August is a sweet month at the farm. The mornings are cool and quiet, and when the fog burns off the fields seem to glow in the mid-summer sun. There is still plenty of work to do, but the frenzy of early summer is over and I always feel a sense of riding the crest of the wave in August. We’re looking back on the steep climb we’ve just accomplished and ahead to the rush towards fall, but for the moment we’re just enjoying the ride (and the bounty!).
This week we started our second round of haying and are seeing strong regrowth after July’s application of fertilizer and good growing weather. We made over 1000 bales in our first push! We also harvested the garlic and laid it out to cure in the greenhouse under a shade cloth cover. We’ve moved the pigs onto fresh pasture and will sow a buckwheat cover crop on the ground they tilled for us, preparing it for vegetable planting next season. Later this week we will harvest our second batch of chickens and sow beets, spinach and tatsoi for fall harvest. So, there’s never a dull moment on the farm and everything has its season. Thanks for riding the wave with us!
Cheers, Norah and the Sweetland Crew
Week 12 Harvest, Brimming Basket
- Lettuce, 1 head
- Sweet onion, 2 bulbs
- Fennel, 2 bulbs
- Radishes, .8 pounds
- Summer squash/zucchini, 3 pounds
- Cucumbers, 2 pounds
- Tomatoes, 4
- Sungold cherry tomatoes, 1 pint
- Corn, 4 ears
- Eggplant, 2
Week 12 Harvest, Half Pint
- Lettuce, 1 head
- Sweet onion, 1 bulb
- Fennel, 1 bulb
- Radishes, .4 pounds
- Summer squash/zucchini, 1.5 pounds
- Cucumbers, 1 pound
- Tomatoes, 2
- Sungold cherry tomatoes, 1/2 pint
- Corn, 2 ears
- Eggplant, 1
Recipes of the Week
- I made a version of this Middle Eastern Chickpea Stew using onion, eggplant, fennel, summer squash and tomatoes. I ate mine over couscous.
- Radishes are transformed from spicy and crisp to juicy and comforting when roasted.
- Here’s a cool idea: Zucchini Pizza Crust! Veggies top and bottom!