CSA Newsletter -- Week 7

Greetings All,

IT'S RAINING!!!!! This is the first time we've turned off the irrigation in TWENTY THREE DAYS!!!!! Ben and I just went out last night to walk around and show our neighbor the tomato patch. We were absolutely blown away at the bounty we're seeing in the fields right now. If everything continues on the same trajectory- we're set to have our BEST watermelon crop, tomato crop, pepper crop and sweet corn crop that we've ever had... I would guess every tomato plant out there will produce over a half bushel+, so it's going to be WILD!!! Here is a picture of the melons that Ben sent me the other night!

These melons look so good and there are SO MANY out there!!! He took this photo to show me they're stacked up out there! The past couple years have been really rough on the melon patch. Last year we didn't harvest a single melon that was good- it was so wet that the watermelon flesh was watery and didn't even develop right because it was so cold. Melons LOVE heat- they need it! The best watermelons come from having a wet streak and then a dry streak- so we only were watering those once a week basically- once every 5 or 6 days. That means that they got a good drink and then dried out some, which is where the magic happens. When they dry out some, they're producing really nice, dense, sugary flesh!! If you over-water watermelons, the flesh will be softer and not as sweet. So these watermelons are going to also be the best tasting melons we've had in years, I'm sure of it!!

We're still a couple weeks out on watermelons I would guess- but when the time comes we'll be sending these babies home with your Shares!! Keep in mind that ALL of our CSA Shares get the same number of fruits, so this is something that all the sizes (Jumbo, Family & Single Shares) will receive the same quantities. Just like the other crops though- sometimes things slow down and we alternate weeks- but this melon patch looks like that won't be an issue 😍

Onto the next melon patch....

Muskmelons!!! Ben sent this picture to me the other night too- he sends me veggie pics all the time! I posted a video to FB a couple weeks ago that showed the muskmelon patch and it looked like a cucumber patch because there were SO many flowers out there. These melons are still growing but they look like they'll be really good sized! These muskmelons are the same orange-fleshed melon you're used to seeing in the grocery store, but so much better... We only harvest them when they're ripe, which means all the sugars are pushed into the melons before the vines die off- i.e. the best tasting melons! Keep in mind that means they'll expire faster too- because the sugars in the melon are actually a reproductive function of fruits in the field: the more sugar, the faster the decomposition process happens, the more successful the seeds are. Every plant in the field (and animal in the woods..) is the same, the goal of life is reproduction. Right now they're smooth melons and they're still growing. Soon we'll see 'netting' which is when they get their texture on the outside, it's rough netting all around the melon. Then once they get their netting, they'll start to turn a yellow color and that's when we know they're ripe!! OK onto more fun!! I'm sure you can tell but this newsletter is an easy one to write- all good news!!! (Can you tell we got rain last night? We're all in great spirits 🥰)

We are going to start selling sweet corn on the online store for you to process and put up! We sell gunny sacks full at the farm stand for $30 but we're going to cut that price for you guys to $27 a sack and it gets delivered with your CSA Share. This patch is the best patch for freezing corn too- the cobs are big and the kernels are a really good size already! We're just starting to harvest in this new patch on Sunday!

You can also order a DOZEN at a time, so if you're having a dinner party or just want to make a big batch of corn salsa- this is a great opportunity to order extra. I'll leave this on the online-store for the foreseeable future. We've got 3 more patches of sweet corn after the one we're starting on Sunday, which means we'll be harvesting sweet corn (hopefully) through the end of September.

I made this guide for you guys this morning- it's AMAZING, if I do say so myself. It's a whole guide on freezing sweet corn- so if you're hesitant and wondering if you can do it- check out this guide where I break it down. If you have a couple hours- you can put up a sack of sweet corn for the off-season!

Keep in mind I don't use AI- I'm not against it because there are some benefits probably, but I feel like this is best coming from the Farmer's Wife and not some AI generated half-assed how to guide that the internet spits out. Hope you enjoy!! Lots of love in this one 💕

How to Blanch Sweet Corn.pdf

Download PDF • 2.71MB

Here is the button to get to the store if you want to buy sweet corn in bulk this week with your CSA! There is a spot where it's going to ask you when you want your sweet corn. You can write in what day you want it delivered or just assume if you don't write in a date, it will come as soon as possible.

MEMBER STORE- SHOP ONLINE

TOMATOES: We just went out and picked the first FOUR roma tomatoes last night!! Yes, 4 tomatoes and there was a victory dance!!! That probably seems like nothing... but it really is very exciting for us. We've been tending to these plants since we started them as seeds in the greenhouse in March, when there was still snow on the ground. So having them come into harvest means a lot!! The only 'growing' pain is that when they first start, they're so slow to ripen. It's like the cucumbers and zucchini that we talked about a month ago- we went from not having enough to satisfy CSAs to having so many that we were donating extras. We will sell the first handful of tomatoes that we harvest because we won't have enough for CSAs for another couple weeks and if we kept those around for CSAs, they'd be so overripe by the time they went into your boxes. Once we start using tomatoes in our CSA Shares, we'll stop taking orders from non-CSA Members until your orders are satisfied!! So there is a method to the madness around here- but just know you're always on our mind. Out of thousands of plants, only 4 were ready to pick! That means in (at most) 2 weeks from now, we should be picking enough to put them into your CSA Shares! And we've got basil ready so I hope it bushes out a bit more in the next couple weeks so we can send a lot home with you guys!! I know it seems like we wait for tomatoes forever, but we're actually 2 weeks ahead of last season's harvest, so that's good!!

When they come in, they're really going to come in. These plants are loaded- so heavy that they're literally breaking the support stakes in the field: you can see on the left side, the plants broke about 8 stakes in a row. What a problem to have ;) And the plants are super bushy so we're not expecting any sunburnt tomatoes, and there is basically no blight in the field because of how we're watering with drip tape irrigation, and the lack of rain actually helps keep blight down too.

For new CSA Members, I want to mention that when the time comes we'll also be taking online orders for your tomatoes, peppers and onions, any salsa needs you have. And we'll deliver them alongside your CSA Share too- so I'm guessing a couple weeks from now we'll start taking orders for canning tomatoes!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN YOUR CSA SHARES THIS WEEK: Jumbo & Family Shares: Sweet Corn, Cabbage, Gypsy Peppers, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Zucchini/Summer Squash & Onions! Single Shares: Sweet Corn, Cabbage, Gypsy Peppers, Yukon Gold Potatoes, and Slicers/Pickles! GREEN cabbage for Mon & Tues CSAs and RED cabbage for Wednesday CSAs! *This is because they got green cabbage one week that we were supposed to send cauliflower- so we wanted to switch it up and give you guys red cabbages. I want to take a moment to address some box changes this past week too- we got a lot of cauliflower in the CSAs but some of you didn't get the purple cauliflower which makes us so disappointed. The super-hot weather was not conducive for cauliflower, and we lost hundreds of heads out in the field- definitely not planned. Sometimes we have to roll with the punches... so Ben went out and picked the biggest bell peppers we had and send those in the place of cauliflower! So some of you would consider yourselves lucky to get the first of the bell peppers that we picked for the whole season. I literally never even brought any into our own house- that was the first time Ben picked bell peppers all summer!! So while sometimes the box contents change with the weather outlook- we do our best to make sure everyone gets equal treatment- which means: This Fall when we harvest our ORANGE cauliflower, those of you who got peppers this last week will be the first to get that orange cauliflower this fall! I know I am an over-sharer- it's my personality- I can't help it! But it's all to say that we care a lot about your CSA experience and what you're getting every week. You guys- our CSA Members- power our farm and help us continue growing so many fun varieties!!! 💗

YUKON GOLD POTATOES: These are a medium starch potato- meaning they're the 'in-between'. In the middle of the low starch red potatoes (best for potato salads and stews, they keep their shape even when boiled) and the high starch russet potatoes (which are best for mashed potatoes and baked potatoes because they're softer). Yukon Golds are a great all-purpose potato and they taste like butter!!! They do have some higher nutrients than reds and russets too- so that's always a nice bonus to great flavor!! -ZUCCHINI/ SUMMER SQUASH -SLICERS/ PICKLES

We have been flip flopping these for a few weeks now and the patches are turning it down a notch so we won't have enough to get them to everyone. Now we're going to start alternating- so the Jumbo & Family Shares will get zucchini/summer squash and single shares will get pickles/slicers.

RED Cabbage! This is different than their green counterpart. They grow a lot tighter and have more texture on the cabbage leaves- Red cabbage has a sharper flavor and coarser texture so it needs to be cooked longer. Briefly steam slivered and rinsed cabbage for 5 minutes. Top with butter and a pinch of salt and pepper or grated cheese.

FARM SALE EVENT:

We are prepping for the sale next weekend! We are opening the farm from 10am-5pm on Saturday August 8th. Our farm address is 7526 160th Ave, Oak Park MN 56357 (or you can plug us into google and it'll bring you here!). We're going to have some specials here at the farm and you can see where we live, farm, and grow your food!! We will have several LARGE glass-top freezers set up with all of our pork and chicken, and tables around the outside for all of the veggies!! **

**This doesn't even have the freezers pictured because they're brand new and I don't have photos yet!!

We'd love for you to come visit us next weekend!! My Mom & Dad will be here helping, and I told Ben I am keeping all 3 of our kiddos to help me with the sale. That way I'll be able to focus more on chatting with folks who stop by instead of stocking freezers and organizing tables- the kids are so good at it!! They've been training for years ;P It's a good thing to let the kids work and earn money- that way they can buy fun stuff with their own money and see the value of keeping their things nice (because it's expensive)! William just bought a musky rod and baitcaster reel (for those who don't speak fishing- that's a $400 rig). But he bought it with his own money and actually keeps that 8 foot long pole in his room so his sister's don't mess with it, haha!! WRAPPING IT UP

This week I was working with our CSAs and trying to get some pickles made too- but I didn't have time in the evenings. So I will hopefully get all my chores done early this afternoon and get a fresh start on the kitchen tomorrow morning. I'm making raspberry jam for the sale too. We source all of our berries from Vern (who lives in Zimmerman). He's the best- Ben says someone should really write a book about his life. So he picks his home garden (that he does not spray!) and sells us the fruit so I can make tasty jams- I even made a jalapeno raspberry jam last summer that was SO good that folks are already trying to pre-order for the sale, haha!! I'll try to get some made up before next Saturday!

This is our wild child- Karli. She is such a sweetheart, but she is WILD all the time. Chaos just follows her around, I swear. My Mom & Dad came to visit and check bees again a couple days ago- and my Mom walked into the kitchen (I was outside) and Karli was in the middle of an impromptu science experiment where she was mixing things in the kitchen to watch if they foam up and make a reaction. Why? No one knows, haha!! She looks older than she is but she's only 12! She is so thoughtful and sweet though, and man is she smart. She is in charge of the register at the sale this coming weekend so if you stop by- you'll see her in action. She is the one who taught Ben & I how to do the "tap to pay" for check out with cards. She helps Ben at the farm stand every weekend (pictured above) and she's faster at the math than I am!!

This week is going to be a fun one. My Dad is coming to help us with a couple things on the honey-do list before the sale this weekend but I feel like we're in good shape to kick butt! We've done these sales now a handful of times, but this will only be our second time having a summer sale! This will be so fun!! Ben has been in such a good mood today, every time I talk to him on the phone I can hear the smile he's wearing... this rain was such a blessing!!! This rain means that he doesn't have to wake up in the middle of the night to switch irrigation anymore. Or worry about what runs (what parts of the field) to water and which ones he has to let-go for a little bit- which is a real concern when you have high dollar crops like melons and tomatoes that need water.

Or worry about the chickens that need pasture by the apple trees- we don't irrigate that so it was looking a little crusty over there- it was so dry! Now with this rain, the fields should brighten up, grass will start growing again and it'll be ready by the time we move the chickens into the mobile coops, also called chicken tractors. Life is good on the farm!! Come check us out next weekend ;) XO ~The Farmer's Wife