Thank you to all who attended the First Annual Fresh Earth Farms Fall Film Fest and potato digging extravaganza. Of course it had to occur on the hottest day of the year. How hot was it? It was so hot we were digging baked potatoes! Attending a potluck dinner of CSA members is always a treat. They really know how to cook. The food that people brought was delicious. The film fest didn’t get underway until about 8:00 due to the pesky sun taking its sweet time setting but after a short burst of fireworks we were off and running. A lot of fun and interesting films, mostly from the internet. Here is the film I made for the film fest. Check it out on the farm’s YouTube channel. And feel free to share with others who may find it interesting. Given the lateness of the sunset and the super-hot temps we are thinking the next film fest will be the First Annual Fresh Earth Farms Winter Film Fest in January. We figured we could get it started by 4:30 and be done by 6. And a bonfire would be far more welcome. Who’s in?
But before we start working on the winter film fest though, we have to get past our next event, our annual Garlic Planting Gala. This year we have it scheduled for October 12 at 2:00. Following the planting of the garlic we will have another delicious potluck dinner with food our farm members create. Did I mention how tasty the food was this past weekend? Last season I made a soup inside a giant Hubbard squash. I’m not sure how to top that. The garlic planting is a great time with activities that involve bending and stooping and other activities that don’t involve bending and stooping. So if you can’t bend or stoop you can still participate. Kids are welcome to attend as well! Please let me know if you will be joining us.
We are selling locally-grown, certified organic plums and pears from Elm Tree Farms in Afton. Can’t get much more local than this. This week we have Patten pears and Superior plums. The pears are delicious and come in a two pound bag for $8. The plums are in either a 1# box for $4 or a 2.5# bag for $8. We will have them for sale in the tent or we can send them out if people at drop sites would like to order some. Soon we will have apples as well.
We have farm fresh eggs from our chickens. These are truly free-ranging chickens who eat a LOT of tomatoes this time of year. Talk about orange yolks! We sell them for $5 per dozen. Ask for them when you pick up in the tent. We can also deliver these to drop sites.
We have tomatoes for canning. A half bushel box for $18. Give us a few days notice if you would like some (either pick-up in the tent or delivered).
How about some basil to go with the tomatoes? One pound bags for $10. One pound is about a t-shirt bag full. Great for making pesto to store in the freezer for a quick winter meal.
We have found someone to help us out for the last couple of months. One of our members, Aaron, has stepped up. He is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. He’ll be working on our drone-enabled irrigation project which hit a bit of a roadblock these last few years. He’ll also help out with the harvesting of the produce. If anyone is looking for some Aerospace Engineering help let me know and I will get you in contact with Aaron, as long as you promise not to hire him before the end of the season (actually you can just let me know so I can start looking for another replacement).
No FruitShare, EggShare, MeatShare, ShroomShare or SalmonShare this week. CoffeeShare should be here on the 14th. We are hoping the flowers for FlowerShare recover from the dry, hot days. If they do we will start making bouquets again.
We still have WinterStorageShares available. Full shares are $95. Half shares are $50. See our web site for details.
Speaking of hot dry days, the lack of rain is dramatically impacting negatively the popcorn and ornamental corn. The ears are not very big and may not have any kernels. I don’t have any confidence they will produce anything. Hopefully Aaron’s drone-enabled irrigation system will be successful for next season.
What will we have this week? New this week is edamame. Edamame are edible soybeans that are harvested before they become starchy. It is frequently found in Japanese restaurants as an appetizer. Fresh edamame is a wonderful treat that is around for only a short time. The harvest window for edamame is only about ten days in the fall. We have a lot of harvesting to do to get all of them in within these ten days. If you have some spare time and want to sit around and pick soybeans please feel free to stop by and lend a hand. The conversation is always entertaining — and free!
To cook edamame simply boil in salted water for 4-5 minutes. To eat them squeeze them out of the pod directly into your mouth. Fun and flavorful!
What else will we have this week? Also new this week is salad mix. We have a spicy salad mix and a lettuce salad mix. Depending on how they are doing we may keep them separate or combine them into one spicy, lettucy salad mix.
Anything else we will have this week? Also new this week is garlic. The garlic is a bit on the small side. I am blaming the weather for this – late spring, early flooding followed by hot and dry. But it still tastes great – far better than store bought garlic.
Anything else? We will have many of the usual things like tomatoes (maybe fewer than last week, maybe not), potatoes, carrots, eggplants, peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, watermelons, some cauliflower, some broccoli, maybe kale, maybe chard, maybe beets, maybe cabbage and maybe some other stuff I am forgetting.
I think that is all for now. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or job offers for Aaron.