REFRIGERATOR PICKLES and CSA#7 (new potatoes)

The highlight of box number seven is...new potatoes!!  What happens to the flavor of a potato when it has the balance of minerals in the soil????  You will see!  To capture the most flavor, a simple boiling followed with a pat of butter will give you a rare dining experience. 

Onions are in the box and are so good raw or cooked.  Last night we had onions fried with zucchini and it was the best ever.

Each box has the versatile zucchini.  Whether mixed with egg batter and fried, combined in a hot dish are turned into bread, zucchini has prolific uses.  Family shares have a big and small zucchini.  The big one is for bread or hot dishes.  The smaller one is amazing fried.  Let us know how you use your zucchini.  Shares receive one zucchini.

A small head of lettuce is in this box.  Lettuce does not like heat like we have had.  With a small head like this, I like to use it on sandwiches or BLT's.  We have had the best BLT's lately.  Cucumbers are in the box as well and they are amazing on sandwiches as well.  If you cut slices the long way, they stay on the sandwich much better.

Cauliflower and broccoli are in the box.  Send us your recipes on what you do with them.

And then there's the dreaded.....KALE in this week's box!!  You knew it was going to happen sooner or later!!  Actually kale is the most nutritious vegetable we raise.  If you pan fry it, cook the stem first to simmer and then let the leaves fry just a short bit.  This pan fried kale can be eaten separately or even put on a sandwich.  Or you can make kale chips.  Many of our members have learned to like kale as chips.  The famous Olive Garden kale soup is a great way to use kale.  If you can't use it this week, chop it all finely, put it in a zip lock bag and tuck it in the freezer for a great soup next winter.  Some might want to dehydrate it and put in soup.  The kale recipes are on our website.  Kale is a free pick each time you come to the farm.  Just snap down the lower big leaves.  Leave the top small leaves to continue growing.  Never pull up the plant or cut it off because then the giving tree of kale is gone for the season.

And don't forget the green beans in this week's box.  We would love to hear how you fix green beans.  We had them simply steamed last night and they were amazing.

I wanted to say BRAVO to how well you have handled the harvest events.  Large crowds have come each day.  You enter the middle of the field by the "enter here" sign instead of entering from everywhere and trampling crops.  You read the signs and follow directions.  And you call me if you need help.

There is a bit of a lull right now on harvest events.  The peas are done.  This patch of green beans is nearing the end.  This broccoli patch has been picked pretty clean.  The pickling cucumbers are the main event occurring now.

The hot and dry weather is a concern.  I was reading last night the drought covers 55% of the country in crop producing states of the south and midwest.  The article said it is spreading to Minnesota and the Dakotas.  Little piddles of rain like this morning are a welcome, but momentary help.  We are irrigating night and day to make the best of it. 




Hi CSA members!!

Yes, we are in a pickle...but it could be a good one.  The pickling cucumbers have a chronic problem this year.  They always seem to have big cucumbers on them.  The problem with big cucumbers is they let the plant know it has done its job...make seed.  So then it heads into early retirement.

We ask anyone picking to pull them so following members can have good picking.  But we could turn it into something more positive than that.

Refrigerator pickles are those easy to make that sit in an ice cream bucket or two gallon jar in your fridge.  They are an asset to every meal.  We have so many cucumbers right now that are about four to six inches long and an inch in diameter and are perfect for refrigerator pickles.  We have even bigger ones that could make great spears.  We are offering those bigger cucumbers as a free pick to any of our members.  Bring a friend and let them savor Bluebird Gardens for this pick as well.

The cucumber patch this year is beautiful and should go on for a month.  But if it becomes clogged with big cucumbers, it will totally shut down.  So please come and take advantage of this free pick and make it possible for those who want the little cucumbers to get them.

As you enter the harvest event field in the middle of our driveway, you will first see the cucumbers our members can pick anytime.  They are to be picked as the size you get in the box.  For the pickling cucumbers, go past those, past the peas, past the beans and over the hill in line with the wind turbine.

Here is the recipe we love:

six cucumbers sliced thin (Why stop at six??)
one cup chopped onion
one tsp celery salt
one tsp celery seed
one cup cider vinegar
two cups sugar
Boil above ingredients, cool and pour over cucumbers
Refrigerate and eat...meal after meal.

We tried the flags to mark the rows where people leave off.  They often don't get moved.  So we are letting people find the good spots. 

Margaret was going to manage the harvest events but she has become full time in government regulation.  Ya think we maybe have enough rules??  A few years ago at the Minnesota Organic Conference, a keynote speaker was talking about the battle local growers will face.  He said that nothing scares the giants more than the local food movement.  How can they stop the local food movement??  Strangling rules of nonsense that only the goverment could create!!  We all need to stand up and roar when politicians roll through town wanting votes.  And this year, when the politicians continue to call me wanting more donations, I say, "Wait a minute, didn't you just pass the Food Modernization Act, the nail in the coffin for all local growers, assuring the giants can have it all?"  I ask the caller wanting the donation if I can give them my number so someone higher up can call me back.  They always say, "That's okay."

The green bean pick continues where you get two five gallon pails for a coupon.  With the heat, the beans are getting older.  We plan to do another patch in the same area for a great fall pick of beans.

The broccoli pick is pretty well done for now.  Kohlrabi will be coming up in about a week as a pick.