The end of September may not feel like fall yet, but our September 14th open house will be only days before the official start of the season. Come see the latest on the farm because you know it's time for a farm visit.
Reserve Saturday, September 14th from 3:00-5:00 pm to catch up with us in Sherwood and hear what's ahead this fall.

13390 SW Morgan Road Sherwood, OR 97140

Today's share is pretty much the same as Monday's so if you're looking for info on the share check out the previous post. 

You might have noticed that it rained this weekend, a good thing for the greens, and so far not so bad for everything else. We did have a number of tomatoes split from the extra moisture so beware, they may be a little more fragile this week.

Today's share had many of the standards: lettuce, summer squash, tomatoes and cucumbers for most folks. The herbs this week are basil and cilantro. The cilantro is a new variety for me, Pokey Joe. It's supposed to have flavorful roots, but today we just cut the tops hoping for a second harvest soon. It would be excellent chopped up with tomatoes to make a little salsa.

Melons and beans are still on rotation and are still looking good. I'm hoping we'll get some to all the shares within a week or two.

More summer staples in today's share. Lettuce of one sort or another is a spring summer and early fall staple. Tomatoes, cucumbers and squash are definitely late summer staples (don't look now but summer is more than half way over). Sweet onions come around occasionally for us and today we've put one or two in the share. These sweet onions don't store well for an onion, but they'll keep for a few weeks if you don't get around to slicing them up right away. The variety is Ailsa Craig, which I haven't grown before. Try 'em our and email to let me know what you think.

We've also put a little sage in the shares as part of an ongoing herb rotation. I always think of sage and honey tea, but it's also good fried quickly in butter to flavor a dish, or even chopped up in a savory muffin.

Two other items are on rotation right now since we're not getting enough at once to give everyone: melons and green beans. I hauled my first load of melons into town last week. They definitely add some weight to the bike. They continue to ripen in the field in small quantities so I'll continue to haul them.

Beans are also being very slow. The variety, slenderette, does seem to produce for a long period so I'm hoping over time there will be enough for everyone. Unfortunately, the second planting of beans failed so we're relying on the first to give a good crop.

In other news, we're still planting for fall. The last of the lettuce and chicories is scheduled to be planted this week and, with a little luck, we'll get it all in. After that planting slows to a trickle, we can focus on cleaning up more weeds and getting ready for the fall.

Today's share is more or less the same as Monday's. If you're looking for info on what's in the bag look back through the previous posts.

Continuing on with explaining some of the varieties we're growing I thought I'd mention the cucumbers. We're growing two varieties this year: Lemon and Poona Kheera. The lemon cucs are a long time favorite of mine. They are small and round and pale green, turning to yellow as they mature. I like them much better before they get yellow so you may never see a yellow one in your share.

The Poona Kheeras are a new one for me. Like many variety names, this one is simply a place name, Poona, in western India, combined with the vegetable type, Kheera, which is what cucumbers are called in Poona. These are a similar color to the lemons but they are longer. They also ripen yellow and then they turn russeted brown at full maturity. The flavor changes from very mild to sweet with a little tartness as they mature.

Today's share is a solid mix of summer staples: romaine, basil, squash, cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes. There's little need to cook with fresh vegetables like these. In fact I'll probably be eating the tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers without as much as a fork or knife to help out. The lettuce will get plucked and washed, I'll probably pound the basil into a paste with a mortar and pestle adding some olive oil, and I really do prefer the squash cut into thin rounds and sautéed in olive oil. That pounded basil with oil will go nicely over the squash, or lettuce, maybe even the leftover potatoes from last week. I'm getting hungry writing this. Back out to the field for a little weed patrol before deliveries.



Josh Volk

Vegetable Taste Tester

Today's share is basically the same as Monday's so if you're looking for notes on the share check back with the last post. 

Last year was a terrible melon year. I had complete failure at the old Slow Hand Farm site. Melons are a bit marginal for us here in the upper valley anyway, and they're really bigger than makes sense for the very small shares, but I love them and so I always plant a few out hoping for the best. This year it looks like we'll get some, maybe even enough to get one in everyones' shares. We're growing two melons: Golden Midget and Delicious 51.

Golden Midget is a mini watermelon which has a rind that turns golden when it's ripe. We ate the first ripe one on the farm today and it was tasty! The flesh is your standard watermelon red with black seeds. If you want to do the farm a favor save the seeds and dry them on a plate. Then send them back to us with a little note telling us what they are and we'll plant them out again next year.

Delicious 51 is a muskmelon, what is more commonly referred to here in the states as cantaloupe. True cantaloupe is a slightly more fussy melon that takes a bit longer than the muskmelon, but they look and taste very similar. I've grown Delicious 51 in the past with good success and while there probably won't be enough of either variety for everyone to get both, I'm pretty sure everyone will get one or the other this season. 

Amarosa potatoes are the featured item this week. They are a red fingerling all the way through, bred at OSU. Originally we planned to give these out in September but they're ready now so we decided to dig one of the two beds for this week's share. These would be excellent roasted whole, or maybe even in a potato salad.

Another new item is parsley and and this year I'm trying a new variety, einfacht schnitt, or fine cut. This would go quite nicely with those potatoes, or just sautéed with a but of olive oil and then tossed with pasta.

Tomatoes, summer squash and lettuce continue to fill out the share, with a few bags containing cucumbers as well. All of these would combine for a lovely salad, or, like my lunch today, a nice sandwich.

Josh Volk

Vegetable Sandwich Connoisuer

In the fall when all of the seed catalogs come in the mail there are always a zillion varieties of every vegetable that all sound great. I've really tried to pare down my selections to just a couple of each to help simplify and streamline our growing, but I'm only moderately successful.

This year we're growing four varieties of summer squash (pictured above). From left to right the varieties are: Midnight lightning, Tromboncino, Sunburst, and Genovese. The midnight lightning is a dark zucchini which I've grown for many years and is even and reliable. I've grown the Tromboncino before, but not for a bunch of years so it feels a bit new again. It has very little seed cavity, much like a butternut winter squash all of the seeds are in the bell shaped end which leaves the rest of the neck with only tasty flesh. Sunburst has been the other standard and these are usually very productive, as well as tasty. Genovese is a new zucchini for me, with light color and a catalog description that led me to believe it has superior flavor. I'd love to get feedback on all of these and I'm cooking with them myself so I can decide if I want to keep all of them in the mix next year.

For crops where we're growing multiple varieties we mostly randomize who gets what, hoping that at some point during the season everyone will have gotten a chance to try everything. Another crop that I picked out some new varieties for is tomatoes (pictured below). From right to left the bigger tomatoes are: Juane Flamme, Moscovitch, and Japanese Black Trifle. The Juane Flame is like a big gold cherry, very tasty and productive. The Moscovitch is a versatile red tomato with great flavor. The Black Trifle is my attempt to replace Black Prince, which was tasty, but not particularly productive. So far it seems off to a good start with its distinctive slight pear shape and dark shoulders.

The cherries from left to right are: Black, Galina, Peacevine and Sungold.  Sungold is a perennial favorite, fruity and super productive. I haven't found a red cherry that compares, but I'm trying Peacevine again, after not being happy with a few other varieties in the past couple of years. Galina is new for me and is described as productive and good keeper. I think the flavor is ok and I'm hoping it will get better, or at least produce long into the fall. Black is a new favorite for me. It's big and flavorful so I'm hoping it's productive enough to keep.

We pick most of our tomatoes a few days before they're dead ripe. This allows them to ripen more evenly on your kitchen counter, and the reality is that they're pretty darned good eating all the way from the time we pick them to about a week later, if you let them sit out on the counter. Don't put them in the fridge. It kills the flavor and texture, although it does help them store for longer.

On summer squash I also suggest leaving it out on the counter, out of the sun. It won't ripen more, but it keeps its flavor better, and squash can suffer cold damage in the fridge. I keep squash that way for up to a week. If you are going to store squash in the fridge, at least wrap it in plastic so that it doesn't dry out and become rubbery.

Josh Volk
Picky Vegetable Picker