Happy First Day of Fall

The colors of Fall! (Photo by Cliff Cottage Collective)

Hello!

And happy first day of Fall!  Although it has been feeling more and more like a second round of summer this week with highs hitting close to 90 degrees!  This again poses a challenge for irrigation in Colorado farming as we bank on our plants needing less and less water as the temperatures get cooler.  We are just crossing our fingers for some precipitation (not Sunday though!) or for some reprieve from the endless summer (sorry Brian Williams). Counting today, we have 5 more weeks of CSA left in the market season and its hard to know when the first frost will be, so be sure to enjoy the summer stuff while it is still here.  There are still a few spots left for the winter, so don't delay if you have been thinking about joining the fun.  We love it!  

This week we bring back some cool weather favorites including baby bok choy and broccoli rabe.  Both are great in a quick weeknight stir fry, but also shine as simple sides by themselves.  If you are milking the grilling season, bok choy is delicious grilled and dressed whole with your favorite marinade.  Skillet rabe is great on a burger, pizza, or pasta.  I love it sauted with some onion and garlic and tossed with some roasted beets and goat cheese.  It makes a great accompaniment to roasted acorn squash stuffed with pork sausage, onions, and apples.  The skin of the delecata squash is edible which makes it the easiest squash to prepare.  Just slice down the middle, scoop out the insides and cut into little half moons.  Roast with plenty of salt and olive oil at 400 for 25 minutes.  Throw in some hakurei turnips to mix it up and it is melt in your mouth delicious. 

We have roasted chilis for anyone who would like them.  We are selling them by the case, there are 6 full bags in a case.  One case is $30.  They are amazing and you will be thrilled to have them this winter. Please email me and let me know which day you would like to pick them up (Wed or Sat).  First come first serve!

Warmly,
Katie

This Week's Harvest
Kale
Chard
Head Lettuce
Salad Turnips
Radishes
Beets
Napa Cabbage
Green Cabbage
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Beans
Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Onions
Baby Bok choy
Broccoli Rabe
Arugula
Spinach
Winter Squash
 

First Frost and a Canning Party!

Farm fresh peppers (Photo by Cliff Cottage Collective)

Hi Folks!
For those of you who have been with us for previous years, you know that our farm is close to the river which has its pros and cons.  The main pro is that the soil is much sandier than some of the other places that we have farmed in Colorado while a con is that it is often much colder than the rest of Fort Collins.  We can regularly be 7 degrees chillier than the rest of you folks on the hill and that causes us to get early frosts.  This time of year I continuously check the lows to be sure that we won't be close to the 32 degree mark, but the weather folks were off last Friday evening...by A LOT!  We got our first sneaker frost which put the nail in the coffin for the already declining cucumbers and summer squash vines.  Luckily it was light enough to just kiss some of the other frost sensitive stuff and we will have continued abundance of beans, roma tomatoes, and peppers for the foreseeable weather future (which is not saying much I suppose).  Wildlife update of the week: After the frost we were harvesting some beautiful French roasting pumpkins and found an early Halloween surprise.  Several of them had huge pregnant black widows hanging out on top of them!  This was the first time I had ever encountered these creepy spiders on the farm and I hope it is the last!  Luckily we no one was bit!

All smiles at the Larimer County Farmer's Market. (Photo by Cliff Cottage Collective)

Frosts are bad for summer crops but great for the fall stuff.  It makes all the leaves and roots sweeter and more delicious than they  might otherwise be without the cool weather.  This week we find fresh cabbage at the market, both green and napa.  Napa is great fresh in an asian salad but is really the work horse of a good kim chi.  Try fermenting it with some different veg like hakurei turnips, radishes, and carrots.  The fresh market cabbage is delicious but not as dense as storage cabbage.  I love it braised, but it is extremely good stewed, krauted (is that a word?), or put into a soup.  This week I think we are going to stew some with tomatoes, fennel, chick peas and warming indian spices and serve it over some basmati rice.  Broccoli is just starting to trickle back for the fall.  Will have just a teaser this week but will have more next.  We are diligently roasting chilies for the freezer and will start selling cases next week for $30.  Be sure to save some room in your freezer for these guys.  We will also start to have winter squash at the stand this week.  Some varieties need to cure for a couple of weeks before they become sweet while others can be eaten fresh off the vine.  We will be bringing the varieties that do not need curing first such as delecata, acorn and spaghetti and then follow up with different types as they become ready to eat. 

Finally, if you have been wanting to can for sometime but are intimidated by the process, we are partnering with the cooking studio for their canning party this Saturday, September 17th.  Here is the schtick: 

The Cooking Studio is have a Tomato Canning Party on September 17 and Native Hill CSA members get an extra $10 off each all-inclusive ticket.  All the tomatoes and as much produce as possible for salsa will come from our farm.  Visit http://www.the-cooking-studio.com/class-calendar/ for all the details and to sign up.  Use discount code NATIVECSA10 to receive the $10 off.

See you all real soon!
Katie

This Week's Harvest
Kale
Chard
Spicy Mix
Head Lettuce
Arugula (Saturday only)
Spinach
Radish
Salad Turnips
Carrots
Beets
Fennel
Green and Napa Cabbage
Potatoes
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Peppers
Garlic
Winter Squash
 

Heading Towards the Fall Transition

Triticale goes to seed on our new 50 acre plot. (Photo by Cliff Cottage Collective)

Greetings!

Leaves are turning, breezes are cooling, and the farm is heading towards its fall transition this week.  Food abounds as we find ourselves in the first full week of September and it is difficult to choose what to eat!  The geese on the other hand seem to know exactly what to eat as the wildlife saga of 2016 continues.  We have been waiting all summer to let the triticale seed on our 50 acre plot go to seed so that we could mow it in hopes of re-establishment. Turns out the geese have been waiting all summer as well and it has been a real cocktail party out there ever since we cut it.  Every evening I hear them flying in for dinner and word travels fast...they are multiplying quickly!  If they weren't eating all the seed I would almost think it was funny listening to their conversations as they fly-in.  I swear one couple in particular was a bit lost, honking back and forth at each other about needing to stop for directions. 

I, like the geese, am also fattening up for winter.  Fall is a time for rich full flavors and good smells permeating from the kitchen.  Tomato and fennel pie baked with a hearty rye crust in a well seasoned cast iron skillet.  Serve with a fresh arugula salad or braised fall greens it will make you want to pull out the wool and put away the whites.  Maybe cook down some tomatoes and peppers into a nice thick paste.  Add some black beans and spinach and serve over piping hot polenta.  Pickle some hot peppers and add them to your grilled tomato and eggplant panini... or your homemade pizza.  Oven fries and  a side of kale or dragon lingerie beans complete a farmer's happy meal....try serving your burger Aussie style with a grilled beet, cut thin and grill over med-high for 30 min.  Or better yet, make veg burgers with shredded kale, carrots, and beets.  Its always latke season here on our farm, but now is the time for homemade apple sauce and maple syrup. Traditionally made with potatoes, but can be done with almost any shredded vegetable.  Get creative, its the best time of year.

I have had a couple of folks looking for the link to the farm dinner on September 25th, so I am sending it out again.  I was just discussing the menu with the chef and it looks to be stupendous, especially dessert, so don't miss out!  Purchase tickets here.  We hope to see some of you there!

See you all soon,
Katie

This Week's Harvest
Kale
Chard
Spinach
Arugula
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Potatoes
Basil
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Peppers
Fennel
Beans
Onions
Radishes
Japanese Salad Turnips
 

Totally Tomatoes

Hello Y'all,
I hope this cloudy morning is treating you all well and invoking feelings of the autumn season that we all know is just around the corner.  Just as we were seemingly settled into the summer schedule, the school buses have began to show up again and we have to readjust to a new routine.   Late summer early fall is my favorite season on the farm.  It reminds me of an ant hill or a bee hive, everyone just buzzing along happily bringing in the harvest.  It happens to be the best time to eat too.  It is a magical month when the stars (or the weather), align and we are blessed with almost every type of food that can be grown in our high desert climate.  Although we are still just finishing up most of our summer planting, it won't be long now before all we do is harvest, harvest, harvest.  Hoping you will all still find time to come down to the market stand as the eating doesn't get much better than the next 6 weeks.

We are totally tomatoes this week.  Cherry, heirloom and romas are all in full swing.  Simmer down some heirloom 2nds and freeze some tomato jam for the winter.  Roast cherry tomatoes with basil and herbs and squirrel them away in your freezer.  Peel romas and can them for your fall pantry.  Salsa season is here, don't delay.  We have onions, garlic and hot peppers for your fiesta needs.  Sad to report there will be no head lettuce this week.  The deer are out smarting us and finding new ways to get to the lettuce every day. We are a bit desperate for a bow hunter, so if anyone can get their hands on a left over tag or wants to use their local tag to help their local farmers, the venison should be good...wild crafted on a diet of organic lettuce, peaches, apples, and tomatoes.  Italy, eat your heart out. Potatoes are back at the market.  We have officially ran out of space on our farm for main season potatoes so we have partnered with another local farm this year that specializes in the crop.  Although we are sad to have less potatoes in our field this year, it feels good to be able to support other local farms that happen to grow better spuds than us anyway.  Don't worry, they are still a family farm and the potatoes are certified organic.  Learn more about Strohauer Farms here.  

Apologies for those of you who tried to sign up for the dinner on the 25th and found yourselves flummuxed by the required vegan or vegetarian options.  The problem is solved now and we are excited for the up coming event.  Be sure to get your tickets early as our PVCF events tend to sell out!

See you you all real soon!
Katie

This Week's Harvest
Kale
Chard
Carrots
Beets
Beans
cherry tomatoes
roma tomatoes
Heirloom tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Hot Peppers
Yellow Onion
Eggplant, Asian and Italian
Potatoes
Basil
Lemon Cucumber
Slicing Cucumber
Summer Squash/Zucchini
Pickling Cucumber
 

It's time to put food away!

Good Morning Folks,
And what a beautiful morning it is here in our high desert home. Evenings are getting cooler, trees are starting to flag and the smells of late summer are everywhere. Walking around the market the smell of melons and roasted chilies makes my mouth water and it makes me smile to see folks stocking up on summer's goodies to put away for the colder months.  Your farmers are gearing up for fall projects starting this week which includes harvesting and roasting the first batches of green chilies, harvesting and curing our fall onions and winter squash, and seeding cover crops while we still have ditch water.  There are greens to get in the ground for the winter CSA, tunnels to rearrange and fall roots to weed.  Oh and food, lots of food to harvest!

Photo by Cliff Cottage Collective

The red and yellow storage onion crop is late this year; however, your allium of the week is the beautiful and mysterious shallot.  To be completely honest, I have a hard time describing the flavor difference of a shallot and an onion.  Milder for sure, but oddly enough, more tasty.  When I ask other avid shallot fans how to describe it, they are equally as baffled, but the consensus is that they just make everything more delicious.  I like to put them in everything, but shallot butter or a roasted shallot champagne vinaigrette might be up there with my favorites.  Shishito peppers are all the rage these days.  When harvested small, they are mild and delicious when blistered in a cast iron skillet and served with oil and salt,   When harvested larger and prepared this way, they might kill your family...which was recently the claim by one CSA member and so we apologize to those of you to whom we sold hot peppers to.  As the steward of the pepper patch, farmer Nic says he will do better and hopes we can all look back at the blooper and laugh.  And as an aside, we think the member was mostly kidding about the death part.  Its time to put food away!  With a full harvest of peaches from the western slope this year, its certainly time to make some peach salsa.  Heirlooms tomatoes pair well with peaches and make a wonderful sweet and savory treat for fish, eggs or tortilla chips.  Pickling cucumbers are starting to appear, reserve your box today as I saw dill at the market last weekend...hard to get them both at the same time, email me!  Romas will be prolific by the end of August.  Less juicy than slicers means more tomato goodness for your winter pantry.  We will start roasting chilies for winter soon.  Rather than bringing them to market this year, we are going to sell them by the case.  Stay tuned for more details as we get closer to order time.

Finally, mark your calendars, Native Hill is finally doing a farm dinner!  September 25th we are partnering with Jax Fish House for a harvest moon Salmon bake at the 50 acres that the Land Coop has been working to purchase over the past year. The dinner will benefit Poudre Valley Community Farms and we are excited to be able to share a meal on the land that many of you have been working to preserve for local food.  Tickets can be purchased Here, don't delay...they will go fast!

See you all real soon!
Katie

This Week's Harvest
Kale
Chard
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Eggplant, Italian and Asian
Peppers, hot and bell
Zucchini and Summer squash
Cucumbers, slicing and lemon
Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes
Beans
New Red Potatoes (small harvest this year, sad tiger)
Basil
Shallots