2024 CSA Farm Update: Week 7
From the Farm: Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine, on the Field, in the Caterpillar Tunnel
Hello everyone and welcome to week 7 of the Katchkie Farm CSA. The past week was a rather steady week on the farm with no major surprises. We continued to plant our fall kale, cabbages, broccoli, and radicchio. The summer harvests are coming in nicely with a steady supply of zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, and summer onions. The garlic is also drying down quite nicely in the greenhouse.
The biggest news of the week would be that the cherry tomatoes will make their way into the CSA shares! After many years of growing them in our high tunnels, we decided to give that soil a rest from solanaceous crops and construct four caterpillar tunnels to grow them in our fields, but under cover. As construction project seems to go, the materials came much later than anticipated which meant that our cherry tomatoes were planted 4 weeks later than usual. When we planted them at the end of May, they had yellowing leaves and were starting to flower, which is a sure sign of plant stress. After a few weeks of care, they came back with great vigor, and we have been coddling them ever since. I have to say, they were worth the wait. The plants are loaded with beautiful and delicious red, orange, and indigo fruits for many weeks to come.
For this week’s share we also have a celery called “Redadventure.” It is a cross between giant red celery and a standard green celery from the well-known plant breeder Frank Morton. This cross seems to have brought all the celery flavor of the 3-foot giant red variety to a more compact framework. It is not your standard crunchy, juicy celery, and it really shines as an herb to enhance the flavor of other dishes.
Saturday also brought the first distribution of the Katchkie Flower Shares on the farm as well as the opening of our flower stand. For many years, we have planted flowers on the farm to enhance the beauty of the landscape as well as to offer the benefits of a diverse insect life. This year, my wife Jen made the plantings much more orderly and imbued them with her love and knowledge of flower growing. The shares are an eye-catching mix of color and texture, not to mention splendid flower fragrance. We still have spots open for our Kinderhook Flower Share pickup or you can stop by the farmstand Friday evenings and Saturday mornings to purchase a bouquet.
Until next time,
Farmer Jon
FLOWERS FROM KATCHKIE FARM
Join our Flower CSA available for pickup at Katchkie Farm. Contact us for a discount code!
WEEKLY HARVEST INCLUDES*
*We try our best to provide the most accurate CSA list in the newsletter! However, there’s always a chance of last minute substitutions in some bags if we don’t harvest enough of a vegetable.
DELICIOUS RECIPES TO TRY
Shredded Cabbage Slaw
Recipe from Embrace: Wellness
The trick to a tasty slaw is a hands-on approach. Massage the vegetables by hand once the olive oil and lemon juice are added. Serve this fall slaw with a potato salad and Crispy Baked Tofu. (Season tofu with smoked paprika before baking for a barbeque flavor.) If you have leftover cabbage, make our Quinoa Bowl with Spicy Peanut Dressing, a delicious lunch or dinner that you can prepare in advance.
Serves 4
Combine 2 cups finely sliced red cabbage, 2 cups finely sliced green cabbage, 2 cups shredded carrots, ¼ cup chopped fresh dill, 3 Tb lemon juice and 3 Tb olive oil in a large bowl. Mix by hand and massage well. Season with salt to taste. Sprinkle ⅓ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) over the slaw before serving.