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Category: 2020

  • Made it through the snow!

    snow forecastWow it’s been a roller coaster ride! A week ago there was a winter storm warning and we thought it was going to get down to 25 degrees with 5-8 inches of snow. There was a good chance that this would kill everything on the farm except for root crops. Crops like and kale can generally handle freezing temperatures, but they have to have some cool weather to adjust from going to summer to fall. We were looking at going from 99 degrees on Sunday to 25 degrees on Tuesday which is way too much for plants to handle.

    Fortunately it only got down to 30 degrees on the farm on Tuesday night. We did get a few inches of snow, but I think the ground temperature was warm enough that it protected the plants and melted the snow within a few hours. Our cucumber plants died (they weren’t producing anymore anyway), but everything else seems to have made it. The kale plants and beet greens got a little smooshed, but they will recover.

    I always say that if Wyatt and I farm enough that we will have a year with catastrophic loss. I’m glad this wasn’t the year! The weather forecast is calling for beautiful weather the next few weeks so we can expect to have an abundant harvest of fall crops as usual.

    melons in snow
    I thought the melon plants would die for sure with some snow!
    butternut
    We thought we would lose all of our butternut squash. It wasn’t quite ripe enough to harvest before the snow.
    cabbage in snow
    The cabbage handled the snow just fine!

     

     

     

     

  • Beet Tacos

    (Post updated on 9/23/2025)

    I like to roast beets and keep them handy in the refrigerator so they are ready for quick meals. I throw into salads or sandwiches…

    Or tacos

    A local restaurant features beet tacos and this is my attempt at recreating them at home. The menu description says “Griddled cotija cheese, roasted beets, pickled onions, cilantro aioli.” I looked online at a couple of beet taco recipes and liked the idea of garbanzo beans in a taco with beets. I didn’t use a recipe (does anyone for tacos?) but I did use the idea of adding garbanzo beans. Here are some photos of how I made these tacos.

    I had the beets roasted and I had corn tortillas, Cotija cheese is easy to find in most any grocery store and really makes this taco. You can use feta or halloumi cheese, or anything you have. But the Cotija is a little salty and holds it shape and gets toasty brown when you cook it.

    It took me longer to photograph these tacos than to make them. Once you have the beets cooked there is almost nothing to this delicious taco meal.

    I started with some onions and garbanzo beans in a skillet.

    When they were brown I added some diced beets and the Cotija cheese and browned all of that.

    That’s it. I made the tacos and topped them with what I had. I had some corn salsa and  crema Mexicana. Any salsa would do but the I would for sure use a tart spicy salsa.

    This was so good. The sweetness of the beets and the salty browned cheese and tangy salsa and the earthy tortilla together were delicious, it tasted like a restaurant meal.

    This isn’t a great photo and I couldn’t take any more because we ate them before I looked to see if I got a good picture. You’d think I would know better than that by now.

    You should make these. And if you are taking photos don’t eat them all before you see if any of the photos are any good.

    Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

  • CSA Week 18

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 18 of our CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Beets
    Radish CHOICE (Possibly Watermelon Radish OR Daikon Radish)
    Sweet Pepper CHOICE (Possibly Carmen Peppers OR Bell Peppers)
    Garlic
    Spicy Pepper CHOICE (Possibly Roasted Chiles OR Spicy Pepper Mix)
    Spaghetti Squash

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Carrots
    Two Extra Items

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples
    Pears

  • Early Goodbye to Summer Crops

    How are you doing? Wow. What a week-month-year 2020 has been.

    A week ago Wyatt wrote how well summer crops were doing . I am sure he never dreamed a week later, we would have freezing temperatures and would be harvesting like crazy to save what we food we can, but that is exactly what has been happening at the farm this week.

    We won’t know until the weather warms up what crops are lost or not, but almost certainly we will lose tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and the pepper plants. Some of the crops store better than others, so we will probably see some peppers in the next week or so. Peppers store well, tomatoes not so much.

    If you follow Red Wagon on Instagram you’ll have seen all the melons harvested Monday.

    We are doing the same with all the high summer vegetables, harvesting and trying to save and store what we can.

    The good news is all the greens and root crops and brassicas will be fine in the snow and cold.

    We will keep you updated how things are going at the Farm. Until then, enjoy the last of the high summer food.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

  • CSA Week 17

    Hello CSA Members!

    Watermelon Radish

    As you may have heard, there is some really intense cold weather heading our way early next week. With possible snow and a hard freeze on the way the share next week is up in the air. We will have plenty of food but will have to assess the fields Tuesday morning to see what’s possible. Below is a list of some of the crops we believe will make it through the weather, but please know that this is only an idea of what’s possible, not the definite share.

    Potential Crops Next Week
    – Root Vegetables (Possibly Beets, Carrots, or Potatoes)
    – Radish Choice (Possibly Daikon Radish or Watermelon Radish)
    – Spicy Pepper Choice (Possibly Roasted Chiles, Anaheims, Poblanos, Serranos OR Jalapenos)
    – Sweet Pepper Choice (Possibly Carmens, Jimmy Nardellos, OR Bells)
    – Onions
    – Others depending on post-frost conditions

    Potential Large Share Additions
    – Herb Choice (Possibly Sorrel OR Garlic)
    – Others depending on post-frost conditions

    FRUIT SHARE
    Apples
    Pears

  • Cheesy Grilled Peppers

    Grilled peppers are one of my favorite summer foods. I love love love grilled peppers of all kinds.

    Poblano, Jalapenos, Jimmy Nardelo, Carmen, Bell and especially Shishitos. I have posted lots of Shishito recipes here.

    This is as easy to make as it is delicious.

    Just wash the peppers and cut them in half and clean out the seeds and membranes, except for Shishitos, leave them whole.

    I like to toss the peppers in olive oil and sprinkle some salt on them before grilling.

    Grill the peppers on both sides so they are pretty much done, then add the cheese. My favorite cheese for grilled peppers is Manchego, especially for sweet peppers like Carmen and Jimmy Nardelo.

    It doesn’t take much cheese, in fact, don’t put too much on or it won’t melt properly.

    That’s it. We had this for dinner with some grilled corn on the cob with lots leftover. Leftovers are great for breakfast with eggs (grilled pepper and egg tacos anyone?!).

    Today it feels like Fall is around the corner. Enjoy the Summer’s bounty.

    Have a great week. We’ll see you at pickup.

    Mo

  • Late Summer Farm Update

    Dear CSA Members,

    I wanted to say how much we appreciate all our members. Connecting with CSA members is often challenging but this year has been especially difficult with the virus lockdown. Normally a good number of members come to the farm for one of our 4 events but not this season. Not getting to interact with any CSA members is hard.

    Despite not being able to personally connect, I think about the CSA almost constantly. Between making the CSA crop list and thinking about what needs to be planted so we won’t have weeks where we are short and checking the progress of crops to make sure they are growing well and will be harvestable I am always thinking about what the CSA needs and how to improve it.

    For years I have been working on growing melons better. One of the things we noticed was the plants usually only made 2-4 melons per plant regardless of the size of the fruit. Different melons are bred to be different sizes. I decided that if we were only getting a few per plant that I might as well grow some of the large varieties since the production cost is the same. The first planting of melons is finishing, and the second planting of the larger variety is just starting. I think all 500-600 will ripen over the next 10 days! This evening I picked some seven-pound melons which are the largest we have grown. The heat and the variety have contributed to some great tasting large melons.

    The peppers are out of control with 20 per plant on many of the plants. We are having a hard time keeping up with the picking. There are over 80,000 peppers to be picked!!! Some of the shishito peppers produce more than 50 per plant. Due to the heat, crops started early but might finish a little earlier than normal. This should be fine but was not something I expected and did not build into my crop plan.

    Our first planting of corn was mostly eaten by red-winged blackbirds, so you did not get much. The second planting did not come up well and the third and fourth plantings are doing well. We should have some sweet corn again next week and then more in mid to late September.

    I hope you are enjoying your shares. The crew have been doing a great job of getting shares picked and packed.

    Thanks,
    Wyatt

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • CSA Week 16

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 16 of our CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Onion
    CHOICE: Beans OR Potatoes
    Beets
    Pepper CHOICE (Possibly Carmen Peppers OR Jimmy Nardello Peppers OR Spicy Pepper Mix)
    Zucchini
    Tomatoes
    Roasted Chiles

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    Herb CHOICE (Possibly Basil OR Squash Blossoms OR Parsley OR Edible Flowers)
    Carrots
    Two Extra Items

    FRUIT SHARE
    Peaches

  • CSA Week 15

    Hello CSA Members!

    Here is what we *hope* to bring you for Week 15 of our CSA:

    REGULAR SHARE
    Beets
    Potatoes
    Pepper Choice (Possibly Bell Peppers OR Shishito Peppers OR Spicy Peppers)
    CHOICE: Bok Choi OR Zucchini
    Tomatoes
    Onion
    Melon

    LARGE SHARE ADDITIONS
    DOUBLE Pepper Choice (Possibly Bell Peppers OR Shishito Peppers OR Spicy Peppers)
    Herb Choice (Possibly Basil OR Squash Blossoms OR Parsley OR Edible Flowers)
    Beans
    One Extra Item

    FRUIT SHARE
    Peaches

  • Roasted Kohlrabi

    This is an fast and easy, “goes with anything” side dish. I had some onion dip I made last week and served with the roasted kohlrabi and it was delicious we had it with BBQ ribs.

    They just look like potatoes when they are cooked don’t they?

    IMG_3354

    They are kind of weird looking not cooked.

    IMG_3332

    I have other recipes here you can have a look at, kohlrabi makes great slaws and stir fries. I’ll add this simple roasted kohlrabi recipe to the list.

    • Preheat your oven to 400F
    • Peel the kohlrabi, I use a knife. You can use a vegetable peeler if you like.

    IMG_3335

    Cut it into bit size pieces and toss it with oil and salt

    IMG_3347

    Roast it for 20-25 minute, it will look like this when it is done. I could have roasted it a little longer, but I like it a little crunchy.

    IMG_3353

    That’s it. Tasty and simple.

    I hope you try it.

    Have a great week. See you at pickup.

    Mo