Summer 2021 CSA- Week 13

Full Share: Lettuce Mix, Yaya Carrots, Dragon Beans, 2 Summer Squash, 2 Garlic, Snow Leopard Melon, Tomatillo, Jalapeño, 2 Bell Pepper, Marjoram (Oregano late in week)

1/2 Share: Lettuce Mix, Yaya Carrots, Dragon Beans, 1 Summer Squash, 1 Garlic, Snow Leopard Melon, 2 Corn, Heirloom Tomato

Howdy folks! Matt’s random notes newsletter: I’m sure some of you have missed it! For the first time this summer, I’ve found myself comfortable on a Monday morning with the amount of produce we have to harvest, wash, and pack balanced out with the number of farmhands we’ve got to do it with. It’s almost relaxing, and it sure feels good to have help! We’ve had 4 new hires over the last week! 2021 has brought a first for us, I’m sure just like many small businesses in the Gallatin Valley, of not enough help. We’ve always tried to have just enough folks around to pick and pack, but this year, we’ve been down to about 75% of our needs, somedays sadly less. That has meant that Jacy and I are harvesting instead of planning and planting, washing instead of plowing and seeding, etc… and the end result is for us all to have a lot more weeds and a bit less produce than we’re accustomed to this time of the year. This week brings the last of lettuce mix for the year, and we have had no arugula, few radishes and not much kale, no hakureis, and fewer carrots than we’re accustomed to, though maybe after last year, that’s OK. The fall and winter is shaping up to be good though: For our last boxes of summer and our coming Winter CSA, we have a nice yields coming of winter squash, potatoes, beets, onion, cabbage, parsnip, and garlic along with the usual winter greenhouse harvest of kale, chard, spinach, and salad greens. Stay tuned in for the next season’s CSA opportunities in 2 weeks. By the way, the summer CSA goes through the week of September 28 - October 2! And in the meantime, shout out to all of our farm crew: Thank you for working hard all day in the smoke, working too late every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, hanging in there with us, and providing our farm supporters with fresh and clean veggies! It’s been a hard summer.

Also, we’ve had to say farewell to Alley, our farmstand and newsletter gal. She was with us for a year and a half and helped us lead the market stand, with the flowers, and keep the seedling greenhouse humming at RCF. She is due in a couple of months and wanted to focus on her growing baby and becoming a mom! Our best wishes for Alley and her baby girl when she comes!

About the produce: Yaya carrots are a main season blunt tipped Nantes carrot with excellent flavor. Our cold nights (even a few nips on the winter squash and bean tops) and clay soils here along Rocky Creek do encourage the higher production of sugars in our root crops. Enjoy them raw like our kids always prefer or in slim batons in a stir fry as we did last night with caulini and bell peppers from the field and elk from last fall’s hunt. You’ve seen our Dragon Beans before, and they are a bright spot in our production this year. I’m not sure why we’ve had a terrific yield of them, but perhaps a good crop rotation: The soil where they were planted last very early June has never grown beans until this year. These productive heirloom Romano beans from Italy have such great flavor that sadly does not match their appearance after steaming or blanching and sautéing. They are not canners or picklers; stick to the green beans for that. You’ll have those again next week.

Some of you may be happy to know that our fantastic summer squash patch is on the wane. THIS MAY BE THE LAST WEEK OF SUMMER SQUASH!! My favorite way to use up a lot of summer squash is to slice into 1/4” planks, marinate with balsamic, olive oil, salt, and peppers and grill until they start to brown, turning twice on each side. They shrink up a lot and are a favorite summer accompaniment. While you’ve got the grill going, a simple way to process the tomatillos that is sure to please is to char them over a very hot grill, blister some bell and or jalapeño peppers along side, and slice onion into slabs and char those too. Add some salt and lime, pules in a food processor, and a fresh salsa verde is perfect for chips and dip or in enchiladas. Char is key for this. 50% tomatillos, 25% pepper, 25% onion or some approximation of that. Minced garlic if you wish. Maybe sprinkle some marjoram or oregano on top! It cans well in a water bath if you’re so inclined.

The snow leopard melon is becoming a reliable producer in our field. It is a short day honeydew type melon, maybe 70 days, and though it wasn’t necessary this year, it is a reliable producer in areas with cold nights. It’s crisp and lightly sweet. Pickle it like melon rinds or eat it fresh!

If you need any extras for canning etc, stop by the farm stand, open Tuesday 9-6pm, Thursdays and Saturdays 9am to 1pm. Text or email me for large amounts. We have lots of pickling cucumbers and basil right now. Basil goes away with nights into the upper 30’s. Cucumbers won’t be far behind.

And finally, we are butchering a batch of Red Ranger Chickens tomorrow, Wednesday the 1st and Thursday the 2nd, at the farm. Stop by for the freshest and tastiest chicken available. $6/#. Red Rangers are bred for superior flavor, hardiness on the range, and reasonable growth rates, still twice the commercial rate, and I won’t go off on a tangent on industrial chicken today. I usually wet brine them overnight with salt, thyme, rosemary, brown sugar, water, and lemon or dry brine them with a thick pack of salt, spices and herbs wrapped tightly in Saran Wrap for a few days, and then proceed to skewer, roast, or fry. The carcass makes the very best broth. We bring them on as day old chicks from Freedom Ranger Hatchery, start them water first and then feed chick starter with probiotics, raise them in the protection of a greenhouse for 5 weeks, and when they are feathered out, transfer the young birds to a Salatin Pen in the field across the street to be moved every day and finished on grass and grain. The grain comes from Glen Visser, a farmer in Harrison, and consists of field peas, wheat, and barley, ground and mixed with fish meal and organic Ferticell Poultry Grower Minerals. They are raised as ethically as is possible. Their manure fertilizes our next year’s crops. The grain comes from our foodshed. This is where your protein can come from, and unless the fox gets in, they only have one bad day. Tomorrow.

~Matt