Farm News Crop Forecast
U-Pick Recipes Nuts and Bolts
Greetings!
It was sorta warm summer, then very cool like fall, then super hot summer for a few days! Fortunately for us it’s been sunny for most of the last 6 weeks, so things could stay healthy and keep growing. It was slow growing for those “fall” / 70 degree weeks, but wowee! this past weekend a lot of things really made a jump.
You can see it in the carrots and beets when you turn the corner from highway 3, or the radishes to the west of the driveway. More peppers sized up, and a few are turning red. We think more cherry tomatoes ripened this weekend than they have in the last 2 weeks combined — fortunately we only had 0.2″ rain last night (Monday night), so there shouldn’t be very many split ones out there. Some things are fine when they drink too much and split open — like cherry tomatoes, for a day or two, til the split gets moldy. But for most things a huge downpour after a hot day of fast growth means the outsides can’t grow as fast as the insides do and so the insides pop out. Our foliar feeding, and careful irrigation timing, can help prevent side splitting, but the best thing is when the rain is gentle and gradual enough for smooth even growth. So 0.2″ is a just fine amount for a storm that had big potential, especially given the winds and rain and maybe other things that swept through other areas. With such a dramatic drop in temperature and humidity, the icy balls and hard rain can start flying, so we feel like we made out good this time.
We did irrigate at the end of last week, mostly to help fall crops size up and take advantage of the heat. We had to uncover and reconnect all the hoses and pipes since it had been awhile! But it ran great and crops definitely repsonded.
For the current harvest, we are starting to swing towards September crops. With the exception of eggplant, holy buckets! It just keeps cranking. But as normal we’re seeing less summer squash and cukes (by next week probably), more peppers, lots of great broccoli and now cauliflower too, the return of lettuce, and spinach! Plus more tomatoes, including heirlooms.
We should have 3 more weeks of melons, which will probably overlap with spaghetti squash. The other winter squash varieties will come in mid-late September and look so far to have done all right through the challenging summer. Red peppers will ramp up over the next couple weeks.
These are our favorite vegetable weeks of the year — the abundance of juicy fruits of late summer and early fall, dovetailing later into the heartier roots and squashes. We hope you made it through the heat ok and hope you’re eating well!
Crop Forecast
Melons!! Last week was the first week of melons, and we counted in the field and it looks like we’ll make it to 4 weeks, with one per full share per week. This week we have cantaloupes, and yellow, orange and red watermelons. The yellows are super sweet and flavorful. The oranges are less sweet but very good flavor. Both taste different than red or pink watermelon, and we like them much more than red! Next week will probably be a mix of watermelons with a few cantaloupes left to choose from, in two weeks it will be mostly the big pink watermelons (which are an excellent heirloom variety called Crimson Sweet). Overall it’s a condensed ripening season this year for melons, but it’s amazing to us they’ve produced what they have given the rainy and cloudy first half of their lives. Split shares — alternate weeks for who gets the melon.
Spinach!!! It loved the cool weeks and seems to be making it through the heat wave just fine. It helps that it was such a short heat wave. We should have it all fall. Spinach is tough for us — we tend to find one seed variety that work well for us and it’s available for 5 years, then the industry drops it and we’re on to looking for a new one. So many of the available varieties don’t do well for us, even with extra TLC…. including the one we trialed this year. But even if that new one isn’t good, we had enough old seed of our good variety that we should have plenty this fall. Fingers crossed that we can find a new good variety for next year!
Lettuce — Finally back, probably without limits this week. Plenty coming for the fall!
Tomatoes — are coming in well and looking better than the earlier harvests. We had to cull out more than usual, and hopefully none snuck through and rotted on your counter. Should be higher numbers for a couple more weeks, then a little less throughout September.
Onions— We’re out of sweet onions, and will have some small leeks this week and the beginning of the storage onions. The storage onions are cured and can be stored on your counter, basket, closet etc — room temp with some airflow is best.
HOT Peppers — Hots do not like a cool season :(( The plants really are tropical heat and sun lovers, and currently look about half their normal size and fruit load. We’ll have 1 per week but maybe not as long as usual.
Also for the next couple weeks — Garlic!!!!! ,Green Peppers and increasing amounts of reds and oranges, Cauliflower, beets, carrots, eggplants, peppers, leeks then onions, broccoli, cabbage, fennel, plus kale and chard. Less summer squash and Cukes, probably next week.
What’s for U-Pick?
Cherry tomatoes really ripened over the weekend. Hopefully they make it through the rain without splitting — if they are split they are still good for 1-3 days , until you can see mold in the split. Refrigerating will hold off the mold a little. Please check the board for picking limits. Please pick them ripe (orange not yellow, for the orange ones) and don’t pick more than the limit—we want to make sure there is enough for Thursday folks!
Beans — We watered them all at the end of the week and/or on the weekend, to help them make more flowers and beans to keep up with your appetites. Please check the board for limits.
Basil — looks great to the east of the flowers (solar panel side). What a treat to have outgrown and run away from the disease that started during the monsoon. Note that we have basil in another field west of the driveway but that’s for wholesale customers (during school that’s mostly St Olaf and Carleton), so please only pick where there is a big upick flag and white signs (ie near the flowers and the old herb section).
Flowers There are still plenty of beautiful flowers out there even though some are sick.
Cilantro and Dill are still chugging along, also east of the flowers.
This spot in the newsletter will keep you informed, but always check the U-pick board when you’re here to see what’s available and picking amounts.
Nuts and Bolts
From LuAnn in the Medicinal Herbs Garden:
I have a couple organized activities happening at the Medicinal Herbs Garden in September!
Make It and Take It Fire Cider Activity
It’s the season to make fire cider at Open Hands Farm by the medicinal herbs garden! Craft your own quart(s) of fire cider using provided veggies from the farm along with fresh, vibrant herbs from the medicinal herbs garden, specific to your tastes and needs. All you bring along is a cutting board and a sharp knife for slicing onions, peppers, and other veggies. Your handcrafted fire cider will be ready to support your health through the coming months (as well as spicing up your salads in place of plain vinegar). To learn more about fire cider, check out this page of my website.
There will be two identical sessions offered during CSA share pick-up times:
Thursday, September 5: Come anytime between 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 10: Come anytime between 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
The cost is $30 per quart, payable at the activity.
Please be sure to sign up here so that I can have enough ingredients prepped.
Winter Health Remedy Making
Learn tips for staying healthy through the upcoming holiday season and winter while making a pint of Fire Cider, a pint of Onion Garlic Honey Syrup (my go-to for coughs), and a bonus herbal remedy (to be determined by which herb(s) are most vibrant at the time of class). Please bring a cutting board, knife, and scissors for preparing remedies.
Sunday, September 15, 2:30-5:00 p.m. at the Medicinal Herbs Garden
The cost is $40, payable at the class. (Minimum of 5 people necessary.)
Please sign up here for the Winter Health Remedies class
Bulk Produce for You
Check here each newsletter for what we have available for extra purchase.
To place a bulk order, simply email us at least 2 days ahead of the day you’d like to pick it up. Orders can be picked up at the farm during our regular pickup hours, but it doesn’t have to be your share pickup day. Usually we can make an order on the spot, too.
This week’s selection is : Cabbage for $2/head, Chard for $3/ lb, Beets $1.25/lb, carrots $1.25/lb, Cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini for $1.50 /lb. Broccoli and Asian Eggplant $1.75/ lb. Green Bell Peppers $2/lb. Spinach and Lettuce soon but not yet.
Share Pickup Hours TUESDAY and THURSDAY 1:30-6:30 pm.
Change Pick-Up Day Form — Click here. Please fill out this form instead of emailing us. Thanks!
Where is the farm? 4151 320th Street West, Northfield.
Please Drive Carefully —Children are everywhere.
If You Send Someone Else to Pick Up Your Share — Please forward them the basic pickup video in this link , which was also sent in an email earlier in June. Also tell them to introduce themselves to us in the barn, just so we know and can show them around.
We love having all of you come to the farm! Thank you for making it such a great place to be!
Your farmers,
Erin and Ben, with Allia, Alexandra, Elliott, River, Seneca, Sai Dang and Crew
Recipes
Broccoli Pasta Salad
1 package (16 oz) spiral pasta
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp fresh chives
2 cups broccoli, florets and peeled stems
1 cup chopped sweet peppers
1 cup chopped red tomato
1 cup cubed cheese (Monterey Jack or your choice)
2-3 cups mixed salad greens
Cook pasta, drain and cool.
In a large bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Add pasta, stir to coat, and refrigerate 1 hour or more to marinate.
When ready to serve, stir in herbs, vegetables, and cheese.
Serve on a bed of salad greens.
Easy Summer Pasta
1 ¾ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 medium zucchinis
1 eggplant, cut into ¾-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs (such as Herbes de Provence)
1 pinch salt, plus more to taste
2 ¾ ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into medium strips
1 ½ cups penne pasta (or 3 cups cooked penne)
3 tablespoons crème fraiche or ricotta cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Reserve about ½ cup of the tomatoes for garnishing.
On a rimmed baking sheet, arrange the remaining tomatoes.
Cut the zucchinis in half lengthwise, then cut into half-moons about ¾-inch thick.
Add to the baking sheet with the tomatoes, along with the eggplant, oil, herbs, and a big pinch of salt.
Toss to combine and roast, tossing halfway through, for about 1 hour, until the vegetables are nicely caramelized.
After 45 minutes, scatter the mozzarella over the top of the vegetables and return to the oven for the final 15 minutes so the cheese melts.
Meanwhile, cook pasta to al dente (this will generally be the shorter cooking time on the package directions).
Drain, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water, and return the pasta to the saucepan.
To the saucepan with the pasta, add the vegetables and cheese along with the crème fraiche and a splash of reserved pasta water.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine.
Scatter the reserved tomatoes over the pasta.
Open Hands Farm 