Welcome to another bountiful week of spring Farmstand boxes! I know I have said it before, but what a difference a few days can make. Going from 35 degrees and snow/raining outside to sunshine and 50 is just what we farmers needed. Even working in hoophouses when the weather is so dreary and damp is no fun at all. But add a little sunshine, and everything gets better.
This week, Farmers Ryan, Alex and I have been busy busy busy getting ready to begin transplanting tomatoes next week, followed by cukes soon thereafter. That means a lot of bed prep in our hoophouses: broadfork the soil, pick out weeds, add amendments like compost and minerals, hoe the soil to mix everything in and break up any clumps, then rake smooth - and repeat on the next bed. Your farmers are gonna sleep good this weekend - the farm gym is officially open!
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We wheelbarrow in the compost, and each bed gets about 6 loads dumped on it. We're using a few different brands of compost this year, some from here in WI, and some from our neighbors in MI. We'll see how each kind of compost performs this growing season, but regardless of where it comes from seeing that soil turn black with all the compost added in makes my heart sing. Black gold indeed!
Meanwhile, our spinach hoophouses are starting to wind down now. We've picked the beds of spinach about 4 times now, and need to dig them in to get ready for the new tomato transplants, so next week will wrap up most (but not all) of our winter spinach plantings. The new spring spinach was planted last week and should be sprouting any day now, ready for harvest just in time for summer CSA boxes. It's always sad to turn a crop in, but exciting for new crops to come. I am already thinking about sinking my teeth into that first juicy cherry tomato of summer!
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In the heated greenhouse, transplants are looking fabulous. Cukes are germinated and should be getting their true leaves (and getting transplanted) next week. We did have to replace the ancient thrift store crock pot in our germination chamber, but otherwise it's been smooth sailing on the greenhouse front. Our farmer built germination chamber is basically a warm box kept at about 80 degrees with a small light bulb and a crock pot for extra humidity (super fancy...) where we stick newly seeded flats to hasten the germination process and help make germination more uniform over all. We need all the seeds in a flat to germinate at about the same time, so that the entire flat is ready for transplanting all at once. You can buy a germination chamber for a few thousand bucks, but that is way outta our price range, so we built one out of scraps and farmer ingenuity for about $26. Hopefully the new crock pot will last another 10 years, but in the meantime, if my wife is looking for our crock pot, YOU KNOW NOTHING! ;)
Here's what the cheery little cukes are looking like now, and below is our germination chamber. Don't laugh too hard - it works great!
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That's it from the farm this week. Here's a quick update from Farmer Brian of Northcroft Farm, and some of his favorite ways to spice up an old classic dinner option.
Back in stock this week are Beef roasts and Steaks!
For this weeks recipe here are 9 ideas to liven up your mac and cheese:
- Bacon and caramelized onions
- Kim Chi mac and cheese
- Hot dogs and carrots – A much anticipated meal as a child as it was the only time we got hot dogs.
- Blue cheese spinach - sauté spinach and replace about 25% of cheddar with blue cheese
- Blue Cheese and ground beef – replace about 25% of cheddar with blue cheese.
- Sage and butter nut squash – I’ve seen this with chunks but usually I have pureed the butternut with some milk to make the sauce.
- Broccoli and Harvarti – replace a portion of cheddar with Havarti depending on taste
- BBQ Mac and cheese - ½ cheddar and 1/2smoked gouda, pulled pork and BBQ sauce to taste.
- Andouille sausage – regular mac and cheese but add some Cajun seasoning and slices of andouille sausage and top with chopped scallions.
Have a great weekend, and thanks for eating locally!
In community,
Farmer Chris
Great Oak Farm
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