Updates from (and about) the Farm

Well folks, there's been some news. Aside from the fact that the farm is growing (like) weeds faster than anyone can imagine, it turns out the Farm is actually for sale. More specifically, the consumers' house is for sale, and along with it, the farmland. The blog may focus more on my plans to release small rodents into the consumers' house and undo the work of Jim the Critter-Gitter, just at the moment they try to show the house... Okay, seriously. I'll still update the blog until the farm is sold, and I'm still going to do some planting. But the big stuff (tomatoes especially) will find other homes. As you can imagine, I have many Feelings about this situation, but mostly I'm excited for the consumers to get central heat so I can visit them in the winter.

And without further ado, because I have got to get some work done today, here's a whole host of updated photos, including (!!) the salad stuff for my dinner tonight. Last year at this time, we hadn't even had the idea for the Farm yet, and this year dinner is already grown. Amazing.

Peas

Dinner

Broccoli

Chard

The Oak Leaf Head Lettuce, and a few carrots I thought hadn't germinated. Really? I couldn't get those things to grow last year no matter what I tried, and now, NOW, they want to grow in the lettuce. Nice.

Spinach

Strawberry with first blush

More berries

Green beans in one row and a row of surprise seeds for H.


And now for the awesome green onion flowers...

Harvest Day 7/16

After a full morning of farm work, today was a Harvest Day. There were so many green beans the plants were starting to fall over. Between the Farm Harvest and the Farm box, my whole dinner was covered!




On the menu: salad greens (my farm) and spinach (my farm) with lemon-olive oil-garlic dressing, sun gold tomatoes (farm box), shaved raw beets (farm box), green beans (my farm), cucumbers (farm box), and baby shallots (farm box).

I'll get y'all an update of the Farm soon (some of the tomatoes are up to my shoulder!?).

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 92F
Yesterday's low: 69F
Warnings: thunderstorms. maybe.
Mood of the farm: trying to perk up

Not To Brag...

...but I just made the best dinner of life with stuff from the farm (all the salad greens and spinach!) and stuff from the farm box (parsley).















Spinach and Greens with Lemon Olive Oil Dressing
Parsley Gremolata
Shrimp with Garlic White Wine Sauce

My How You've Bolted

The spinach is officially done for the season. There's nothing t o be ashamed of--everyone's spinach bolts eventually. And the super-late frosts we had this year meant that there was only a short season of the cool weather growing season spinach needs. Here's what it looks like once it bolts to the sky:




















I pulled all of it except one lone spinach plant that hasn't bolted yet, and even though it's supposed to be bitter, I'm going to eat it anyway. I think it's a little bit like a parent who loves her kid even when the kid has the stomach flu. I'm in this farming gig for the long haul, so there are some Trials that I'll need to experience along the way. I'm thinking a good amount of lemon, garlic, and olive oil ought to make these trials easier to swallow.















In other news, I'm sure glad the farm is growing like crazy, but it's looking a bit crowded, no? Luckily, there's enough room for flowers on the watermelon and cucumbers!



























Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 83F
Yesterday's low: 64F
Warnings: Crowding alert
Mood of the farm: full of anti-garage thoughts and Feelings
Reason to consider a new career: oh the crowding!

Pride and Joy

This is it, people. The farm was planted on May 24th, and here we are, on June 25th with the very first harvest. Just a month of love and attention, and what do we have? A midnight harvest of bounty! Well maybe not midnight, and maybe not bounty, in the truest sense of the word, but it's definitely a harvest. And I'm definitely excited to eat something I grew. I think tomorrow, I will grill corn and chicken to slice on the salad greens and spinach harvest, along with sunflower seeds and some dried cranberries. Getting hungry already!