The Tomatoes Have Arrived!

We had a very productive week with both farmers market and deliveries, thank you everyone! Delivery for this week will be on Thursday, the 28th. Here's what we have fresh!


Beautiful SunSugar cherry tomatoes! They are very sweet and "POP" in your mouth. They make a wonderful addition to salads or a great snack on their own.


After a brief one week absence, I have more peas! The fall planting came on quicker than I anticipated and they are looking good (and testing great as well)!


We have peppers! Lots of peppers! I have the traditional green bell, yellow bell, sweet banana, and a green banana. The banana peppers are excellent on the grill! If you want a little heat, the green banana peppers have just a little kick to them...nothing you will need the fire department for!

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Cherry Tomatoes - $2.00 per sandwich bag
Peas - $2.00 per bag
Peppers - 2 for $1.00 (please specify type)
Broccoli - $2.00 per head
Cabbage - $2.00 per head
Mesclun Salad Mix - $3.00 per bag
Beans - $2.00 per bag (please specify yellow or green)
Swiss Chard - $3.00 per bag
Slicer Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Pickling Cucumbers - $2.00 per pound
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 4 for $1.00
Summer Squash - 4 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Baby Romaine Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

This is the last week for beans and cucumbers! What can I bring you this week? Please email your orders by 6pm on Wednesday for delivery on Thursday, August 28th. Thanks!!

It's a Beautiful Day on the Farm

The sun is shining and carbon dioxide is being consumed at a rapid pace! There is a lot of stuff ripening in the garden...
Here are my recommendations for this week:

BEANS - They are so easy to freeze and enjoy the garden-fresh taste all year long. Simply blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and place in freezer bags. In an hour or two, you couly have enough to last for months!

CUCUMBERS - I love pickles and my mom has an easy recipe for jarred pickles that doesn't require canning or fridge space. For a special this week, I'll throw in the garlic and dill for free with your order of pickling cucumbers! See the recipe at the end...

ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH - I know I've said it before, but these guys are my favorite and I have a new reason! Yesterday I (and Jana) attended a family picnic and I needed to bring a dessert. So I tried a recipe for a Zucchini Dessert. I had everyone thinking it was an apple streusel bar! They didn't believe me that it was the lowly zucchini. They are fabulous and so easy to make.

POTATOES - The potatoes are getting large now, some bigger than my fist! Rough chop them with the skins on, boil, and mash...light, fluffy mashed potatoes! Or slice them about 1/4 inch thick place on foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a little seasoning salt. Fold up foil and grill with your favorite meat...delicious!

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Broccoli - $2.00 per head
Cabbage - $2.00 per head
Mesclun Salad Mix - $3.00 per bag
Beans - $2.00 per bag (please specify yellow or green)
Swiss Chard - $3.00 per bag
Slicer Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Pickling Cucumbers - $2.00 per pound
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 4 for $1.00
Summer Squash - 4 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Baby Romaine Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

What can I bring you this week? Please email your orders by 6pm on Wednesday for delivery on Thursday, August 21st. Thanks!!

Mom's Famous Pickles
Wash cucumbers and remove spines. Use clean canning jars, rings and new lids. Put some dill in the bottom of the jar. Pack cucumbers into jar. Add the following:
1 tsp pickling spice
1 bay leaf
1 pinch red pepper
1 1/2 tsp canning salt
1 clove garlic
Put some dill on top. Fill with cold tap water. Dry rim of jar. Put on the new lid and ring, make it tight! Shake the jar to distribute the spices. Let jars sit until the pickles start to turn color (from bright to dull green). Shake jars again and place in your fruit room/pantry/shelf etc. This recipe is for pints, for quarts simply double the spices and use more dill.

Attack of the Brassicas

A wonderful rain blessed the farm early this morning, so I pulled on my pink rubber boots and got out there to take some pictures! We had a fantastic week last week (a record-setter, to be honest), so a giant THANK YOU to all who participated either via delivery or farmers market! This week the line-up of fresh produce gets even bigger with the addition of the some brassicas (the genus of broccoli, cabbage, etc.) and mesclun mix lettuce. Delivery will be Thursday, August 14th. Take a look!


What a great head of broccoli! There was a time when I didn't know if my little broccoli plants were going to make it. But they have not only survived, but thrived! My husband is a huge fan of raw broccoli, me...not so much! But you can't beat a good broccoli casserole or broccoli cheese soup! A word of warning: I made a decision this year not to use any toxic chemicals on my produce thereby giving you the most natural food I could. With that, the cabbage loopers have been out and there may be some looper worms in your broccoli. Not to fear!! Simply soak your broccoli in salted water for 30 minutes then the worms will be dead and float out, then simply rinse them away. It was a tough decision, but I feel better about providing you the safest, healthiest food rather than the "prettiest" food that you would get in the grocery store.



I love Mesclun Salad mix!! I always plant it for a fall crop because just when you've had your fill of lettuce, here comes this wonderful leafy green. This is the same salad mix that the "high-end" restaurants serve, but you can eat it in your pajamas...I won't tell!


I've had a lot of requests for tomatoes. Trust me, as soon as they are ripe you will know it! The rain will be a huge help to them, but what they need is some heat and warm nights. Tomatoes don't ripen too fast when it's 55 degrees at night. Just look at all those tomatoes in that one small area...and I have 34 plants! So we just have to be patient, but I wanted to show you that they are out there!


Ahhh, the trusty cabbage. I've found that people either love or hate cabbage. I love it, in any form, but particularly as sauerkraut! I'm a good German girl and love my fermented cabbage. These cabbages make excellent coleslaw, pigs in the blanket and a wonderful addition to soups or stir-fries. But, as with the broccoli, I have to give a word of warning: I made a decision this year not to use any toxic chemicals on my produce thereby giving you the most natural food I could. With that, the cabbage loopers have been out and there may be some looper worms in your cabbage. Not to fear!! Simply soak your cabbage (cut or shred it first) in salted water for 30 minutes then the worms will be dead and float out, then simply rinse them away. It was a tough decision, but I feel better about providing you the safest, healthiest food rather than the "prettiest" food that you would get in the grocery store.

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Broccoli - $2.00 per head
Cabbage - $2.00 per head
Mesclun Salad Mix - $3.00 per bag
Beans - $2.00 per bag (please specify yellow or green)
Swiss Chard - $3.00 per bag
Slicer Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Pickling Cucumbers - $2.00 per pound
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 4 for $1.00
Summer Squash - 4 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Peas (unshelled) - $2.00 per bag
Romaine Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

This will be the last week for peas...for now. I have planted a fall crop and they should be ready within the next 2-3 weeks.

Please email your orders by Wednesday at 6pm. With the growing number of customers, I will fill orders on a first emailed, first served basis. I will let you know if I can't fill part of your order and we will work something out. Thanks again everyone! I'm having so much fun sharing this great food with you!
---Annie

Even more wonderful food!

What a great week both for deliveries and at the farmers market! Thanks to everyone who participated and especially to our new customers...WELCOME! This week has been busy on the farm, a number of crops are peaking and others are starting up. The peas are in high gear, there are lots out there and the plants are still blooming. The beets are coming along, the onions and garlic are starting to dry down (just the tops), and the beans have exploded. Here's what we have for this week (the list keeps getting longer!):


We have both green and yellow beans and they are delicious! I love beans, just boil them and add a little butter, salt and pepper. A meal in itself!!! There are lots of beans out there and more blooms coming. This is a great crop to freeze for some great garden taste in the dead of winter. It's easy to blanch them and toss them in a bag and into the freezer.


The leaf lettuce is done for now. I have a fall planting of mesclun mix that will be ready in a couple of weeks. However, I planned for this very situation and we have a wonderful crop of romaine lettuce that is just coming ripe. This lettuce is far better tasting than the romaine in the grocery store...notice the dark green color? That means more taste and nutrients!


This may be a new crop to some of you. May I introduce SWISS CHARD! It is a leafy green that can be eaten similar to spinach. It tastes great in a salad or can be cooked with a little olive oil and garlic (my favorite way to eat it!).


These yellow beauties are Summer Squash. Some people refer to them as "crook necks" but these are a straight neck variety. I love these little guys. I saute them with zucchini and some onions for a quick side dish, throw them in a salad, add them to lasagna or spaghetti...you name it, they will add color and flavor!


Ahhhh, what you've all been waiting for...the CUCUMBERS! I have both slicers and picklers. Dig out grandma's recipe for pickles and go to it! If you need a recipe, I've got quite a few that I'm more than happy to share. My mom's is spicy and I've been told "puts hair on your chest"! I think they're delicious and I'm sure you will too.

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Beans - $2.00 per bag
Swiss Chard - $3.00 per bag
Slicer Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Pickling Cucumbers - $2.00 per pound
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 4 for $1.00
Summer Squash - 4 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Peas (unshelled) - $2.00 per bag
Romaine Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

Delivery will be Thursday, August 7th. Please email your orders by 6pm on Wednesday, with all this wonderful produce, I need time to pick it all! Thanks again, to all of you, I really love being able to share this great food and I'm having so much fun!!
---Annie


And just to get you excited for the weeks to come...the corn is tasseling, the tomatoes are green, the peppers are as big as my thumb, the cabbages are rounding out...oohhhh, this is so exciting!

The Rise of the Zucchini!

Hi Everyone! A big "THANK YOU" to all who participated last week. I hope you enjoyed all of the fresh food! This week we have even more to choose from for delivery on WEDNESDAY (my father is having surgery on Thursday):

The zucchini have arrived!! I think zucchini is my favorite garden vegetable. Don't get me wrong, I love them all, but if I have to pick just one...it's the zucchini! Saute it, roast it, grill it, mix it in bread, cookies, I've even heard of someone making zucchini jelly! My nephew is waiting for a "Goliath" one so he can make many loaves of zucchini bread. As soon as I get one of that size, I'm sending it to Iowa. I wonder how many zucchini have gone through the postal service?



The beets are coming on now, small to medium sized and oh, so tender! I have both red and yellow beets. A yellow beet? Yup, they are a little sweeter and milder tasting than the red beets. We had buttered beets last night and they were delicious. My favorite are pickled beets, yummy!

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 2 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Peas (unshelled) - $2.00 per bag
Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

This week delivery is on Wednesday due to me being out of town on Thursday. Please email your orders by Tuesday at 6pm. Thank you for interest in eating home-grown produce!

We've had a great response at the Gackle Farmer's Market which is held on Saturdays from 3-5pm. Here's my booth:

Introducing Potatoes and Peas!

Thank you for the wonderful response to our first week of delivery! It was a great feeling to provide families with fresh-from-the-garden produce!! I will be including a recipe sheet sharing some of my favorite ways to prepare the vegetables. This week (delivery on Thursday, July 24th) we have even more to choose from:


The new potatoes are the Red Pontiac variety and they are delicious! We ate some last night and licked the bowl clean. I have a couple of favorite ways to prepare them: boiled or roasted (I'll share the recipes, too.) Just a note that the potatoes will not be washed as the skins are so delicate. But it's that delicate flavor that just explodes in your mouth! Please wash off that clean garden dirt before you prepare them.




The peas are two varieties: Spring and Lincoln and they are "oh-so-good"! My chief pea-picker (aka my husband) wants to eat them all while in the garden. But I've managed to keep a lot of them for you. The peas will be packaged in 2 quart quantities and will be unshelled. Shelling peas is easy and a great way to get kids involved in food preparation. Simply snap the "hat" end of the pea pod, pull apart, and run your thumb along the inside and drop the peas in a bowl (if they don't jump into your mouth, first!). If I were to ever commit a capital offense that required the death penalty, for my last meal I would request creamed peas (along with BBQ lamb ribs, wild rice and chocolate cake). The creamed peas recipe will be in this weeks delivery.

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Peas (unshelled) - $2.00 per bag
Spinach - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

Please place your order via email for delivery on Thursday, July 24th. If you have any questions or comments please let me know. I look forward to hearing from all of you!! Thanks---Annie

Doesn't it look delicious?

Beet Greens will be included in the lettuce and spinach bags this week. They are young, tender beet plants and you can eat the entire plant just like spinach or lettuce. If you want to cook your spinach, the beet greens can also be cooked. Give them a try, they are delicious!


There are two varieties of green lettuce this week: Salad Bowl and Black Seeded Simpson. Each bag will contain both varieties. To me, they both taste wonderful. They have that delicate flavor that just says "SUMMER"!!


The radishes have a bit of a bite to them, (not like grocery store or salad bar radishes)...but that's why we eat radishes!!!


Ahhhh, spinach! I think it is my favorite early garden vegetable. So versatile and packed full of vitamins and minerals. I had my nieces, nephews and sister here for spinach salads last week and the KIDS commented on how good the spinach tasted!!

***Just a note, the leafy greens (beet greens, lettuce and spinach) are NOT pre-washed! Please wash those items just before eating or preparing. Why aren't they washed? Because as soon as the leaves get wet (and don't have roots in the ground) they begin to break down. Before washing, your greens will stay fresh in the fridge for about a week. After washing, about two days. Why does the grocery store sell pre-washed produce? The varieties that the grocery stores sell are bred to have a long shelf life, not to taste fresh and delicious. What we give up in convienence, we more than make up for in TASTE!!!! So, please, wash your produce just before you eat or prepare it.