Spring 2014

The kiwi berry field in February

Weather.  The great variable.

It is human nature to desire control.  Control over life, kids, home.  I just don't like the feeling of being out-of-control.  Sometimes my house is out of control. Laundry piles up, cereal is spilled all over the floor, couch cushions strewn across the living room from yesterday's fort.

And the weather.  I never have control over that.

This winter was intense, snow storms one right after the other.  Freezing temps day after day.

Weather.  It even has its own tv channel and dot com.  We love to study it, predict it, talk about it with friends and strangers. And rightfully so, but still we don't have control.  We are at its mercy.

We have methods and practices to lessen the effects of ill weather, row cover, greenhouses, irrigation, but we can only do so much.

All this to say: due to this springs cold weather the CSA start day is being pushed back 2 weeks.  The crops are in the field but they just aren't growing that quickly.  The cool daytime temperatures and colder night time temps just don't promote growth.

The fields are looking good, though. The transplants came out of the greenhouses looking good and we got them in the fields on time. Now we just have to wait for them to do their thing. Come on sunshine!

Planting dill

Kiwi berries

This has been an exciting week here at the farm. We picked and packed kiwi berries.

Four years ago we bought and planted vines. Since then we have been watering pruning fertilizing and waiting. Those years of work with little to no reward are starting to pay off. We finally have enough of a crop to include them in the CSA share, to sell retail at the two farmers market we participate in.

Kiwi Berries are a small variety of the kiwi fruit with an edible skin. They are best eaten when the skin is wrinkled and they yield to pressure.   Really, the softer the better. As they soften they get more  and more sweet. Leave at room temperature to ripen.

This upcoming week is the last pickup.

2013 week 14

Please excuse my absence from blogging. 

Three cheers for WATERMELON!  Hip Hip Hooray!  Watermelon you were worth the wait!

This week you will find black garlic in your share from Obis One, a farm in Pennsville.  To learn more about black garlic and for some recipes check out their website. Defintely have to try the Orzo, Cherry Tomatoe, Black Garlic Recipe.  Amazing!

Sweet corn harvest in morning light.

We are starting the downward slope of the season.  Time that was used for planting and prunning is now being used for tearing down and cleaning up. 


The crew is pulling up stakes and stacking them on the wagon for next year.



Phil is mowing the tomatoes with the bush hog.

On one hand we still have a long way to go. We have a tomato field and eggplant field that we haven't even started harvesting, ready in 2 weeks.  But on the other hand many fields are finished and need to be cleaed up.  Tomato field one and two just had the stakes pulled out and are being mowed up and plastic lifted, as we speak. 



Dreaming of the fall and PUMPKINS!


Eggplant Pasta Recipe

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  Eggplant breaded and fried is a perennial favorite and reliable stand by, but I rarely have the patience and time for that.  Here is a simple, quick, delicious weeknight dinner that will have you appreciating eggplant in an all new way. 
  
  Here we go.
  
  

  

   Slice
  

  

   Then, dice your eggplant.
  

  

   Chop an onion and garlic clove.
  

  

   Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the eggplant, onion, and garlic. You're going to want to cook it until the eggplant gets that ugly squooshy look to it and the other veggies are softened.
  

  

   Dice 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes.
  

  

   Add the tomatoes to the pan and a some fresh chopped basil.
  

  

   Simmer on low while the pasta cooks.
  

  

  
  Add the eggplant sauce to the pasta and fold in until the noodles are coated.
   
  

  

  For added flavor, load this sucka up with parmesan cheese.
  
  Ingredients
  1 box of pasta (I used ziti this time, I have also used spaghetti, anything will work)
  1 medium eggplant, diced into small cubes
  1 small red onion, chopped fine
  1 clove garlic, minced
  2-3 cups diced tomatoes 
  Fresh Basil
  Parmeggiano Reggiano, grated
  Olive oil
  Salt and Pepper, to taste
  
  Sauce:
  1. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the eggplant, onion, and garlic. You're going to want to cook it until the eggplant gets that ugly squooshy look to it and the other veggies are softened.
  2. Add more olive oil and turn the heat up to medium high until the eggplant gets browned, about 5-7 more minutes.
  3. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat back down to simmer while the pasta cooks (6-8 minutes)
  Pasta:
  1. Toss the pasta in boiling salted water for until al dente. Drain in a colander and return the pasta to the pot.
  2. Add the eggplant sauce to the pasta and fold in until the noodles are coated.
  3. For added flavor, load this sucka up with parmesan cheese and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil.

2013 week 10

Full Share

This weeks share:

Corn-- It's back in the share.  The ears are shorter than normal, the plant was under a lot of stress during an important part of the growth cycle, in turn making shorter ears of corn.  The corn is still good and sweet, just small in stature.

Cantaloupe Debut! Eric an I ate an entire cantaloupe yesterday.  Half for lunch, half for bedtime snack.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!  The grape tomatoes are ready for you-pick in the tunnel! 

Enjoy.

2013 week 9

Full Share:Eggplant, blueberries, green bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash. (missing from the pic: green beans)

This weeks share introduces eggplant and peppers and tomatoes!

The corn is missing from the share this week.  

Lingering effects of the rain.  Some crops suffered from disease while others, like this corn, are missing the water-soluble nutrients that were washed through the soil. 

In the end, the watermelon field was not salvageable.  Pop-Pop mowed up the field with the bush hog.  Sad. Very Sad.  There will be no Buzby watermelon this July. 

This is our second watermelon field.  Hope for the future, middle of August future.

The sea of rotten cantaloupes in the sort-out pile.  While it is disheartening to see these lopes go to waste.  Our field pulled through it and we are now picking a few melons and each day looks better.

  Our pepper field is suffering from Phytophthora.  We haven't had substantial phytophthora losses in over a decade.  Proudly attributing this success to proper soil husbandry which enable our soils to absorb heavy rain with puddles rarely forming.  However, our soils were no match for the intense rain we had this June.  Many of these peppers had water over the raised beds, which is simply a recipe for disaster.  It has been a humbling experience.

 Phytophthora is a devastating disease that spreads like wild fire.  We are doing what we can to prevent the spread.  Removing diseased plants and cutting the raised bed to prevent it from traveling through the soil.  We are now engaged in a race against time to glean what we can while it lives.

Some good news the eggplant field looks great!

Other good news, its heirloom tomato time.  Yum-O!

Good thing we are busy packing a boat load of tomatoes.  No time to dwell on these trials.

^"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

2013 week 8

This weeks share

Just normal kinda produce this week.  Nothing too bizzare that requires an explanation.

The news of the week.

Sunday, June 30 around 12:30 we received 3.7 inches of rain in one hour.

It was a sight to see.

And then Monday was .5 inch more.

Rain.  Rain.  Rain.

For a total 13.5 inches in the last 30 days.

We are all a getting a little beat down and discouraged.  It's hard to watch the crops that you have cared for and nurtured get damaged so harshly.

 Today wagon load after wagon load of rotten melons were carted out of the field.  It was just plain sad.  The melons just don't like all this rain but the fungus and molds love it.

But do you know the cool thing about this photo-- it shows our resilient spirit.   My husband and father-in-law are ever the optimists.  Sending the crew out there to pick up all the rotting, foul smelling melons and getting them out of the field. Investing more work in a what some might say is a lost cause. For the chance, the just maybe, that something good can still come from this field.

We could throw in the towel and give up on the melon field. Leave these rotting corpses in the field. Throw our hands up in defeat.

But something in us keeps trying, keeps hoping, keeps working. Maybe we are hard-headed (the Buzby's are known for their hard-headedness).

Yes, we are saddened by the rain, but the great thing about farmers is we love hard work.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  We are putting our heads down and working hard.  Working hard to pull out of this mess.

When the negative thoughts are overwhelming, keep your hands busy and keep your mind focused on the positive.

As Grandmom Daily used to sing in the packing house. . . "Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative"

Matthew 6 (NIV)

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.