last csa

hey csaers!
tomorrow is pick your own pumpkins - out of our garage. they might be in the lawn depending on if barb gets home. grab one! we are in preproduction scramble for the stickey wicket 2014 which blasts off this saturday at 2. whole pig comes out of the smoker at 5 or 6. it is a potluck party - bring the family out and see the farm!  hwy 77 to saltillo, right to sw70th, you will see the sign, parking in off saltillo at what would be sw 69th st if there was one.  thanks to everyone for all the fun this year. 

csa last (officially)

next week is the last one. Hoping our pumpkins can beat cold weather and cucumber beetles to the finish line. Sweet potatoes and melons tomorrow. Comedy show on Sunday at Zoo and Ross goes on last at 915. Party the 18th. Whole pig and croquet fun. Augo is guaranteeing another win.....seriously?
Start practicing. See you tomorrow. B.

CSA 10.2

Hey Kids-
Barb here....Ross is canoeing around the farm

Lots of good stuff tomorrow but we may need the scuba gear to harvest. We will try to rescue the sweet potatoes but if we cannot, you will get a ton next week. Delicata and butternut squash are beautiful. These are winter squash and store well if you don't get to them right away. You will also be getting summer squash, turnips, peppers, tomatoes and hopefully radishes and collard greens.

This CSA goes until we are out of produce so we may be going into extra innings. We have to make sure you get your melons and pumpkins. We will let you know next week if you get a few more weeks of us.

Ross has a comedy show at Zoo Bar Sunday Oct 12 as a part of Lincoln Calling It would be great to see you there. Show starts  early (8?) for all of us that work on Monday....do people still actually get Columbus Day off?
 Also- party at farm on the 18th. Bring the family out...Lloyd has been asking about all of you. Starts at 2pm. Croquet tourney for those inclined.

See you tomorrow!
B.

csathurs

barb told me she is pretty sure she picked a small green pumpkin last week thinking it was a summer squash. anxious to hear how that was if you got it and ate it.  going to start digging sweet potatoes if not too muddy as it looks like a storm rolled thru there this am. winter squash coming in. these keep. dont forget to roast the seeds. as some of you know the croquet party has been moved to the 18th of october. too many going to willie and neil in neely. if anyone has acorns and wants to fatten up pigs bring them to csa and i will pass them on in csas acorns for pork exchange. had to buy some GMO corn for them as other grains were out at the co op. pigs ate it for a few days and then just stared at it. chickens didnt even sniff it. you should see animals eat hemp.

CSA 9.18

Hey kids- Barb here. Very fun CSA tomorrow: Honey, Miso, Turnip Greens and Mushrooms are new! Some recipes on your right.
One month left of this journey...oh how time flies. We will finish out the weeks with winter squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and more. If you are on an installment plan, please pay in the next couple of weeks. Don't forget about the croquet tournament on the 27th. It will be a blast. And, as always, I need bags. Toodles!

csa

new chickens laying - found some eggs this am. we ordered a bunch of chicks and are incubating eggs. eggs have been lame. now i have to butcher these spent hens. "great in chicken soup" for anyone that wants a piece of that. also discovered this am the maple logs are blowing up in pearl oyster mushrooms. wish i had a picture. year of the mushroom still in play. tomorrow lots of same but will be lots of new stuff starting next week.  9 - 11 turns 13 tomorrow! a teenager!

csa

those large brussel sprout looking things tomorrow are mini cabbages that form after you cut the original cabbage. sometimes four or five of them. cheese with herbs, tomatoes and possibly meat and other items are excellent stuffed in zucchini after you scrape out the pith then baked.  judys pumpkin update - diseased. cuke update - lots of little ones but not holding my breath. egg update - the younger generation hasnt laid an egg yet and they are eight months old. supposed to lay at six mo. not sure whats up. have theories but they make me sound insane so i will give those on a request only basis.    

csa

barb needs bags (desperate).  i tried the beans on a cookie sheet thing. oil and salt them til crisp. pretty good. you may want to try phantoms technique and just throw the whole csa bag in a pot and cook it. eat all week. saw some cukes coming on today - and eggplants! sorry about those.  i heard from one farmer that his peppers have grown only a few inches this summer.  they are not much bigger than when he put them in in the spring. he thinks its the solar minimum. ill go with that - lets blame all the worlds ills on the solar minimum.  the magnetic pole flips probably arent helping either. 

csa rick poores b day potluck

gonna be a hot one out there tomorrow for ricks 60th. we will put food inside and well make a few swamp coolers. i am grilling chili dogs.   see you there! 

csa

to answer your question, yes i think jude can win the state fair pumpkin and i also think she will. this thing is blowing up. drive down sewell sometime and check it out.  next thursday the 21st is a potluck birthday party for rick poore. we will set up a grill or two.  a few new items tomorrow. squash is hitting now finally. good beans. eggplants were planted too low and got too wet early -  the ones in a hugelkultur look great but there are only three of them.  barb is off to the races in chicago so i will be running csa - your patience is appreciated.

csa th

woofers. worldwide organic farm opportunities.....something like that. definitely a bright spot in a world going batshit.  the 4 pictured above spent the week at the farm. had a blast with them. james - is still woofin it, made a zipline into the pond- kids are going to lose it - if you have any or know any bring them out. lots of tomatoes,  make sauce. 

CSA 7.31

Hello CSA'ers. Barb here. Tomorrow lots of tomatoes and more potatoes. This Irish girl may have gotten a bit famine-panicked when planting in the spring. Peppers and eggplants are taking their time but they look good, as do the squash and cucumbers which should be along in a few weeks.
A few green beans for everyone tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you.
Please bring your bags. I am completely out of the burgundy ones....not to single any group out.
Let me know if you want a kitty in your share this week.

csa thur

three weeks late is better than never as tomatoes starting to ripen. leave on counter til fully ripe. key to crispy fried potatoes is to slice and then salt them for 30 minutes - pour off water and then wring in towel. potatoes tomorrow and then we might take a break. might not. hearing of harlequin bug outbreaks around here. i have seen a few - the younger chickens who will soon be laying eggs get pretty much free range of the gardens - maybe they are eating most of them.  or maybe its the massive spike in snakes since i started building hugelkulturs - snake hotels.  hugelkultur veggies also have a lot more minerals from the wood.  its starting to take off among gardeners everywhere. it is the only way to go if you are thinking of putting in a garden. the lincoln journal can ignore this for only so long. i think it would be fun to make a hugelkultur out of lincoln journals. im sure they would "bury" that story as well.

csa

plantings for cucumbers and squash were delayed again this year. for those new to our csa i am trying to stop certain bug cycles which i think has worked. all the cucurbits are up and running but still a few weeks off for fruit. tomatoes are best ever but no red ones yet. heard summer returns next week and tomatoes and beans will follow. so where does that leave us for tomorrow? tons of potatoes and kind of a garden clearinghouse. and augo. augo all august!

csa

something you may not have known about barb and i is we eat fried potatoes every night.  a great dinner is when they are crisp. talking to lou right now and he doesnt think this front heading our way is going to rain, i think its going to rain all night. tomorrow is a weird csa.  its kind of a world cup event with foods from all over the world. its a weird mix. see you then. 

csa 4th of july

you guys are a pack of hotdogs away from a picnic. i see potato salad and cole slaw out the ying yang.  ill be eating fried elderberry blossoms as well. would have brought you some but they are too delicate. might be my new favorite food. maybe i can carefully bring some in tomorrow and make em up. dont know - it is replant time - melons pumpkins squash and cukes in worlds longest HK. happy fourth to everyone. bring bags back barb begs.  

csa

tomorrow is cant miss. the first dozen or so get some pretty sweet looking broccolli. more on the way.  as pictured above purslane has gone commercial in lincoln.  i predict the next weed craze will be wood sorrel. mabel has moved in with the pigs. she is starting to act like a pig - grunting instead of whining. its good. we made kimchee - the one you get tomorrow is unfermented - eat fresh like subway. its my friend gregs recipe and this isnt as  good as his. korean variety fermenting. if you cook these peas they lose some crunch. crunch is at a premium these days.

csa thirz

peas coming despite being finally blown over by big wind. they hung on for five or six storms.  they are sugar snap peas. eat all - so do not shell them. we have french woofers this week, manon and matthias. matthias has shot video of hugelkultur and is going to unleash it on france when he returns. buckley from vega is talking musicfest at the farm labor day. its called "lettuce turnip the beet" - details to follow. universe contest for sure. eggs improved today after i beheaded an eggeater yesterday. thought about digging baby potatoes but i think its kind of a waste so i didnt.

csa

eggs slightly off because we have one - probably two, eggeaters. unless you are checking often its hard to catch the eggeaters.  ill get em because after a week of eating just eggs chickens start to look like shit. and crazy. we pulled all the lettuce that we planted that is now in the shade under trees.  looks kind of weird but tastes good.  the baby llama looks like ray charles.  Hannah said she didnt have time to make salads last week so she just cooked the whole bag down at ate it. lettuce.....everything. is hannah nuts? see you tomorrow if i get out of the weeds.

C S A

csa tomorrow stands for caesar salad...........something with A......might grill it. in other exciting news augo is back and ready for augokultur. some beautiful red and green looseleaf lettuce in the mix. cannot complain about the rains this year. i heard when it rained on easter that means rain the next five sundays - i think its been four out of five- not bad for an old wives tale. that reminds me, barb says bring bags back.

csa

the picture above is one of barbs lettuce-hugelkultur beds.these are some of possibly too many that are coming your way tomorrow. excellent candidates for a caesar salad.  i tried to get the journal to write a story about hugelkultur.  no bites yet.  im obsessed - every time i see a a pile of branches anywhere i think what a great garden it would make.  a few of my neighbors have built them and its only a matter of time before you see mounds everywhere. the gardens are looking good - gardening itches more than it has in the past.

csa

gonna be some greens tomorrow - lettuce baby kale and spinach. not sure what form it will take. might be in just a big bag and just drop it in a bowl and eat it. herbs again. if you didnt use them last week a good way to go now is just chop them all up and make a bunch of salad dressing to keep in a jar. shake it up - we are entering lettuce season. nettles available on request for the rest of the season. bobcat starter went out which means there is a break in the worlds longest hugelkultur. barb is saying to not forget to return bags. the red bags are going to be great for cornhusker season.

csa thurz

read an article about how chemicals in food are making us angry. that might explain the rage i had leaving perkins the other morning.  the pigs are very funny. come out and see them anytime. big spinach tomorrow and nice radishes.  dill and cilantro. impossible to overdue either in a salad dressing. cilantro is on almost everylist of superfoods. it chelates your blood whatever that means.

CSA # 1

It's the first csa and crops are slow and that can mean only one thing - something with native weeds. yes! nettle pesto again. For those that ate it last year it was a big hit. see article on the right for nettle effects. incredible.

Stir it into some hot pasta and maybe add some parm. delish.

I have been eating weeds now for about a month. dandelions. wood sorrel. lambs quarters.......I am considering a future csa that is just weeds. In the here and now, though, things are looking good at the farm, should be in spinach and lettuce in no time. looking forward to seeing everyone. -Ross

Hi Guys...Barb here. There won't be much tomorrow but the nettle pesto is definitely worth the trip. It is made with walnuts so if there are any nut allergies out there...my apologies. I have purchased 2 canvas bags for each of you instead of doing boxes this year. Just return empty one each week. This procedure will start next week when said canvas bags arrive.

Please save egg cartons for us. See you tomorrow!

Happy Spring Everyone! We look forward to the 2014 CSA. We plan on starting April 24th....but depending on weather it may be the first Thursday in May.  Pick up will again be at our house (1129 Harrison Ave.) every Thursday from 4-6pm. Same price as last year. $450. A few small shares will be available for $300, We just need to know if you will be participating again this year so let us know at BBrockley@gmail.com.

New this year: 

2 pick ups will be at our farm so you guys can come out, visit the animals, and see where all the food is grown.  Dates TBA.

We are trying the mushroom project again. Shitakes and oyster mushrooms We plan a big party to inoculate them in logs and straw....Details soon. But even if you can't revel in the spawning , you will hopefully be reaping the rewards during the season.

If you have any friends that you think might enjoy this, please let them know. We are hoping to take on a few more clients this year, Looking forward to seeing you guys soon. If you have saved any egg cartons over the winter, let us know and we would be happy to pick them up.

-Cheers! Barb and Ross