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June, July, and August here on our farm is a bit like a fever dream. "Relentless" is the best adjective we can think of to describe it. The pace is relentless, the task list is relentless. The food is so delicious! And the work is at a fever pitch. We turn around and there's another abundant load to haul in and find a home for. And the next rounds of crops have to get seeded. Germinating trays can't be ignored for even half of a day. Fields are continuously prepped for planting. And plants transplanted. And watered and kept alive. It's fantastic work! But relentless. Like drinking from a fire hose. While it's also so hot and humid but the fire hose doesn't cool us off. And our four kids' summer activities keep rolling, pulling us off the farm to deliver them around the county. So! Usually in late August we get a glimpse of relief with a few cool mornings and a decrease in the harvest haul. The pressure reduces just a little, important bit. There's less to sell, but we need this downslide from the peak harvest weeks. We get to go from 80 hour weeks back down to 60 hour weeks and we get a moment to breathe. (Some farms bring in significant extra help during peak harvest. We haven't found a source for experienced, extra help. Maybe one day!)
Last night I, Janet, walked our fields to get the inventory of what we have to harvest so I could list it here in Harvie for you. It was just before sunset and all of my family was out at sports practice. The farm was quiet and peaceful and I carried a basket with me to hold the random bits of harvest I would collect as I walked around our farm. I dropped my phone in the basket and gradually combined writing my list of available harvest with dropping little harvest into the basket. At one point I picked up my phone to take a picture of a gorgeous field and realized that my phone screen was sticky with plant sap from the food I'd tossed on top of it. At first I was annoyed with myself, and then I settled into this funny gratitude that I live a life in which my phone gets all sticky sap-covered during work activities.
We are harvesting our Green Beans! Actually, some of the beans are Purple or light Yellow. They all taste the same! But we love the color diversity.
While the farm is cranking out vegetables that, botanically, are actually fruits, our household goes into food preservation mode! We pressure can 80-100 jars of our tomatoes each year and love them through the cooler months. We also preserve things from our personal gardens - mostly grown by our children. Their crops include mushrooms, dent corn (for drying), paprika peppers, elderberries, figs, and apples. (Earlier in the year they froze their strawberry, cherry, mulberry, and blueberry crops.) It's a very busy time but exciting to put food by for later. We love eating a combination of seasonal food and food we preserved!
TODAY'S HOT RECIPE TIP:
Seriously, most of the time you'll be in great shape if you just chop up the vegetable (whatever vegetable!!) and toss it with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Maybe saute said vegetable(s) in a pan first. Their flavor usually allows this simple approach to result in success!
Potatoes and Green Beans:
If you want to put more energy and seasonings into your dish, this Beans & Potato Recipe from Savory Spin comes highly recommended from Farm Share member Lesley. It's on our list to make today! (Translate that to: I just told our children they need to make that recipe for our dinner tonight. I delegate most cooking to our kids during the busiest summer months! Try it. I bet it will be wildly successful for you. Kids love rising to the position of getting to prepare food!)
Want to share with us and your fellow members how you're enjoying these vegetables? Let us know what you're making!
Bread Share members: You just got a SEPARATE email to customize your bread share a few moments ago.
To Customize Your Share:
Each time you are scheduled to have a share, you'll receive an email from us 2 days prior. It should have subject line "Time to Customize Your Share." The software will create a default share for you (based on your indicated preferences and what we have available to harvest) and list those default contents in the email. The email also contains a link saying "Want to make changes to your share or add extras?" Click on that link to customize your share! Customization ends between 6 and 7 am on the day before your pick up day (depending on the time of year and thus how early we start harvesting). The cut off time is always specified in the email.
For Pick Up:
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (eggs, fermented vegetables, etc...See below for more info.)
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are in your email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.
EGGS: Ring-a-Bell Farm in Pamplin offers their eggs for sale through us. Their chickens live on pasture and are fed supplemental non-gmo feed from Sunrise Farms. Their eggs are fabulous and we trust their farming practices completely. You can purchase their eggs in our self-serve FarmStand at our farm and you can order them through the Harvie system "Extras" when you customize your share.
We so deeply appreciate the opportunity to farm for you. Thank you for being the most important part of our farm! We love you!
With blessings on your meals ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Siera, Leah, Erica, Alisa, Jen, and the farm kids)
