It’s the attack of the blister beetles!! Within 48 hours we went from having beautiful chard and kale crop to nothing but stems. Unbelievable. Under normal circumstances, we’d just terminate the crop and send the chickens over to take of the problem, but after we did a little research, we found that blister beetles produce a substance called cantharidin which can poison animals by blistering internal and external body tissues. They will kill our chickens. These suckers have no known predators. So…we burned the infected crops hoping that we burned the beetles along with them. 🙁 Now, we’ve got eggplant and fall squash on the way.
Important Reminders
- The second pickup for Season 2 is tomorrow, Monday, July 18th. Arrive any time between 3 pm and 7 pm and park on the West side of the property anywhere in front of the commercial kitchen (the big red building with the French doors). If we don’t come out to greet you, you can either knock on the commercial kitchen door, or give us a call at 316-227-7677. We love to give tours, so if you want one, please don’t be afraid to ask. We want you to know where your food comes from!
- If you don’t want a tour and are in a hurry, please call us, so we know when you’ll be here. Then we can be ready with your bag of goodies. The phone number is 316-227-7677.
- We provide you with a reusable grocery bag with all your goodies in it. Please bring it back next week, so we can wash it and reuse it. We’re trying to be more environmentally conscious. The plastic bags we use for the greens are still a work in progress, but that is definitely on my list of things to change.
- The market place is updated on Sundays, so if you want to take a look at what else we have available (besides the things already in your bag), please make your orders on Sunday or Monday morning. We can then add any additional items to your grocery bag.
This Week's Products 7/18/2022
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| Full Share | Half Share |
| Salad Mix | Salad Mix |
| Cherry Tomatoes | Cherry Tomatoes |
| Basil | Basil |
| Garlic | |
| Beets |
Next Week's Products 7/25/2022
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| Full Share | Half Share |
| Salad Mix | Salad Mix |
| Onions | Onions |
| Squash | Squash |
| Rosemary | |
| Tomato Mix |
News on the Farm
Last week, I bragged about how wonderful the garlic looked. Who cares about the weeds, right? We have beautiful garlic! Well…that theory didn’t work quite as well for our onions. I think the weeds crowded them out, so they couldn’t get the sunlight or the water that they needed. We still have onions, don’t get me wrong, just not the big, beautiful ones I was hoping for. On a lighter note, we bought a little wagon for me to wheel around the farm (which is where I put the onions when I was harvesting them). I just can’t bring myself to use the tractor for everything. For those smaller jobs, it feels like a waste of gas. I even got a kid to put the wagon together for me. Bonus!
Onions aren’t the only thing I harvested this week, I harvested all the field beets this week. In contrast to the onions, those ARE big and beautiful! Any chef will tell you that beets are better small and tender, but these big ones are perfect for pickling. Looks like next week will be another pickling week! I’m finally starting to develop a streamlined process with all the equipment in the commercial kitchen, and before long, this pickling thing is going to be second nature for me. At the old house, the pickling days were far and few in between due to my other job and the amount of food we were able to produce. I was never able to find a groove, but now…watch out!
And yes, this heat is killing us! Not only are our plants struggling with the heat, but the animals are too! I’m not even sure it has anything to do with the actual heat; the humidity is the killer. Josh was so worried about our pigs that he put our old canopy up for them. Josh says, “We are no longer able to eat the ham. It’s spoiled.” I know. The humor around here is just wrong. I blame that on the heat too. Pray for rain and lower temperatures.
Recipe of the Week
Since this week was a bit hard on us farmers, I’m going with a simple recipe this week. Simple always seems to be better in my mind anyway. And if you have a few minutes, check out the Rachel Ray video with Laura Prepon via the above link. They say a couple of things throughout the video that align with my thoughts on things. 1. Roast your vegetables. It really brings out the flavor in them. 2. It’s not terrible to eat fatty things as long as it’s done in moderation and with the right combination of foods. It’s worse to eat substitutes for fat, like “fake sugars.”
What's New in the Market Place
I convinced Josh to put the jalapenos in the market place this week. It won’t be long before they’ll show up in your bags, but if you want them a bit early, now is the time to snag them. Check out the market place for any other “must have” items, order them online today, and we’ll be sure to add them to your bags tomorrow for pickup.