Chickens, chickens everywhere
It's been a long time between blogs indicating a busy summer with more than enough activities taking up my time. It is the season of 4H- (not the agricultural group)-it is hot, hazy, humid, and hell. After 5-6 weeks of drought, we are having crazy rain, but when it stops the humidity is unbearable. And this is from the garden's perspective. Reliable crops such as potatoes bit the dust, although I am finding buried potatoes. There were no potato flowers. The garlic is very early and small. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, and weird looking things labeled radicchio and bok choi reared their heads in some strange incarnation. Squash, however, has gone crazy as did cucumbers and eggplant and it looks like soy beans are ready to emerge. Tomatoes are turning reddish, as are the beets. Even the cantaloupes planted 2 weeks ago are sprouting. I believe we underwatered and watered when it was still hot out and this caused some of the early demises. The day we changed the cycle, it rained for the first time in weeks, so it is hard to tell what worked. It is clear that in attempting to track a pattern, that there is no pattern at all, and that a garden needs frequent tending. If my first year was beginner's luck, this year is just hard work and trying to read the signs before bad stuff happens. Note to myself: Do not overplant and absolutely divide plants early. It is better to select in the nursery than in the garden what shall live and what shall die, and this way I can give the strong ones a chance. I think someone said it way better than I just did.
Here are some photos of my farmers in training feeding chickens and picking lettuce with Liz at Farmer Dave's, and here are some of our crops.
oooh - very nice! Is that amaranth in the bottom photo with the red leaves? We just picked up some of that at the Farmers market for salad and it is gorgeous and yummy! How about some new recipes, Farmer cookie? Here's one to get you started (from Red Fire Farm, my CSA):
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6 ears of corn, shucked, with the kernels removed
about 1-2 cups of shelled beans (we like the cranberry beans)
a few cloves garlic/scapes (if you have any left) - diced
1 onion or a few shallots - diced
lots of fresh basil - bruised/chopped
lemon juice
1) Boil the shell beans for 20 minutes, or so, until soft
2) Saute the onions and garlic in butter/olive oil until light brown
3) Add in the corn kernels and saute a few minutes, then add in the beans.
4) Salt and pepper to taste/add lemon juice and the basil.
Serve warm.
Glad you're back on the blog! We've also had a mixed bag so far in the garden. The extra hands you'll get on the farm in a couple of weeks should help!
ReplyDeleteThat was the yummiest eggplant I've ever eaten!
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