Updated Garden Picture - Taken June 29, 2009

Wow, you can sure see a difference from the June 9th picture to the one that was taken today, June 29th. What a difference 20 days makes! This picture was taken looking east. So, from top to bottom, growing well are Winterbor Kale, red cabbage, Red Russian Kale, Lucinato Kale, green cabbage, broccoli and so on. The rows are 60 feet long and we have about 51 or so rows planted.

Tomorrow we'll be planting more green beans, acorn squash, chinese cabbage and transplanting romaine lettuce. Oh, that's after we fix the hoop house that houses the tomatoes. (Tammy, Sara and I were able to put the plastic sheeting back over the green peppers and eggplants... roped it down tight ... we'll see how long it lasts.) Make it a great day!

July 2 Delivery

Yay! We've begun our 2009 Season deliveries! That's two weeks ahead of schedule. (This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.)

This week's delivery will be similar to last week's, lettuce, green onions, kale, as well as beets, parsley and basil. The basil will be enough to season a few dishes. (The basil was transplanted a bit later than it would have liked ... so it went into shock. It's recovering ... slowly.) We do have more planted ... so hopefully we can provide enough to those of you who like to make pesto.

Sandra G provided this kale recipe to share: Wash and dry kale leaves. Place them singly on a cookie sheet. Brush each leaf with a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Place the cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven. Keep an eye on it. When you think it's ready, take the cookie sheet out of the oven. Turn each kale leaf over, put back in oven. Continue cooking until done or crisp without burning. She says it's really, really good! Sounds good, I can't wait to try it!

AND for those of you who would like to preserve some kale for this winter, from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving:

Using young, tender green leaves. Wash thoroughly and cut off wood stems. Blanch 2 minutes and avoid matting leaves. Cool. Drain. Pack into can-or-freeze jars or plastic freezer boxes, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal, label and freeze.

Because kale is such a nutritious vegetable, we did plant ... a lot! So, get ready to put some up for your winter enjoyment and hopefully, to save on your winter food bill. Enjoy your day!

Hoop House Down ... but not out!

Well, that was quick. We knew the hoop houses were temporary, but not THAT temporary. Last week we had a pretty strong wind blow through. It completely blew the plastic off the tomato house and broke two of the front PVC pipes, right at the base of the hoop house on the right. So, the wind was pretty strong! It won't be difficult to fix them ... we just need to replace the two broken PVC end pipes and recover them with the plastic sheeting. The hardest thing will be to untangle the rope that lashed the plastic down.

Today we had another strong wind ... so we took the plastic off the second house and will be waiting for calm weather to put them both back together. Shouldn't take much, since the frame work is all done. It's warm enough that the veggies should be okay for a few days. Make it a great day!

Kale Recipes

Rinse thoroughly to remove sand; remove thick stems and shred leaves into 2inch chunks. Rinse leaves again, but do not dry.
Braise: Heat 2 tsps canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add kale or Swiss Chard, toss until wilted. Add ½ c. dry white wine or dry vermouth. Cover, reduce heat and cook until wilted, about 5 min. Uncover and cook until liquid is reduced to a glaze. Sprinkle 2 tsps balsamic (or rice) vinegar over the greens.

And, if that doesn't sound yummy ... check out this website: Allrecipes
or go directly to this link

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-and-Savory-Kale/Detail.aspx

Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

2009 Season Opener

And, so, it begins! Looks to be a great 2009 season for veggies. Here we have Butterhead lettuce, Red Russian Kale, Winterbor Kale, and the purple veggies are Purple Kohlrabi. And of course, Walla Walla sweet onions. (And as this is being written, the wind is whipping our hoop houses all over ... you should see it, scary!)

Kohlrabi can be eaten after peeling either sliced raw or lightly steamed.

Last year was the first year that we began eating kale. We had definitely been missing out. Our favorite way to eat it is to wash it, leave it wet, julienne slice it, put it in a warm pre-heated pan with a tight fitting lid, add some olive oil, salt and pepper, stir it all together and steam it for about 15 minutes. It cooks down quite a bit, so you'll have to play with the amount to begin with.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Sara, Tammy, Doug and I have worked hard to bring this garden along for your healthy eating pleasure.

(As noted earlier, the wind is blowing really hard right now and our hoop houses don't like it much ... we'll be putting them back up! Hope the tomatoes don't mind spending a night out! Can't do anything until the wind calms down. Ah, farming ... just when you think you've got mother nature under control, she puts you in your place! LOL???) Make it a great day! Char

Hoop House Part III - Finished with Plantings

Here are the two completed hoop houses. And, yes, I must admit that they have been completed for a while. I wanted the pictures to show the plants, the weed cloth and the watering system.

The one on the left has two sixty foot rows of tomatoes. And there are actually tomatoes growing on the vines. (Big Smile) This is great news for us! We haven't been able to grow a good tomato crop for two years. (arrrggghhh)

The hoop house on the right has two sixty foot rows of eggplants and two sixty foot rows of peppers. The eggplants are growing and doing well, the peppers are still in shock over being transplanted a bit later than they would have liked.

These hoop houses are a big deal for our farm production. The past two years, due to the weather conditions, we were unsuccessful growing tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. The evenings ended up being colder than what the plants liked, and the wind coming off the water was a bit too cool for them.

So, waaaa laa, we think (and hope) the hoop houses have solved the wide swing in the temperatures. These hoop houses will be taken down each October and put up again in the early spring. We're hoping to build a stationary hoop house sometime this season.

Also, the main garden is doing great! I'll be posting pictures ... soon. We're ready to harvest lettuce, kale, kohlrabi and green onions. Make it a great day!