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We have tobacco. Ken grew it as a biodynamic soil enhancer. We have some for sale - grown in soil to which Ken has been adding compost and minerals since 1991. And we do not use ANY chemicals - no petrochemicals, no organically approved chemicals. Ken focuses on building healthy soil for healthy plants.
Plants are well over six feet high. We have been told once harvested they need to be hung for 7 - 10 days and then the leaves stripped and shredded. Please contact us soon - first come first served.
Ken has turned and moved the compost; he has begun watering it from the rain barrel. It has already shrunk dramatically.
Yes, Ken makes our compost - we don't buy compost from somewhere else. Yes, it takes time and work, but we know exactly what is in it, and that it has heated up enough so weed seeds don't germinate.
Ken starts compost in the spring for use the following year. He uses a combination of components - leaves, bedding from the chicken coop, horse manure, and this spring he got some llama manure. Ken also adds soil amendments like rock powders, too. Compost is considered "black gold" by most gardeners. It is a great soil amendment.
Those chicks are GROWING. From adorable little fluffy peeping cuties, to gawky tweens- yes, they are growing feathers and longer legs and big feet - still cute?
We raise chickens for eggs. It takes about six months from chick to egg laying hen. Spring hatched pullets start laying in autumn, but then take a break during the dark and cold winter.
August hatched chicks start laying in February - prime egg season. 
Today is our anniversary - seventeen years. We took time out, and yes, we DO leave the farm - once in a while!
Greetings from the Garden! This week's box contains tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, celery, lettuce, cutting lettuce, basil, kohlrabi, broccoli, red onions, radicchio, melons, and parsley.
Field Notes. Wow! The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. This seems to push the heat loving vegetables to ripen the fruit they have as once temperatures drop below 50 the plants don't set new fruit. So, things are slowing down there, but meanwhile the plants that like cool weather flourish. The broccoli and kohlrabi are prime examples - large and really nice.
Ken also shifts gears as he prepares for frost. He is looking at the garden space for planting fall and next spring's crops. Planting continues. He also is assessing how crops did this season and how to improve next season.
Ken also is moving compost piles to make room for the leaves people will rake up and bring us this fall and next spring. Leaves are one portion of our compost - people are happy to bring us their leaves and we are happy to use them as mulch and part of the compost mix.
The cool nights meant Ken had to carve out time to finish the doors on the large hoop house to maintain as much heat as possible as the nights get cooler. Maintaining heat was not much of an issue earlier and there are always more pressing tasks midsummer.
From the Kitchen. This is some really nice kohlrabi and broccoli. In warm weather broccoli will form small heads. These cooler nights not only mean larger heads, the flavor is sweeter. Many people eat broccoli raw. We tend to cook broccoli - and top with butter, cheese sauce, or add to minestrone and other soups. Finally I often freeze a bit for winter quiche. Blanche, chill, drain and freeze. Ken often makes cream soups of mixed vegetables that include broccoli.
Kohlrabi is another member of the brassica family - a real health food! Cut any greens from the swollen stem and store separately. I use them like cabbage or kale. The bulbous stem is wonderful peeled and salted for a quick pickle. We also add to soups and stir fry; the flavor is like a broccoli stem, so the two will combine nicely.
For radicchio ideas, check former blog entry on May 23rd.
This week's photo is of the tobacco Ken planted as part of biodynamic soil improvement. We are wondering if anyone knows of a market for them?
Greetings from the Garden! This week's box has tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, red onions, celery, cutting lettuce, arugula, peppers, melons, grapes, and the last of the corn.
Field Notes. Two nights of lows at 40 degrees gives us a preview of fall! The cooler nights signal that slow down of the heat loving plants - the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers don't set fruit when nights fall below 50 degrees. Beans also love heat. We have a last crop that has flowers and some tiny beans in process. We will enjoy the vegetables that have set and are growing. Maybe we will have some heat and they will have another wave of production. Farming is such an adventure - one never knows what the future may bring.
We have a few grapes this year. Like the apples the Frost on Mothers Day really affected production. And this week we have melons - this year's melons seem to have good flavor, but are less sweet than prior years when we have a hot, dry August and the sugars really set.
Ken continues to juggle the many end of summer start of fall tasks. He is still clearing and planting. We both are checking crops and making decisions about what and how much go into the root cellar.
From the Kitchen. Ken and I saw Eat, Pray, Love and we both enjoyed the food portions of the film. I love the melon and prosciutto combination - have only seen and read about it, but clean sweet melon paired with salty meat sounds delicious. And the blemished tomatoes find their way to sauce for pasta with basil, so that hit home, too.
A couple weeks ago when we had people visit, Ken made a Brussels sprout dish that disappeared quickly. Brussels in cheese sauce with onion and red pepper. Saute onion, add red pepper, add flour to cook. I add dry mustard. Once the flour cooks, add milk and then the grated cheese. Finally add the cooked (but not overcooked!) Brussels sprouts and serve. People revisited this side dish even after it was cold until it was gone.
With the cool weather we have begun to cook tomatoes - I did a tomato rice dish Ken enjoyed. Saute onion and pepper, add cooked rice, tomatoes cut in chunks, and top with basil and cheese -either soft or grated. Cover. Once the cheese melts, serve. I used some cheese a friend made with basil and garlic. Quite good.
