Farm Happenings for July 30, 2022

Late July is a wild time on the farm. The heat stresses both plants and people. Death abounds (because this is a time of year when many plants die), and yet Watermelons also abound. And Tomatoes. And smoked & grilled Eggplant. It's so hot and so dry and yet also so humid, and then comes along a blessedly sweet rain. Or a slightly-stressful-but-so-beautiful lightening storm. It's a time of year of great contrasts. We're exhausted but life is also so full of fun things. Farm Share members and customers at market and our FarmStand here at the farm are amazingly grateful for what we do. Our apple and pear trees (family projects!) are having a productive and delicious year. Our kids are active on two vivacious sports teams and those keep us hopping between farm and sports, plants and people, tomatoes and swim caps, watermelons and bike helmets.

We love this time of year for the watermelons. (Because the weather usually leaves a bit to be desired!) We sweat and build muscle getting these babies out of the field and into our walk in cooler (remember we are a human powered farm -- no assistance from a tractor during harvest!). And then after a long day of working in the heat we get to eat cold watermelon. That - plus hearing how you all enjoy eating what we grow - makes it all worth it. :)

We PROUDLY grow Watermelons with seeds inside them, because fruit should have seeds! (That's how they reproduce!) We grow mostly melons that have pink flesh and a smaller number of melons with yellow flesh. We eat the seeds - we just swallow them. Try it!

We currently have no intact heads of lettuce because we've got GROUNDHOGS again. This little bugger (these little buggers?? we don't know how many there are!) takes a big chomp out of a bunch of Lettuce heads when no one is in our field. These hungry varmints first found our farm in 2020, so this is our third summer of "experience" with them. We now know what their snacking looks like, as well as what their tunnels under our fence look like. So now we work on capturing them so that humans can enjoy the Lettuce. (PRO TIP: The heads of Lettuce are more tasty than the Salad Mix this time of year. It's reflective of how well suited (or not!) the different plants are for the heat that this time of year brings.)

Hanging out at the bottom of this email evvvvverrryyy week is a list of our Storage Tips for various vegetables. There are some gems of info in there! The most salient points this week are: -> Keep Tomatoes and Eggplants OUT of the fridge. (Eggplants have the shortest shelf life of anything we grow. Eat them soon after getting them from us.)

Eggplants will feel softer/less firm after a few days at room temp, but they are still very fine to eat.

Our meals are still a constant combination of roasted/grilled vegetables and salads, plus protein from a friend's farm and some bread or rice or tortilla. Oil and Salt and Garlic are our best friends to make our meals complete... and vinegar.

REMEMBER: Your TOMATOES will almost always be separate from the rest of your vegetables at pick up. Look in the crate located with shares.

We grow flowers because they make us smile in the summertime! When it's so dang hot, yellow sunflowers and pink snapdragons make us happy. They lift us right up. Plus the watermelon in the belly helps, too.

Vegetable prep suggestions:
- SOAK slices of Eggplant in oil, maybe oil + Vinegar, for a few minutes or a few hours. Then roast or grill. Top with a combination of soy sauce, sriracha, and garlic.
- Do the same with Summer Squash! We grow the varieties in which the seeds stay very small even when the squash is bigger than may look ideal. Slice them up, soak them in oil with garlic and salt, and roast in the oven or cook on the grill.
- Dice up Tomatoes and toss with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Maybe also Balsamic vinegar. Put on top of Salads or simply enjoy as its own side dish.
- Use Lettuce leaves as wraps/boats for any assortment of fillings: tunafish, chicken salad, tofu "chicken" salad, egg salad...the list of options is loooong.

If you've received this email, you have a share scheduled to pick up in two days. (Sudden need to be out of town? No problem -- log in and click on "Reschedule or Hold this Share" BEFORE 6am the day before pick up.)

For Pick Up:

- Please remember to bring your own bags each week.

- At Self Serve locations: Our vegetables are in green plastic boxes at the pick up location, labelled with members' names. Find the box with your name on it. - Empty the vegetables into your bag and leave the empty, green box for us to collect.

- Loaves of bread, for those who have ordered one, will be near the green boxes, labeled with your name. Pick up your loaf if you are due one. (Some people have purchased a Bread Share for a loaf each week of the season. Some people order a loaf when they please.)
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (tomatoes, eggs, fermented vegetables, etc...)

- At Staffed locations: One of us will be there to quickly gather your items for you to bag up and bring home.
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are in your email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.

Vacations:
If you will be gone and can't pick up a particular week's share you can reschedule that week's share for a different week in the Harvie software, or you can have a friend or family member pick up for you. Just forward this email to them so they know the details.

Vegetable Storage Tips: Storing them properly allows them to last longer in your fridge (or on your counter!), stay more crisp, and serve you best. Here’s what the pros do…

-> All GREENS and ROOTS need to be refrigerated in an AIR TIGHT bag or container to prevent going limp/wilty. Keep bagged greens in the bag in which we pack them.

-> ROOTS store best if you remove the tops and refrigerate them in a separate container or bag.

-> If you’re short on fridge space, you can also keep Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Garlic, and Cucumbers (for a brief time) out of the fridge. (Though, our standard is to store Peppers & Cucumbers in the fridge. Just keep an eye on them. They’ll go bad after a time.)

-> Keep Tomatoes and Eggplants OUT of the fridge. (Eggplants have the shortest shelf life of anything we grow. Eat them soon after getting them from us.)

Thank you again for being part of our Farm Share! Our farm wouldn't exist without you, and we're so happy to grow vegetables to nourish you.

With huge gratitude ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Mia, Natalie, Sophie, Magda, S., Zach, and the farm kids)

Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram

Owned and operated by Janet Aardema and Dan Gagnon, Broadfork is a small family farm in Chesterfield, VA providing the metro-Richmond area with Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
We use traditional European methods of biointensive, raised bed production while maximizing soil and plant health for nutrition and sustainability. No synthetic/chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide is ever used in any part of the process of growing your food. Everything we sell is grown by us, and we farm full-time, supporting ourselves and our four children through our farm business.

Growing practices at Broadfork utilize only ecological methods: compost, cover crops, organic fertilizer, and minerals are used to feed the soil that feeds our plants. Raised beds are used to prevent soil-compaction, allowing for happier plant roots. We use organic potting soil and fertilizer, as well as amendments like fish emulsion and sea minerals. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides are ever used on your food and we are Certified Naturally Grown (which follows the same national standards used for Organic Certification). We are also proud members of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming and Slow Food RVA. Janet and Dan both hold Bachelor’s Degrees in Biology from Davidson and Lafayette Colleges, respectively. Janet holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We both thrive on putting our biology backgrounds to use in a farm setting and share a passion for farm education.

Go to farm profile

About the farm

Archive