Naturally Grown produce for the Freeport Farmers Market this Saturday morning from 7:30-11 in the CVS parking lot (corner of South & West streets), near Higher Grounds coffee shop.  I am done with the Rockford Farmers Market at this time.

Here is what I predict to have:

• Cucumbers
• Hot peppers
• Garlic
• Green Beans & Yellow Wax Beans
• Walla Walla sweet Onions
• Baby Squash
• Full Sized zucchini & sme summer squash
  
• Lettuce Mix
• Herbs: parsley, dill
• Swiss Chard

I have a couple of recipes for you this week:

Recipes:

Cucumbers & Onions in Sour Cream Sauce with Fresh Dill

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill

Preparation:

Arrange cucumber slices in a serving bowl, sprinkling layers with salt. Place a saucer or other weight on cucumbers to weigh down. Cover and let stand for several hours. Pour off cucumber juices. Combine sour cream, vinegar, pepper to taste, and chopped dill; add to cucumbers. Recipe for cucumbers and sour cream serves 4 to 6.

-Green Beans in foil pack on grill
Snap ends off 1 bag of green beans (and remove strings if using flat Italian beans).  Snap beans in half so all pieces are same size.  Place on a large rectangle of aluminum foil.  Add 1 tablespoon butter, chopped into pieces so it covers all beans.  Sprinkle with salt.  Fold up foil pack so it's sealed.  Then place another sheet of foil around it & fold that up too (so it's double layered to avoid leaks).  Place on grill for 15-20 minutes or until tender, take care not to place over hottest part of grill to avoid burning.


Thanks, everyone & have a great week!

Penny Peterson

Wishful Acres
http://wishfulacres.blogspot.com

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