Fall Has Arrived

Man down! The sunflower was sawed off at the base, just when all the little nubs were about to bloom.

[H suspects squirrel involvement]

Well it's fall around here. The squirrels are starting to get pudgy (which Maisy translates as "more delicious"), the leaves are turning, and this Farmer wakes up freezing and wondering about frost. Sadly, I'm only wondering, not Worrying and Scurrying to the Farm to check on the state of things. Whether that's because fall has a different pace or because I'm swamped with work, I couldn't say. But I only go to the Farm at most once a day now, and even then only for a few minutes; I've even been known to skip a day. Shocking, I know.

In the meantime, look at this delicious thing I made. It turns out that since the farm is still producing tomatoes to harvest, a person needs to find fall-ish things to make with them. Farm box onions and garlic, sauteed with the tomatoes and gift-mushrooms from H&N turned out to be just the thing. AND! At the very end, I added a bit of the basil-and-olive-oil paste I made and froze a few weeks ago to see how I might be able to use it. Delicious! (Sorry about the messy bowl--I didn't know it was going to be so delicious I'd have to photograph it immediately)

Hello There, Strangers!

Hi, folks. Seems like it has been 6.4 years since I last updated you on the progress of the Farm. Many important Milestones have occurred since then in my other life as a grad student, but if you know me in person, I've already bored you with all the details. And if you don't know me in real life, now would be a good time to be glad about that.

But! Even while I've been busy with school, many many things have happened on the farm. I think we'll need a list here, there are so many...
1.) The only things still growing on the farm are tomatoes, watermelon, and a few mini zucchinis on one sad, sorry plant. That's it, folks!
2.) I harvested the bounty (or what I thought would be the bounty) of the carrots. The big plan, as I think I mentioned before, was to freeze the carrots so that I could enjoy the exciting flavors of the farm in the winter, instead of boring old grocery store carrots. Well look what the whole, entire harvest entailed:

Here, dirty, with the basil (see #3)

Here, cleaned up, but not any more bounty.

Sad. Very very sad. And an amazing waste of farm space, it turns out. Luckily, I had a million farm box carrots, and I grabbed a bunch for $1 at the farmers' market. Also luckily, during the wash/peel/cut/blanche marathon Farmer Sis entertained me with stories of school and her farm (pictures may be coming soon!) so the time flew by. Anyway, the carrots are in the freezer and ready for a taste of summer in the middle of the winter. But lesson learned: next time I have a farm, I will not be planting carrots!

3.) As you can see in the picture above, I also harvested two of our five basil plants. Those got processed with some olive oil (and an extra bunch of farmers' market basil) and then put in a ziploc bag for freezing. I usually use ice cube trays to freeze that stuff in small portions, but Farmer Sand suggested that if you spread it as thin as possible in a freezer bag, you can just break off pieces when you're ready. Genius. Thanks!

4.) All the beans have been pulled, I've finally given up hope on the "fall lettuce," and two, count them two, of the nine tomato plants have moved on to greener pastures. Look for a post soon about the science-in-action learning project that resulted from those plants...

5.) Here's what the harvests look like these days. The yellow tomatoes are a bit cracked from our drought and my attempts at compensating with the hose. But they still taste pretty good; that's the good news.



Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 61F
Yesterday's low: 51F
Warnings: weather.com is misleading. I could see my breath this morning. Also, there's a heat wave coming.
Mood of the farm: It better have something to do with ripening as fast as possible during the heat wave this week.
Reason to consider a new career: Still happy with what I have going on over here...

MiniChuck's Surprise Eye View of the Farm

In case you were wondering just how much this Farmer loves routines, I was halfway through eating my Honey Bunches of Oats with farmers' market raspberries and writing this Farm update before I realized I told you yesterday MiniChuck didn't have any new views of the Farm. Well, what can I say? I love a good routine.

So here's the Farm. See what I mean about how empty it's getting? The zucchini will probably get pulled this weekend. And, because I realized yesterday just how sad I'm going to be when I have to go back to buying boring, tasteless, winter produce from the grocery store (really sad!), I think I'm going to pull all the carrots this weekend, and then blanch and freeze them. I'm also reading up on ways to save cherry tomatoes. I mean, not that we have very many or anything, but you know... I have too many Farmer Worries about canning to go that route, so only freezer-related preserving methods are on the table. Also, the basil is getting pulled and preserved in some yet to be determined ratio of drying and freezing (after being processed with olive oil) this weekend. Did I mention how cold it's getting here (look at the low below)??

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 69F
Yesterday's low: 39F
Warnings: Um, did you see that 39F ????
Mood of the farm: Freezing, almost literally.
Reason to consider a new career: Nope. Still ecstatic about my real career.

Cooking with Bounty

Last night, I had a craving for spring rolls and a Vietnamese dish for which I have no name. And so I asked myself, "Self, What Would Archie Do?" Luckily, I decided Archie would call Anonymous K to find out how one might go about making such a meal. Archie, clearly, is a very smart guy. Once I got home from the store, Dr. J had a craving to take Maisy for a run. Actually, she might have just had a craving for me to stop whining about Maisy's poor behavior. Either way, I said I'd trade her a run with my dog for dinner, and she agreed. And what was born? Free-spirited fellowship. Spur of the moment, completely unplanned, impromptu fellowship. And we didn't even freak out about it. Or if we did, we totally made it seem like we didn't.

Anyway, what, you ask does this have to do with the farm blog and farming? Well, it has everything to do with the farm because a lot of this meal was made with food from the farm or the CSA share (aka Farm Box). A few things came from SuperTarget (gasp) or the Asian grocery store, Shuang Hur. I even marked where the food came from for you in the picture (FG = Farmer Gower, of course).

Those are some good lookin carrots.

Rice paper in water.

My spring roll technique needs work.

Dr J., humoring me re: the ridiculous bowl situation.

Me, eating out of, yep, Corning Ware. But I'm still proud enough to display the meal in my signature pose, naturally.

In the end, everything turned out to be pretty tasty. The sauce was definitely not right (at least not at first. After a second, it got close to the right flavor...), and my lack of large bowls was definitely a difficult problem. But, you know, we're free spirits, so we just rolled with it.

Getting Crafty With the Farm

Remember all that cilantro I was mad about because it went to seed? Well, I figured I ought to at least make something good out of the deal, so coriander it is. Also, Rosa and Maisy have been munching on something near the farm that makes them immediately drool and then vomit. Repeatedly. I'm hoping this is the cause, and getting it off the farm with also get rid of the dog antics.

The plants were ready for drying, so I cut them this afternoon, and hung them on my porch on a makeshift line. Yes, I use package wrapping ribbon for all farm projects. It's just a thing with me.

Then, I carefully crafted some highly technical, farm-specific devices to catch the seeds that fell. The one on the left wasn't dry enough to need a catcher (technical term) yet.
Now I just have to hope my neighbors don't think I'm up to some illicit activity and call the cops before these plants are done drying...

Okay Okay It's the Herb Report

Settle down, people. I had no idea there was so much interest in the Herb Report. Mostly, I assumed once again that interest in the herbs went in the same category as everything else about the Farm--humoring me because you know I'm obsessed, and you're all good friends/strangers. Or you're a master grad school procrastinator like me. But lo and behold, I received emails about the lack of a thorough Herb Report, and face-to-face questioning and expression of Disappointment (one even featuring a claim that the herbs were feeling left out and would stop growing). So without further ado...


The mint seems to be growing, despite the ridiculous amount of weeds I have neglected to pull. I'm chalking it up to George, because I certainly haven't been providing any attention...

















Here are more recent photos of the Thai Basil and Sweet Basil, which you can see are extremely happy. Farmer N has been using both to great effect!

































Here's one of the cilantros, bolting its little brains out. Have I mentioned how much I dislike coriander? It was good while it lasted, I guess, but this farming gig provides a lot of Learning Opportunities. And one of the primary herb lessons I've learned to far is that Minnesota is just too hot for growing cilantro outside in the summer. Spring, sure. Fall maybe. But not the summer.




Friends, I'd like to admit that the Herb Report is forcing me to tip my hand regarding an area of the Farm I haven't even told you about yet. It's true, you and MiniFarm have not been properly introduced. I could explain all the reasons why, but I think instead, I'll just introduce you. I hope you don't have too many Feelings about being left out of part of the Farm. MiniFarm, meet the good people of the internets. Good people of the internets, meet MiniFarm, circa June 11th and 26th.






















What's that you say? It looks like a bunch of weeds? And I took the pictures from different angles like a tool so you can't tell what's going on? I know, I know. It's one of the reasons you haven't been introduced. Here are a few close-ups of what's growing there.













More bolting-its-brains-out cilantro from my patio in the left corner of MiniFarm.

















Green onions, with giant flowers.

















Alright, now this one is really interesting. Most of the plants in this area are transplants, generously donated from SG, and this particular one she received from the wilds of somewhere. I don't know. It's a wild onion. But when I transplanted them (look in the first picture above), the leaves immediately died--the the papery, tan leaves in the bottom of the landscape picture of MiniFarm. Just yesterday, when I went to water, I noticed that this little shoot sprouted up while I was away! I'm excited to see what it will look like, and to taste the wild onions next summer.

Also living in MiniFarm, but not close-up pictured: garlic chives and green beans (you can see them in the overview pics). Both are a little worse for the wear because that part of MiniFarm turns out to be the very best place to rest on a hot day, because the dirt is cool. I mean, if you're a dog, not a person, and especially if you're a dog who likes to be close to her mama while she's Farming, cleaning out the garage, or gardening. Probably if you're one of those dogs, you'd look like this in your excitement over Harvest Day:




























Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 87F
Yesterday's low: 71F
Warnings: Pollen still kickin'
Mood of the farm: The tomatoes are starting to flower!!!!!
Farming Math Lesson: [mosquito bites + hockey practice(shin guards*sweating)]/90 minutes = the least comfortable experience I've had in a while

Herb Reports Are Overrated Because It's Almost Harvest Day!

Alright, I've been promising an herb report for ages, but I am way more excited that today is the first Harvest Day! Lettuce and spinach will be emerging from the garden and onto a salad plate near you (or near me, at least!). It's the best day of the Farm so far. I'll of course have copious amounts of photographic evidence.

But in the meantime, here is a picture of some of the herbs so I haven't completely broken my promise to you people of the internets. The latest update is that cilantro is a big tease, and not the good kind. Just when the weather makes me want to eat cilantro at every meal, the cilantro plants bolted! Who wants to eat coriander, anyway? Lame.




Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 87F
Yesterday's low: 62F
Warnings: The grass pollen is kickin'.
Mood of the farm: Probably a little nervous that I'm so excited about getting near it with scissors.
Reason to consider a new career: None. Reason to go into farming however, is the unrestrained joy I felt upon hearing these words, "Well, it's only 2 or 3 acres, but you'd get to drive the tractor and the tiller if you want to." (!!!!)