Week 9: Waiting for the Sun to Do Its Good Work

This will be the last week for shelling peas so get them while they are still here!

Good Morning Foggy Morning!

I trust you all had a good holiday weekend and your sun burns are recovering in this strange break from the the heat. Rumor has it that July 10th is the day that monsoon season hits Colorado and this year is supposed to be even more wet than most. Judging from the current weather we have been having, I would wager that the season came a little bit early this year.  Ahh, the best laid plans in farming can really be derailed by the weather and of late we have found the need to change our work plans rapidly.  This week's blue prints for the garlic harvesting and fall field prepping have been tossed out the window, replaced with bulk beet harvesting for wholesale accounts, greenhouse rearranging, and schlepping through the mud for just about all tasks.  

Depending on the spring that we get, July can be full of food or a bit of a vegetable purgatory at the market stand.  With the late, wet spring this year it looks like it will be one of those waiting years for us on the Front Range, with spring treats gone and summer fruits to come, we will have to be patient for the sun to do its good work.  

Photo by Claire Burnett

This will be the last week for shelling peas so get them while they are here.  They can easily be shelled and placed on a cookie sheet in your freezer in order to preserve them for a sweet winter treat.  Just be sure to transfer them to a plastic bag for long term freezer storage. We have one last chicory for you all to try before this lovely vegetable leaves us until late fall.  Fiero is an upright radicchio that is a bit sweeter than its round cousins.  Give it a try grilled or sauteed, you will shiver with happiness. GREEN garlic!  Take some home with you and pretend that each head is one big clove of garlic.  Use it like you would regular garlic as it will still be a while before our curred garlic arrives at the stand.  Basil! And lots of it.  If you are going to make pesto this year, start to think about it in the next few weeks.  Garlic scapes or green garlic make great pesto and we will have some bulk basil at markets startingSaturday.  We may or may not have bulk basil this fall, so start planning your freezer for the fall now!

See ya real soon,

 Katie

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This Week's Harvest

VEGGIES:

Kale
Collards
Chard
Head lettuce
Beets
Carrots
Cucumbers
Grilling Onions
Green Garlic
Salad Turnips
Kohlrabi
Shelling Peas
Basil
Radicchio
Zucchini
Broccoli
Cauliflower

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Farmer's Tips:

Storage

Ah fresh basil.  Adding it to just about anything makes life better but it is quite perishable and does not like to be below 40 degrees.  I like to keep mine in the plastic bag, wrapped in a towel and placed in the door of my fridge.  Making pesto is one great way to preserve this summer treat.  It freezes extremely well and you can really get creative in the kitchen with what you have on hand.  Don't have pine nuts?  Use almonds or walnuts.  Too much basil?  try some kale or chard.  Run out of Parmesan?  We made some asiago pesto last year that was just as yummy as the traditional stuff.  Frugal gourmet can sometimes yield the most surprising results!

Welcoming July to Native Hill

Eat your greens!

Hello Folks!

We have welcomed in July and with July comes some changes to our regularly scheduled program.  Namely we are done with loose leaf greens until the fall.  Onto the loose leaf lettuce's favorite (and in my opinion, far superior in taste) cousin, head lettuce.  Putting aside farmer taste preference, it is important to note that salad mix just does not germinate in 90 degree weather and most varieties do not like the heat; hence, we grow heat tolerant head lettuce that we can germinate in the greenhouse.  Other exciting things that the Nation's birthday has ushered in on the Farm include frantically trellising tomatoes, sowing more beans, beets, and carrots, keeping things watered and weeded, determining when the garlic will be ready, and trying to keep up with the zucchini and cucumber harvest.  Oh and wallowing in the river, can't forget to put that on the list for 95 degree days.

Photo by Claire Burnett/BoHo Photography

Nothing shows your patriotic spirit more than serving local food at your 4th of July celebrations.  Maybe that sounds far fetched but back in the days of our founding fathers, eating was an agricultural act and Thomas Jefferson loved the idea of the common wealth of the land for food production.  One of my summer pasta salads includes orzo, spring onions, shelling peas, cucumbers, feta, and dill.  Tossed with a green garlic vinaigrette it is a perfect thing to bring to a gathering.  Broccoli, zucchini, and shelling peas with a yogurt dressing may also serve as a lovely side. Maybe you whip up some roasted beet hummus and serve it with some sliced kohlrabi, turnips, and carrots.  If you are feeling even more inspired in the kitchen, stuffed chard leaves make a great 4th of July treat.  I like to stuff mine with brown rice mixed with spring onions, fresh basil, minced green garlic, goat cheese, and shaved radicchio. Call it an American dolma.

Pints, Pints, Pints!  When you pick up peas at the market, please do not walk away with our pint baskets.  We reuse them all season for lots of good stuff so if you have any sitting at home, please bring them back to us at the market this week.  Thank you for understanding!

See you soon,

Katie

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What's Growing at Native Hill Farm:

Kale
Collards
Chard
Head Lettuce
Hakurei Salad Turnips
Beets
Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kohlrabi
Green Garlic
Grilling Onions
Radicchio
Shelling Peas
Basil
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Spigariello (leaf broccoli)
Garlic scapes

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Storage Tips

Although head lettuce may be a little more work up front, it's texture and taste are completely worth the processing.  When you get your lettuce home, just slice off the end and either chop right away or peel off the big leaves (depending on intended use).  Place in strainer and then place the strainer in a large bowl.  Place both under the faucet and fill with cold water.  Swish the leaves around then pick up the strainer leaving the soiled water behind.  Dry the leaves in a salad spinner or kitchen towel and store in a plastic bag or tupperware until ready to use.  Drying is a critical step to this process!  If you do not dry your greens, they will get slimy quite quickly and this will make you and your farmers very sad.  

Just a reminder to take the tops off your carrots when you get home!  If left attached to the carrots, they will wick the moisture right out of the root leaving you with very limp carrots.  After detaching the tops, store carrots in a plastic bag in your fridge.  They will keep for months in this happy state. 

Week 7: The Dog Days of Summer

Good Morning Everyone,

We hope you all have been enjoying some of this early season farm bounty as we slide into the dog days of summer.  We know it is hard to believe, but even with all that rain, the warm temperatures of this week have found your farmers back on the regular irrigation schedule, deep watering the large plants and feathering the water on the newly sowed seeds to ensure proper germination of fall crops.  In addition to the weeds and grasses that have been taking advantage of the warm weather, the pests have also decided to multiply in abundance and we have spent much of our time this week strategizing as to how to win the battles.  For example, this morning we spent a good chunk of time picking striped cucumber beetles off of our baby winter squash plants.  We felt like Godzilla attacking tiny squash apartment buildings populated with beetles...because each beetle can lay 1500 eggs a season, the hope was to knock the population back enough to give the plants a fighting chance. We will keep you updated :)  

This will be the last week for sugar snap peas as the hot weather has abruptly stopped the flowering of the plants.  On to the shelling peas next week...always something to look forward to.  Also at the stand this week, one of my favorite members of the chicory family, the strange tiny cabbage looking vegetable known as radicchio.  Italians go crazy for this stuff and it is a lovely addition to any type of green or grain salad.  We made a lovely quinoa salad with radicchio, fennel, cucumber, spring onion, mint and basil.  Very refreshing and easy for a hot summer side.  Make a quick dressing with lemon, olive oil, and some emulsified garlic scapes and you can go wrong.  

Carrots are here!

Carrots can also be found at the stand this week. A quick and easy snack, they are sure to satisfy kids and adults alike.  They also saute well with the sugar snap peas, so don't pass up this spring combination.  

Cucumbers are also starting to trickle in.  Slow at first, but soon in abundance, think cucumber yogurt dressing with zucchini corn-meal fritters.  We made these for father's day and they did not disappoint.  

An interesting cooking green at the stand this week.  Another favorite of the Italians, Spigiriello or commonly known as leaf broccoli is a tasty addition to our greens trifecta.  Those of you who tried it last year raved about it and we liked it too so we brought it back for a second season.  Don't be afraid to give it a try!  

Finally, cauliflower will be in abundance for the next two weeks.  Our spring variety has a white crown with a purple underbelly and is magically delicious roasted.  If you are feeling ambitious, try an Alice Water's favorite and roast it whole to serve as an appetizer at a party. It will surely impress!

See you all real soon!
Katie

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THIS WEEK's VEGGIES:

Kale
Collards
Chard
Salad Mix
Spinach 
Kohlrabi
Broccoli 
Cauliflower
Radicchio
Carrots
Sugar Snap Peas
Garlic Scapes
Baby Bok Choy
Zucchini
Slicing Cucumbers
Hakurei Salad Turnips
Spigareillo

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Farmer's Recipe

Zucchini Corn Meal Fritters with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Shred 3 medium zucchini and squeeze to remove excess liquid.  Add 2 eggs , 1/2 cup corn meal, a pinch of salt, one shallot or a couple of spring onions and some spices of your choice (I like graham masala).  Stir and again, get rid of any excess moisture.  Heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet and drop in zucchini batter in 2 inch balls.  Flatten in skillet and then flip.  Stack on paper towel lined plate in oven on low. 

To a small food processor add:  1 cup plain greek yogurt, 2 gloves garlic or 3 scapes, 1/2 of a peeled, de-seeded cucumber, 1/2 tsp cumin, and a pinch of salt.  Whirl together then add 1/4 cup olive oil while processing on low. Add feta or parm cheese if desired, whirl again, then drizzle over warm fritters and enjoy. 

Week 6: Happy (almost) Summer Solstice!

Photos by Claire Burnett

Good Morning!

Happy almost Solstice everyone!  With the long days and wet weather we are feeling like we are in a bit of a jungle here on the farm these days. We have a fortress of grass surrounding us on all sides and the weeds are really going for it in any nook and cranny that they can find.  We have been diligently fighting back with all our most potent implements of destruction...hoes.  But we do have a few other great tricks like the flame weeder (think faranheit 451) and our trusty cultivating tractor, Cherry (although it has been too wet to use her recently).  It is also time to trellis tomatoes...or past time.  We grow most of our heirloom tomatoes undercover in hoop houses as to bring you the most beautiful tomatoes that can be grown here on the Front Range.  It is a time consuming and dirty job to keep up on the trellising, but it is so worth it to have a whole house (or two!), of tomatoes taller than even loftiest of farmers.  

Sweet and crunchy sugar snap peas! Photo by Claire Burnett

This week begins the relentless picking that our farm workers will be doing throughout the duration of the season.  It starts with peas, then beans, then cherry tomatoes and goes until first frost (or beyond if we cover stuff).  Sugar snap peas are making their debut as the first of the picking crops at the stand and they are just as their name describes, sweet and crunchy.  No need to peel these babies, just enjoy them as a lovely snack raw or throw them in a stir fry at the end for a delightful sweet crunch (don't over cook or they will loose their sweet flavor).  We will also have the quintessential quick weeknight veggie side this week.  Broccoli is back and should stick around for another 3-4 weeks.  This versatile cole crop likes cool, wet weather so we only grow it in the spring and the fall.  Steam it, saute it, throw it in a quiche, make it into soup, or even roast it with some garlic and parmesan for a nutty side.  I can't forget about kohlrabi this week either.  Similar in flavor to broccoli, yet a bit sweeter and WAY better raw than its cousin, this optically interesting veggie is great for snacking, slaw making, or soup making.  Just peel like a potato and enjoy.  

This is the last week that there will be no electronic link to your accounts in the email.  The website is up and running, but I need to have 5 minutes to get familiar with it.  I will have a print out at market for folks who want to check their balances. 

See you all real soon!
Katie

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THIS WEEK'S VEGGIES:

Kale
Collards
Chard
Salad Mix
Spicy Mix
Spinach
Beets
Baby Fennel
Zucchini
Baby Bok Choy
Kohlrabi
Hakurei Turnips
Radishes (Wednesday only)
Sugar Snap Peas
Garlic Scapes
Broccoli

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STORAGE TIPS:

The kohlrabi skin is not only optically interesting, but also makes for an amazing storage container for the sweet stuff inside.  Trim the leaves and put in a plastic bag in your fridge (recognize a theme yet).  It will store for over a month like this.  

Peas will store well in the fridge in a plastic bag too. They loose their sugar in just a few days, so don't delay in consuming them (probably won't be a problem though).  That is why they never taste the same when you buy them at the store...they are too old!  Just beware, there is such thing as a belly full of too many peas...take it from an expert :)

Week 5: A Weather Yo-Yo!

Greetings Y'all!

I hope this cloudy June morning finds you all well.  We have been having quite the weather Yo-Yo in these here parts, humid to hot and humid, to super cells and golf ball size hail, to 90 and dry and now back to predicted heavy rains....and all this since I last wrote you!  Remember when you didn't really even have to look at the weather for Fort Collins because it was always 85 and a 20% chance of thunderstorms after 11am?  Oh the good 'ol days.  Aside from covering and uncovering, moving flats in and out and crossing our fingers on the storms, this week has been full of transplanting and seeding.  June is always a bit of a crazy month because everything starts growing super fast. We have greens to harvest and things still need to be planted, weeded, and watered.  I am curious as to how this June will compare to others as most growth revolves around the Summer Solstice.  For six weeks before and six weeks after the Solstice, we get the most growth on the farm.  For those of you who are keeping track, four of the first six have been rainy and cold...lets all keep our fingers crossed for an Indian Summer!  Hmmm, I just realized that I could probably write my own Farmer's Almanac for Colorado just by looking back at the last seven years of weekly newsletters....maybe I should start writing less about the weather and more about politics.  Just kidding. 

Zucchini has arrived for the summer! Photo by Claire Burnett

Magical and fun things are starting to happen on the farm these days.  In addition to the sighting of a mysterious weasel/mink/wood chuck type creature (a neighbors's tail-less cat perhaps?), we have been observing the scaping of the garlic, the elongation of the zucchini, and bulbing of the fennel.  Garlic scapes are the seed head of the garlic bulb that we planted way back in November.  If left to their own devices, the scape would keep growing, pulling nutrients away from the growing garlic bulb and eventually flower and produce garlic seed.  To ensure your garlic is as large and lovely as can be, we will snap off the scapes and as not to waste something so tasty, bring them to market for you all to enjoy.  They taste like garlic flavored asparagus and can be grilled or roasted with olive oil and salt for delicious side.  I will also just throw them into any dish that I want to impart that garlic flavor on...or try making some pesto...maybe with some spinach or arugula?  Zucchini has arrived for the summer.  Like that favorite scarf that can be used to dress up or dress down an ensemble, the versatility of the vegetable is unrivaled in the veggie world.  From a raw salad  to  pizza crust, just start at chapter one of the zucchini cook book and go nuts. I always like to start simple, enjoying the tender fruit for what it is.  You have all summer to start disguising it in breads, latkes, and soups. :)

Finally, don't forget to fill out our land survey!  I sent it out last Friday afternoon and we need your feedback! We will be thrilled to hear if you love the project, but more importantly we want to hear if you hate the project. This is part of our due diligence before we act so we need to make sure it is in our best interest to move forward with it.  If there is not support from our greatest veggie lovers out there, we will need to re-evaluate our current strategy.  Click on this link to take you to the survey now.

It should take five minutes to look over the background info and 2-4 minutes to take the survey. We are looking for responses by tomorrow evening.  Thank you all in advance!!!!

See you all real soon!
Katie