Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Thursday's Market, and a New Craft at the Land School!

Our Last August Harvest
The onions are being harvested and laid out in the
greenhouse to cure. They are a crop that we can
store and use all throughout the winter. 

Beets
Carrots
Cucumbers
Cut Flowers
Eggplant
Garlic
Green Beans (Purple Beans, actually)
Herbs: Basil, Dill, Cilantro, Parsley,
           Mint, Rosemary
Kale
Lettuce Mix
Melons?
Napa Cabbage
Onions
Green Onions
Pak Choi
Hot Peppers
Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Sweet Corn?
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Zucchini and Summer Squash

Broom Corn!

This past February, Donna took a class on broom-making at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Seeing this as an exciting new opportunity for nature-based craft at the Land School, we now have "broom corn" growing in the garden! You'll have to wait for photos of the finished brooms, but here are some captioned photos to pique your interest.

This photo shows the corn at it's full height - often 12 feet or more. The seeds are on the
top where corn usually only tassels. It's the seed stalks that become the bristles for broom making.
Erin, our Land School facilities intern, is cutting the stalk part way through
so that it can be bent down. This is important to promote straight bristles.
The beautiful yellow future bristles are visible here - now vertical, they
can become part of an excellent broom after drying and being harvested.


Saturday, August 23, 2014

Garden Photos

The plums are ripening; New mulch is going
in under the Land School's fruit trees

Lettuce beds beginning to grow!

Purple beans for next week's market

Our beloved Pippa

Arugula? Spinach? Dill? Are you coming?



Relief comes to the previously choked out basil

Raspberry season!

Gourds in the little hoophouse

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Harvest of the Week

Beautiful Beets
Carrots 
Cucumbers 
Cut Flowers
Eggplant
Garlic
Green Beans
Herbs: Basil, Dill, Cilantro, Parsley, 
            Peppermint, Rosemary
Kale
Lettuce Mix
Onions
Green Onions
Hot Peppers
Potatoes
Sweet Corn? (let's hope!)
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes
Zucchini and Summer Squash

Upcoming Harvests

With a wet, slow start to the season, and with an intention to shift the garden's major time of production to fall during the school year, there are many things growing in the garden which we have yet to harvest and bring into market. We are hoping to have sweet corn for tomorrow. Edamame, melons, our usual abundance of tomatoes, bell peppers, and all of the broccoli family crops (cabbage, cauliflower etc.) should be coming soon!

Edamame, dill, beets, and cilantro
Summer's Fresh Herbs

As usual, we will have a luscious array of herbs at the market tomorrow: dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary and peppermint. Fresh herbs are one of my favorite gifts from summer's gardens. They encapsulate the season for me with their bright green intensity and their lively, energizing flavors. What can we do with these small yet exciting plants? I love to eat them in salad, chopping them up to add to lettuce mix. Rosemary is the perfect addition to roasted potatoes; parsley goes wonderfully with boiled potatoes. Here is another idea:

Chimichurri 

Chimichurri is a sauce whose origins lie in Argentina. It was introduced to me by my dear Puerto Rican sister-in-law; Puerto Rican cuisine has also adopted this lovely green sauce, and now it finds its way to our kitchens of the Midwest. Try it on top of rice, meat, on a sandwich, or as your favorite new chip dip. 

1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or 1/2 Land School jalapeƱo pepper
1 tablespoon minced onion or shallot
3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor or blender. While processing/blending, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Adjust seasonings to taste. 

The kittens have been named! They are Castor and Pollux,
named after the Gemini stars. This is Pollux, in his full cuteness. 

Eight rows of beautifully weeded carrots that
will feed us through the Fall and Winter!




Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Harvest for August 14

Bounty of the Week

Carrots
Beets
Green Beans
Kale
Chard
Lettuce Mix
Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Rosemary, Mint, Cilantro
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Tomatoes?
Hot Peppers
Onions
Green Onions
Garlic
Cut Flowers
Potatoes

Pesto!

I made 10 cups of pesto this week with the leftover basil from last week's market. It is now packed into jars and nestled in the freezer, where it awaits us with the promise of another winter full of delicious meals from the farm. We will bring bulk "pesto bags" of basil into the market again tomorrow. The basil is looking beautiful right now, so if you are a pesto lover, this is the perfect time to stock up for the winter. 

2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
1 cup nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, or other nut of your choosing)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you like using parmesan cheese in your pesto, omit the salt. If you are freezing the pesto, don't add the cheese before freezing; add it when you thaw it, just before using.)
1 or 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil

Put the basil, nuts, garlic, salt, and lemon/lime juice in a food processor. Process until smooth. While running, slowly pour the olive oil into the food processor. 

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour (white, whole wheat, or gluten free)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1 1/2 heaping cups crushed pineapple, strained
2 1/2 heaping cups grated carrots (from the Land School!)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Rosemary Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 cups cream cheese
1/2 cups powdered sugar
juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla
1teaspoon chopped fresh Land School rosemary! 

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar. Slowly beat in the oil/butter, vanilla and pineapple. Stir in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula, mixing just until incorporated. Add the carrots, walnuts, and raisins. Pour into lined muffins tins or greased round or square cake pans and bake for 25-35, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. To make the frosting, beat together ingredients until combined. Frost cake when it is done baking and is completely cooled. (Recipe adapted from happyolks blog)

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Harvest for August 7th

Here is the dirt!

Potential Harvest:

Carrots!!!
More Green Beans
Red Potatoes
Cucumbers!!!!
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Beets
Kale and Chard and maybe other Greens
Green Onions
Sweet Spanish Onions
Garlic
Garlic Scapes (Last Chance)
Cut Flowers
Lettuce Mix
Herbs: (Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, Other herbs)
Maybe Tomatoes

My Last Harvest
Break out your hankies. I leave for sunny California on Sunday morning. Come to the market to wish me farewell. I am super excited to have new adventures and simultaneously quite sad to leave the Land School. This week we welcomed Laura Kosowski in her new role as farm manager. Yay! When I get settled, I'll let Laura know how folks can stay up to date with my progress as I enter my steep learning curve on the California coast.

Silly Guineas 
Last week we had finally got all the chickens in the new coop and only had to catch the guinea fowl. Katie and I caught them using a fishing net and trapping them in the red barn. One by one, over the course of three days. Then we moved them into the new coop for 4 nights. That should have been enough to reset their instinctual need to roost in the same place every night. Then today we let them all out for the first time in a week for the chickens (4 days for the silly guineas). Tonight all the chickens dutifully went into the new coop. The guineas, on the other hand, decided to roost in the tree. Now they are making an awful ruckus, as I write this. We hope that no owls attack tonight and that tomorrow they have the good sense to join the chickens in the new coop.

Kitten News
The kittens who showed up last week have successfully endeared themselves to Katie and Laura (and many others). Their vet visit went well. Worms but no major health issues. They are both boys. Names are still an issue. Maybe twin names. Fred and George (twin redheads). Castor and Pollux (geminis). Sol y Luna. Or other names that Katie and Laura decide.