last csa

this is a potluck if you can swing it. six oclock. pickup still starts at four for those that cant. i am sorry that the new chickens havent started laying yet. eggs were not very good this year. im defintely going to get many more chickens for next year. thanks to everyone for participating in csa. hope to see everyone in och och eleven. if you need help in putting a garden in your yard or if you need firewood this winter let me know. I am announcing my candidacy for governor at the zoo bar this monday at seven pm. (free to public). see you tomorrow.

CSA II

the pizza at the top with jason "downtown" downs was inedible. almost have got it figured out now. croquet course looks good come out for a round and a slice saturday. to be sure of a spot in the croquet tourney you need to get there by at least six or six thirty. there is a bathroom this year. speaking of that be sure to roast butternut squash seeds with olive oil and salt on a cookie sheet. the undigestible seedcoats scrape the colon wall during a bm. sidenote: most male prostrate problems are due to lower colon walls plaque not "enlarged prostrate" but then you couldnt sell avodart to shrink the prostrate and then viagra after your sex drive is eliminated. probably a blood thinner in there too. can thin your blood for two dollars worth of apple cider vinegar. looks like herbal remedies have now become illegal in europe - google codex alimentarius if you want to see just how absurd its getting. herbalists are now criminals in europe. makes me want to put in ten acres of hemp.

CSA 3

Hey Guys-Barb here. Ross is doing some "Night Gardening" tonight so I am filling in.
More radishes and beans this week and the appearance of butternut squash.
A spattering of summer crops. We are hoping for an Indian Summer to energize our eggplants and peppers.
Gearing up for Croquet Party on the 9th. Practice up!

csa lV

turnip greens tomorrow. the best. these are young too should be really good steamed. turnip greens are the favorite in the south and they know greens. heard BP has "killed the well" again. i guess maybe it lost pressure after blowing up for months. i dont even know what to say about the corexit. i wander how long they will continue to dump corexit, an industrial waste, just to make sure. what would we talk about if the world wasnt run by psychopaths? pizza oven shown here without doorway. if you want to see the dancefloor that surrounds the oven google-earth it.

csa V

we are counting down the last five csas. this is number five - im going to make some pies. barb is saying the first fifteen people here get eggs. i think i bought a bunch of spent hens in auburn last year. on the bright side lots of hens about to begin laying any day. big rains tomorrow? love it - i can take another day working on the croquet course. barb has begun stoking the tournament with yet another picture of hud - this years baby goats - should have knocked her up a long time ago. oct 9th saturday. pizza and beer party / bring only five bucks for croquet tourney all afternoon and evening.

csa

this is last call for basil - we are picking entire plants to make way for fall crops - the basil is in a good bed for fall sun. peaches are white peaches. let them ripen on the counter like tomatoes. need to pick tomatoes more often as the grasshoppers begin chewing on them as soon as they begin to turn red. tomatoes not as sweet as nighttime temps fall. bean tunnel is finally flowering so should have beans til it freezes. this according to barb (expert bean picker)

csa

a few people have asked me if i know any secrets to making okra edible. i like to slice it thin and fry it as crispy as possible often to the point of unrecognition. pretty good like that. someone said if you soak them in vinegar they lose their sliminess. hopefully it is raining all day tomorrow after raining all night tonight. farm would take a gullywarsher with damaging hail. cool weather now means beans return next week. plug of the week - banksy movie at the ross.

CSA 8/25

Hey Guys. More of the same today with lots of okra. (See Dolly in side bar).
We just planted our fall cauliflower, greens and lettuce so there is more
varied produce on the way. Thanks to all of you that tended the farm while
we were away. We really appreciate it! See you soon.
Barb

csa

i picked the cantaloupes before the rain because you want them to dry out and get sweet. leave them on your counter until you can smell them then wait a day or two and you might get a good one. when you plant cantaloupes - all melons and most squash its just a waiting game until they succumb to some insect. you hope to harvest a few before they collapse. they are a lot like the US economy in that way.
I've always thought it was weird that you never hear anything about gardening or small farming when they talk about joblessness but then i heard that the government has reissued S510 which would make growing or trading food illegal and suddenly that made a lot of sense. honey tomorrow - brad and greg had over twenty stings between them (brad five stitches) so it should be good.

csa

theres this recipe that uses eggplant and peanut butter and garlic and scallions and makes kind of a casserole that is incredible but i cant find it. just a reminder that peanut butter overlooked in sauces over pasta.... that might be all i have tonight. heat index is like 115 tomorrow. my itch index is around 190. okra is great with peanut butter. or just fried. i like cold pasta salads.

csa

dad told me he likes to eat the potatoes raw and i tried it. yes. i think i heard that potatoes are dangerous raw and that probably means its a superfood. endamame boil three minutes and eat with soy sauce. sauerkraut=salty. drain - press salt out and rinse or if you sweat eat it like that. good flavor. hoping this storm coming dips south and hits the farm.

csa

eat the tomatoes after they ripen and before they explode. they can get too ripe and just collapse. if you have too many make a spaghetti sauce. about ten percent of the potatoes were rotten due to too much rain so we washed them even though your not supposed to do that because they last much longer if you just wipe the dirt off them - so just eat them sooner than later. miso tomorrow. miso is great for you. dont cook it - eat raw in salad dressing......or by the spoonful. i found out this week that chickens eat duckweed - algae that floats on ponds and looks like green confetti. ive been feeding it and they devour it. it has forty percent protein. very exciting news. thanks for the tip P!

csa

according to doppler radar the farm just got drenched again this am. greens may be saturated in which case might not cut them. thats okay though because lots of stuff for the grill. summer squash are ripening now. i love them. bigger zucchinis are the best. i used to cut them really small but then some italian guy told me to let them grow bigger and he was right. treat squash eggplants like meat if you grill them. cut the long way. garlic, olive oil salt and pepper. lots of both on the way in the coming weeks. see you tonight.

summer csa

summer csa officially starts tomorrow . tomatoes are just starting to get red and should be going great by next week. beans are improving but all the summer crops look good and should be a good second half of the season. i know you are all now wondering "will there still be chard?" the answer is there will always be chard. eat the greens! - think of eating them as easy and it will be. the collards look good. throw them in anythng. no clue what is going on with the eggs. last week i thought they had a secret nest that i couldnt find but now i think theyre just in a slump. happy bastille day tomorrow! vive le rev!

csa W

the picture of the crow should have been the thing perched on barbs shoulder - about five miles after it came to. we picked it up off the road and it was in shock i think. barb whispered "please get it off" with such urgency i didnt take a picture. more rain coming tonight and tomorrow. might be digging a trench around the kale beds - they are in need of a dry out - who isnt? it is with not a lot of sadness that i am passing along the first CROP FAILURE of the year - italian parsley has dirtnapped. i think we cut it once so not a complete failure - hope you made a pasta salad or something with it. possible beans tomorrow.

csa

costners machines are reportedly working very well and BP has ordered 35 of them. the sioux indians have issued a prayer as well. its a stretch to find some good news about that and many other topics but i do have some good news about your prospects for fourth of july cole slaw. and the summer crops are looking pretty good. if you have extra jars - any jar - that you dont want please drop them off we are going to be jarring up kimchee and miso and some other stuff in the next few weeks. see you tomorrow.

CSA June 23rd

Hey Guys- sending this reminder out a bit early. CSA is TOMORROW!
Should have loads of beets. We are hoping for carrots and cabbage but not sure.
All this rain may have delayed them. Eggs are light this week...we changed their food
which may have been the cause but human error with a bucket of them also attributed to
the decline. Greens and Italian Parsley as well. See you tomorrow!
Barb

csa

i dont understand why all the worlds oil companies dont come to the gulf and just start harvesting all this oil. not that simple? i heard they are talking about setting off a nuke to seal the leak. (what?) its too much - eat some beets and be at least thankful that BP finally cowboyed up and brought in kevin costner. kevins got guts and guts is enough. rick poore walleye fry tomorrow?

csa

lots of different greens and other stuff coming tomorrow. pick up a few extra lemons maybe - if you like lemon juice on steamed greens. barb thinks there are some beets ready which would officially kick off the year of the beet. beets are great with chef boyardee raviloi. rick poore has not yet confirmed if he is frying walleye filets in the driveway tomorrow.

csa wednesday

nice rain! csa gets better tomorrow. they say to "stagger" the plantings of lettuce so there is a continual harvest. this year all of them just sat there and now many even though planted weeks apart are ready to eat so plan on eating a lot of salad this week. maybe eat one everyday and just keep the salad dressing going like a sourdough mix. (or kombucha which barb has been making a lot of and its delicious.) i apologize that the eggs have been low so far. when we started csa this year we were getting four dozen a day and now its around three. i think too many are breaking and the chickens are now being fed oystershells which toughens the shells up but i am going to buy some more adult layers as well. If you see my sister kathleen tomorrow be sure to wish her happy birthday.

CSA 5-26

Today brings some beautiful merlot lettuce and some not so beautiful (but delicious) romaine. We have a groundhog or some other varmit taking bites off of it. Tons of greens as well. This is the last cut of the spinach so I have included it in your bag of greens. It would be best to cook this stuff. Ross promises a more bountiful harvest in the fall. Eggs are light this week...not really sure why. I suppose I can just blame the varmit. For the good news...peas are flowering and chinese cabbage is heading.
Barb

csa

things are growing very slowly this spring. cold nights and cloudy days and most plants just seems to sit there. spinach - which loves cool weather has been especially disappointing. i planted the spinach in lower beds that get a little shade which in a warm spring would prolong it but it has slowed it up this year. some nice romaines tomorrow and i will be making caesar salads tomorrow in memory of the late great Peter Hasselbalch who specialized in the coddled egg caesar. if you thought you missed peter now wait til you try my caesar.

CSA Week 3

New this week....Red Ruby Lettuce. The lettuce heads are still small but very tasty.
Hoping to see some sun so the lettuce can "fully express".
Also, a mixed bag of greens (Kale, chard, beet greens, collards).
Lots of Radishes (see Dolly) and more spinach. Baby Turks are doing well and
we have a mom ready to sit on about 15 more. We will take early-bird
Thanksgiving orders!
Barb

csa

gametime decision on cutting the spinach tomorrow. otherwise the makings for a tasty salad and some eggs. things blow up next week. i hope everyoneis starting a compost pile. everythign that will compost goes in there. put it right on the ground somewhere.paper, cardboard all food scraps including meat scraps, maybe maybe not on kittly litter. dont have a cat so never had to make that call- but a compost pile is a lot of fun and plants LOVE compost. favorite website on agriculture is permaculture australia - geoffrey lawton. i have now read the whole library about permaculture projects worldwide. permaculture disaster relief is incredible where they start grinding all the wood up and growing mushrooms......

CSA 2010

hey everyone. first csa is this afternoon. csa starts slowly and builds momentum. this year is no exception. going to be some lettuce and eggs and a few greens some foraged. i bought a book on edible wild plants and have been trying a lot of them. edible means digestible not necessarily delicious. ill bring in some of my favorites. my favorite is dandelion greens but i assume you guys would know where to get some of those. recommended. raw or steamed. had a baby goat born at the farm yesterday and barb managed to not post the photo of it on the blog. it was brown and white if anyone is curious.

CSA 2010

I know it is hard to believe-but spring will be here before we know it.
Dates for 2010 CSA (community supported agriculture) will be April 21st-October 13th. Pick-up is on Wednesday this year from 4-6pm at our house. (1129 Harrison). CSA starts with a bunch of greens such as spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, collards and arugula. As we move toward summer, expect radishes, peas, carrots, beets, broccoli and cabbage. During the summer your boxes will contain beans, cucumbers, basil, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, okra, zucchini and squash.
As csa ends in early fall, expect more greens, pumpkins and winter squash.
All of our produce is organic. Each week you will also get eggs. The cost is $425 for 26 weeks of glorious produce!! Payment plans are available. Please e-mail me at BBrockley@gmail.com to reserve your spot.
Barb