Kretschmann Farm Sept. 8, 2009
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
We’ve slipped
back to a regular 7 A.M. start time, but each morning it gets a little harder
to get going out there. Especially on cloudy mornings, it’s just darker. As the weather cools, with lows in the 40’s
and then 30’s, we’ll not even want to be outside picking quite that early
anyway. Afternoons become the favored
hours to work. For a week now, it’s been
so pleasant in afternoons--straightening the back, looking up to pick apples
with brilliant blue sky as the backdrop.
Packing it into the house at a more reasonable hour in the evening has been
satisfying too.
The “big dig” was a
big success. We’ve filled the cooler
with carrots, the upper barn with potatoes, and the lower barn with many bins
of beets. It felt good to get the early
crops of roots out of the ground so we can now seed cover crops for the
winter. We’ll harvest the late root
crops in mid to late October. These
we’ll store for winter.
We are about to start into the season of
apples and cider. Apples will continue
in abundance until Thanksgiving. Since
we have not even three acres of apples, unless we have a phenomenal
season, it’s not enough fruit to
adequately supply you. So we buy some
organic apples from Bill and Marianne Oyler, who are about the best organic
apple growers in the state. We’re
getting Golden Supremes this week. He
also markets organic apples from a
We’ll start making cider this week. It’s always uncertain how much juice we’ll
have so we go until we run out and rotate around each week so everyone gets
some. The first cider is always a little
tart because the early apples aren’t as sweet as the later ones. All our cider is UV treated, which is similar
to pasteurization, but without the heat.
So it tastes just like raw apple juice.
In the waning days
of summer, we are, sincerely,
Don, Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
P.S. Beans might be a little moist because we picked them
quickly this morning and there was not time to let them dry. You might want to take them out of the bag
and let them dry in the frig before storing them in a
dry bag. Great beans!
Note on E-mail: We’ve had a number of indications from various subscribers
this season that they are not receiving the newsletters or e-messages. The problem seems to be intermittent, because
for others, there is no problem at all.
We been really stumped as have those who are apparently being blocked
out. I spoke with a tech person from our
provider-Verizon- and it was suggested that if you are experiencing problems,
you could go to www.verizon.net/whitelist
and register our address as not being spam.
The upshot is that their software can pick up my messages and block them
as spam. Also, your own spam filters and your provider
might be blocking the messages. Check
with them, also, to see how you can allow messages through.
Acorn Squash with
Currants: Half squash brush cavity with melted
butter and bake top side down with a little water 30 min. @400 deg. While the
squash is baking, heat 3 tbs butter, 1/3 c. maple
syrup, ¼ tsp allspice, ¼ c. currants, pinch salt until the butter is melted and
the currants are plumped. Remove the squash from the oven, turn it cut sides
up, and brush w/ maple mixture. Fill and return the squash to the oven. Brush
with maple mixture occasionally and add more water as necessary to keep the
bottom covered, 20-30 min until tender. Salt and pepper to
taste. (Honey and raisins work
just as well.)
Creamy Carrot Soup: Heat 2 Tbs oil and add 1 c.
chopped onion, 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger, and cook 10
min. stirring occasionally. Add 1/4 c. rice (arborito
is nice for soups as it's creamy), 1 tsp curry powder, and cook 1 min. stirring
constantly. Add 2 lbs. sliced carrots,
one diced potato, and 10 c. veggie or chicken broth and simmer 30 min until
carrots are tender. Cool slightly and
then puree in batches in a blender until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper
to taste.
Beets,
Grapefruit Glazed: Boil beets until tender, slip off the skins,
slice. Then bring to a slow boil ½ c.
orange juice, ½ c. unsweetened grapefruit juice, 1 tbs. orange zest, 1 tsp.
honey, and ½ tsp. minced fresh ginger.
Reduce sauce by half and toss with beets.
Special
Orders: Apples—Golden Supreme $20/half
bushel Gala--$25/half bushel Beets--$12/half bushel
Because
these dinners might be of interest to you and give us a chance to meet in
person, we’re posting these delicious events.
They are all great food—even a good bit of our own.
Meet
your Farmers Events: Local
Foods Dinner at St. Ferdinand (Becky and I will both be there—check out
the menu!),