2016 Harvest 17

As summer slowly transitions into fall so do the contents of your boxes. We've got tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers overlapping with broccoli, carrots and potatoes. Daikon radishes have been unearthed and are particularly delicious when paired with shredded carrots and tossed in a peanut sauce (see recipe suggestion below). The mustard greens are lovely this week and taste great raw, sautéd, steamed or turned into pesto (think burgers or sandwiches!) The kale is more tender this time of the year than in the heat of the summer and the carrots are sweet and delicious. The potatoes are wonderful when steamed with kohlrabi and turned into a mash (think fancier mashed potatoes!) Then top that tasty mash with sautéd kohlrabi greens just because hey--it'll be amazing! All in all, it's a lovely time of the year for farm fresh eats!

This coming week we are tilling under the corn (tear) and finishing our winter squash harvest. More potatoes will get dug up and then it's time to till under the upper section of the field in preparation for the winter cover crop. The weeds still continue to grow in our fall brassicas, lettuces, spinach, carrots and beets so that's keeping us on our toes and quite busy. With all that being said, we've finally reached the point in the season where we see light at the end of the tunnel. We have a lot of big projects this fall that include building a new (much larger) greenhouse that will allow us to get an even earlier start on spring planting; a pump for our irrigation water (the water pressure is really low); and we'll be fixing up our chicken coop for the girls in preparation for the colder months ahead and rotating it to another area of the farm so the girls can continue to poop away and help improve our soil fertility. 

Anyhow, aside from all the projects and work we continue to love settling into the evening with tasty meals with the seasonal produce and we hope you all enjoy the contents of your boxes this week. 

Cheers to the harvest!

Your farmers,
T & A

Harvest 17

  1. Potatoes--Dark Red Norland
  2. Kohlrabi
  3. Mustard Greens and Mizuna
  4. Tomatoes
  5. Cucumber
  6. Kale
  7. Carrots
  8. Daikon Radishes
  9. Garlic
  10. Broccoli
  11. Bell Pepper

Recipe Suggestions

Braised Mustard Greens with Caramelized Sesame Chickpeas 

Braised Mustard Greens with Caramelized Sesame Chickpeas 

 

 

 

2016 Harvest 16

It may be September but we've still got a few more weeks of summer bounty coming at ya! It's the best time of the year here at Tumbleweed Farm (at least for eating!) and while there is still a seemingly endless list of things to get done before fall truly arrives we're doing our best to try to step back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

The days are growing shorter at a rapid pace which is both wonderful and stressful at the same time. We're sleeping in a little later with the delayed sunrise but with shorter days comes the urgency to get things done at a total sprint. We've got a lot of winter squash that still needs to get harvested, plenty of potatoes that are ready to dig up, fall crops that need weeding and watering, and it's the time in the year where compost needs spreading, cover crops need seeding and the barn needs to be cleared out so our winter squash can all cure before being packed up and sent out to all of you! It's busy, stressful and amazing all at the same time. 

This is your last week with sweet corn so enjoy it while you can! We've loved the corn this season and have been eating it straight up without even cooking it (it's been that good!). The cherry tomatoes are still abundant this week but we're noticing them starting to slow down a bit. Luckily, the full size heirlooms are still cranking! We also harvested some hot peppers--Jalapeños and Serranos. Both of those peppers we've been enjoying on the grill and then adding them to salsas and tomato sauce. The Anaheim peppers (the larger pale green ones) aren't spicy at all but hold just a hint of heat. They too are wonderful when tossed onto the grill. Everyone received 1 sweet green bell pepper which we've been equally enjoying as a vehicle to eat all the sauces and dips we've been whipping up!

This week we also bunched the arugula instead of bagging it (it got a little too weedy so bunching it made the harvest much easier!) We harvest it with the roots on when we bunch it because it helps the greens stay fresh longer. With that being said, make sure to place the bunched arugula in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for storage so it doesn't go limp.

Anyhow, we hope you all enjoy this cooler weather. It's the perfect temperature for cooking at home and we hope that the meals you whip up with your veggies this week are killer! Cheers to September everyone!

Your farmers,
T & A

Harvest 16

  1. Arugula (store the bunches in a plastic bag in the fridge)
  2. Bell pepper
  3. Hot peppers--Jalapeños, Serranos and Anaheims
  4. Sweet Corn
  5. Cherry Tomatoes
  6. Cucumbers-- 1 slicer and 1 secialty variety (Diva or Striped Armenian)
  7. Full size tomatoes
  8. Basil
  9. Scallions
  10. Kohlrabi
  11. Fennel
  12. Garlic-- This week's variety is Xian
  13. Swiss Chard

Recipe Suggestions 

 Bacon & Blue Cheese Swiss Chard Salad (for a veggie version try substituting toasted sunflower seeds sprinkled in smoked paprika and sea salt instead of the bacon)

 Bacon & Blue Cheese Swiss Chard Salad (for a veggie version try substituting toasted sunflower seeds sprinkled in smoked paprika and sea salt instead of the bacon)

 

 

 

 

2016 Harvest 15

Howdy everyone and welcome to week 15 of your CSA!!! Before we get to the contents of your boxes we wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to the farm on Sunday for the 3rd annual Rock the Harvest! It was the best turn out we've had and we were thrilled to see so many of your lovely faces. It's aways awesome when CSA members get to meet each other and when all of our local supporters get to cross paths with the Portland crew. It fills our hearts with so much joy and we are so damn grateful for all of you! Thanks for being a part of our farm family, cooking our recipes and for being the raddest group of CSA members we could ask for. You all rule! 

Anyhow, this week we are thrilled to include juicy watermelons in your boxes. They've been a hit at the farmers market and we've been loving how sweet and flavorful they've been this season. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have been. The corn continues to crank--we're now picking from the third planting with one more planting to go so fingers crossed for at least 1 more week of fresh sweet corn.  Beets are making a comeback this week and they are absolutely delicious. We grew celery this season for the first time and it did only ok...it's delicious but it's really small and we were hoping for larger stalks. We bunched them for you and encourage you to give 'em a try. The leaves are really flavorful and the stalks are crunchy (albeit small). Next season we'll hit them with more compost and fertilizer which will hopefully help them size up. Anyhow, let us know what you think!

This week the temperatures are cooling WAY down and we could not be more pumped. It's a perfect excuse to crank up the oven and do some cooking! We hope you enjoy the harvest this week. Cheers!

Your farmers,
T & A

Harvest 15

  1. Cherry tomatoes
  2. Full size tomatoes
  3. Celery
  4. Beans
  5. Beets
  6. Kale
  7. Summer Squash/Zucchini
  8. Corn
  9. Watermelon (yellow and red flesh varieties)
  10. Garlic
  11. Bell peppers
  12. Cucumbers

Recipe Suggestions