High Farming

January Farmers Market in Manhattan

2012-01-11T23:58:00.000-06:00

On January 7th we had our second winter market of the season. It was another great success, in my opinion. It was so nice to see so many people out supporting the local farmers.

I really look forward to our February and March Markets too!

Here is what our table looked like. I didn't get too many pictures, but I did get these.

Here it is from the other end.

This is what it looked like in December. The only difference is the tomatoes!

Lettuce: November 12 to December 15th

2011-12-15T23:32:00.002-06:00

I transplanted this bed of greens on November 12th. I made a short video of the transplanting.

Well fast forward 33 days and here is how things are looking. I am really impressed with the growth. This is the latest I have transplanted stuff. I am going to be direct seeding some more salad mix this week. I hope it will germinate and be ready by the end of February/March.

Winter Density

Black Seeded Simpson

Red Sails

Red Oakleaf

Green Oakleaf

Tatsoi

First Winter Market in Manhattan, December 3rd

2011-12-08T21:51:00.001-06:00

Our first winter market was on December 3rd. It was a successful day. We need to build this market. I took alot of stuff and brought home a bunch. Way over picked, but you never know.

Jay

Hearty Butternut Soup

2011-11-20T21:01:00.002-06:00

Thank you to Linda for this post!

With a few hundred pounds of squash in our basement, we have tried many variations of butternut soup, many of which got poured down the drain. The taste just wasn't there or the texture was icky, to use the girls' words. Today, I finally found a variation we all liked.

Hearty Butternut Soup

2-3 pounds butternut squash
2 small onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon majoram
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth

Prepare butternut squash ahead of time by baking for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool. Then, peel and dice into chunks.
In a large saucepan, saute onions, carrots, and garlic in butter until onions are translucent.
Add flour, majoram, salt and pepper. Stir on medium-high heat for one minute.
Add milk, stirring constantly.
Stir in cubed, peeled squash.
Stir in chicken broth. Reduce heat to simmer.
Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Transplanting Lettuce

2011-11-12T22:55:00.003-06:00

We finished up transplanting some lettuce and Tatsoi today. I have learned that transplanting lettuce is an easy way to grow lettuce.

Enjoy!

Jay

Last Farmers Market

2011-11-02T20:02:00.001-05:00

I almost never get a chance to take pictures of our market stand in the summer. We are usually sooo busy, we are just lucky to get the produce on the table.

Opposite direction

Another Market

Here are the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Salad Bar

2011-10-28T00:12:00.000-05:00

Anyone want a salad?

The whole big building

Lettuce Bed

Black Seeded Simpson

Red Sails

Green Oakleaf

Red Oakleaf

Winter Density Romaine

Rouge D'Hiver

Jericho Romaine

Winterbor Kale

Red Russian Kale

Bed of Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy, Kale, Romaine

Napa Cabbage

Red Cabbage

Spinach

Fall/Winter Season is here

2011-10-24T18:52:00.002-05:00

The fall and winter growing season is here. We have had our first freeze. Usually we slide into a freeze, this year we jumped in with two feet! We had a low of 22-23 degrees. All the warm season stuff is gone outside. The turnips, radishes, leeks and carrots are just fine.

We were able to save the late tomatoes by running a heater on them for two nights. We did have some damage, but they are still looking good.

Here are some pictures of our high tunnels this time of year.

Big Tunnel with carrots, spinach, Kale, green onions, lettuce, bok choy, napa cabbage, arugula and swiss chard.

Another tunnel with Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chard and Bok Choy

Here is our other building with Spinach, turnips, and radishes

Finally, here is a poor picture of our Late tomatoes.

I hope we can keep them going until Thanksgiving.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon

2011-09-27T19:08:00.003-05:00

If you are looking for a new way to prepare Butternut squash that the whole family will love, here is a real winner. We cooked the butternut in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, to speed up the cooking. Then we finished it off in the oven. We didn't have the cheese to put on the top, but it still was awesome. Oh, yea the picture was the last half of the pan before we polished it off.

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
Cooking spray
6 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices (raw)
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
8 ounces uncooked mini penne (tube-shaped pasta)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.
Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and pepper. Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Increase oven temperature to 450°.
Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 1/2 teaspoons drippings in pan; crumble bacon. Increase heat to medium-high. Add shallots to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and shallots; set aside.
Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.
Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add provolone, stirring until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; top with squash mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.

Piotique Tomatoes

2011-09-25T00:04:00.003-05:00

This weekend was the annual festival in Clay Center called Piotique (the blending of Pioneers and Antiques, just FYI). Back in early May, yes May. I decided that I want to plant a late planting of tomatoes and I want to have them for Mid-September until November. Being I was short on seed, I decided to purchase more of the selected variety.

Dear Jay Sleichter
Thank you for your order!

Your order will be sent after credit card approval. For seed orders only, we send by U.S. Postal Service, so there will be no tracking number assigned. Expect 7 to 10 days for delivery time.
_______________________________________
Customer/Shopper ID: 235544
Date and Time: Mon May 16 12:32:21 2011
_______________________________________

Item: Details: Quantity: Each: Item Total:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
#3992A Florida Large Quantity 3992A - 1 $ 28.30 $ 28.30
91 Hybrid Florida 91 Hybrid
1/32 Ounce $28.30
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sub Total: $ 28.30
Shipping Total: (US & Possessions - First Class) $ 5.25
Grand Total: $ 33.55 PAID

And with this, my plans were put in place. Keep in mind, we had a light frost on May 15th and I was talking about producing tomatoes up to the first frost/freeze in the Fall.

Well received my seeds and I got them going. Had a problem with germination. I started them over again, lost 10-14 days doing this.

Despite one of the hottest summers on record, I went ahead moved my seedlings outside to the high tunnel to harden off. Then the heat really cranked up.

I finished building the new rails for my movable building and got it ready and moved it to its new home.

I proceeded to plant the tomatoes out on July 16th. About 10-14 days later than I had wanted.

Here they are after being planted. Sorry about the poor picture.

Here they are on August 12th, about 1 month after planting.

Here they are on August 28th.

Finally on September 16th, a full 60 days past the planting day and 120 days after ordering the seeds.

Well here we are on September 24th, I didn't get my tomatoes for Piotique, but I do have them turning.

Here are some other pictures from the 23rd of September.

So when you say, "Where are the tomatoes?" I can honestly say I have been working on in for the past 120 days or longer. Stuff just doesn't happen, everything has to have been planned and well thought out. I guess I should think harder.

More tomatoes, maybe next week!

Jay

Late Fall Tomatoes

2011-09-16T23:54:00.001-05:00

I decided early on this year that I was going to have tomatoes as long as possible. My tomatoes have great flavor and it seems that I can keep a strong demand all season. To me they taste like my tomatoes. I guess when you don't anyone else's tomatoes, it is really hard to compare.

I started seeds in late May/early June for this late project. I wanted to start them sooner, but I had to order the seeds.

I was aiming for planting them around July 4th. I had problems with germination and the heat was so bad, I didn't get them out until July 17th.

So here we sit, 60 days out. How are they doing? I think they are doing great. I haven't picked any, yet, but that day is coming. When it does, I hope people appreciate all the work it has taken to get them here.

Also these are in one of my movable tunnels. I added a third growing spot to them this year. So now each 512 square foot building will cover 2,048 feet in one year. I also have carrots growing outside. Once these tomatoes freeze, I will move the building over the carrots to protect them for the winter.

The carrots came up spotty. I wish they had germinated better, but when you are planting them and it is 95-105, what can you expect.

Carrots outside:

Outside picture of hoop building:

View of inside:

Florida 91's (majority)

Taxi (yellow, just a few)

Cherokee Purple (Just one row)

I am hoping I will get to pick them by the end of the month. I know I can keep them going until Thanksgiving, with minimal heat.

Sweet Potato Harvest

2011-09-02T21:26:00.002-05:00

Some pictures from tonight's Sweet Potatoes Harvest.

If you have never dug sweet potatoes, it is like opening a present. You never know what is inside.

This year we grew our Sweet Potatoes under black plastic landscape fabric.

Here is a picture of what they looked like before I started to dig them. This variety is Georgia Jet.

First we cut off the vines.

We dug 8 hills tonight. Here are 4 hills in this row.

Next we pull back the fabric and drip tape.

Now time for the digging. Sometimes it feels more like excavating!

Here is the haul from this hill.

I pulled back and took this picture. You can see a potato growing over and out of the next hill.

Repeat for the other hills, then you are all done.

How about this 80 pound harvest.

Only 3 more Varieties to go.

Sorry, No Jerry Lewis Telethon for Me

2011-08-30T00:13:00.002-05:00

I have so much to do. I usually consider Labor Day as a real LABOR WEEKEND. A three day weeding, mowing, planting and hoping marathon. I am really behind with lot's of it!

This weekend I am hoping I can get some of my broccoli and cauliflower transplanted. It should have been done 3 weeks ago, but the plants weren't ready and with triple digit heat, I couldn't make myself do it. SO, we will go with plan B. Transplant them inside one of the hoop buildings instead of outside. I hope it works.

I already have 1,100 square feet of carrots started. They aren't as thick as I would like, however the weeds are really trying to make a go of it. MUST WEED if I want anything.

The peppers are coming out way early. They were a complete bust. Between getting them in probably too early, aphid problem and then record heat. I wrote most of them off and gave up. I kept watering them, but weeding went to the way side. I am going to rip them out along with the weeds and get ready for spinach. Probably not plant it, but get it ready to go.

I have 1400-1500 plants started in the basement to go out, but not until it cools off some. Maybe next week.

However, I do have some fall projects taking off. I have a late fall planting of tomatoes going well. I hope to be picking a few by Sept 20-25th.

A fall planting of zucchini is going nuts. I was hoping to start harvesting it by September 15th. I started picking on the 28th of August, 50 pounds first picking. Exactly 30 days after planting the seeds. I am amazed what a hoop house can help you do!

I am trying out some new varieties of Tumbling Tomatoes in hanging baskets for next year. This was a last minute thing. Last minute being early July. They will be ready late October. I should be able to keep them going until mid November without much problem.

I have two 40 foot beds of Radishes and Turnips. The radishes are getting close, but they are a little spicy.

The Okra is going crazy. I am picking about 20 pounds each picking. I pick it every 2 days or 3 days a week.

Winter squash is going well. We have lots to pick, but the vines are starting to die. It has been dry and hot. It doesn't seem to matter how much water we put out, they are just slowing down.

We harvested these two little cuties this week. They aren't quite ready, but they are close. The one on the left is a Sweet Dumpling and the one on the right is Delictia.

This was from a few weeks ago.

The velvet leaf has started back, I am giving up on it and just focused on water and harvest.

Sweet potatoes are doing well. We have been digging them for two weeks now and they are selling great. We started to dig the Georgia Jets. They can get really big and they crack a lot, if not careful.

We started some spinach and lettuce outside. They are growing, but grasshoppers love spinach. They leave the lettuce alone for the most part. I am going to have to replant the spinach, but I knew that might happen. I didn't get it covered in time, oops!

Still need to get out, Napa Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Green Kale, Red Kale, Spinach, Green onions, Bok Choy, Flat leaf Parsly, Cilantro, Romaine lettuce, 7 other types of lettuce, Swiss Chard, Tatsoi, Radishes, Turnips and maybe some Arugula.

Here is to a busy labor day.

Winter Squash, Update

2011-08-14T21:17:00.002-05:00

Today I was able to get to Abilene and get some much needed weeding done. I use the term "Weeding" very lightly, more like thinning. I know there are going to be weeds, I am ok with this. I am just trying to reduce the number of weeds by 75% or more.

So, I thought I would share some pictures to tell the story.

BEFORE

AFTER a 4.5 hour weeding marathon.

AFTER on the other side

The squash is doing great. Lots of blooms and lots of squash are set on. Here are some pictures to give you an idea.

Acorn

Butternut

Spaghetti

Delictica

Sweet Dumpling

I picked one Acorn squash, just to see how it is doing. The rind is hard and can't be punctured. I think it could use another week or two, but we will see.

I hope to be picking the Spaghetti and Acorn by the end of August. The rest should be ready by mid to late September.

Thinking of Cooler Weather

2011-07-28T22:32:00.003-05:00

It is hard to think of cooler days and snow on the ground when it is 110 outside and rain hasn't fallen in weeks. Luckily, we have gotten some rain and I hope we will be able to follow that up with some cooler weather. But don't worry, cooler weather will get here. It always does.

What does that mean with our garden and high tunnels, it means it is time to start to transition to planting and starting seedlings. We started hundreds of Broccoli, Cauliflower, Napa Cabbage, Hanging basket tomatoes two weeks ago. This week we will be starting lettuce, cabbage, more Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy, Kale, and direct seeding green onions. This week we have put in the final planting of Zucchini and started 5 beds of carrots.

What will we have to offer this fall and winter. We are planning on having the following crops growing into this fall and winter.

Until it Freezes Outside:
Cucumbers, Okra, Zucchini, Green Beans, and Peppers.

Until Thanksgiving time (earlier or later depending on the weather)
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes, peppers, and Zucchini

Until Christmas:
Romaine, Rouge D'Hiver Red Romaine, Red and Green Salad Bowl Lettuce, Red Sails, Black-Seeded Simpson, Buttercrunch, and Winter Density, All-Star Salad Mix, Tatsoi, Space and Tyee Spinach, Rubicon Napa Cabbage, Green and Red Cabbage, Winterbor Kale, Red Russian Kale, Napoli and Amarillio Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Everbunching and Guardsman Green Onions, Lancelot Leeks, and Radishes.

Until we run out:
All lettuces, Carrots, Green Onions, Leeks and Spinach.

This year we also will be offering the following crops from storage:

Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti, Delicita and Sweet Dumpling Winter Squashes, Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Potatoes (maybe the heat has done some damage) Jams and Jellies, and Pork.

I hope it will be a productive fall. I know it is going to be challenging to get crops started, but I will pull out every trick in the book to make things work! I don't give up very easily and I always find a way to make things work. Sure there may be some late nights, early mornings and lots of weeds to pull but the best thing of all is to see the look on everyone's face when we deliver our orders and see the smiles of happy customer receiving the freshest, best tasting and healthiest food possible. It makes all the work worth while!

Stay Cool!

Moving on Down the Line

2011-07-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Today was moving day for M1. This year we added another growing location for our movable buildings. I finished the rails and slid the tunnel on down the hill. So far this year M1 has covered the home of Carrots (over wintered), Onions, Zucchini, now Tomatoes then Carrots to over winter.

More Round Zucchini

2011-07-13T22:58:00.000-05:00

There comes a point in August where the amount of zucchini produced is greater than the need. You know, the point when the kids have a "chuck the squash" competition? Well, we aren't there yet.

But, we are having fun playing with the different shaped zucchini. People ask me which type of zucchini I use the most, and the answer is always, "whatever is left after market." Lately, that has been the round zucchini. Despite their great taste and fun shape, and because the plants are very prolific right now, we come home with mostly eight-ball, one-ball, and cue-ball zucchini. I think customers are just too afraid to try something new, when the ol' standby zucchini is right there and just as delicious.

You can use round zucchini the same way you use the "normal" zucchini. Shred it and bake bread, muffins, or cookies. Slice it and fry with your favorite spices. Saute it with just about any meat and a tomato-based sauce. Grill it with a little olive oil and top with shredded cheese. You are only limited by your imagination, and maybe your family's taste buds.

For all those who are brave enough to try them but not brave enough to go forward without a map, here are a few recipes specifically for the round zucchini:

Provençal Stuffed Zucchini

Herbed-Stuffed Zucchini

Balsamic Stuffed Round Zucchini

Zucchini Rounds

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

And, Kalyn's Kitchen lists ten zucchini recipes. If that doesn't get your imagination cooking, nothing will.

Round Zucchini?!

2011-07-05T21:57:00.001-05:00

Jay doesn't like to get bored. So, instead of just planting "normal" vegetables, he seeks out strange shapes and colors of typical vegetables. That's how we end up with purple and pink potatoes; purple, orange and yellow tomatoes; and zucchini of every shape and size.

One zucchini that many customers have asked about this year is the round ones. Eight ball, cue ball, and one ball zucchini are all round zucchini, with the same great zucchini taste but with a fun round shape. I usually have multiple customers asking, "What do you do with those?!"

You can prepare the round zucchini in the same manner that you would prepare the long, cylinder zucchini. One of our favorites is grilling them, but saute is also tasty.

For the Fourth of July, we decided to get creative and make a new recipe to share with you all:

Zucchini-Tomato Napoleon

3 one-ball, cue-ball, or eight-ball zucchini
3 large tomatoes
1 package of fresh mozzarella cheese
3-4 leaves of fresh basil
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Slice the zucchini into 1/4" to 1/3" slices. Brush both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill on a preheated grill at medium heat for 4 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, wash the tomatoes and slice into 1/4" to 1/3" slices. Also slice the mozzarella into 1/4" slices. Dice the basil. (If using dried basil, mix 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil.)

Now it's time to assemble. On each plate, put down one slice of zucchini, then one slice of mozzarella, next one slice of tomato, and finally another slice of zucchini.

Sprinkle with basil and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Enjoy!

And, like most meals in my house, I like to re-purpose the leftovers. As an encore, I diced the leftover stacks and sauted them for a few minutes, until the cheese was melted. Then I stirred in some cooked angel hair pasta. Voila! Second meal with hardly any effort.

Before, During and Now Pictures

2011-06-30T16:13:00.005-05:00

It is 105 outside today, so I am being a good boy, I am working for a period of time, then coming inside and taking a break. I thought I would share some before, during and now pictures. There won't be an after, yet!

Hoop B, the big Tomato Building

Before

During

Now

Sweet potatoes
Before

Now

Cucumbers
Before

Now

Okra
Before

Now

More to come later!

New Winter Squash Patch

2011-06-23T20:31:00.002-05:00

What started on a hope and a pray, then frustration and concern, then disgust. Now it is starting to take shape.

I decided to grow winter squash for our online market and winter markets in the area. Along with this, the fall Farmers Market season. For the most part, I don't see many winter squash being grown and sold in this area. They take a long time to grow and take up a lot of space. I have the time, but not the space at home.

SO, the hope and pray come in here. I asked my parents if I could have a location to plant and grow these at their farm. I mentioned that I could probably use one of the old pig pens. Sure it had alot of weeds, a few trees and some other pig stuff still there. But unused dirt is what I was looking for. So I borrowed the tractor and mower and mowed off the entire hog lot. Cut down the bigger trees and I was started.

Next Dad brought up the 4640 John Deere and a Disc Chisel to break the ground. Enter the concern. It was a little wet, when we worked it, but it had to be done and there were chances for more rain. The rain didn't come so the next week I came down and I wanted to disc it. Frustration follows. While I only snagged the fence once, I ran the disc over the field several times. This did a good job of breaking up the soil and cutting up the grass, but the clods were huge. I worked it up too wet again. Don't I ever learn?

Well several days later, I want to start planting seed. Well I figured I would just do what I do at home, sure it would take a while, but I have time. Finally, enter disgust.

My tiller wouldn't break up these clods to save my life. It just would turn them over. So I did the only thing I knew would break up and pulverize the soil into a decent seed bed, rent a tractor and tiller. While it did a great job, it wasn't what I wanted 100%. It was much better than the disked ground, but still left a lot of room for improvement.

It was finally time to plant. Planting 1,400 row feet of squash wasn't as hard as I thought. It only took about 3 hours. I used the best system I had, my foot, a 1.5 inch PVC pipe, 4 feet long and a handful of seeds. Kick and jab the pipe in the dirt/clods drop a seed or two in the pipe, pull the pipe up and see if the seeds are under the surface. If not, kick some dirt on top of them. Then repeat 1,399 more times.

Then this story starts to take shape. A few days after I seeded the entire patch the best kind of rain happened. 1.5 inches fell nice and slow. It allowed for the clods to soak up some water and break down. It gave the seeds nice moisture to come up and it didn't wash anything away.

Next it was time to install the drip tape. I wanted to put the drip tape in the ground and plant the seeds beside the emitters. Well with the ground so cloddy, and time not on my side. I decided to plant, then put the drip tape down. Since I went with option 2, I had to "Pin" the tape down with wire hooks. If not, it would blow around. So that is what I did. I put the 6,000 foot roll of drip tape on my trusty yellow wagon and started pulling it down the rows of squash. When I reached the halfway point, I stopped, went back and pinned it down about every ten feet. Keep in mind nothing was coming up yet, I just had to look at where I thought I planted it and hope I was on the row. I did a pretty good job.

Now the squash are coming up and the drip is up and running. Then along come the weeds.

Since I have access to tractors and equipment, I am trying to add some mechanized tillage. So I pulled this old drag disc out of the trees.

It is 8 foot wide and has no hydraulics. Instead of a tractor I used my nephews 4-wheeler. It worked like a dream. I didn't get a before picture, but here is the after.

The only problem is I didn't get all the rows wide enough. Some were very close and I almost disced out a few plants.

Now it is time to hoe around all the plants and hope for nice weather.

South 4 rows,

North 4 rows,

Close Up pick

Cucumber Low Tunnels

2011-06-12T10:23:00.005-05:00

After seeing and learning about another method to raise cucumbers and other Cucurbits, without chemicals at the Great Plains Growers Conference, I thought I would give it a try. I am specifically growing cucumbers in this tunnel. I am trying to exclude squash bugs and more importantly the Cucumber Beetle. The reason for this is they transfer Bacterial Wilt.

Here is how we built this set up.

First we tilled the ground, made raised beds, buried the drip tape for irrigation and then covered the raised beds with plastic/fabric row cover. Then I filled in the middle with some old straw. Then we marked and cut holes every two feet. I was going to go every foot, but I didn't have enough plants to do that.

Then we placed the 6 foot 1/2 inch EMT hoops every 6 feet.

Then we planted.

I would have planted before I put the hoops on, but I didn't want to transplant them then come back after church and supper. The transplants were larger than I wanted.

Then we added the row cover. We buried all the sides. On the north end, we held it down with water filled two liter bottles. This way we can gain access, if we need to.

These rows are 45 feet long and I plan on leaving the cover on until time to harvest. When it is time to harvest, we will remove the row cover. The plants will be big enough to hold off any damage from the beetles.

I am doing another low tunnel next week with a different type of cucumbers.

Winter Squash, new location

2011-05-31T23:55:00.002-05:00

We are working on a large scale (well large for us) winter squash patch at my families farm. Today I was able to mow off the area and we used a disc chisel plow to break the ground up, for the first time.

With any luck, we will be able to hit it with a disc several times and then get started on direct seeding it. With any luck, by the end of next week it will be planted.

More picture to come.

Squash Blossom Time!

2011-05-28T19:45:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, we ate our first squash for the year, and it was delicious! To start squash season off right, Jay surprised me with squash blossoms this morning. And so, supper tonight featured fried squash blossoms.

For our squash blossoms, we use a basic tempura batter. Tempura batter is super-easy:

Beat one egg in a bowl.
Add 1 cup ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold water.
Add 1 cup sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

For the filling, I use a mixture of cheeses (for 12 blossoms):

1 1/2 oz cream cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
3 oz shredded cheese (I use Wiebe's Garden Vegetable Cheese, from our RVP)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk

Beat that together until smooth.

Now to prepare the squash blossoms. To be great, squash blossoms need to be picked first thing in the morning. Then, when you are ready to prepare them, remove the inner portion of the blossom and the spikes on the flower themselves. Rinse gently with cold water.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling in each blossom. Twirl the tips of the petals gently to make a pocket. Dredge through the tempura batter. Fry 4-5 minutes in a 1/4 inch of oil, preheated in a large skillet, turning halfway through. You want the blossoms to be golden and crispy.

It may seem like a lot of work, but it only takes about 20 minutes, start to finish. And, it they are so delicious, with the rich cheese filling and dainty batter shell. And what a great way to use a blossom!

Roasting Veggies

2011-05-17T22:36:00.015-05:00

This spring weather in Kansas has been hormonal, at best. It spiked to the high 90s for a few days, then dropped to the mid-30s, confusing both the cool and warm weather crops. On the bright side, this cool snap has made it more reasonable to fire up the oven. Thus, oven-roasted veggies.

We don't sell asparagus but I do have my little patch of 9 plants that provides just enough for our family. My new favorite way to prepare the asparagus is so, so simple.

Preheat the oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash the asparagus, and cut off any woody ends.
Place the asparagus whole into a 13x9 casserole dish or a baking sheet.
Drizzle olive oil lightly over the asparagus.
Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the asparagus (so bottom side is on top).
Bake another 7 to 10 minutes, until asparagus is crisp-tender.

Last weekend, I started experimenting with carrots, since our carrot crop this year is just coming on. Since I was already baking some asparagus, I made up this recipe:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash carrots and cut off the stems and the end of the root.
Cut wide carrots length-wise, so the carrots are all of equal thickness.
Add 4-5 tablespoons butter into a 13x9 casserole dish, and preheat in the oven until butter is melted.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon ground ginger over butter.
Add carrots to casserole dish, turning to coat.
Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the carrots.
Bake another 7-10 minutes, until carrots are crisp tender and starting to carmelize.

I bet I could do the same with all these radishes, but without the ginger. Any suggestions on what could spice up the roasted radishes?

Napa Cabbage

2011-05-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

(This is from The Wife, the one who's been up to her ears in nursing school. But now, I get to focus on my family, our garden, and YUM recipes!)

Last year, Jay introduced me to Napa Cabbage. I looked at the 3- and 4-pound cabbage heads he was bringing into the kitchen and I wondered how we would ever get through that much green. Then came Google. Since then, we've eaten probably 30 different variations on the Napa Cabbage salad.

The great thing about Napa Cabbage is that you can use it in so many ways. The leafy tops are dainty enough that they have the texture of lettuce but a more flavorful bite. The stems are more like a cabbage, great for cole slaw or kimchi. The hardest core can even be used like celery, which,in our house, means filled with peanut butter for a snack.

Our newest recipe is a spin on Paula Deen's Sweet and Spice Coleslaw. Our favorite part: this recipe is one more way to use our Jalapeno Jelly. The salad is best if made a day in advance, but an hour in the fridge would suffice if you are short on time.

Sweet and Sour Coleslaw

6 cups thinly sliced Napa Cabbage
2 apples, peeled, cored, and roughly diced
1/2 cup sugared walnuts
1/3 cup jalapeno pepper jelly
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
pinch pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine the jelly, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and cumin in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
In a separate bowl, stir the apples into the cabbage.
Pour the jelly mixture over the cabbage. Refrigerate overnight or at least one hour.
Just before serving, stir in the walnuts. Enjoy!

Ladybugs!

2011-04-19T23:10:00.002-05:00

We are always trying new approaches for controlling those less than desirable pests. This year I am going to try ladybugs. Last week I released several thousand ladybugs. I found a few aphids here and there and I didn't want them to damage our greens. I hope they decide I have a nice garden and start multiplying, but only time will tell.

We have been busy!

2011-04-13T23:32:00.001-05:00

I finally have some time to take a few pictures, We are really planting like crazy. It is time to move the movable buildings this weekend too!

Lettuce

Mid February planted carrots

Outside Carrots (just coming up)

Radish, Haikuri Turnips, Beets, Onions

Onions in Movable building

Broccoli and Cauliflower in movable building

Outside location, to be moved to this weekend

New plot, 16 by 160

New plot 12 by 100

Peppers will fill this building the first of the week

Late planted Leeks in new movable spot

Potatoes

Potatoes

Leeks and Potatoes

Onions

Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots

Potted tumbling toms, Romaine lettuce, Tomatoes

March 20th planted tomatoes, Bell peppers to be transplanted next week, radishes

More TOmatoes, onions, head lettuce

Cabbage on the outside, haikuri turnips, tomatoes, Napa Cabbage

I think that is about it! We still have 4 more spots to till and plant. Green beans, cucumber, zucchini, sweet potatoes and more.

Tomato and Garden update

2011-04-06T16:34:00.003-05:00

It appears that spring, may have sprung. However, I am keeping a watchful eye on the weather.

We finished planting the big tomatoes on Saturday. We had a little problem with some wind and row cover. It was blown over and broke off a few plants. Not worries, we will just replant.

We have many crops seeded or transplanted. Many more to come. On Tuesday, I started 300 zucchini and cucumber plants to put out in the movable buildings. We will get them out in about 10-14 days.

It is a busy time and we will start harvesting very soon too!

New Tomatoes, 2011

2011-03-28T00:18:00.002-05:00

Back on February 1st, I wrote down March 20th, "Plant out Tomatoes". Well if you do the math and look at the calendar, it is March 28th. The tomatoes have been planted for 8 days. When most are thinking about planting potatoes or even just tilling, I am busy planting a warm season crop. Growing with high tunnels takes a lot of work and willingness to "Roll the Dice" with Mother Nature.

I put out 1/3 of my tomatoes, about 70 plants on March 20th. Weird thing is, the first night they were planted I didn't even cover them, it was 83 degrees that day and the over night temperature was 63, great weather. Well today it 30 degrees over night and 43 during the day. However, my plants are growing just fine, with out any heat!

The are planted in the ground, covered with two layers of row cover and one layer of plastic. In addition, I have added a 2 liter bottle of water between every two plants. This bottle absorbs heat and then gives it off at night. I also have added a wireless thermometer that I can read from the house, just to keep an eye on the temperature. So far, I have been able to keep the temperature 15-20 degrees above the outside temperature.

This is what it looks like inside the high tunnel and under the low tunnel.

Potato Planters

2011-03-24T21:18:00.001-05:00

I am biased, but I think we have the cutest potato planters on the block. I am amazed at how quickly our two-year-old figured out what we were doing and how much she wanted to help. The rows get finished faster and with a lot more giggling when we are all out there, buckets in hand... even if it does mean Jay has to go back and thin the seed potatoes a bit before covering them up.

It's in the mail.....

2011-03-07T21:06:00.007-06:00

Sure, we have all heard that one before, usually when it is a bill collector calling for that bill that you forgot to pay!

However, to me it is a fun little game I like to play. Using the tracking numbers to track your shipment of gardening supplies. It always amazes me at how technologically advanced UPS and FedEx is.

So my onions and potatoes are "In the Mail"!

Here are my onions from Texas. Delivery on March 9th.

My Potatoes from Colorado, I guess the shipping label got printed, not shipped yet.

Getting Closer to being finished........

2011-02-20T22:38:00.002-06:00

Another busy weekend and we are almost finished with the new high tunnel. This weekend we got the four big 8 foot by 8 foot pull down doors finished and the two walk in doors. We added the side strings and trimmed the extra plastic on the endwalls.

Next we started taking the inner tunnel down. Then folded up the plastic and added the center purlin.

We have germination!

2011-02-17T21:46:00.002-06:00

It is hard to believe, but on February 11th, I started seeds in the high tunnel for this years early harvest. The morning of the 11th it was -11. I planted that evening. Fast forward less than one week and they are coming up!

These little Haikuri Turnips sure will be tasty come Mid to late March!

The difference in a Weeks time

2011-02-16T20:48:00.002-06:00

One week ago, on a Thursday morning, it was -11 below zero. Soil temps hanging on in the low 40's. Fastforward one week, high of 67 and the soil temps are in the low 60's. Last Thursday I planted 1.5 beds of seeds. Most of these are slow to germinate, but with this added early heat, I am sure they will be coming up soon.

Time will tell. Until then, we can dream about spring and summer.

Here is one of my most favorite harvest pictures.

The plastic it ON!

2011-02-14T00:40:00.002-06:00

Thank you to the many family and friends who came over, and braved the mud and muck, to help put the plastic up on the new high tunnel. I couldn't have done it with out you all. Thank you! You will be finding some "Fruits" of you labor in the near future!

All went as planned, including the wind. It would blow, then die down, blow, then die down. As we were carrying the plastic to the side wall, the wind was blowing. 2 minutes later it died. It was calm the whole time we were working on the building. It was much easier because of that!

More pictures to come.

Endwalls almost done

2011-02-07T19:40:00.002-06:00

I worked most of Saturday to complete the endwalls. I had to add the 2 bv 6's above the two 8 foot doors on both ends. Then add extra framing for the windows above each walk through door. I still need to complete the 8 foot doors. They are going to be plastic, stretched across opening. Then I am going to sandwich the plastic between two furring strips. Once this is done, I will mount a guide on each side so we can pull the door down to vent. The door will have pins in it to hold the plastic up. My hope is that I will be able to vent the heat out and not have cold air pouring in on the tomatoes.

In my mind it works great, in real life is another story.

Progress!

2011-01-30T23:21:00.003-06:00

I spend most of the day on Saturday and Sunday getting the endwalls up on the new hoop building. It wasn't that hard to do. Dig a hole in the ground, set the post, fill it back in. Level the 2 by 4, attach a bracket at the top (13 feet, 4 inches in the air) screw it in. Move on to the next post. The problem arose because the north end of the tunnel is in the shade. It is January and the ground is frozen! It makes it hard to put in posts. So I had to chip a foot of frozen dirt before I could dig. On the south side, the sun side. It wasn't frozen, digging post holes was easy.

Along the way the 2 by 6 that goes along the edge of the hoop had to be attached. All of these pieces were marked when I took them down and when I put them back up, I was matching cut nails and nail holes. I guess I did a good job!

We still need to add some bracing and blocking between the posts, frame in for the doors and make the doors. Finally, we will add the plastic to the endwalls. Once the plastic is on the endwalls, we will be ready to pull the plastic over the whole building. Once that is done, we will take the smaller hoop building down (in the warm, wind free comfort of the bigger hoop building and reconstruct it at a new location.

All in time, well before planting time that is!

High tunnel when I bought it.

Tunnel with Ends out

Tunnel constructed one hour west of it previous location

Tunnel with endwalls reinstalled

Just a different angle

New home for the small inside hoop

Bye, Bye Napa Cabbage

2011-01-28T20:45:00.000-06:00

Today I took out the rest of our fall planted Napa Cabbage. They survived the long winter and were starting to show signs of new growth, but we are trying to get the building ready to replant and didn't want to leave any old crops to provide a hiding place for bugs, so out they came. All isn't lost, instead of 3.0-3.5 pound heads, they are these little, cute 1.25 pound heads. Great for a fresh winter salad.

We are planting more this weekend and hopefully we will start to harvest in April, May and June.

Napa cabbage is a sweet, crunchy cabbage. It also goes by the name Chinese Cabbage. Of all my winter garden crops, I am rating these a tie for number 1. The other one being carrots.

Napa Cabbage is very versatile. You can cook it, stew it, coleslaw it, salad it, stir-fry it, use it as a roll-up, or just eat it leaf by leaf ( my favorite).

We have several Napa Cabbages in the fridge, so hopefully we can make them last several more weeks.

Got Carrots?

2011-01-25T20:19:00.003-06:00

Well it is January 25th and we are still winter harvesting away. I had several people ask for some carrots at school, so I decided I would dig a tub and fill their orders. Then I took the rest to sell at school. These carrots are simply delicious. The plants don't look the best, but hey they have pulled through -11 degrees and are still around to let us eat them!

We have started to eat a lot of carrots. I would say we include carrots in our meals 4 or more times a week. The best recipe was a Cream Cheese filled Carrot Bundt Cake YUM! Sorry no pictures, we ate the whole thing.

Cream Cheese Filled Carrot Bundt Cake

1 8-oz package Philadelphia Brand - cream cheese -softened
(you can also substitute light Neufchatel cheese for the cream cheese)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
******************
2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
3 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped nuts(I like pecans!)
Powdered sugar for dusting, if preferred
How to make it

Combine cream cheese, sugar and egg, mixing until well blended.
Set aside
Combine dry ingredients
Add combined oil, eggs and vanilla. mixing just until moistened
Fold in carrots and nuts.
Reserve 2 cups batter; pour remaining batter into greased & floured 9-inch bundt pan
Pour cream cheese mixture over batter; carefully spoon reserved batter over creamed cheese mixture, spreading to cover.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.
Cool thoroughly.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
Yummy!

I sure will miss them when they are gone, but we are getting ready to plant the spring ones this weekend!

January Ground Work

2011-01-22T19:28:00.002-06:00

With 7 inches of snow on the ground, it was a perfect day for tilling inside the high tunnels. Many of our winter crops are slowly losing quality and we are getting ready to start planting this years crops, so it was clean up time. Since everything was cleaned out, why not till up the seed beds and prep them for planting. We still need to add some compost, sulfur (helps lower the pH) and some fertilizer (if necessary). One light tilling and we will start planting around February 1st.

The 2 foot snow drift with the tilled tunnel behind.

3.5 rows done, .5 more to go

2 rows done

We still have some Napa Cabbage, green onions and Haikuri Turnips growing. We will be finish harvesting them in the next few weeks.

Great Plains Vegetable Conference

2011-01-07T08:32:00.003-06:00

We are having a great time at the GPVGC. We have meet many need people. If you learned about our farm, thank you for taking the time to check us out. If you have a question, please let us know.

Jay and Linda

Building a tunnel over a tunnel

2010-12-11T22:45:00.003-06:00

We have started putting up our new high tunnel this week. We are building it over the existing tunnel because we are still harvesting crops inside it. We also wanted to get the ground posts in before the ground freezes. Also, we wanted to get the hoops up when the wind wasn't blowing. We had to carry the hoops over the existing tunnel and if they were to fall over and land on the tunnel, it would rip the plastic and cause lots of problems. We were lucky to have Derek come out and help us.

I spent 1-2 hours measuring and squaring up the area. Then two nights setting the ground posts. Then finally one more night putting up the hoops and purlins.

Hoop C

Hoop C with New Tunnel over it.

New Home for Hoop C

Next up, install base board, hip boards, and end walls. Cover the endwalls with plastic or old storm windows and then prepare for plastic to be pulled over it.

Looks like a busy Christmas Break for us!

Update on disassembling new high tunnel

2010-11-21T00:34:00.001-06:00

Today I got to spend 5 hours tearing down the new high tunnel at it's current home. I got alot done, but if I would have started earlier, I would have had hoops on the ground too!

Here is a little time lapse photo work!

Before

North wall gone

South wall gone

Baseboard and center and right purlin gone

All I have left is the left purlin and the 12 braces in the corners and we will be ready to take the hoops down. Finally, load it all up and head west!

K-State Cauliflower

2010-11-21T00:27:00.002-06:00

I have been eagerly anticipating this purple cauliflower. I ordered seed in mid January. The seed got back ordered and I didn't receive it until the May. I planted it and set these plants out in early June, a month or more late! The weather turned off HOT and the plants stopped growing. Bugs and grasshoppers ate the leaves to almost nothing. Then in August they started to grow again and finally on November 20th, I have purple cauliflower. It has been a long wait, but oh-so good! Now I wish the other 50 or so I planted in August would do something, but I know it is too late. I must get them in sooner next year!

We also picked some white cauliflower and broccoli along with yellow and orange carrots. Who says we can't eat the rainbow?

We are growing again

2010-11-07T15:22:00.003-06:00

We are the proud new owners of a used 30 by 48 ft Stuppy's Powerhouse Greenhouse. We are going to use this huge metal frame for a high tunnel. This high tunnel will give us an additional 1,440 square feet of growing space. I am very excited about it. I will have to tear it down and rebuild it at our house, but who isn't up for an adventure.

Here is a picture of the greenhouse in its current location.

Here is a picture of the endwall

My hopes are to have in down over Thanksgiving Break and start working at putting it back up ASAP. I hope I can get the ground posts in at least before the ground freezes solid.

The difference a week makes

2010-10-23T22:19:00.004-05:00

When spring rolls around and gardeners plant out their transplants or put seed in the ground, it doesn't seem to matter if you get it planted this week or next week, by the time it comes to harvest, they both seem to produce at the same time.

However, when you are growing in the fall, it is said every day a crop is not growing can translate into 2-3 days later on the harvest time. That is why it is important to get your fall crops planted in a timely manner.

WHY? The reason has to do with day length. Every day, after the summer solstice on June 21st, the days start to get shorter. While at first it isn't very noticable, it does make a big difference the later you get in the season.

I have a great example of what the difference a week makes with carrots.

The carrots on the right were planted on August 16th. The carrots on the left were planted on August 22nd. The same seed was used, they were watered the same, they were grown in identical situations, the only difference is the planting date.

You can also notice a difference in whole garden plot.

August 16th

August 22nd

So the next time you hear the saying, "What difference does a week make" you can say it means alot when talking about fall gardening.

Fall and Winter Garden

2010-10-17T20:23:00.004-05:00

To all my RVP customers, I wanted to share where all your produce is coming from this fall and winter. Want to learn more, www.rvp.locallygrown.net My fall and winter garden consists of 3500 square feet of high tunnels and 1000 square feet of low tunnels.

Here is Hoop A
From left to right, Radishes, Beets, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Haikuri Turnips, Some left over broccoli, Lettuce, Napa Cabbage, Joi Choy, Red Choy, Tatsoi, Longevity (a type of tatsoi I guess), and Arugula.

They all still need mini hoops and row cover to cover them, but that is on the to do list.

Hoop C
My most mature crops and most recently planted.
Left to right, Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Under the cover Green onions, Bok Choy and Napa Cabbage, Freshly Planted Haikuri Turnips and Carrots

Hoop D
This building grew Bell peppers and Cherry Tomatoes this spring and summer. I tore out the cherry tomatoes. Too overgrown and slowing production. The bell peppers are great. They are loaded and I have been picking bunches every week for the Farmers Markets.

Outside rows are bell peppers and under the row covers I have spinach and lettuce. I just transplanted the 250 plus lettuce plugs yesterday and the spinach is coming up or getting its true leaves. I still have grasshoppers in here and they love spinach. They don't mind the lettuce, but they will eat the spinach down.

On to the Movable Buildings. I have two movable buildings and I have crops growing outside and I am going to move the buildings over the crops soon. One probably this week and the other one once I loose the green beans or in about two weeks.

M1

Haikuri Turnips, Beets, Carrots, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips

M2 Has the same crops growing in it as M1.

M1 also has green beans growing inside.

Low Tunnels Broccoli and Cauliflower.
I have over 400 broccoli and cauliflower planted. They will go under row cover soon. I have to get a lot of other stuff done first!

The first low tunnel hoop.

Brussel Sprouts

They go planted too late, but we are going to see what happens.

Last outside planting of Green Beans.

This was a last second Hail Mary Planting. I have rinsed the frost off of them once and I have picked 40 pounds of beans off of the first picking. I am hoping to get 1-2 more pickings!

Flip That High Tunnel

2010-10-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

HGTV's got nothin' on Jay.

In the past few weeks, he has torn the spring/summer crops out of Hoop A, C, and D, the three largest of our high tunnels. Out came the tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes, and in went the fall crops. And that is how this:

became this:

and this:

became this:

We have spinach, lettuces, bok choy, carrots, and a lot of other greens growing in two of the big buildings now. And, in building D, the peppers are staying for now. They are loving the elbow space and have really flourished in the past few days. It seems odd to pick fresh salad this time of year, but it's a very, very good odd.

Fall and Winter Salads

2010-10-04T23:42:00.013-05:00

To eat local foods and what is in season, one has to think about eating salads here in the fall. We have a huge variety of greens that we are growing and selling this fall/winter. They are all being grown in our high tunnels.

Here are just a few of the different varieties we are growing this winter. We have over 10 varieties of lettuce, 3 varieties of spinach, 2 varieties of Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Arugula, Kale, Swiss Chard, Tatsoi and beet greens.

These greens are very cold tolerant and some will continue to keep growing through the winter. They all will be put under rowcover as soon as I can find the time to make that happen! We are continusely planting to keep a steady supply of greens available. I just planted spinach on October 3rd. With any luck it will be ready to harvest by the 5th of November. I have over 400 more transplants to go out ASAP!

Check out what we are harvesting currently.
8 ounces of Salad Mix
Kale
Black Seeded Simpson

Green Salad bowl

Red Saladbowl
Buttercrunch
Red Sails

8 ounces of Spinach

Spinach

Fall Harvest Begins

2010-09-15T23:20:00.001-05:00

I don't know if fall harvest is beginning or summer harvest is just continuing, but we have some new crops to pick this week. The habaneros are ready, in full force. We have red, chocolate, and orange habaneros and a tiny but powerful pepper called White Habanero. And now you know what goes in the Habanero , Chocolate, Hot Lava Jelly and White Lightning Jelly!

The second round of carrots this year are possibly more beautiful and plentiful than the first. Check out the result of picking just five feet:

And it's not just the garden that's looking good. The soybeans surrounding us are huge, especially for dryland beans. I grew up in an area where the only soybeans grown were double-cropped beans (aka planted after wheat harvest and harvested in time to plant the next wheat crop). So, these huge soybeans continue to amaze me. We can't take credit for any of them, but it's a nice sight to see out your window.

Coming soon: spinach, lettuce, Napa cabbage, and Bok Choy.

Introducing Republican Valley Produce

2010-09-06T22:58:00.004-05:00

What is it?

Republican Valley Produce (RVP) is an online Farmers Market, the first of its kind in Clay Center. Also known as a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA, we offer fresh homegrown produce, meats, baked goods and jams and jellies. RVP is a group of farmers who are reaching out to those too busy to visit a Farmers Market or those who just like to sleep in on Saturdays.

How does it work?

Each member of the CSA starts up an account, with a $10 membership fee and $20 minimal balance. Each week, we will total your purchases, and this total will be deducted from your credit on your account or, if your purchase is more than the balance on your account, you will pay when you pick up your order. Our season will run from September 28th –November 2nd Guaranteed!
Extended season will run from November 9th- December 21st (if weather allows.)

Membership will be limited to 20 memberships this fall, more in years to come.

What does a typical week look like?

Thursday: Our growers submit what they will have for sale and the quantity.

Friday: The market will open up for orders. You will get an email from the market manager and will have until Sunday at 5:00 pm to place your orders online.

Sunday: Orders are compiled and totaled.

Monday: Your order will be picked, baked, and prepared for you.

Tuesday: At 5:30 p.m., you can pick up your order at one of two locations: Clay Center or Clifton. Other locations maybe added if there is enough interest.

What will be available through the market?

September: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Okra, Green Beans, Hot Peppers, Radishes, Potatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Buffalo, Jellies, Pork and much more

October: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Okra, Green Beans, Hot Peppers, Radishes, 9 types of Lettuce, Salad Mix, Arugula, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Kohlrabi, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat and Pork

November: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Radishes, 9 types of lettuce, Salad Mix, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Sweet Potatoes, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat, and Pork.

December: Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Radishes, 9 types of lettuce, Salad Mix, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Beets, Kohlrabi, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat, and Pork.

We are also looking at adding locally made cheeses and honey.

Why should I become a member?

Through the RVP, you will get first pick of locally grown produce, meats, baked goods and more. You will know who your farmer is and where you food is originating. You can shop online for your groceries and pick them up at a location convenient to you. And, you will be supporting area families with your purchases.

How do I become a member?
Sign up today by contacting me, RVP manager:

Jay Sleichter
1282 21st Road
Clay Center, KS 67432
785-630-0772
jaysjellies@yahoo.com

Bugs? What bugs?

2010-08-30T21:15:00.000-05:00

I just stepped out my back door, at 9 p.m., near a light, and the most amazing thing happened. I did NOT get swarmed by bugs! I don't know if that means the weather is about to change, but I think it does mean we won't have as many insects to contend with for our fall crops.

A girl can hope, right?

Flowers for Fall?

2010-08-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

Jay likes to grow a wide variety of produce, and this fall he even grew a few flowers. Of course, the girls thought this was an awesome, fabulous, great, stupendous idea... as long as they were pink. And so, they compromised:

Mobile high tunnel 2, filled with zinnias and sunflowers

Sunflowers, just before "harvest"

Maggie got special Daddy-time and the honor of picking the zinnias

Displayed at market, aka Maggie saying "Daddy, it's too hard to smile at 7 a.m. on a Saturday."

The flowers didn't sell very well, but most new products don't sell the first week we've offered them. Besides, think how lovely my house looks!

Busy bees, busy bugs

2010-08-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

We are so very busy right now. The garden and market business is Jay's summer job, but for school teachers, summer is over. I'm also in school full-time now, and we don't have any paid hired help. So, gardening is done in the evenings and weekends.

Thankfully for us, the garden slows considerably in late August. Because the high tunnels put us ahead of season in the spring, it also makes our end of season one come sooner. Season two, however, is in it's infancy. The fall crops are all planted and the weather has been favorable. The bugs, however, will be our problem this fall. It seems they have "found" our garden spot and are feasting away. The sunflower plants looked ideal on Sunday night; on Monday night, the leaves looked like Swiss cheese. And, let me tell you, the very hungry caterpillar is cute in a book, when he eats all those lovely picnic foods, but in real life, he is one ugly contender. Even the pretty white butterflies are looked at with disdain in our household. If only us busy bees can stay ahead of the busy bugs, we should have produce for months to come!

What is going on at the farm?

2010-08-27T00:47:00.002-05:00

What is going on at the farm? Well that is a wonderful question. Everything! We have been so busy doing everything that we haven't had time to post any new information. With school starting, it has been hard to make everything happen, however with the rain and cooler weather, it makes working outside much more bearable.

What is happening......

In the high tunnels, the tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers are still producing. However, they are slowing down. They are loaded with blooms and if the weather holds, we will be expecting larger harvests towards the end of September. This week will be the first time for cut flowers. We have sunflowers and Zinnias. The girls are very excited about them. The fall root crops are planted in the moveable tunnel spaces. We planted 16-32 foot rows of Haikuri Turnips, 16-32 foot rows of Carrots, 8-32 foot rows of Beets. We also planted Radishes and some more turnips outside. We have 3- 40 foot beds ready to plant in one of our big hoop houses, also. We will be planting green onions, napa cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, bok choy and kohlarbi in this space. We are also going to be planting some lettuce inside to transplant in October in the tomato tunnel.

Outside is really slowing down or done. The outside peppers were a real disappointment along with the watermelon. We have a few cucumbers coming and a few potatoes left to dig. The leeks are ok, it just go to hot for them. We have 375 plus broccoli and cauliflower plants out. We will be putting them in side low tunnels as the weather gets cooler.

On the Jelly front- We have been very busy. We have made over 100 jars in the last 2 weeks. Expect to see some new jellies and we are bring back a few more.

Color wheel

2010-08-19T22:30:00.003-05:00

Who says watermelon must be red to be delicious?

Turning Yello'

2010-08-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

I am a pretty brave gal. Snakes, bugs, spiders, wild animals... they don't usually scare me. But, what I almost grabbed in the tomato building is still sending shivers up my spine:

Apparently, this is a beneficial garden spider, called the Black and Yellow Garden Spider. (Gee, real creative naming there.) According to this site, here's the basic info on this thing:

The Black and Yellow Argiope is a common orb web spider. Orb web means it spins a web like a circle.

Female spiders are much larger than males, growing almost an inch and a half long. Males grow about 3/4 inch long. Both spiders have a cephalothorax (small front body section) with silver hairs on it. The abdomen (large back section) is egg-shaped with black and yellow coloring.

Legs of these spiders are black with red or yellow bands. Each leg has three claws on the end.

Black and Yellow Argiopes live in fields and gardens. They can be found on shrubs, tall plants, and flowers.

The web of this spider spirals out from the center and can be two feet across. The female builds the large web, and a male will build a smaller web on the outer part of her web. The male's web is a thick zig-zag of white silk.

Black and Yellow Argiopes eat flying insects that get trapped in the sticky web. The most common ones are aphids, flies, grasshoppers, bees, and wasps.

The spider hangs with her head down in the center of her web, waiting for prey to be caught. Sometimes she hides off to the side with a thin silk thread attched to her web. When an insect hits the web, the spider feels the vibrations and comes running.

These spiders prefer sunny places with little or no wind to build their webs. Each night, they eat their web and build a new one.

Now, the one in our garden was at least 8 inches across. Okay, so maybe only 2-3 inches, but it was huge! But, I did the right thing. I backed away and left it there to kill the many grasshoppers attacking our tomatoes. However, I did NOT pick that side of the building for the rest of the day, and won't go back any time soon, now that Jay informed me we have four "Charlottes" in that part of the cherry tomato building.

Just let Charlotte and her friends stay out of my house, and we'll get along just fine!

Planting time?

2010-08-16T22:29:00.001-05:00

Even as most of the vegetable crops are wrapping up for the year and this is considered the end of garden season, it’s also planting time on the hill. These new plantings are all for our fall harvest, attempting to keep produce coming in for as much as the year as possible.

In the past two weeks, Jay has planted 200 broccoli, 175 cauliflower, and 700 row feet of green beans. In the next few weeks, we need to plant napa cabbage, bok choy, arugula, brussel sprouts, more cauliflower and broccoli, radishes, carrots, beets, haikuri turnips, green onions, kolorabi, totsoi, lettuce, and spinach. What makes this goal even more challenging is Jay starts back to work as a teacher today and I start school full-time the following week. Most of this will need to be done in the nights and weekends. In other words, this year our Labor Day Weekend will have lots of labor and not much weekend.

A Picture to Make You Cry

2010-08-15T22:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe these pictures will only make you cry if you are the cutting these vegetables and don’t have an open flame nearby. (Learned that trick from Alton Brown!)

Jay just harvested the last of the onions for this year. We were happy with the onion crop, both in size and quality of onions. Of the 1800 onion sets planted, we sold all but probably 35 of them. Those 35, I chopped and froze for our use later this winter. We probably threw out less than 50 onions for the year, because they rotted before we sold them or got them froze.

I guess that means next year I can’t scoff at the idea of planting 1800 onion sets. And that is enough to make me cry!

Friday's Featured Foods: Grape Juice

2010-08-14T01:16:00.000-05:00

With just a few days left before school starts, we have spent the last week or so trying to get done all those summer projects, those activities that are too time consuming to accomplish in the evening or too dreaded to wrap up earlier in the summer. For me, that means canning.

Today's canning

I love canned vegetables... in the winter. In the summer, canning veggies means a hot kitchen and a day at the stove. But, it is worth it in the long run. Last week, I chopped and froze onions and potatoes. Today, I made Italian tomato sauce, pizza sauce, pickled okra, and sweet and sour pickles. I also processed grapes for jelly, which is the actual feature of tonight's post. No, I'm not going to share our Top Secret Grape Jelly recipe, but I'll show you the steps we go through to make the juice that eventually becomes the jelly.

The grapes used in our jelly come from my parents' vine near Wichita, Kansas. It's not a fancy fruit farm; they just happen to have a fence of grape vines that my dad planted when I was Maggie's age. For the last few years, we've gone down to visit around the time of grape harvest and came back home with a cooler full of grapes. Grapes and grape vines are as full of metaphors as they are of insects; no wonder the Bible has so many references to them!

So, we came home with about 40 pounds of grapes. Maggie, Lainie and I spent a couple hours separating the grapes from the stems and tossing any bad grapes. Lainie was so proud to get to help and have a task that she could do well.

Next, I rinsed the grapes and removed any floating debris or bad fruit.

I then mashed the grapes with a potato masher, just enough to break some of them.

Next, add 1/2 cup of water for every quart of prepared fruit. I had four saucepans, each with 6-8 quarts of fruit.

Bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer for at least 15 minutes. I think getting the juice out was easier when I let them simmer for 30 minutes or more.

Here's my juice extraction set-up: cheese cloth on a strainer that just fits into my stock pot. I pour the grape mash onto the cheese cloth; the stock pot catches the juice and the strainer catches any grape pulp that makes its way out of the cheese cloth.

The juice then got poured into the measuring cup, then pour into quart jars.

The end result: 10 quarts of grape juice into the freezer. Once these freeze solid, I will move them to the deep freeze, for better storage.

My mom always says that clean-up is part of the recipe. And there were LOTS of little spills like this one. My kitchen had a bit of a purple splash to it tonight.

And last but not least, the cook gets to taste the product first. (Yes, the picture is sideways, but it's 1:14 a.m... it can stay sideways.) The little remaining grape juice tasted delicious! If grape jelly sells are down this winter, we could always thaw this juice and have it for breakfast. It doesn't need any sugar, thanks to the natural sweetness of the grapes.

Next on the list: chop and freeze bell peppers (the ugly ones our customers don't want to buy) and make and freeze some fajita and stir fry kits. Oh, and a Farmers Market in... six hours.

Glowing

2010-08-02T09:33:00.002-05:00

I love how the sunset makes the mobile high tunnels glow.

This isn't the typical view from our porch for the first of August. We have had a tremendous amount of rain, in just the right amounts, at just the right time. Our neighbors the north (too much) and west (too much) and east (too much) and south (not enough) haven't been so lucky.

But up on the hill, this year's view is looking spectacular.

Quick and Easy Summer Time Recipes

2010-08-01T12:50:00.002-05:00

In the summer there is never alot of time to cook. With a healthy variety of produce available, here are two quick, easy and one pan meals. If this guy can make them then anyone can!

Sausage and Zucchini

1 pound Fully cooked pork Sausage (you could use ground pork)
4 cups cubed zucchini (1 medium sized)
2 cups Fresh chopped tomatoes (two small/medium)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, (optional) adds lots of good flavor!
1 teaspoon flour, (I added a little more)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook sausage in a skillet and drain. Add the cooked sausage, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, lemon juice, oregano, salt and hot pepper sauce, Cook for 15 minutes or until the zucchini is crisp tender. Sprinkle with flour, toss to coat. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand until the cheese is melted.

I think this recipe was for a smoke sausage not ground sausage, but it tasted great to us! If you are short on one ingredient and long on another it is ok. Finally, I added a bit more cheese, but it was yummy locally grown/made cheese but who is counting!

Zucchini, Okra & Tomato Medley

1 small zucchini
vegetable cooking spray
1 1/2 cups of sliced fresh okra
2 tablespoons of chopped onion
1 cup of chopped fresh tomato
1/8 teaspoon of dried basil
a dash of freshly ground pepper

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, place over medium high heat until hot. Add the zucchini, okra, and onion, sauté for 4 minutes. Stir in he tomato and remaining ingredients. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Makes four 1/2 cup servings

Enjoy!

Friday's Featured Food: R is for Radishes

2010-07-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

Radishes are the featured food for this Friday, even though it's not radish season right now.

We are between the early spring harvest and late fall crop. Radishes like the cool weather and tend to get a woody texture and an off taste as the temp heats up. But, radishes are a favorite for me, if for no other reason than because they are one of the first harvests in the spring. They give that taste of freshness, of warmer days ahead, and they give hard core gardeners an excuse to get in the dirt when there is still snow on the ground. The short days of maturity -- about a month from planting to harvest -- add to their popularity.

We grow five kinds of radishes: cherry belle, pink beauty, white ping pong, and French breakfast.

Nutritionally, radishes contribute mostly Vitamin C (15 percent, to be exact.) They also provide iron, fiber, and and a touch of calcium. (Who knew? Calcium in radishes!)

I doubt people eat radishes for the nutritional value. Most like them for their crunchy texture or snappy taste. Radishes provide a bite to salads, with their zing and their hardness. The amount of spice or heat is dependent on the variety and when you pick them.

I personally am not a huge fan of radishes. I probably shouldn't post it, but a girl can't like ALL vegetables and this is the one I don't care for -- until this year. I discovered that cooked or grilled radishes are great! I didn't like the burn of the radish, preferring a turnip instead, but by cooking them, I get the taste without the heat. True radish lovers probably think I'm disgracing the vegetable by saying that; sorry!

How to cook them? As I said, our new favorite is grilling them. Simply slice the radishes, put them in a foil packet with a few ice cubes, seal the foil packet, and grill for 10-15 minutes until fork tender. I add a bit of butter, because everything is better with butter in my world.

Another recipe I found but haven't tried calls for shredding a Daikon radish and frying in garlic oil with a touch of salt, almost like a hash brown.

And for those die-hard radish lovers who believe they should stay fresh, try a Spicy Radish Salad. Mix together 2 cups shredded Daikon radish, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon orange juice. Let the flavors marinate a bit before serving.

Friday's Featured Food: Q...

2010-07-22T22:47:00.000-05:00

How about, Q is for Quite a Fair! Before I share the pics, let me add that the girls each selected their own veggies from those already picked for the Market. We told them that they should try to find 3 (or 5 or 12) that match exactly, and this is what they came up with:

Lainie's yellow tomatoes

Jay's red tomatoes, Grand Champion open class

Lainie's snow white cherry tomatoes

Maggie's black cherry tomatoes, Reserve Grand Open Class

Jay's Display, blue ribbon

Maggie's purple heart potato, "novelty vegetable"

Jay's Green Beans

Katie's Sweet Gold cherry tomatoes, Grand Champion Jr Division 4-H

Katie's Big Beef red tomatoes, Reserve Grand Jr Division 4-H

Lainie's pink potatoes, white... and proof that she picked her own.

Katie's garden display for 4-H

Katie's reserve champion pig. She also got Reserve Grand swine showmanship.

Like I said, Quite a Fair!

Pests

2010-07-19T21:45:00.003-05:00

The crabgrass is winning, in the battle of the west squash patch. Jay and Anthony have weeded and weeded and mowed and trimmed, but the crabgrass continues to overtake the veggies. I guess that's what you get for planting in a (former) pasture.

The mosquitoes are insane. On Saturday morning, when Jay got in his truck at 6 a.m. to load for the Market, he literally turned on his windshield wipers to swipe the live mosquitoes off his truck. We haven't sprayed the yard or garden for them, for fear of hurting the bees and other insects we need for germination. The sprays and lotions we use to cover and protect ourselves provide minimal help, and it is just too too hot to wear jeans and long-sleeves. And so, we pick after the mosquitoes quiet down for the day and we quit when they reappear each night, around 9 p.m.

Bindweed is always a battle here, but at least it's an old foe. We know there isn't much to do but pull, pull, pull. When the surround terraces are white with bindweed blooms and the nasty weeds have years head start on us, the best we can do is keep pulling.

And yet, despite these and other pests, it has been an amazing, outstanding Market month. The past week alone far surpassed our expectations. Thank you to all of you who support our Farmers Market or any market. We appreciate it, more than words can express!

Recipe: Gazpacho

2010-07-18T21:18:00.001-05:00

We are lucky and grateful to have our area Master Gardeners attend every Clay Center Farmers Market, to share their knowledge, their plants, and their recipes. And, oh, the recipes!

This past week, Reva C. brought Gazpacho to the market to sample. I've never had gazpacho, but it was absolutely delicious. And, it uses all the veggies that are currently in season. It was so delicious, I had to share it here and on the Clay Center Farmers Market blog. Thanks, Reva!

Gazpacho

2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled
1/2 medium onion
1 large cucumber, peeled
1 red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Chop vegetables roughly, and this process in blender until liquified. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold, garnished with sour cream or chopped cucumbers and tomatoes.

Other variations I found add tabasco sauce or worchestershire sauce. Flavor it to match your family's preference.

Tomato lover

2010-07-17T06:15:00.001-05:00

How do you get your kids to love tomatoes? Start 'em early.

Friday's Featured Food: Potatoes

2010-07-16T08:58:00.002-05:00

Blame it on my Irish heritage, but I think every meal needs potatoes. I almost feel guilty if we sit down to eat without some kind of potato on the table. Thank goodness Jay is a potato-planting fool! This year, he ordered 200 pounds of seed potatoes... and then got laid up and was unable to plant. So, this is how our potato planting looked this year:

This year, we planted Yukon Gold, Red Norland, Purple Majesty, and Mountain Rose potatoes. The Purple Majesty seed potatoes were tough to find, and we ended up ordering them online, despite the shipping and handling. It was worth it, as these potatoes are double the size and twice the color intensity of the blue potatoes we grew last year. It's been a good potato year, thusfar.

Nutritionally, potatoes get a bad rap. How can a vegetable be bad for you? That, I will never understand. According to potatoes.com, the average potato with skin will provide:

5% of the daily value for vitamin C
620 mg potassium, comparable to bananas, spinach and broccoli
trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc
have 110 calories and no fat.

As far as cooking them, we make the potatoes in so many different ways: fried, grilled, baked, sauted, stewed, and of course mashed:

I have a fabulous potato soup recipe, but I'll save that for the fall, when it's truly soup season. This time of year, it's too hot to heat up the kitchen, so our favorite right-now potato recipe is grilled potatoes.

Campfire Potatoes
5 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium onion, sliced
6 T butter or margarine
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 T fresh parsley, minced
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c chicken broth

Place the potatoes and onion on a large piece of heavy-duty foil (about 20 inches by 20 inches). Dot with butter.
In a separate bowl, combine cheese, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper; sprinkle over potatoes.
Fold foil up around potatoes and add broth. Seal the edges of the foil.
Grill, covered, over medium heat for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Goodbye, cucumbers and squash

2010-07-15T04:43:00.000-05:00

It is a depressing but common part of any agriculture: you invest your time, energy, money into a crop, only to have it ruined by mother nature, one way or another.

Now, we can't complain. We don't have acres and acres under water like many farmers around us. We don't have damage to buildings or total annihilation of our garden like folks north of us. We just have two major crop failures, with a third one looming.

The cucumber beetles we were battling earlier this year left a present: cucumber wilt. Apparently that disease will winter in the digestive tract of the cucumber beetle, which then infects the plants in the spring. Our M2 (mobile building 2) was full of cucumber plants, and we had hoped to be picking off those plants throughout August. Instead, we got two good weeks of cucumbers before the plants stopped producing and died. Within a week, the zucchini and squash in the neighboring building did the same.

Do you know how depressing it is to tear out that many plants, when just weeks earlier they looked like this:

But, that's okay. M2 is replanted to flowers, sunflowers, fun stuff for the girls. The second planting of cucumbers and squash, planted elsewhere on our acreage, is doing well; some of the squash is already producing. We won't have the bountiful harvest we had hoped, but we will have a harvest.

And we are still feeling pretty blessed for the good luck we've had this year. Definitely feeling lucky.

Some like it hot

2010-07-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Heat is good for tomatoes to turn red, good for some veggies, good to cut down on some bugs, but not good if you are selling at an afternoon Farmers Market.

We will be at tonight's markets, and Jay will stay for the duration. But the girls and I are going to be less hardy and plan to leave after an hour or so. I like the heat, but the littlest ones can't handle it for too long.

So, if you are planning to come to our markets tonight, come early!

If at first you don't succeed

2010-07-12T23:01:00.000-05:00

Remember back when our first green bean planting got annihilated by the bugs? Well, as the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. The second planting (and third and fourth and fifth) look great. Two rows and 15 minutes resulted in this:

Aren't the beautiful! Hardly a bug bite or blemish to be found. They have that fresh, earthy taste that you can only get from fresh picked green beans. YUM!

Fri...Tuesday's Featured Food: Okra

2010-07-12T16:41:00.001-05:00

Sorry for skipping last Friday. We were so busy preparing for the Clay Center Grill-Off that just about everything that could be postponed, was postponed. (It was worth it, though!)

But now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

O is for Okra. Okra is definitely a love it or hate it food; either you absolutely adore its unique taste or you can't stand it in any way. Luckily, our family loves it. I have always loved fried okra and pickled okra, but have only just recently tried it in sautes and casseroles.

Okra is a little green veggie that is shaped a bit like a pepper but with a different texture. The skin of the okra is soft, almost velvet-y, and it's filled with small white seeds. Okra is a good source of vitamin C and also provides vitamin A, iron, calcium, and fiber. (This site has lots of good okra info.)

We grow Clemson Spineless okra and, although we haven't picked any yet this year, the plants look very, very promising!

The biggest complaint about okra is that it is slimy. Rumor has it, the less you cut okra while preparing it, the less slimy it will be. That's why pickled okra is so good, because you pickle them whole. I slice the okra before frying it, but still don't notice the infamous slime. Trust me -- it's good stuff!

Fried Okra

1 pound fresh okra
2 eggs, beaten
4 to 6 dashes hot pepper sauce
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
oil for deep frying

Wash okra and drain well; cut off ends and discard. Cut okra crosswise into 1/2-inch slices.
In a bowl, combine beaten eggs and hot sauce; add okra and stir to coat all pieces well.
In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal, salt and cayenne.
Dip okra pieces into cornmeal mixture to coat well.
Heat oil in the deep fryer to 375°.
Fry okra in batches until browned, about 4 to 6 minutes for each batch.
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Oh, this is making me hungry. I think I'll wander out to the garden and double check those okra plants.

O is for...

2010-07-11T15:08:00.000-05:00

O is for oh my goodness I forgot to post on Friday! Sorry!

And, well, it's my birthday, so you'll have to wait one more day.

Because O is for Oh, I think I'll be selfish today and Oh-I'm-getting-older and Oh, well... it'll wait 'til tomorrow.

Definitely Tomato Time

2010-07-05T06:43:00.003-05:00

Last week, the cherry tomatoes came on full-force. Jay picked 90 pints of cherry tomatoes to sell for Saturday's market, and that doesn't include the baskets picked and sold for Wednesday's markets. Don't they look lovely, all lined up? Almost good enough to eat!

Varieties shown here include (top to bottom) Black Cherry, Snow White, Isis Candy, Sweet Gold, Sungold, Golden Sweet, Yellow Pear, Red Pearl, Tumbling Tom, Red Pear, Tomato Berry, and Sweet Million.

Happy July 4th!

2010-07-04T13:42:00.000-05:00

Let's celebrate, veggie-style, and turn these:

into these:

red chips and

purple chips.

YUM!

Happy July Fourth Weekend!

2010-07-02T21:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Independence Day celebration in downtown Clay Center, we are hoping and prepared for a bigger-than-usual turnout at tomorrow's Farmers Market. Jay picked 90 -- Yep, NINETY -- pints of cherry tomatoes, and 5 tubs of red, white, and blue potatoes. As our own little way of celebrating the July Fourth weekend, and as a way of saying thanks to our customers, we made a huge batch of red and blue potato chips. Not for sale, but just to sample and enjoy.

How did we make the chips? I washed and scrubbed the Rose Mountain and Purple Majesty potatoes, then ran them through my salad shooter. That made them into consistent, thin slices. I soaked them in water for an hour. Then, Jay fired up our turkey fryer, using the short pan. The short pan is only 5 inches deep, which means it doesn't need as much oil. Jay heated the oil to 350 degrees, then fried the potatoes in small batches.

The fried potatoes then went through a series of drying and draining stages: first on the cookie sheet, then on a cooling rack, then on a different cookie sheet, and finally in a large tupperware. I know how delicious they were fresh from the fryer; I only hope they are at least half that tasty tomorrow.

So, if you are in the Clay Center area tomorrow morning, make your way downtown. Eat some potato chips, enjoy the pancake breakfast and kiddie games, dunk your favorite celebrity in the water tank, and experience an old-fashioned Fourth of July community celebration, complete with fresh, locally grown produce.

Friday's Featured Food: Napa Cabbage

2010-07-02T09:09:00.000-05:00

N is for Napa Cabbage. This is a new crop for us, this year. I was impressed by the delicacy of the cabbage leaves, especially compared to the "normal" cabbage. The leaves are light enough that they work well as a salad, replacing lettuce, but can also be eaten in the traditional cabbage recipes, like stuffed cabbage rolls or cole slaw.

The specific variety we grew is called Rubicon. Sounds like an '80s video game to me, but it sure tastes good and grew well in our climate. Jay said he did make one mistake, growing them too close together.

Rubicon Napa cabbage (photo taken mid-May)

Why eat cabbage? It is an excellent source of Vitamin C, which surprised me. I thought its fiber content would be higher, but in fact the fiber is almost nonexistent if you cook it. (For more, go to www.fruitsand veggiesmatter.gov.)

The head of Napa cabbage we picked this week turned into three meals. The first was a delicious salad, courtesy of our Savor the Season grant. Through the grant, we received a series of info cards on specific veggies. The cards include nutritional information, recipes, and how to store the veggies. We have the cards at the Farmers Market, so stop by and pick one up!

The second was a sort of cabbage roll. Once I cut the cabbage for the salad above, the remaining leaves were too small for true cabbage rolls. So, I improvised. I do love improvising in the kitchen, especially when I can walk outside and have my pick of fresh veggies. That recipe is posted here.

The third dish was a Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw. I thought it was too vinegar-y, but I'm a traditionalist and prefer the creamy cole slaw. But, Jay loved it! So, here is the third Napa Cabbage recipe.

About 4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
1 medium onion, finely diced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoons celery seed
1 diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place the cabbage leaves in a large bowl.
Add the bell pepper and onion.
Mix the remaining ingredients. Pour over the cabbage.
Cover and refrigerate at least an hour.

Rooftop Tour

2010-06-27T04:33:00.001-05:00

Watch the semi-aerial tour of our gardens, as of June 2010:

Tomatoes!

2010-06-25T20:17:00.000-05:00

They are here! The tomatoes are ripe and are coming to a market near you. In fact, we brought a few cherry tomatoes to the markets this week; we'll have lots of baskets for Saturday's market.

We'll also be bringing these Cherokee Purple big tomatoes. Don't let their appearance fool you; these tomatoes are delicious! All the recent rain has caused them to grow uglier than usual -- and Cherokee Purples aren't known for being pristine -- but they taste fabulous.

Friday's Featured Food: Maggie's Favorite

2010-06-25T10:21:00.001-05:00

It's Maggie's turn! Maggie said her favorite veggie is the pink potatoes, but since we featured those last week, she had to pick again. She chose watermelon.

First off, no, we don't have watermelon right now and won't have it for sale for the July 4th weekend. Watermelon grown in Kansas is usually not ready until late July.

We don't grow too many watermelon, since watermelon grows best in sandy soil, something we don't have. The varieties we do grow, however, are very unusual. This year we are growing:

Golden Midget: small and yellow, perfect for Miss Mags. I like it because the rind turns yellow when it's ripe, so no more thumping-and-guessing when to pick it.
Jubilee: oblong-shaped watermelon with a green-striped rind, known for its large size
Crimson Sweet: tried and true, the old-faithful of watermelons
Sugar Baby: small, dark-green fruits
Moon and Stars: dark blue-green rind with yellow spots
Black Diamond: another old-faithful variety, this one producing dark green fruit with bright red inside

For something new, we are going to try square watermelons this year. How cool would it be to have one of these to enter in the county fair:

Not only do watermelons taste great, they also contain high concentrations of lycopene, an antioxidant that may help reduce the risks of cancer and other diseases. They are also great on hot days, a refreshing snack thanks to all that messy juiciness.

Recipes for watermelon? Sure, why not! I adore, love, crave, need watermelon rind pickles. They are easy to make but time consuming. But, oh my gosh, they are SO worth the effort. Here is a great recipe for these delicious sweet pickles:

1 large watermelon, quartered Pickling salt

2 tablespoons plus

2 teaspoons whole cloves

16 (1 1/2-inch) sticks cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

8 cups sugar

1 quart vinegar (5% acidity)

Remove flesh from melon (reserve for other use); peel watermelon.
Cut rind into 1-inch cubes.
Place rind in a large crock or plastic container.
Add water by the quart until it covers the rind; add 1/4 cup pickling salt for each quart water, stirring until salt dissolves.
Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight.
Drain well.
Place rind in a 10-quart Dutch oven; cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil, and cook until rind is almost tender.
Drain and set aside.
Tie cloves, cinnamon, and mustard seeds in a cheesecloth bag.
Combine spice bag, sugar, and vinegar in a Dutch oven.
Bring to a boil; remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes.
Add rind to syrup
.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook until rind is transparent.
Remove spice bag.
Pack rind into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Cover at once with metal lids, and screw bands tight.
Process in boiling-water bath 5 minutes.

Veronica Cauliflower

2010-06-23T22:52:00.005-05:00

What is green, spiraled and tastes good? Veronica Cauliflower. This is another of my vegetable experiments that went pretty well. The heads aren't really big, but it does taste really good. I have eaten two heads by myself, just boiled with some cheese on top.

All's well on the hill

2010-06-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again... it is amazing what a bunch of saran wrap and pipes can handle. No, it's not saran wrap; it's greenhouse-grade plastic. But, wow. Three rounds of storms, each one packing the threat (if not actual) 60 mph straight-line winds and hail. This was the view from our porch tonight, which looked the same as yesterday morning and evening:

And looking north, a few minutes later:

But, no major damage to report. All six buildings are still standing. We lost one tree and have ripped plastic in one corner of one of the mobile buildings. The outside crops are leaning to the east but will probably bounce back. Because we are on top of this hill, the many inches of rain isn't affecting us much, either.

We are thankful to be spared, but our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who haven't been so lucky. Flooding rain near Concordia, 90 mphs winds in Waterville, many crops ruined... we are thankful.

Friday's Featured Food: Katie's Favorite

2010-06-18T04:41:00.002-05:00

This week Katie got to pick our featured food, and she chose the pink and purple potatoes. The purple potatoes are Purple Majesty, and the pink potatoes are Mountain Rose. Both make quite the impression at the dinner table. When the nutrition experts say to feed a rainbow, I don't think they meant a rainbow of potatoes. But, it does encourage our girls to eat their veggies. Check out these beauties:

To make the cool shapes, Jay ran the Purple Majesty, Pink Mountain, Yukon Gold, and Red Norland potatoes through the apple corer. He then cooked them on the grill in a foil packet with a little bit of butter, for about 10 to 15 minutes. And, here's the result:

Updated Recipe:

Michael Anthony’s Fork-Crushed Purple Majesty Potatoes
1 lb. Purple Majesty Potatoes , washed
4 small shallots or onions, minced
2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
6 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a large pot, cook potatoes with skins on in heavily salted boiling water until tender, approximately 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from pot, and peel them while still warm. (1) Place potatoes in a large bowl and, using a fork, gently smash them, maintaining a fairly chunky consistency. (2) Fold in minced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, fleur de sel, and white pepper. (3) Finish with parsley. Serves 4.

Source: http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/29408/

June 14th Picture Tour

2010-06-15T00:04:00.003-05:00

Tonight I took some pictures of the gardens. Seeing is believing. I could tell you how great everything is looking, but I would prefer to just show you. Enjoy!

Center Row of Tomatoes in High Tunnel. They are over my head now.

Outside row of tomatoes. They are loaded

10 tomatoes in one truss, CRAZY!

Little High Tunnel Planted May 17th

Habaneros and Bell Peppers

Sweet, Bell, Hot Pepper patch

One of the two rows of bell peppers in the High Tunnel

Cherry Tomato Madness

Cherry tomato Blooms.

Outside Squash and Cucumbers

Veronica Cauliflower

Potato Patch

Okra and Roma Tomatoes

Watermelon, Canteloupe, Pumpkins and Winter Squash.

First Green Beans, Just blooming

Second Planting of Beans

Inside Zucchini

Inside Cucumbers

Enjoy!

Follow-Up on Cucumber Beetle

2010-06-13T04:29:00.001-05:00

We had mentioned our plan of attack on cucumber beetles a week or so ago. Well, here's what the sticky pad and cucumber beetle lure looked like, in action:

And here's a close-up, so you can see what is actually on the sticky pad.

We were pleased with the result.

Delicious oddities

2010-06-12T06:50:00.001-05:00

Jay loves to find unusual (to us) vegetables to grow. That's how we end up with such a rainbow of produce at the Farmers Markets! It's also how we stumble upon such delicious delicacies as Haikuri turnips (sorry, no picture!),

Cheddar cauliflower:

Mountain Rose potatoes:

and Husk Cherries:

Yum! I'd say "you've got to try them!" but I'm not sure if any will make it to market, at the rate we are devouring them!

Friday's Featured Food: Jalapenos

2010-06-11T05:26:00.005-05:00

I know, I know... this is sort of a duplicate, since "H" stood for "Hot Peppers". What can I say? We like our jalapenos!

We grow four varieties of jalapenos:

Grande: As you'd expect by the name, this variety is known for its big peppers. These jalapenos average about 3-4 inches, making them great for stuffing.
Jalaro: This variety was developed by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and is the first yellow jalapeno variety. If you are patient, they will turn from yellow to orange to red. It is a very prolific variety and what we use in our yellow and red jalapeno jelly.
Fooled You: These 3-inch peppers look just like jalapenos and carry the good taste without any of the heat. It's what we use for stuffing, so that the girls can eat them too. and,
Purple jalapenos: Just like the name says, it goes from green to purple to red. We use it for our purple jalapeno, which is a big seller here in K-State land. (We save the red for our northern friends.)

Since my hot pepper post already explained how to make grilled stuffed jalapenos, I had to call in the reinforcements (Jay) for a recipe. We have shared our Bread-and-Butter jalapenos with friends and family but, unfortunately, can't sell it at market, due to state food safety rules. They are delicious, more sweet than hot but with a little kick. We mix it with cream cheese for a dip, use it as a topping for homemade pizza, put it fajitas, and add it to scrambled eggs. And now, you can make your own!

Bread and Butter Jalapenos

2 pounds jalapeno peppers
1 pound onions
3 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons tumeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon ginger

Wash and cut jalapenos and onions into thin slices. Cold pack them into jars.
Place remaining ingredients into large saucepot and bring to a boil.
Pour hot mixture into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles. Tighten lids/caps.
Process 10 minutes in boiling water.

(FYI these instructions are not written for a novice canner. If you need some canning 101, please check out the KSRE publication on canning and preserving.)

Potatoes are Here

2010-06-10T00:39:00.003-05:00

Potatoes are here. While we aren't digging bucket fulls, yet. We are digging a few to sell at markets. We have Red Norland, Yukon Gold, Mountain Rose and Purple Majesty. Tonight the Purple Majesties were a real good seller at the Manhattan Farmers Market. Check out this picture!

That was last year's crop. This year's crop is just getting started:

Friday's Featured Food: Isis cherry tomatoes

2010-06-04T04:48:00.004-05:00

Isis cherry tomatoes are one of eleven varieties of cherry tomatoes we are growing this year. The Isis variety matures to a red-orange-yellow color. Think "Kansas sunset" and you'll be right on.

Our other cherry tomato varieties are:

Tomato berry: These red cherry tomatoes are shaped like strawberries and just as sweet
Sweet million: Red cherry tomato known for its great flavor and yield
Red pearl: A red grape tomato, meaning it grows in clusters
Red pear: As you would guess, they are pear-shaped and red
Yellow pear: Pear-shaped and yellow
Golden sweet: A yellow grape tomato, also grows in clusters
Sungold: Very sweet, orange-colored cherry tomato
Sweet gold: Bright yellow-gold cherry
Black cherry: A great tasting cherry tomato with a purple-to-black color
Snow white: Ivory colored tomato

We often get asked what our favorite variety is, and each of us have a different answer. Maggie likes the sweet gold, because yellow is her favorite color. Katie likes the tomato berry, because they are shaped like strawberries. Jay likes the high yield and disease resistance of the sweet million. I like the sweet, fruit-like taste of the sungolds.

It's seems a shame to post a recipe for cherry tomatoes, since we rarely (if ever) "prepare" them. Cherry tomatoes are like candy in our house; there is almost always a bowl or basket of them sitting on the counter. As we pass through the kitchen, we'll grab a handful and eat them... all day every day. We literally snack on them all summer and, thanks to the high tunnels, nearly all year.

But for those who want to do something with them, here is a great soup recipe just for you:

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
EVOO
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 Tablespoon flour
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
4 quarts cherry tomatoes, stems removed
1 cup half-and-half
1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil

In a large stock pot, saute onion in oil over medium heat until soft and translucent.
Add salt, pepper, dried basil, and flour. Cook for a few minutes.
Whisk chicken broth into flour mixture until mixed thoroughly.
In a blender, blend the cherry tomatoes in batches, until they are the consistency of salsa.
Add tomatoes to the roux (flour mixture) and stir. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in baking soda and sugar. (The baking soda (base) will react with the tomatoes (acid) and foam up like a elementary school science experiment. The kids LOVE watching this part, and it's a great opportunity for an impromptu science lesson.)
Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add half-and-half and fresh basil.
Stir and simmer for at least 5 minutes. Turn heat to low until ready to serve.

Don't Bug Me, Cucumber Beetle

2010-06-03T10:40:00.001-05:00

This guest is not invited:

This a cucumber beetle, and he's doing his best to eat away our squash, cucumbers and (we think) green beans. (Click here to learn more about this pest.)

But we have a plan.

Jay ordered sticky traps and a cucumber beetle lure to try to rid our garden of these little stinkers. The lure is actually a pheromone, that special scent that attracts species to one another. We'll use the lure to bring the cucumber beetles to the sticky traps and thus getting them off our plants.

The shipment should arrive today; we'll let you know next week if it was as effective as we hope it will be.

Wednesday Double Market begins

2010-06-02T04:50:00.001-05:00

Tonight is the maiden voyage for the Wednesday Farmers Market in Clay Center. We hope the additional time and location will allow us to reach the customers who sleep in or chase ball every Saturday. I'm looking forward to it, because I get to cover the Clay Center market while Jay goes to Manhattan. That means the girls and I have an excuse to stay at Dexter Park and listen to the City Band concerts all summer long.

It's harvest time!

2010-06-01T10:39:00.001-05:00

Updating the blog is going to be a lot harder in the weeks to come. We're just going to be so darn busy! Not only are we heading to 4-5 markets per week, we are also picking and harvesting tons of produce. Well, not tons yet... last year it took until mid-July to reach an actual ton harvested.

Today, Jay picked 45 zucchini and 14 heads of broccoli, so far. He also finished weeding, mulching, and weaving the tomatoes and peppers, and has brother Anthony continuing to weed the leeks and onions. And, insane fellow that he is, he planted another 120 pepper plants, 70 of which are Habaneros. It's going to be a hot summer, in more ways than one.

Market Prep

2010-05-31T04:23:00.004-05:00

The thing about a family farm is that everyone has a job. Idle hands are rare, when there is always some other task that needs completed. For our oldest daughters, that translates to bagging lettuce this week. As you can see, they actually enjoyed it ... even if we did get to sneak in some math lessons, while they were sorting:

The Broccoli Song

2010-05-29T04:30:00.003-05:00

Our two oldest daughters thought the veggies needed a catchy marketing jingle, like all the restaurants and stores have. So, they made their own:

Friday's Featured Food: Hot Peppers

2010-05-28T04:23:00.003-05:00

Hot peppers intimidate some, are a sign of bravery for others. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and intensity, and can be used in so many dishes, so many ways. Today, I'll just highlight a few of the hot peppers we produce.

Overall. hot peppers are a great source of Vitamin C. The heat from the pepper comes from the capsaicin, which is actually located in the white internal membrane of the pepper, not just in the seeds. There is even an official scale for pepper heat, called the Scoville scale. The general rule-of-heat is the smaller the pepper, the more powerful the punch.

Jalapeno are probably our most popular and are the ones we use the most. Not only are jalapenos the main pepper when we make salsa, they are also the featured ingredient in our Jalapeno jellies and Bread-and-Butter Jalapenos. They are about 2 inches long and can be green, red, or purple. A couple years ago, we found a Fooled You hybrid jalapeno, which looks like a regular jalapeno but lacks the heat. That's the pepper we use most when making stuffed grilled jalapenos, because the girls can eat them with no problem. (FYI, chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapenos.)

Habanero peppers are smaller than jalapenos, shaped like a lantern, and can be red, orange or yellow. Habanero is a very hot pepper and the one featured in our Chocolate Habanero and Habanero jellies.

Serrano peppers are a red or green pepper that is usually 1 to 4 inches long. It has a strong heat to it, not scalding but definitely distinct.

Closer to scalding is the cayenne pepper. These little peppers are long and skinny and pack a punch. They dry well and can be stored over the winter months. I like to add them whole when I'm making chili, to add flavor with without adding the heat.

Sweet bananas and hot banana look similar but taste quite different. They are both shaped like a banana and most often are green, yellow, or red. Sweet bananas, as you might guess, are a more mild pepper, while hot bananas will add more heat to the dish.

Anaheim peppers look and taste similar to the banana peppers and are actually what you get in a can of "canned green chilis." They are a medium-heat pepper and often used in Mexican food.

Poblana peppers round out our selection. Poblanas look like small bell peppers but have a surprise heat to them. Chili rellenos is usually made by stuffing poblano peppers.

As far as recipes, how you prepare the peppers is as varied as the peppers themselves. One golden rule to remember is that the same capsaicin that makes the peppers taste hot can also cause a burning sensation to your skin... or to your eyes, if you are unfortunate enough to forget and rub your eyes while cutting hot peppers. For that reason, it is best to wear gloves while preparing the peppers.

Grilled jalapenos
8 jalapenos, cored and deseeded
8 slices of bacon
8-oz cream cheese, softened

Put the cream cheese in a sandwich bag and snip the corner.
Use the bag to squeeze cream cheese into the hollowed jalapenos.
Wrap a slice of bacon around each jalapeno and secure with a toothpick.
Place in a pepper grill pan (available from Clay Gourmet in Clay Center) and grill on medium heat until bacon is just starting to crisp.

Another great way to feature hot peppers is to make fajitas. Slice and saute a variety of peppers, keeping them sorted by heat. Then, the eaters can add as much or as little heat as they want. I like to use bell peppers, sweet bananas, and jalapenos in my fajitas. Pair it with grilled, marinated chicken, beef or pork, sliced carmelized onions, and a little shredded cheese and sour cream ... YUM!

Weaving Tomatoes

2010-05-27T04:23:00.001-05:00

Space is at a premium in the high tunnels, and bulky tomato cages take up prime real estate. So, to help our tomatoes grow upright and to give them extra support, we use the Florida weave method. Here, Jay demonstrates how to do it.

First zucchini

2010-05-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday's post showed us putting small zucchini plants in the ground outside. Today, we have the first zucchini! The zucchini in our high tunnels, planted on April 5 and transplanted around April 18, are about ready to harvest.

This variety is called Sultan, with a 48-days-to-maturity. Perfect Pick and Caveli are the other varieties yet to produce. This picture was taken late last week, so by Wednesday or Thursday, we should be dining on zucchini. And, if you are worried that your plants aren't near this big, keep in mind that these plants are in the movable high tunnel.

I love the excitement of the firsts. This tiny zucchini will be sauteed in a little bit of butter and divided among six plates...unless the other plants shoot out a few more for us to devour by then!

Transplanting zucchini

2010-05-24T04:30:00.006-05:00

Blame it on the end of the school year, but I cannot stop singing the song, "This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth. This is the way we brush our teeth, so early in the morning!"

And so, "this is the way we transplant zucchini, transplant zucchini, transplant zucchini. This is the way we transplant zucchini, so late in the day." (You can thank me later for putting that song in YOUR head.)

Broccoli Beginnings

2010-05-23T22:25:00.001-05:00

All those hours spent planting, watering, transplanting, weeding, watching, waiting.... tah-dah!

This is the Blue Wind variety, which is an earlier maturing variety. The others, Arcadia and Green Magic, should be coming along shortly. We hope to be harvesting the Blue Wind variety in about a week!

Friday's Featured Foods: Green Beans

2010-05-21T09:01:00.001-05:00

There are some food traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, traditions that are about much more than the food. These traditions are about making time to do something as a family, working toward a common goal. Some are more complicated and time-intense. Others are as simple as, well, snapping green beans.

It isn't truly summer until I am sitting on the front porch with three bowls: one full of freshly picked green beans, one for the "trash" ends, and one of the good pieces. I enjoy the taste of green beans and they make routine appearances at our dinner table, but my favorite part of green beans is the cleaning. Why? Because I remember cleaning beans with my mom, she remembers cleaning them with her mom, and now my girls and I are continuing the tradition. You see, cleaning beans doesn't take a lot of mental fortitude, which means you can talk about all sorts of things while you are sitting there. And that is what makes food traditions so wonderful.

Enough about the sentimental stuff... on to the facts.

Green beans are an excellent source of of vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, folate, and iron. They are a low calorie, low fat, filling food, and a great pairing with so many dishes. Because they are so easy to can and freeze, I try to preserve enough beans to feed us through the fall and winter, and we usually have them 2-3 times a week.

Like most of our vegetables, the "normal" color isn't enough for our crazy garden. We have yellow, green, and purple green beans, although the purple turn green when you cook them. We have tried pole beans -- meaning the plants grow up a lattice of some sort -- but were disappointed with the production so only planted bush beans this year. Specifically, the green varieties are Contender, Provider, and Jade.

They are also super-easy to prepare. The fruits and veggies matter Web site recommends that you either take green beans out just before they are cooked the way you like, or plunge them into ice water immediately to stop them cooking further.

Our standard treatment for green beans is to boil them in water for 5-6 minutes. Drain. Drizzle a little bit of EVOO or melt a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt or garlic powder and serve. I also tend to eat them raw, straight from the garden, with the sun's heat making them just the right amount of warm... but I should recommend that you wash them first.

There is of course the famous green bean casserole and three-bean salad, too. What creative recipes or family food traditions do you have?