Winter is here! The temperatures have been down in the 20's and a few days didn't get out of the 30's! So our tomatoes in the hoop house are finished. Now to get them all cleaned out and the stakes, plastic and drip tape pulled up and then the ground turned under!

We got the row cover put over both strawberry patches and they are hopefully all tucked in for the winter! Have to watch the wind doesn't blow the cover off. We've been having some problems with the heaters in the green houses, but we finally have them fixed and going, plus bought a spare just in case! We got the old plastic lining on the little green house tore down, and the new plastic arrived the other day, so the next thing will be to get that all put back and the plants from the big green house moved over to the little one. Then we can shut down the big green house for most of the winter and save some propane!

The lettuce, kale, radishes, mizuna, arugala, swiss chard, etc. that we planted a couple of weeks ago in the little hoop house have sprouted! So now to see if we can get them to grow! We've got a double layer of row cover over them inside the hoop house to try to keep the temperatures warmer. It also helps with the moisture so we don't have to drag out the hoses too often. Keep your fingers crossed!

Wow the weather yesterday and today is unbelievable! Up in the 70's yesterday and again today! But it is supposed to get cold tomorrow!

We've been catching up on things around here that get put off because we're too busy. We've got the old strawberry patch mowed off and the electric fence around it cleaned off. We are going to keep this patch another year. We normally plow it under every year, but this year out of the 3,000 plugs we ordered for our new patch, several hundred were dead, so we will keep the old one another year.

Greg finally got a water valve dug up and cleaned out. It had filled in with dirt and we couldn't get it turned off. We had an old hog waterer that we weren't using that had leaked all summer and now have it turned off! While he did that I put the windows back in the chicken house. I've taken cuttings off my rosemary, oregano and french tarragon and have them in my "rooting" boxes!

We've also planted swiss chard, mizuna, arugula, spinach, lettuce, kale and radishes in our little hoop house. We are trying an experiment this winter to see what we can grow in there during the winter.

We are doing a winter market this year over in Columbia. It's every Sat. from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Right now we have winter squash, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, dried apples, tomatoes, jams and jellies, baked goods, and eggs to sell. So it will be interesting to see how that goes. There are two problems as I see it with this; one the produce selection and two the customers don't come out in the winter, even though this market is indoors. But we'll see, it's a learning time for everyone. Hopefully it will be worth our time. There are also meat vendors there, and other veggies that the greenhouse growers are growing.

Greg has been ordering and making plans to put up some short tunnels that are movable in our new field by the house. That will enable us to plant more things earlier and then once they get going and it warms up we can move off the tunnels. More experiments and learning opportunities!

I have been making more jams, and cooking up winter squash and putting it in freezer to use in pies and breads. Need to get some more sweet potatoes done also. The seed catalogs are coming in, I've been going through them and marking things of interest for next year!

Well it's hard to believe, but Greg has all the garden plots cleaned up, plowed and tilled! That never happens this early, but a very dry and warm October has allowed us to get that all done early this year, plus we have two new plots all ready to go next Spring! A very nice feeling for Greg! I've been working a little each day on pulling out all the grass and weeds from the big green house and throwing them out into the chicken yard for the chickens to enjoy! We got all the winter squash moved into the cooler and put a little heater in it to keep them from freezing so they will hopefully last longer.

We are still doing market over in Columbia, and will all winter. Right now we are actually doing two. The one we've done all summer is still going and will go another two weeks. The new indoor Winter market started this past Saturday, they overlap for three weeks. So we took two trucks and unloaded Greg at the outside one and got him all set up and then I went over to the indoor one and set up. The indoor one goes from 10:00 a.m. till 2 p.m. So when Greg was done at noon with his, he came over to help me and then tear down. Makes for a long day as we get up at 5:00 a.m., but once the outdoor market is over, we won't have to get up so early!

We still have the winter squash, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, jams, and dried apples to sell. Plus I do baking and I've picked up some black walnuts. Need to get them hulled and cracked and bag to try to sell.

The seed catalogs are starting to come in, so I've been glancing through them and marking things of interest for next year. Greg is looking at getting the material to make several low tunnels for one of the new garden plots up by the barn.

I'm thinking about a vacation in December or January. Want to go some place a little warmer! But we want to drive. Was wondering about Mobile Alabama and that area, as I would like to get to the ocean. Does anyone know whether that area is back going after their storms and damage?

PUMPKINS

Here are some recipes I thought you might like if you are looking for something to do with all those left over pumpkins from Halloween?!

SPICY PUMPKIN SOUP
4 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tsp. ground coriander
3 15 oz. cans pumpkin or (2 cups of your own)
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions & garlic & cook, stirring constantly, until softened. Add red pepper & coriander & stir on minute longer. Add pumpkin & chicken broth; stir to combine. Bring to a boil & then reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer soup, in batches to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly & blend until smooth. Return soup to pan after blended. With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar & stir to combine. Slowly add the milk, stirring after each addition. Add cream. Adjust seasonings & serve hot.

SIMPLEST BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
1 butternut squash (about 3lbs) or pumpkin works equally well!
3 slender or 1 1/2 larger leeks, white parts only, split lengthwise, washed, & cut into 1" long pieces
3 cups whole milk
3 cups water
salt & freshly ground pepper
fresh grated nutmeg

Optional garnish
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, & cut into tiny dice
about 1/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
about 1/2 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream

Peel squash. Remove seeds & string, then cut into 1-2" chunks. Toss into a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the leeks, milk, & water; salt generously & bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer & cook for 25-35 minutes or until squash is soft enough to mash when pressed lightly with the back of a spoon.
Using a blender or food processor, puree the soup in batches until it is very smooth. It may be thick; Thin to your desired consistency with milk or water. Season to taste with salt pepper & nutmeg. Reheat if necessary (This soup is best when truly hot)
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, spoon over the apples & nuts, and garnish with a little creme fraiche or cream.

Wow it's hard to believe, but this is the 25th week (last week) of our CSA year! Today you will be receiving eggs, winter squash, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, cardoon, fennel and celeriac! Now I know everyone is going what is cardoon and celeriac??? So here is some information from my favorite book "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm fresh seasonal produce.

CELERIAC
Celeriac, also known as celery root, has an obvious but unusual kinship to the common celery. Its stalks & foliage are similar to those of celery and are edible. However, the celeriac is cultivated for its edible bulbous root crown. Celeriac's growing season is very long.
Celeriac is very popular in Europe, particularly in Germany & France where our commonly known stalk-type celery is rarely used. Actually celeriac was not uncommon in American cooking back in the 1800s.
Do not be put off by the celery root's rough exterior. Inside, a surprisingly delicious and versatile vegetable waits to be added to your culinary repertoire. Celeriac has an excellent crisp texture raw or cooked, and super-concentrated celery flavor, enhancing its usefulness as both vegetable & seasoning. Celeriac is high in carbohydrates, vitamin C, phosphorus, and potassium.
COOKING TIPS:

Slice off stalks at the root crown. Soak the root in warm water to loosen dirt in the crevices, then scrub thoroughly with a stiff vegetable brush. If exterior is too tough, peel with a sharp knife.
Peeled celeriac will darken when exposed to air. To retard darkening, toss with lemon juice or keep in water. Lemon juice can also be added to cooking water.

Parboil peeled celeriac whole for 20-30 minutes 1/2" to 1/4" slices for 5-8 minutes.
Bake celeriac in its skin at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Peel & prepare as needed.
For extra celery flavor, use instead of common celery in soups, casseroles, stir-fries, etc. Use stalks & leaves for seasoning.

Try celeriac in hardy winter soups & stews, or puree for a flavorful, creamy soup base.
Boil & mash celeriac with potatoes.

Now on to Cardoon. This one is a very different thing, and maybe not for everyone, but it will be fun to at least read about and give it a whirl!!!! There are several different web sites with information and recipes, so just click on the highlighted words, Cardoon. This is the first year we've grown this, don't know if we'll do it again, but every year you just have to try something "new" and see what it's like and how it grows. Cardoon may not be the best choice for our zone as it takes a longer growing season and you don't harvest till it gets cooler, like now, but it doesn't like frost. So most years we probably wouldn't be able to raise this. So give it a try this may be the only time you'll every see this!

Enjoy this last week, hopefully everything was good and you had a good experience maybe even tried things you'd never had before. Hopefully we'll see you again next year.

SWEET POTATOES
The sweet potato is one of only a few cultivated vegetable crops that originated in the Americas. The wild sweet potato has been traced back to Peru as early as 8000 B.C. Early Native American tribes relied on both wild and, later cultivated varieties of sweet potatoes. Christopher Columbus introduced this versatile and nutritious storage crop to Europe.

Sweet potatoes are often erroneously referred to as "yams", a family of starchy tuberous roots originating in West Africa. The sweet potato is neither a potato or a yam but a rooted tuber and member of the morning glory family.

COOKING TIPS:
To bake: Scrub the skin and cut away any damaged areas. Place them whole or halved in a pan (or with a pan underneath to catch caramelizing drips) and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until the centers are soft when a knife is inserted. Hint: To bring out maximum sweetness, place sweet potatoes into a cold oven and then turn on heat, thus maximizing the time for the starches to be transformed to sugar before high temperature denatures the enzymes responsible for this process. Serve plain or with butter mashed into the soft inside, like any baked potato. Skins can be eaten if clean.

To steam: Place scrubbed & quartered sweet potato chunks in a steamer over boiling water and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Let them cool enough to remove peels. To serve round discs, cook sweet potatoes whole, then peel and slice into rounds. Serve plain or drizzled with a toppings: sweet (butter and a tad of maple syrup), tangy (Lime) or spicy (a red pepper or ginger sauce).

Try adding well-cooked sweet potato to your usual mashed potatoes; blend thoroughly.

STORAGE TIPS:
Store sweet potatoes in a cool, dry, well ventilated place for up to several weeks. Do not store in plastic or refrigerate. Temperatures below 50 degrees will result in off-flavors, and excess moisture will encourage sweet potatoes to rot or sprout prematurely. Do not scrub clean or wash until just before preparation. Excess dirt may be removed without water prior to storing.

The above information came from my "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm fresh seasonal produce book!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, have had computer issues!:( Any way we've been busy, dehydrating apples, picking winter squash, gourds and pumpkins! I think Greg has finally cleaned out the patch and hauled it all in. We've also started digging sweet potatoes! So this week be looking for cameo apples, sweet potatoes, winter squash, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs and the full shares will get some okra.

I know a lot of people like to fix their winter squash with butter and brown sugar, but I like to put diced onions and peppers, cheese, salt & pepper! The other day I used blue cheese and that was soooo good! :) Greg doesn't like onions & peppers or blue cheese, so I just used Cheddar cheese on his. Winter squash is an excellent source of both vitamin A & potassium. It provides notable amounts of vitamin C, calcium & fiber, and it is fair in protein and carbohydrates. Store at room temperature for at least a month. Store for several months in a dry & cool (50-55 degrees) but not cold location. Cooking tips: 1 pound trimmed squash equals 2 cups cooked squash. Boil or steam 1 1/2- 2" chunks for 15-20 minutes or until tender. You may peel before or after; it's easier to peel after cooking, but it must cool first. Puree cooked squash for a creamy soup, or add uncooked chunks to hearty soups and stews. Butternut makes an excellent "pumpkin" pie, also bread. Try spaghetti squash served hot with butter and Parmesan cheese or your favorite tomato sauce. Acorn squash is famous baked face up with melted butter & brown sugar or maple syrup. Cook squash chunks alongside roasting meats. Add small amounts of squash to yeast breads, quick breads, muffins, cookies, or pancake batter to add color, moisture, and sweetness.

We had around 5 inches of rain Saturday & Sunday! Not good! We have been trying to get all our winter squash and pumpkins picked. We had about half of it done before the rain, and the ground was very soft then. The tractor and wagons sinking in pretty good. We went out yesterday evening to pick another load and boy was it muddy. I just went barefoot, was easier and sunk up to my ankles in places and we haven't even made it to the wet end! But boy are we having a bumper crop! We have butternut squash galore, and they are big! We also planted the long neck kind and have plenty of those, plus acorn, spaghetti and several new varieties. There are lots of decorative gourds and several cushaws! The only thing that didn't do well was the pumpkins. We have some little pie pumpkins and some new warty pumpkins, but not much of the regular pumpkins.

We've also been busy drying apples, lots and lots of apples! I think we've done around 7 bushel so far?! But we are having problems with our dehydrator. The motor was having problems, and Greg replaced that, now the heater is giving him fits. So he is waiting on getting a price for that so he can get it ordered! He has also been trying to find a 5 foot disc. Has been to a couple of auctions, but so far no luck, will probably just have to get a new one. He now is working on getting some shelves made for the pickup so he can go pick up all the strawberry plugs that will be arriving in a few days! I just hope it dries up enough so we can use the new transplant machine we got last winter that we haven't been able to use yet because it was too wet this Spring! Three thousand strawberries would go much faster and better on my body if I was sitting on the back of a machine than on my hands and knees!!

Wow, we have definitely changed seasons! One week it's 90 degrees hot summer and the next it's 60s and fall! The tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers have pretty much gone by the wayside. If we have a late frost, we may have a few more tomatoes out of the hoop house as there are several green ones yet. We will be starting in picking the winter squash. There will be acorn, butternut, spaghetti and a few other types. We also have yet to dig the sweet potatoes, so those are some things to look forward to. This is the 19th week of the CSA so only about 6 more weeks to go. I will probably have to go back to baking to supplement your boxes, but hopefully not till next week!

We have been busy with apples, drying and making applesauce. I also made some apple jam with maple syrup! That was pretty good!. We went to an auction last week and bought 10 foot and 8 foot metal posts, so this winter maybe we will get some deer fencing up around the garden area!

Here is another web site for your edamame. You can use them in various ways, eat plain or put in stir fries, or on salads, etc. Just make sure you parboil for 5 minutes first.

Ok today is box day again! Everyone is getting pretty much the same as last week. Sorry the edemame wasn't quite ready this week. I thought it might be, but since we haven't grown it before I wasn't sure how fast it would fill out, but I definitely think it will be ready next week, so be looking up those recipes!

Sorry it's been so long since last posting! Things though are moving along...horrible hot weather, high humidity, torrential rain, little cooler, birthdays to celebrate, vehicle inspections and repairs to make, appointments to make, kids off to college...!!! Any way through it all Greg has gotten the old potato ground tilled up and he and Lucas made the beds and laid the drip tape for the three thousand strawberry plugs which should be arriving in a week or so! Hopefully we'll be able to use the new transplanter to get them in the ground which should make things a lot faster and easier!

The edible soy beans (edemame) should be ready to pick this week, so be looking for them in your boxes. You must boil the edemame before you can eat them, but then you can eat them plain or use them in different recipes. So if you click on the above highlighted words you will be taken to two different web pages with information and recipes!

CSA box day today! Today everyone will be getting eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, apples and eggplant. I decided to give everyone a break on the okra! The half shares will be getting their fennel today.

Here's a recipe I found in my "From Asparagus to Zucchini" cookbook!

ZUCCHINI, FENNEL, AND ANDOUILLE PIE
1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened
3 Tbsp. bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced fennel bulb
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups diced zucchini
1 link (4 oz.) andouille sausage
1/2 tsp. crushed fennel seed
salt & pepper
3-4 oz. Swiss cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
for garnish: diced roasted red pepper, chopped black olives, or chopped fennel leaves
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a pie plate with the butter. Sprinkle bread crumbs over buttered areas. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium flame. Add onion, fennel, and garlic; saute until vegetables are partially tender, about 5 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high; stir in zucchini, andouille, fennel seed, and salt & pepper to taste. Saute until zucchini is tender, 3-5minutes. Spread mixture on platter; cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, grate cheese; sprinkle 2/3's of it into pie pan. Beat eggs with milk in bowl. Stir cooled vegetable mixture into egg mixture; pout into pie pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Rim outer edge of pie filling with garnish choice. Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6-8 servings.

FENNEL

The fennel is starting to get big enough to harvest, so be looking for that in your boxes in the next few weeks! And I can already hear everyone saying "What is fennel?" Well here is some information out of my favorite book "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce!

Fennel has been utilized as a food, medicine, herb, and even insect repellent for centuries! In ancient Greece, fennel was used in celebrations of the gods and goddesses. It was planted in the temple gardens in their honor and worshippers wore crowns of the feathery leaves. In Greek mythology knowledge sometimes came to humans from Mt. Olympus in the form of a fiery coal contained in a fennel stalk. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans believed fennel an excellent aid for digestion, bronchial troubles, poor eyesight, and nervous conditions. Today, in India, fennel seed is used for seasoning as well as chewed after the meal as a breath freshener and digestive aid. Nutritionally, fennel is very low in calories, but offers significant vitamin A and calcium, potassium, and iron.

Fennel belongs to the Umbel family, it is related to carrots, celery, parsley, dill (which it resembles in looks), and anise (which it resembles in flavor).

Fennel thrives in warm, moist climates, hence its success in Mediterranean cuisine. In northern sates cultivating fennel is a tenuous thing. Seedlings are planted in the garden after danger of frost, and if all goes well, they're ready for harvest by midsummer and may continue to be available through early fall.

Cooking Tips: Wash fennel bulb, trimming off any damaged areas or woody parts of the stalk. Try crunching a fennel stem or a slice of the bulb to familiarize yourself with the flavor. You might find it grows on you quickly. Try substituting for celery in most any recipe. Fennel can be baked, steamed, or sauteed with excellent results. Try cutting fennel into quarter, drizzle with olive oil, and bake until tender, about 35 minutes. Try a saute of fennel, artichoke hearts, zucchini, tomatoes, sweet bell pepper, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper. Steam fennel and chill it along with the other vegetables; dress with a spoonful of lemon juice, olive oil, chopped chives or green onion, and salt and pepper. Cut raw fennel into slices and use for dipping. To enjoy natural flavor, try dipping slices into a small bowl of extra-virgin olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Use feathery leaves as a fresh herb for seasoning. Try using it in place of dill. Fennel is excellent on baked or broiled fish with butter and lemon. Italians use fennel as part of an antipasto platter or for dessert along with a soft goat cheese. Add to soups, pureed or chopped. Slices can be sauteed first to lock in flavors.
Storage Tips: Store fennel in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The delicate leaves will go limp. Wrap them in a moist towel and refrigerate.

For a couple of recipes go to my recipe page or click on "Fennel" and it will take you to a web page with more ideas and information!

CSA box day again today! Yeah! The full shares are getting eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, zucchini, okra, blackberries and peaches. The half shares are getting eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, okra and mini cabbage.

The blackberries are winding down, and the peach trees are dieing so the peaches are not going to amount to a hill of beans! Most of them have brown rot and have fallen off the trees! Too many wet Springs for too long a time. So the next fruit to look forward to will be apples. And I'm happy to say they are loaded!! You may have apples coming out of your ears!

The beans are looking good. Greg sprayed them again last night with his home made deer repellent. So keep your fingers crossed that the deer stay out and nothing else happens to them!

The okra is really putting out, so you are all going to get it again this week. So here are some Okra facts & tips. Okra is related to cotton. It is native to Africa & is popular in the South. Large tough okra pods can be dried and ground into a protein-rich flour. One pound serves 4 people. Okra seeds are pressed for edible oil in some parts of the world. They can also be roasted and ground for use as a coffee substitute. Okra is generally cooked for soups and stews. It has a mucilaginous, or thickening, property. It can be coated with cornmeal and deep-fat fried. Sliced raw okra adds attractive stars to salads. Okra is also processed for commercial uses such as vegetables soups and is sometimes used to thicken ketchup. Okra contains vitamins A, B-complex and C. It is a good source of calcium and contains phosphorus, potassium, and other trace minerals. The fat content is minimal. Fresh okra does not store well and should be used within 3-5 days. Keep pods wrapped in a plastic bag in your refrigerator. Blanch & freeze them for long-term storage. This information comes from "Whole Food Facts" The complete reference guide by Evelyn Roehl.

If you click on the highlighted okra word at the begining of this paragraph it will take you to a web site with more infromation about okra and recipes! Enjoy!

Wow, what is it with the rain?! At least it cools things down for a little bit, but then it gets hot and steamy and then it rains again! We've been working on insulating our box cooler. This is the box part of a truck that was wrecked and we got from a salvage yard. We cut a hole in it and put in a window air conditioner. We've had it for a couple of years, but never had got it insulated properly. So hopefully now it will be more efficient and won't have to work so hard to keep the temperature where we set it!

We have been getting some heirloom tomatoes out of our hoop house. We planted Cherokee Purples, Mr. Stripey, Wasipian Peach, Red Zebra, Kentucky Beefsteak, German Johnson and Paul Robeson's inside along with some regular hybrid reds. They are doing pretty good. The nice thing about being protected in the hoop house is all this rain is not causing them to split and get all the fungal diseases! The tomatoes are getting much bigger then they have when we grow them in the field. We had a 2lb. one the other day! Some of the vines are about 9 feet tall now! Will try to remember to take my camera out today when I pick and take pictures! The okra is really coming on, it likes this hot steamy weather, and the zucchini have gone to town! So nice after last years crop failure do to the deer! We are barely starting to get cuccumbers, but the deer have been munching on them. It's hard to keep the deer repelent spray on them with all this rain!

Another big thunderstorm last night! Now it needs to wait about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, then rain again! The zucchini is going mad, which is so much fun, and the okra is picking up, too, the heirloom tomatoes in the hoop house are huge! So everyone today is going to get 1 huge tomatoes along with some littler ones! Today's CSA full share boxes are getting eggs, eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, onion, cabbage, blackberries, tomatoes and okra. The half shares are getting eggs, eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, cabbage, blackberries, cabbage and tomatoes. Since the eggplants are coming on and everyone will be getting some this week and for weeks to come here is some infromation on them! Check out the recipe page for some more eggplant ideas!

EGGPLANTS
Eggplant are related to potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. There are many different varieties, including varied shapes, sizes and colors. Eggplant varieties are interchangeable in recipes. Eggplant is believed to have originated in India or Burma. Introduced through trade routes, it became popular in many Arab countries & Northern Africa around 900 A.D. Eggplant appeared in Europe in the 15th century, but believed poisonous, it was cultivated only as an ornamental curiosity. Eggplant reached the U.S. during the 17th century. Eggplant is low in calories and high in fiber, and offers very small amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Cooking Tips:
Eggplant can be peeled, but peeling is not essential. It depends on personal preference and the intended dish.
To remove any acrid flavors and excess moisture, lightly salt slices of eggplant and allow them to sit in a colander for 10-15 minutes. Gently squeeze out any liquid. Eggplant will now soak up less oil & need less salt in preparation.
Eggplant is always cooked, eliminating a toxic substance called solanine.
Eggplant is surprisingly versatile! Here are some very basic ideas. Don't hesitate to elaborate: To bake: Prick eggplant all over with a fork & bake at 400 degrees until flesh is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Flesh can be pureed. To Stuff: Bake 20 minutes, scoop out seeds, replace with stuffing, and return to oven for 15 minutes. To saute: Try dipping slices or chunks in flour or eggs & bread crumbs before sauteing. Saute in hot oil until light brown. Season with herbs, garlic, grated cheese, etc. To Steam: Whole eggplant will steam over an inch of water in 15-30 minutes. Use the flesh for pulp or season with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper, or cover in a tomato sauce.
Blend cooked eggplant with lemon juice and seasonings of choice for a dip or spread.
Grill slices along with other vegetables, such as peppers, or skewer and grill along with other shish kabob ingredients.
Dip in a favorite batter and lightly fry in vegetable oil.
Storage Tips: Eggplant is best when it's fresh. Store unrefrigerated at a cool room temperature, or in hydrator drawer of the refrigerator for up to 1 week. For long-term storage, dishes like baba ghonouj and ratatouille freeze well in airtight containers.
The above information is from Asparagus to Zucchini a guide to cooking farm fresh seasonal produce.

Boy did we need the rain we got this past week! We picked our first tomatoes out of the hoop house this past week, and also picked our first zucchinis! We've dug all our candy onions, and are working on getting the potatoes dug. Today I'm stringing up tomatoes again. (The field ones). We had to get some 8' re-bar poles and stake the heirlooms in the hoop house as they are over 6' tall and still going! We are still picking blueberries, but they are slowing down. The green beans are looking very good, now to just keep the deer out of them! Greg has been working on getting two new fields started. He's plowed, disc, tilled and planted buckwheat in one and rye grass in the other for green manure crops. Hopefully we'll be able to use those next year and rotate the crops around a little better! Hopefully in a couple of weeks we'll be getting some cuccumbers, if we can keep that pesky deer out of them! He's been making a deer repelent spray of hot peppers and eggs to spray on things. But you have to mix it up a bit as the deer can get "immune" to the spray, so you have to keep finding something different to add to it. So he added mint to the mixture this week! Seems to work, but you have to keep spraying it as the rain washes it off.

Remember a while back when I said, "Rain, rain go away come again another day"? Well it's "another day" time!! We are dry, we've been running water pretty much 24/7! We laid drip tape down the rows of winter squash, pumpkins, gourds, cucumbers and summer squash so we could water them. Greg set up a sprinkler system in the potato field and over the lettuce and green beans!

I strung up the top row on the tomatoes in the hoop house on Wednesday. We are going to have to get some taller (8') stakes to put in there as they are already over our heads! But while I was stringing away I found some ripe tomatoes! So hopefully this week everyone will get at least one tomato in their box! We also dug some blue potatoes today so be looking for those. I fried some for lunch today, and they are no different then regular ones, in fact they weren't that blue inside! I was a bit disappointed, but they are very blue almost purple on the outside!

We are still picking blueberries, but they are slowing down. The blackberries are starting to ripen though, so look for them maybe this week!

CSA box time again today! Everyone will be getting some blueberries, potatoes, onions, eggplant, jalapeno pepper and eggs. The full shares will also get some green beans, broccoli, blackberries and okra.

The radicchio that was looking so good and was ready to put in the boxes this week became food to the "Deer"! They ate off over 20 heads! I hope it gave them a terrible belly ache! I say they all though we've only ever seen one, but there has to be more than one to have eaten that many heads of radicchio and they also got into the green beans that same night! We didn't think about them eating the radicchio as it is bitter and so we hadn't sprayed it with the rotten egg and hot pepper mixture. Like I said I hope they "paid" for it!

I planted out more fennel, basil, oregano, celeriac, parsley and husk tomatoes. We planted some more green beans and edamames (edible soybeans). We worked yesterday on weeding the pumpkins and winter squash field, have two more rows on that to do yet. I need to get back out and string on the tomatoes again. Always plenty of things to do. Also need to get some more jams made...

This week the full share CSA boxes are going to be getting: eggs, blueberries, onions, chinese cabbage, lettuce, new potatoes, okra, eggplant, herbs and a jalapeno pepper. The half shares will be getting eggs, chinese cabbage, new potatoes, onions blueberries and a jalapeno pepper! I picked a quart of blackberries, so there may be blackberries in your boxes next week, too. Enjoy, see you this afternoon!

Well Greg is finally finished with the outage! Now he can get a few things done around here that he hasn't had time to keep up with! He mowed around the black berries and blueberries, he's been spraying deer repellent around the summer squash, cucumbers, beans and broccoli, but it keeps raining and washing it off, so have to keep making more and spraying! I finally got all the tomatoes first stringing done, and Lucas tied up the peppers, eggplant & okra. We got the summer squash and cucumber plants out of the green house and planted out in the field! We've got most of the new lettuce and greens beds weeded. I still need to set out some of my herb plants and another tray of fennel out yet, Greg and Lucas did some already, I just need to finish it up.

Be looking for Chinese Cabbage in your boxes this week. Here are some tips on how to use it. Chop it raw into salads, substitute in traditional coleslaw, for an Asian-style salad, toss chopped cabbage with grated carrot, copped green onion, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Chinese cabbage cooks quickly. Steam for 3-5 minutes or until leaves are wilted down but remain slightly crisp. All cabbages are at risk for overcooking! Substitute Chinese cabbage for common cabbage in recipes, but reduce cooking time by 2 minutes. Chinese cabbage is a classic and popular stir-fry vegetable and also a main ingredient in egg rolls. You can stir-fry it alone with a little onion, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce, or add it chopped toward the end of your mixed vegetable stir-fry. Chinese cabbage is excellent in soups, fried rice, mashed with potatoes, etc.

Storage tips: Do not remove all the outer tough leaves before storage. They will help retain moisture, keeping the inside crisp and fresh. Keep Chinese cabbage in the hydrator dra wer of the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

The above information came from "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce.

Well the bad news (for you) is the strawberries are over with! I can't say that I will miss them! But the good news is that the blueberries have started! They are a little higher to pick, but it takes so many of them to make a pint! Oh, well the picker is never happy! Any way be looking for them in your CSA boxes this week. Also new potatoes hopefully. The sweet potatoes sure are looking good. The day we planted them they were such small little slips and it was so hot, they wilted down and we were pretty sure we'd lose at least half of them! But we really put the water to them and kept them wet for a couple of days, and then it rained and cooled off and it looks like we have only lost three!! Now to keep the deer away from them! The deer sure have been doing a number on the radicchio! I didn't think anything would eat that as it is bitter! They haven't touched the cardoon though! That's prickly like a thistle!

LEEKS

Leeks belong to the lily family, along with their close relatives onions, garlic, scallions, shallots, and chives. They are milder and more refined in flavor than onions. Leeks are native to the Mediterranean area and may have originated in Egypt, where they were cultivated and worshipped, or, as it has been written, "where onions are adored, and leeks are gods." Cooking tips: To clean, remove green tops to within 2" of the white section. Peel off outside layer. Cut leek in half lengthwise and wash thoroughly under water to remove grit and soil between the layers. Leeks may be eaten raw, chopped into a variety of salads. Leeks may be cooked whole; try braising or baking. Steam or boil leeks for 10-12 minutes. Top with butter, a dash of salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Layer thin slices of leek in a favorite sandwich. Leek, tomato, and melted cheese is a winner. Lightly saute chopped leeks alone or with other vegetables. chop or slice leeks into quiches, egg dishes, casseroles, stews, stocks, soups and stir-fries. Substitute leeks for onions in recipes and notice the subtle flavor changes. Puree cooked leeks for a soup base. Add leek leaves to long-cooking dishes, such as grains, beans, or stews, for added flavor. Add cooked leeks to mashed potatoes. The above information is again from "From Asparagus to Zucchini" A guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce.

KALE

Hope everyone is enjoying their CSA boxes they got yesterday! Everyone received some kale in their boxes and I had a lot of people ask me what you do with Kale. Just click on the green word kale and it will take you to a web site with lots of ideas! Kale is the oldest member of the cabbage family and among the earliest cultivated. It was a favorite vegetable in ancient Rome, and has remained popular in Scotland & Ireland for many centuries. Nutritionally, kale is vastly superior to most vegetables. It is very rich in vitamins A,C and the mineral calcium. B vitamins and other minerals are also in excellent supply. Kale is also the highest in protein content of all the cultivated vegetables. Kale has a distinct but not overpowering flavor, and is interchangeable with broccoli and other hearty greens in recipes. Cooking tips: Remove stems from mature kale leaves by folding the leaf in half lengthwise and stripping or slicing away thick stems. Baby or very tender young leaves may be cooked stem and all. Steam mature kale leaves approximately 4-5 minutes, it is ready when limp but still retaining some texture. Toss steamed kale with olive oil, lemon juice, and a dash of salt & pepper. Try adding diced raw garlic. Saute tender young kale leaves. try a light saute in butter with garlic and onions. Add sauteed kale (chopped) to omelets, quiches, scrambled eggs, casseroles, or mashed potatoes. Add chopped or sliced raw kale to hearty soups and stews toward the end of cooking time. The above information came from "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce third edition.

Will be so glad when the outage at the plant is over and Greg can go back to normal hours instead of this 1:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. five days a week and being on call every other weekend!!!! This is his fifth week of this schedule and it goes till at least the 11th! Then maybe we can get more things done that need doing! His normal schedule is 6:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and every other Friday off. Then during the summer he uses his vacation to take the other Fridays off so that he's off every Friday and can help pick for market or do anything else that needs doing. We've planted summer squash, cucumber, winter squash, pumpkin & gourd seed, but still have cucumber and summer squash plants to set out. We got sweet potatoes planted and the tomatoes in the hoop house 2nd stringing done. They are looking good! They are blooming up a storm and there are quite a few green tomatoes! Lucas' girlfriend got here this weekend and she will be helping us for two months. I'm looking forward to her taking over the baking and cooking for me!

Hope everyone has been enjoying their CSA boxes! The strawberries have been something else and we should have them next week, but they are tapering off. I will personally be glad to see them go as picking them is not my idea of a fun time, but oh well... The next thing to look forward to is blueberries...

We've been busy trying to get things planted. Have finally got all the tomatoes out and the okra and sweet potatoes!!!! We had a time getting sweet potato slips and they should have been in a lot earlier, hopefully this heat will not kill them before they take hold! We could use a couple of cooler days and a little rain...

The next thing to get transplanted out is the cucumbers and summer squashes! They are going strong in the green house, again some cooler weather and rain to set them out in would be great!!!!!

I just read that there are around 2 million sweat glands in the human body!! I believe that and I had every one of mine on overtime yesterday!!!! Wow we asked for warmer sunnier weather and now we have it!! It got up to 88 degrees yesterday on my thermometer and today about the same! We planted out all our peppers and eggplants yesterday and I think we all got sunburned! I then went to an outdoor wedding that evening on the river! I am going through all the box fans and seeing what ones work so we can get them put up in the chicken houses and in our bedroom window!!!!!

Today I started thinning peach trees! YUCK! It's a job no one likes to do. I've got two rows done and four more to do! The peach trees aren't looking to good this year, we may loose several. We think it's been too wet for to long and they are showing the effects of it this year.

For those of you who got leeks this week in your boxes, here is a recipe for Tomato Leek Tarts!

1 pkg. (15 oz.) refrigerated pie pastry
4 oz. provolone cheese, shredded
1 pound leeks (white portion only), sliced
6 medium plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup (8 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Place both pastry sheets on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle each with provolone cheese, leaving 1" around edges. Arrange leeks & tomato slices over provolone cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese, garlic powder & pepper. Top with mozzarella cheese. Fold edges over filling. Bake at 425 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until crusts are lightly browned. Cut into wedges. Serve warm. (The picture in the magazine just shows the crust folded up around the edge about an inch. In other words the crust doesn't cover the whole top of tart, it's open!)
This recipe came from Taste of Home Cooking School magazine, Spring 2010 issue.

Rain, rain go away come again another day... As Greg said today, I think it's even to wet to for rice paddies!!! Some day I'm sure we'll be moaning about the lack of rain and wishing for some of this. The kids are home from college and raring to go to work! Ha! Megan starts her new job at Sutherland's tomorrow and works all day for the next five days. Lucas will be helping us. We did get the tomatoes first row of stringing done in the hoop house yesterday afternoon. Some of them are already blooming and we even saw one little tomato!!! We also got some kale and more cabbage plants set out and put row cover over them to keep out the bunnies. The Nappa cabbage and radicchio we set out earlier sure are looking good! The field tomatoes, peppers, okra and eggplant need to be set out. Don't know when it'll be dry enough to do that. They are getting almost too big to use our new transplanter, may just have to do it all by hand in the mud! YUCK!!!

STRAWBERRIES GALORE!!!!!!!

I think we are finally finished picking for market tomorrow...or lets put it this way, "I'm not doing any more!" We picked over 200 quarts of strawberries, lettuce, swiss chard, onions, leeks and herbs. And it's very muddy out there!!!!! Hopefully the rain will stay away tomorrow for market. Those of you picking up your CSA shares at Columbia tomorrow will be getting dozen eggs, 2 quarts strawberries, bag of lettuce, bag of swiss chard, onions, leeks and bag of fresh herbs for the full shares. The half shares will be getting 1/2 dozen eggs, bag of lettuce, 1 quart strawberries, onions and bag of fresh herbs! Now I've got to get today's eggs cleaned and put in the refrigerator before I can go rest my aching back! Oh and the bag of herbs has basil, cilantro, chives, oregano, rosemary, lemon balm and mint!

We've got 15 raised beds with drip tape and plastic mulch made and ready to plant. That is where we will plant our peppers, okra, eggplant and tomatoes. We also finished planting out the rest of the kohlrabi, broccoli and cabbage. I planted my cilantro in between them, maybe that will help keep the bunnies out?!!!!! We really need to loose some of those pesky creatures. The other night one of our cats, Fuzzbucket, came running in the door with a little bunny in his mouth! He was so proud of himself! But then he sat it on the floor at my feet, and I realized it was not dead!! It took a hop and the cat caught it again, so we quickly put them both back out side! A little while later I was working at the computer and Greg was watching T.V. when I heard this high pitched squeal. I said was that the T.V.? Greg said no it was outside....One down, many, many more to go...

Okay! The first CSA pickup is tomorrow for the Columbia people. The full shares are getting 1 quart of strawberries, bag of mixed lettuce, bag of swiss chard, dz. radishes, bunch of green onions, bag of dried tomatoes, large applesauce bread and a dozen eggs. The half shares will be getting 1 quart strawberries, bag of mixed lettuce, 1/2 dozen eggs, bunch of onions and a bag of dried tomatoes. Hope everyone enjoys! The Fulton people will pick up their boxes on Tuesday 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

CSA DELIVERY STARTS!

Looks like we will be starting the CSA box deliveries this next week. Columbia pickup people will get theirs this Saturday at market and the Fulton people will pick up next Tuesday. At the moment it looks like there will be strawberries!!!! There will also be lettuce, onions, eggs, bread, maybe some other types of greens also. Will keep everyone posted!

Today we weeded the greens in one of the hoop houses, and the candy onions out back. I need to weed on the green onions and the potatoes, but we'll see how and when I get to that! Greg has tilled up the old radish, arugala, mizuna and tot soi beds in the little hoop house and we are going to replant some more greens and broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage and radishes in there.

Saturday the Fulton Farmers' Market started up. Since our daughter was home we sent her there with eggs, some baked goods, jams & a few bags of lettuce. Greg & I went to the Columbia Farmers' Market. We are hoping to start the CSA deliveries next week. The Columbia deliveries would start this Saturday and the Fulton deliveries next Tuesday. That is the plan, but we will let everyone know for sure a little later in the week. We are hoping the onions will be ready by then, so grow onions, grow!!!!!!

We worked this weekend on the tomatoes in the hoop house. The wind had blown the plastic off one whole row of tomatoes, so had to work at getting the tomatoes back through their holes in the plastic and the plastic anchored back down and more cottonseed hulls placed around the holes. We also got the tomato stakes up. Now to get the first row of stringing done! The potatoes are popping through and the lettuce and radishes we planted out in the front garden are starting to come up. Greg tilled up most of one of the little hoop houses that had the arugala and mizuna and radishes in it. We will replant it again here in a couple of days with more greens, etc.

Tonight I drove over to Columbia to be on KOPN community radio stations "Farm & Fiddle" program. They were talking about CSA's. There were 3 other CSA's represented, Pierpont Farm, Happy Hollow Farm & Danjo Farm & then us. We got to tell about our operations and what we grew and all that good stuff! Was fun and interesting, and hopefully we will all get some new customers from it that want to try out the idea of getting a box of locally grown produce once a week. What's nice about CSA's is that they are all a little bit different and they are growing in popularity. You don't have to stand in lines to get those first strawberries, or tomatoes, or peaches, etc. You don't have to worry about getting to market right at starting time to be able to get those most sought after items when they first start appearing at market. (Unless your farmer has a crop failure or something, or doesn't grow that particular item.) You will be able to pick up your box of produce and get a little bit of everything that's in season that week!

This morning I dug up chocolate mint and peppermint growing in our garden and potted it to sell at market. Then we put row cover over the kohlrabi and broccoli plants in the front garden as something has been eating on them!!!!! Probably that "pesky" little bunny rabbit that I saw last week in the front yard! I saw 3 out back by the hoop houses this morning, but the cabbage, broccoli & radicchio out there are fine. They are probably just helping themselves to all the lettuce in the hoop houses! The strawberries are really looking good, they are really loaded! Just hope that when they ripen up it's a lot drier so they don't mold and rot! There are lots of little apricots on the apricot tree...maybe this will be the year to finally have apricots?!!! Oh the joys of farming!!

Did you know that the U.S. consumes more that 400 million pounds of radishes a year. The radish root is 94% water with a a small amount of the minerals potassium, phosphorous, magnesium & iron. The radish greens are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, & B's, they are also a beneficial blood cleanser & digestive aid!

Most people eat them raw, but did you know you can cook them, too?! Cooking tones down the "bite" of a pungent radish. You can steam them 8-12 minutes until tender but not mushy. Roll in butter & add a little salt & pepper. You can use them in soups or stews like turnips, or you can add them to stir-fries. Have you ever had a radish sandwich? Butter French or Sourdough bread & layer with thin slices of radish & sprinkle with salt. You can add raw spinach & cheese if you like, also!

Here are some more radish ideas: stir-fry sliced radishes with fresh pea shoots, garlic & ginger. Add chopped radish greens to stir-fries. Saute quartered radishes with orange zest & minced ginger root. Use sliced daikon radishes as "crackers" & top them with herbed cream cheese & smoked fish. Add chopped radishes to potato salad for a peppery crunch. Add thin sliced radishes to a ham sandwich!

Who knew you could do so much more with radishes then just putting them in a salad! Check out the recipe page and I'll post a couple more radish recipes!

We got the cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi & radicchio transplanted outside, now to keep the rabbits and deer away! Greg sprayed with deer repellent, but now that it's rained he'll have to get after it again real quick so they don't find it! I had volunteer cilantro coming up in the garden, so I dug a bunch of it up and transplanted it in between the kohlrabi. I still have 2 trays of plants in the green house that need to be transplanted out. I got some more rosemary starts that I had rooted potted up, need to get the extra basil plants that I want to sell potted up, too!

I got a package of bees last Saturday and got them put out in their new hive. I also put on extra supers on the other 2 hives that made it through the winter, so maybe I'll get some comb honey this fall!

Greg's big Ford 8000 tractor had to go into the shop this week, but they were very quick and got it back to us that same day! Never a good thing to have the tractor in the shop this time of year!

I made more jam on Wed. I made more Goumi berry and some blueberry. I managed to steam burn two fingers on my left hand, so they are blistered up pretty good! Makes doing the dishes no fun!!!!

We got tomatoes planted in our big hoop house this morning!!! Yeah!!! Now to keep them watered and remember to close the sides up in the evenings if it's too cool, and then remember to open them back up in the morning so they don't get cooked!!!! We planted more greens, radishes, peas & turnips outside in the front garden, but I've seen a rabbit in the front yard 3 days in a row now! He needs to go! Hopefully he'll not be careful when he's crossing the road...

Megan came home this weekend and her boyfriend came, too. So they worked on picking up the yard of sticks and getting my flower beds cleaned out. Then they helped us get the hoop house ready to plant tomatoes by helping us lay drip tape and plastic mulch!! Megan is mowing the yard as I type! She also got the windows taken out of the chicken house and opened up the top window in the loft so they can now get fresh air circulating through!

We've been having good market days at the Columbia Farmers' Market. I need to bag up more dried apples and make some more jams & jellies. This last Sat. we sold 33 jars of jam! The only thing we are not selling much of is eggs!!!!!! And I really need to move some eggs. Guess I will take another load to Serve tomorrow! I have no refrigerator space left for them. We are getting about 17 dozen a day! I also need egg cartons, so if you have any or know of anyone with some, please let me know!!!!!

Speaking of eggs I'm going to put a couple of egg recipes on the recipe page, so take a look! According to the Spring issue of taste of home's healthy cooking magazine eggs are high in choline, folate, iron & zinc, & they're known to help muscle strength, brain function & even eye health-all for about 70 calories each. The American Heart Association suggests those with heart disease limit egg yolks to 2 per week.

Last night we finished planting the potatoes and onions!!!!!!! We planted Cobbler, Norvalley, Red Lasoda, Kennebec, Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold and Blue potatoes! We had 50 lbs. of seed potatoes for each variety except the blue which we did 25 lbs.! We planted a case of candy onions, they are the very sweet variety, and then 32 lbs of each yellow and white onion bulbs! My knees really hurt! The strawberries, and apples are blooming, the peaches are done blooming, the grass needs mowing...boy when Spring hits it's all out go!!!!!!!!!

We are still taking CSA memberships. It is slowly trickling in, but that is fine, we are still a few weeks away from delivery start up!

I stay busy keeping the hoop houses and green houses watered, making sure they are opened up during the day and closed down at night, don't want them getting too hot during the day or too cool at night! Always lots to remember to do after not having done it all winter, I'm good at forgetting things!

Well more of those grafted tomato plants made it than we thought were going too! We've got tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, fennel, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, cardoon, kale sprouting in the green houses. Lettuces and radishes, peas and arugala are all sprouting in the hoop houses. We've got 750 lbs. of seed potatoes cut up and ready to plant. We've got onion beds made, just waiting on it to dry up so we can get outside! The peach trees are blooming and the strawberries are starting, too, but it's supposed to get cold a couple of nights this week, so that should be a fun time!! The barn swallows came back yesterday, that is when I'm officially ready to say Spring has arrived!!!!! The Red Bud trees are going to town and looking beautiful, and now the grass needs mowing!!!! The miracle of Spring! The other miracle is that I haven't killed or flooded anything in the hoop houses or green houses!!! (Just give me a little more time!)
The CSA memberships are slowly trickling in so if you are still thinking about it there is still room to sign on! We have not started delivery on them yet, and not yet sure when that will be but we will still deliver for 25 weeks whenever we do get started!

So far we've got all the peppers, eggplant and heirloom tomato seeds started in the greenhouse! I think there were about 30 different hierloom tomato varieties and we planted 24 of each of those! We still have the late hybrid tomato varieties to plant for outside field grown. The hybrid tomatoes we started earlier are ready to be transplanted out to the hoophouse any time now and we still have the okra, cuccumbers and summer squash to get started in the greenhouse The problem is Greg is to leave Sunday for a week business trip!

Columbia Farmers' market started this past Saturday! So I spent last week rounding up supplies and making new signs and labels for things. Went through all the jams and jellies and did inventory. Found I was lacking on Elderberry, Goumi, Strawberry and Peach. So Thursday I made strawberry, strawberry rhubarb and peach jam. This week I hope to get the elderberry and goumi done! Friday was such a beautiful day up around 70 degrees! I baked for market, I made banana coconut, banana, applesauce, zucchini and chocolate zucchini breads and rosemary flat bread! I cleaned out the truck and loaded the tables, tents, tent weights, etc. Greg came home and we finished loading the jams, baked goods, etc. We also took lots of eggs, dried tomatoes, dried apples and dried peppers, my lye soap and honey ointment. Then Sat. morning came...not so nice! Columbia had about 2" of snow and it all came while we were at market! It was a very wet snow, perfect for snowballs...in fact there was a little girl I saw making a snowman! But it was not good for standing outside for 4 hours trying to sell food! I was surprised though at the number of people who did venture out...I don't know who was crazier the farmers or the customers for being out in that mess. I actually saw 2 people come in shorts, and several in sandals or no coats! We at least had on our insulated coveralls! Oh well that is Missouri weather for you, hopefully this Sat. will be better?! The long range forecast is for rain, but I think it is to be warmer! That is some better...

Well I think only about 4 of those tomatoes that Greg grafted the other day are going to make it! They look pretty bad! But I guess we'll have to try again, practice makes perfect! We've been starting seed in the greenhouse. We've got all the peppers and egg plant planted and I planted some cilantro, parsley, basil and more fennel. I also got my rosemary cuttings potted and took a few more cuttings to root. The thyme and oregano seed I started several weeks ago and one tray of fennel is sprouted and doing well, so making a little progress.

Yesterday I worked on getting ready for Columbia's farmers' market which starts this Saturday! Should be fun, they are calling for cold rainy weather possibly turning to snow! The fun keeps on coming! I made strawberry, strawberry rhubarb and peach jam yesterday. I made new labels and signs, bagged dried apples, tomatoes and bell peppers, went through and organized and inventoried the jams and jellies. Got them crated up and ready to put in the truck. Today I'm going to bake banana bread, banana coconut bread, zucchini and applesauce bread, and make some chocolate chip cookies and flat bread for tomorrow, plus we need to get the tables and tent and everything else loaded into the truck tonight! So I'd better get moving!

It was a busy weekend! We went to Earth City on Friday to Hummerts to pick up seed potatoes, onion sets and a roll of plastic mulch. Then we came home and Greg finished up making his chamber to put his grafted tomato plants in. Saturday we were transferring our wild tom cat that we have in a dog crate in the house to a clean crate when he got away from us! So we had to hunt him down and get him put in his clean crate! Not a fun job, he is wild and very mean! The reason we have him in the house is because he some how got his back foot chewed off and couldn't get around very well or get to the food bowl. So we are just trying to give him a dry warm place with access to food and water so he can heal! Which I think he is doing very nicely after seeing him move across the kitchen floor and up the stairs!!!!!! After we got that done we drove to Versailles and picked up some more seed potatoes, seeds and candy onion sets that we had ordered from Morgan County Seed. Then when we got home Greg worked on grafting his tomatoes! Then that afternoon and night we were over to Columbia for the State Basketball playoffs. Greg and his brother from St. Louis always go to that, so while they did that my sister in law and I went antique shopping!! Then after church on Sunday we drove to the Kansas City airport to pick up our son from his Spring Break trip out to Colorado and Utah!

Megan got the other little chicken house cleaned out! Now all we have to do is get the big one done! Greg got his transplanter put together and most of the trees pruned, just a handful left. Megan and her boyfriend, who came for the weekend picked up all the tree trimmings and hauled them to the brush pile out back, and we got the pullets wings clipped so they can now go outside! Keeps them from flying over the fence and the dog getting them! But since they weren't used to being outside and coming in for the night I had to gather them all up last night and put back in the houses! Since I haven't been letting them out I forgot to shut them up till after dark and they don't herd in the dark! Fun Fun Fun!

SPRING BREAK

Megan came home last night for the start of her spring break. This morning she's cleaning out one of the little chicken houses! She needs money! Lucas will be home tonight, but he's headed to Denver so I will have to take him to the Kansas City airport tomorrow after he's done his laundry?!

Greg is coming home early today as he finally got his missing parts for his Mechanical Transplanter Wednesday, so he wants to get that finished, plus he's still pruning peach trees.

It is so nice to see the sun and the warmer temperatures, but now the work really starts...

Well Greg is still waiting for parts for his Mechanical Transplanter, so he hasn't gotten that finished putting together! But we are keeping busy. Thursday night we went to a meeting for the Fulton Farmers' Market. Friday we went down to Springfield, Greg had a Mid America Strawberry Grower's meeting in Mountain Grove on Saturday. So we took our son who's going to school at Missouri State University, out to Red Lobster to eat on Friday night, then I took Greg to Mt. Grove for his meeting and then went back to Springfield to spend the morning with Lucas, then I went back to Mt. Grove at noon to finish up the meeting out at a growers farm looking at his strawberries! We left there around 3:30 and drove home in time to do chores! Yesterday Greg started pruning peach trees. While he pruned I loaded all the cuttings into a trailer to haul off. Boy were we both sore and tired after that! Out of shape...

Things are sprouting in the green house. We have tomatoes, kohlrabi, broccoli, cabbage, radicchio, thyme and oregano up. Still waiting for the parsley and cilantro to sprout. I am going to plant a tray of fennel this morning when I go out to do chores.

Greg received his new Mechanical Transplanter by freight truck a week and a half ago! After we off loaded it at the fair grounds across the road and hauled it home, we realized there was going to be lots of assembly required! So this past weekend he was able to start un-crating it and looking at all the parts and the instruction book! After realizing that we had a brand new model and it didn't match up with the parts and instruction book we figured out that we were missing several important pieces to finish putting it all together! So now he's waiting on those parts to come so he can finish putting it together!!! But once we get it all put together we'll be able to use it to plant all our plant plugs, like tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, etc. and potatoes. It should make the process much faster and easier! So Greg's reckoning is that we can plant more! I told him as he has yet to find a picker that is easier and faster and as the one he now has is getting old and wearing out (me) he'd better hold off!!!!!!!

I also wanted to ask those of you who read this that participated in our CSA program last year if you would mind going to the local harvest web site and rating our CSA program. I didn't know they had a rating system on there, and ours hasn't any ratings. Thanks!

The pullets are starting to lay! We've had 3 eggs from them so far and one is already an extra large size!

We've got tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and kohlrabi starting to sprout in the green house. I planted some parsley, cilantro, oregano and thyme seed this morning in the green house. So far the things we planted out in the hoop house have not sprouted, just to darn cold and overcast! There are a few radishes sprouted, but that is it so far. One of these days it's got to warm up....

CSA 2010 SIGN UP MEETING!!

Don't forget that tomorrow February 17th at 6:30 p.m. we will have our 2010 CSA membership sign up meeting. We will meet in the Friends Room at the Callaway Public Library. Please feel free to invite anyone you feel may be interested in this opportunity to come to the meeting to get more information! Hope to see you there!

Monday I went down to the Lake for the Agritourism, Small Fruit & Vegetable Conference bus tour. I chose tour B and we went to the Meyer Tree & Berry Farm in Dixon, Ozark Fisheries in Stoutland, Cole's Tree Farm in Lebanon, The Garden Party at Hugo Farms in Camdenton and Seven Springs Winery in Linn Creek. It was a diversified group of farms and fun to see the variety of things available in Missouri and interesting to see and hear how they got into and run things on their operations! I did not know that Missouri had one of the largest hatcheries for Koi and fancy gold fish in the Nation! It was a very cold, snowy and long day, but fun to see and visit with others on the bus! Then Tuesday Greg & I went down together for the conference and attended talks. Greg went to the ones about fruit production and I went to the ones on marketing and business planning! We then drove back from the Lake to Columbia for their Farmers' Market meeting at 6:30! After two days of a lot of driving and very early mornings I decided to fore go the last day of the conference today, and Greg had to go back to work!

WINTER

From our snowy winter wonderland to yours!
Hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner and that in about 4 weeks we will start selling at the Columbia Farmers' Market! Not sure yet what that will be, but hopefully something?! Greg got some tomato seeds planted the other day but they are to be the root stock for the heirloom tomatoes that he wants to graft.

I made raspberry jam Saturday and got my lye soap cut up and packaged. Still have lots of frozen berries and peaches that need to be worked up yet, but I may start painting on gourds today?!

BIG EGG!

I thought you might like to see this egg that I collected yesterday! The small one next to it is considered an extra large egg! Needless to say it won't fit in any size egg carton I have!

PLANTING!!!!!

Well Greg came home early from work yesterday and got one of the little hoop houses planted in all kinds of lettuces, greens, radishes and peas! He even used his new push seeder which can plant 3 rows at a time! Which brings me to our CSA sign up meeting. We will be holding a meeting on Feb. 18th at 6:30p.m. at the Friends room at the Callaway Public library. So if you liked the convenience of picking up a box of pre-paid fresh produce every week and didn't have to worry about getting to market too late to get anything or you didn't have to stand in line in the hot sun to pick out your produce and pay then I hope you sign up to join us again this year! So tell your friends if you thought it was a worth while thing and we hope to see everyone at the meeting!

Over the weekend we finally got the big hoop house that we had tomatoes in last year cleaned out! That was a job! We had to take all the twine and stakes out then pull up all the tomato plants (around 500 plants) and pull up all the plastic and drip tape. Then we hauled in 7 pickup trailer loads of compost and tilled it all in. That took us about 3 days to do. But it is done and now ready to plant when ever we want!

MAKING LYE SOAP

Today I made lye soap. I just make regular plain old lye soap nothing fancy with different herbs or scents. Lye soap is supposed to be good for removing poison ivy and I also had an elderly lady who used to take in laundry tell me that it was good to rub on men's shirt collars to remove stains! I don't know how true any of these statements are, but it is fun to make.

The recipe I use has tallow, lard and olive oil in it. There are all kinds of recipes using different kinds of fats or oils, but the reason I chose this one was because I had access to tallow and lard. Tallow is the fat from beef. The last time we butchered a cow I had them save me all the fat scraps. This I then had to put through my meat grinder and then cook it down on the stove till it was all melted. Then filter it so that all the meat pieces or grissel and stuff was taken out. Then I put it in foiled lined cake pans and allowed it to cool and set up. Once that was done then I put it in plastic bags and stored it in the freezer. Needless to say one cow makes a lot of tallow! We haven't had cattle for around 16 or 17 years! The lard was a lot easier to come by as we used to have hogs and every time we butchered I had them save me the lard. They will process the lard, so I didn't have to do that! When you use tallow in soap it makes a harder soap which I like in a bar soap.

The next trick is finding the lye. Which I use Red Devil, but there are some other brands, it just has to be 100% lye, and sometimes anymore that is not always easy to find. But once you have your ingredients found you need to pick a time when you can work without any interruptions.

You need to add your water to your lye in pitcher and then let cool down to 100 degrees. Also at the same time you need to melt your fats in a pot on the stove and then cool them down to 100 degrees also. The trick is to get both mixtures to reach 100 degrees at the same time! Once that is done then you slowly mix the two together and then stir and stir and stir and stir.... which can take 30 minutes to 45 to an hour?!! But you stir until when you lift the spoon from the pot and let it drip that you can see a trail or tracings on top of the soap. That is what the first picture is trying to show, it was hard to get a picture fast enough to show up in the light. You can see a little ridge or line right above and to the right of the spoon?!

Then once that has happened you can pour your soap into your molds. This time I had saved these plastic forms from the packages of store bought cookies I buy.(That way I won't eat them, because they're not as good as home made!) Or in the past I've just used a square plastic type storage box and then cut them into bars later. I then set the molds into a bigger storage container and put the lid on and then wrapped them in a blanket to keep it from getting "chilled" and put them to "bed"!

What that essentially means is that you don't want the soap to cool to fast and you put it in a warm place where it can set for 24 to 48 hours undisturbed. Then once that time has passed you can un-mold the soap and set it out to dry and cure! It takes a good 3 to 4 weeks to cure before you can use it as the lye can still be caustic. So that's soap making in a nut shell! If you are interested there are all kinds of books out there with information and recipes. The one I like and use is "The Complete Soapmaker" by Norma Coney.

PREPARING AND LEARNING!!!

Even though it's winter we have been busy. Everyone always wants to know what we're going to do with ourselves once market and growing season is over, like now we're going to have all this free time! I wish!

I've mentioned some of the projects Greg's been working on getting built. He's also been busy ordering supplies and seeds. That's a chore going through all the old seed and determining what needs to be tossed and what can be kept and then what and how much we need to order and from whom! We get around 35-40 different seed catalogs and even though we have our standard ones, we always like to see what's new that different ones might be offering and of course comparing prices! My job is to go through and mark anything that sounds interesting and then he weeds through all the rest! A week ago this past Monday we went to Hummert's in Earth City to get some potting soil, drip tape, perlite and misc. and found some green house bench tops that were slightly damaged and were about 40% off, so picked up 4 of those!

Last week after it had thawed out some we got compost carted into one of the smaller hoop houses and Greg got it tilled in. That worked up real nice and deep! We still have the big hoop house to get cleaned out and worked up!

Last Tuesday & Wednesday I went to a Better Process Control School in Jefferson City put on by the Purdue University Food Science Department School of Agriculture. That was very enlightening and interesting. There were eight chapters we went over and were tested on and we had to pass by 80% to get our certification. The class covered Canned foods; principles of thermal process control, acidification & container closure evaluation! I don't think I've done that much note taking and listening to lectures and test taking since High School! I think the mental work was more tiring and wearing on me than physical gardening work is!!!

Then Friday afternoon I drove down to Cabool, Missouri for the annual Missouri Farmers' Market Association work shop and meeting that was held on Saturday. We had several speakers and heard and learned about Grants and writing grants, about using Face book, Twitter, and other social networks to promote our markets. So I may have to set up a Face book page. I haven't totally decided on that one, I thought I was doing well to be blogging!!! We also had a speaker on insurance and what we needed to know about insuring our market and ourselves as vendors. I have been on the board for about 6 years and was up for re-election and was voted back in.

The Agritourism - Small Fruit & Vegetable Conference is coming up February 15, 16 & 17 at the Lake of the Ozarks. I usually go to this one by myself as the Small Fruit & Vegetable part has always been held down in Springfield, Missouri. This year they are combining with the Agritourism and moved it. I will be going and Greg is thinking about it since it is closer we would come home at night. Always a problem for both of us to be gone at the same time and get chores done! This conference has a bus tour the first day and then on the second and third day will be topics like Growing & promoting Missouri grown blueberries; business planning basics; Agritourism; High tunnel strawberry production; planning events on the farm; Developing a Web presence; blackberry pruning; identifying potential hazards on your farm; growing primocane blackberries; vegetables; and marketing food on the farm!

So even though we may not be growing and selling produce, we are preparing and learning to be better growers and marketers!

EGGS, EGGS & MORE EGGS!

Just to let you all know, the chickens are still laying eggs, and even though they have cut way back with the cold and all, I'm still getting 6 dozen eggs a day. So if you need any eggs give me a call!

GUIDE TO HERB & VEGETABLE & MEAT COMBINATIONS

Carrots: marjoram, rosemary, sage
Corn: Parsley
Green Beans: dill, marjoram, oregano, tarragon, thyme
Peas: marjoram, parsley, sage
Potatoes: dill, garlic, parsley, sage
Summer squash: marjoram, rosemary, sage
Tamatoes: basil, dill, marjoram, oregano, parsley
Beef: marjoram, sage, thyme
Lamb: garlic, rosemary, mint
Pork: garlic, sage, oregano
Chicken: marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme
Fish: dill, marjoram

COOKING WITH FRESH HERBS
Adding fresh herbs to foods is a quick way to transform ordinary meals into extraordinary meals. Here's how:

A general guideline is to use three times as much fresh herbs as you would use of a dried herb in a recipe. You'll often be more successful substituting fresh herbs for dried herbs, rather than the other way around.

Purchase fresh herbs close to the time you plan to use them.

Store fresh herbs in an open or perforated plastic bag in a refrigerator crisper drawer for a few days.

Wash herbs when you're ready to use them. Wash smaller amounts of herbs thoroughly under running water. Shake off moisture or spin dry in a salad spinner. Pat off any remaining moisture with a clean paper towel.

When washing a larger amount of herbs, treat them as you would salad greens. Place in a clean sink or deep bowl filled with cold water & swish around. Lift from the water & transfer to another bowl so dirt & grit remain in the water. Pour out the water; repeat the washing process in clean water until dirt & grit are gone and the water is clear.

Unless otherwise directed, mince herbs into tiny pieces. Chop with a chef's knife on a cutting board or snip with kitchen scissors.

Unlike dried herbs, fresh herbs are usually added toward the end in cooked dishes to preserve their flavor. Add the more delicate herbs - basil, chives, cilantro, dill leaves, parsley, marjoram & mint - a minute or two before the end of cooking or sprinkle them on the food before it's served. The less delicate herbs, such as dill seeds, oregano, rosemary, tarragon & thyme, can be added about the last 20 minutes of cooking.

The above information is from Alice Henneman, MS, RD University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County.

Well we survived the holidays! Our son is still home from collage for another week, but otherwise we are settling into the cold winter season! Our thermometer said -1 degree this morning! YUCK!! The chicken waterers were frozen up and the 5 outdoor cats have moved into the house much to the one indoor cats disgust!

Greg has gone back to work today after two weeks of vacation, but he has been working on making some cool gadgets to make my life easier when it comes time to start planting in the greenhouse! He's also started on his seed inventory list and going through the seed catalogs that have been arriving since before Thanksgiving!

I have not been doing much of anything on the other hand! I've been doing a lot of reading! That is my down fall. Once I start reading I don't quit until the book is done, so therefore not much else gets done! I still need to take the tree down, but I find that that gets later and later each year since we have gone to an artificial tree and I don't have to worry about it drying out and all the needles falling off!

We will be going to the Midwest Fruit & Vegetable Growers Conference the end of the week in St. Joesph and look forward to that, plus several other workshops and meetings this month that I will be going to, so it will be a busy January!