A Season in Review 10/12/2011
Very early morning in late June on the farm
The 2011 growing season and our second year in business is over, at least at Pickpocket Farm and for me the farmer. After working so hard last year getting everything up and running on the farm, my one goal for this season was to not burn myself out, sustain my love of farming, and still keep my share members happy. I hope I kept them reasonably happy. My other small goal was to erect our new farm sign outside along the road or more accurately, to get my husband to do it. Did everyone see it? It's awesome. Yeah, no that goal wasn't accomplished...yet. The sign is laying in our basement half way done. He's not in trouble. He built quite a bit of infrastructure last year for the farm, including a 22' X 48' hoop house. After I made my goals for this season, one of my favorite farmer bloggers, Gene Logsden posted an article on the different types of sub-species farmers out there. I clearly fell into the part-time farmer category. "Part-time Farmers differ from Hobby Farmers in that they no longer think farming is all that much fun. They need to make some money at it now. They work very hard at their other job to pay for their farming habit. It is hard to buy or rent a purebred Part-timer anymore because even most Big Farmers have another source of income so they can buy gas for their motor homes and lake cruisers between planting and harvest when cash is in short supply." Fortunately, I still do love farming and have lots of highlights to report from this year and the not so much highlights that keep farming interesting. Community is still one of the best things going for small time farmers. I don't require volunteer hours on my farm, because I want all people and busy families to have access to great fresh food. At the same time, I welcome everyone to come and help out anytime. My family, parents, in-laws, and some share members are a huge support and are always there to help out in a bind. My hairdresser even stopped by to help harvest and wash vegetables one morning. And I absolutely could not have finished the year without the help and companionship of my work share, Wendy McCormack. Other highlights include, the very early morning hours on the farm (see picture above). It really is one the best times of the day, especially during the hot summer months. My husband I'm sure would like to add his 2 cents in at this point to let everyone know, that my early mornings were few and far between this summer (please remember goal #1), but I still enjoyed the mornings that I did get out there just before the sun came up. 
The tomato harvest
Tomatoes take FOREVER to harvest, for anyone who hasn't had to harvest 450 feet of them and you have to harvest every other day once they start to really ripen. But I still always get excited about a haul like this one. As I strained to pull the tomato cart up our hill, It helped to imagine myself in training as Alexander Karelin, the unstoppable Greco-Roman wrestler, like when he walks through waist high Russian snow carrying a load of boulders. As a bonus, I was able to help my husband move a heavy piece of furniture this summer, and I didn't even notice when he set his end down to rest. 
Smorgasbord of vegetable recipes
When you have vegetables piled up on every counter in the kitchen during the summer, this concoction is the sort of dinner we all end up eating, sometimes I add beans or some sort of meat, but usually I'm too tired and we end up eating tomatoes and lemon cucumbers like apples with a slice of Martha Bogart's Life is Sweet bread. It's definitely a highlight of farming. 
It was a great onion year
The onion crop did the best out of all the other vegetables this year. It was either because I talked to the plants incessantly this spring while planting and weeding them, or because they got to listen to the entire trilogy of The Hunger Games on my IPOD, while transplanting them all, or because mother nature just decided, this will be their year. 
Me with Joel Salatin
I got to meet Joel Salatin this year. There is nothing like meeting a "Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic" to inspire you to keep farming. I have to include some mishaps too. I avoided being splurted in the eye by Colorado Potato beetle guts, but somehow came into contact with poison ivy early in the year. I'm still blaming the cat. I have NEVER had poison ivy before, until this past spring, and I got it good. it covered my whole face and neck, and was quickly moving to the rest of my body. It all happened just in time for me to meet all of my husband's family for the first time at a fantastic weekend wedding getaway. I was given some great steroids that helped with the poison ivy and I worked like a crazy person on the farm, because of the side effects. I spent a lot of time and energy cultivating and amending the soil in the very back part of the field the last couple of years and I thought it would be ready to take on some vegetables finally. I was wrong. My whole crop of winter squash failed. I did at least have lots of other vegetables to fill the CSA shares with, and next year, I will not be planted in the back field. It will be seeded with field peas, and hopefully the soil will start to come around! My daughter, Lexi was admitted into the hospital for 5 days in September and that pretty much ended my attempts at growing spinach in the hoop house for the winter. The transplants got left in the seedling trays too long and the fact that I stopped watering them, didn't help either. Lexi is doing okay now, and I'll be working on a nice early crop of spinach in the spring. And of course, farming year is never complete without a visit from a ground hog. This year's ground hog, took up residence INSIDE the fence. I was having flashbacks of the movie scene, from Phenomenon with John Travolta, staying up all night and then realizing the cute little bunny was inside his garden. This was of course, was after our ground hog ate all of the fall broccoli transplants. Grrrr. Thanks again to everyone and your support of the farm. I will be in touch this winter, while sitting next to my wood stove, about next years CSA season. Bill McKibben: “Communities are more important than individuals, and probably more important than states and nations” Add Comment Last Harvest for the Farm Stand 10/11/2011
 I harvested the last crops of the season this weekend. Some of these vegetables will not store well and need to go quickly, but some I will be storing in our basement/root cellar for the winter (onions and potatoes). Please feel free to contact throughout the winter for onions and potatoes. We have available: Mixed Greens De Padron Hot Chili Peppers Antohi Yellow Sweet Peppers Italian Frying Peppers (Carmens and Jimmy Nardellos) Sweet Bell Peppers Italian Eggplant Ping Tung Eggplant Small Hot Peppers (Hungarian Hot Wax, Jalapeno, Red Cayenne, Yellow Wenks, Small Pablanos) Tomatillos Turnips Kale Onions (Chipollinis, Yellow Storage, and 4 Bushels of Red Onions) Potatoes (La Ratte fingerlings, Kennebec, and Green Mountain) Herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, and Mint) Please let me know ahead of time, when you can stop by, so I will have the food ready for you and to make sure that I will be home. Thanks, Audrey Gerkin  DePadron Hot Chili Peppers Love this description of the De Padron Pepper from Kitchen Garden Seeds: This prized Spanish heirloom is setting the culinary world of tapas on fire. Often referred to as “Spanish Roulette”, one out of five peppers may be extremely hot. De Padrón yields thin-walled, conical 1” by 3” fruits with a normal Scoville heat index of 500 although the odd one will stun you with up to 25,000 heat units! The plants grow from 18” to 24” tall, yielding an abundant profusion of that mature from green hot chile peppers that mature to red. Normally picked when green, De Padrón is so popular that there is a whole festival held in its honor each year in Padrón, Spain. For your own tapas party, fry whole green De Padrón in olive oil until white blisters appear. Drain on paper towels and season with coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper. Holding the stem, eat whole with a cool beer! (OP.)  Italian Frying Peppers  Sweet Bell Peppers  Italian Eggplant  Ping Tung Eggplant Another great Kitchen Garden Seeds description: These attractive, slender rosy-mauve fruits grow on foot high, disease-resistant plants. Ping Tung is named for its native town in Taiwan. Harvest at 8” to 10”, when it is perfect for stir-fries and heavenly in Thai-style red curry. You’ll need red curry paste (available at Asian groceries or gourmet markets), a few perfect Ping Tung, a can of coconut milk, boneless chicken and cilantro to garnish. Don’t use alot of curry paste unless you like it HOT. Serve atop fragrant jasmine rice. (OP.) Watermelon Radishes 09/26/2011
 Watermelon Radish The Watermelon Radish is one of the super fun vegetables I looked forward to growing all season. This typically fall grown radish is not spicy, it has a mild sweet flavor and a surprising pink center. I found some great recipes to share with on the best ways to use it. Check out this website, TasteSpotting, for some extra fancy recipes or see below for an easy one that has been tested by my friend and recommends it. Watermelon Radish – Apple Salad over Baby GreensOriginal link Here: Get Well Grounded Ingredients:
Week 19 CSA Pick Up 09/22/2011
 There's only one more week left of shares and the fall vegetables are here. I'm so excited to be able to harvest the celery and lots more greens this week. Enjoy!  Pile of Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce  Celery that's been growing since February!  Salad Turnips and French Breakfast Radishes  Peppers  Chinese Cabbage, Fennel, and Tomatillos  All kinds of onions!  Chipollinis  There is so much food coming in on the farm right now. The shares are loaded, so make sure you bring lots of bags and maybe a helper to carry them. :)       Tomatillos, The Mexican Tomato 08/22/2011
 I love tomatillos. I planted extra this year, because I love them so much. They are so full of flavor and easy to use. Throw them into any tomato sauce for a richer flavor, and also any Mexican dish or chili. They are available for pick your own in the back field across from the hoop house. Below is my favorite recipe! Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Roasting the tomatillos first gives this salsa an irresistible depth of flavor and smooth texture. Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place in a single layer on the baking sheet: 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed Broil until darkened and softened on one side, about 4 minutes; turn the tomatillos over and broil on the other side 5-6 minutes more. Let cool completely. Place the roasted tomatillos (and any juice that has accumulated around them) in a blender or food processor along with: 3 fresh hot green chili peppers (such as serrano, or jalepeno), seeded and chopped 1 small clove garlic, minced (optional) Coarsely puree, leaving the mixture a little chunky. Remove to a medium bowl, and stir in: 1/4 cup water 1 small white onion, finely chopped, rinsed and drained 3 to 4 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro 1 tsp salt 3/4 tsp sugar To thin salsa to a medium consistency, add: Up to a 1/4 cup of water Let the salsa stand for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavors to develop. Compliments of Joy of Cooking cookbook Contributions From the Share Members 08/14/2011
 Picture of 1/2 of the Stuber's share this week and some pick your own! Beautiful!! Here are some recipe's given to me by the share members this week. I LOVE hearing about what is made with all the food and how it's shared. This first recipe is Zucchini Apple PIe. I have had a slice of this pie, and I can verify that it really does taste like apple pie!! Zucchini Apple Pie Toss together: 4 cups of sliced zucchini, cooked until tender crisp (big zucchini's work too) 2 Tbsp lemon juice dash of salt Mix in a Bowl: 1 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar dash of nutmeg 3 Tbsp flour Add the zucchini and mix well. It will be runny, but that's okay. Dump the filling into a 9-inch pie crust and dot with butter. Add the top crust and bake at 400 F, 40 minutes or until golden brown. Next is Mila's Gazpacho. She made this just so she could have a tomato and cucumber free zone in her house, or at least until the next share pick up. I was told she quadrupled this recipe for her family. Mila's Gazpacho 5 Tomatoes 1 Cucumber 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup vinegar ( I use rice vinegar, but other kinds will also work) 1 roasted bell pepper - red if possible (Roast pepper on gas stove or grill until skin is all black. Place in zip lock bag and sweat for 5 minutes. Remove backened skin by rubbing pepper in the bag. If a little skin is left on pepper, thats OK. Remove stem and seeds.) salt and pepper to tast 2 cloves of garlic Puree everything in a blender. Serve chilled. Top with croutons or toasted bread crumbs. Week 13 CSA Share 08/08/2011
 Tomatoes!!! It's week 13 on the farm, and the summer vegetables are coming in fast and furious. When I'm not harvesting, weeding or planting out the fall veggies, I spend my time preserving some of all this summer goodness.  Half of the stand seen here  Bread share from Life is Sweet  Zukes and Summer Squash  Still more cucumbers coming in  Extra Veggies for Sale 08/08/2011
 Pickpocket Farm has lots of vegetables for sale now. The onslaught of summer vegetables is definitely here. We still have pickling cucumbers, and slicing cucumbers. The tomatoes are just now coming in, and they look beautiful. Check out the pictures below to see what our family has done with some of the excess.  I finally got to make pickles for the family and they should last the year. We will have a supply of bread and butter, kosher dill, and spicy garlic dill. The fridge is filled with 6 jars (I mean 4 jars now) of refrigerator pickles.  Here's a couple of summer pizzas we made with our veggies. YUM! Into the oven they go! On the really hot days, you can just put your pizza stone on the grill and keep the heat outside.  Garlic scape pesto with a rainbow of beets, onions, and goat cheese  Tomato sauce leftover from last year with summer squash, gold medal tomato, onions and goat cheese Harvest Festival - SAVE THE DATE 08/01/2011
 Saturday October 8th is the date of Pickpocket Farm's Harvest Festival. Save the date!! We will have another great potluck, maybe some homemade brew, a bonfire, and live music. Don't miss it! | AuthorAudrey Gerkin, is a gardener gone wild, after teaching in special education and raising 3 beautiful girls, ages 5 - 10, she has found a new calling in farming. ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
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