Kretschmann Farm Aug. 14, 2007
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com --note
our new e-mail address—
Greetings from the
Kretschmanns,
The abundant rainfall we got for nearly a week
has turned this into an entirely different season in a hurry. In total, we got about 3 inches in at least
five distinct storms. We had all but given up hope of having that kind of
moisture in the ground for our crops to draw upon. The first two inches were
quickly absorbed by the bone dry soil.
Only the last thunderstorms produced any real runoff. By the week’s end, we too, were beginning to
tire of being chased out of the fields by sudden downpours, getting soaked
doing deliveries, and having to rearrange our crews and schedules. But all in
all, things look very good. The squashes, fall potatoes, and beans especially
benefited from the timing and quantity of moisture.
This week, we’ll be sending out a “bill” for the remainder of the season
if you haven’t sent the second payment. It’s
our best guess; we’ll settle up at the end of the season with a refund or a
bill if we’re off.
If
the veggies are backing up on you and you are beginning to have a refrigerator
full of things uneaten, think of putting some away for future use. You can easily grate zucchini and put it in a
Ziploc bag for zucchini bread or pancakes in the winter. Green beans can be blanched (one minute in
boiling water) cooled and frozen. Greens like swiss chard or spinach are
similar. You can even just put tomatoes
in a plastic bag in the freezer and then add them to soups and sauces
later. Beets and carrots last very long
just as-is. Just remove the beet tops so they don’t ruin other things in the
crisper.
An
idea of what’s to come--we’re in the thick of things, with no end in
sight. Dodging the raindrops and the puddles late
last week, we dug 3 bins (1000# ea.) of carrots and 3 of beets. Lots more to go. We are up to our eyeballs in zucchini (and
this second planting is just starting), have nearly as many cucumbers; look forward to 5 more large plantings of
green beans; apples will be scarce until the beginning of September, but then
we’ll supplement ours with some apples from the Oyler’s who are in their second
year of transition to organic; and tomato season is upon us…just keep eating.
--- Don,
Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
Reuse/recycle: We’ll take any of the plastic blueberry pints you
return. We use them for cherry tomatoes.
The cardboard flats are also handy for us. Just put them into your wooden box
when you return it.
Parsley Summer Salad: Chop 1 bunch parsley. Dice 1 large cucumber, 1
tomato, and 1 small sweet onion (or a scallion is good too). Toss and dress with 2 tbs. olive oil and
juice from ½ lemon or lime. Salt/pepper to taste.
Fresh Tomato and Zucchini
Sauce: Saute
½ c. chopped onion and 1 clove minced garlic in oil 5 min. Then add 5 c. chopped ripe fresh tomatoes
(about 5), 3 c. shredded zucchini (about 2 med.) and simmer 15 min. stirring
occasionally. Good on rice or
pasta.
A favorite sweet pickle
recipe from years ago in the Ball Blue
Book
Zucchini Pickles: Cut up 2 lbs. zucchini in thin slices. Peel quarter and cut 2 small onions into thin
slices. Cover onions and zucchini with
water, add ¼ c. pickling salt, and let stand 2 hrs. Drain thoroughly. Bring 3 c. cider vinegar, 2 c. sugar, 1 tsp
celery seed, 1 tsp tumeric, 2 tsp mustard seed to boil and pour over zucchini
and onions. Let stand 2 hrs. then heat everything to boiling for 5 min. At this
point, you can put pickles in jars and refrigerate when cool, or pack into pint
canning jars and process in boiling water bath for 15 min.
String Bean Salad: Boil or steam 1 lb. string beans. Combine 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. vinegar, 1 clove mince garlic, salt an pepper. Pour over bean. Add 2 sliced tomatoes and 1 sliced onion.
Special Order
Items: Basil:
½ bushel--$10. Sadly, blueberries are over
for the year.
