Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Scenes from the Farm...and Maybe a Few Other Places...

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Proof Positive

Spent the afternoon at the organic farm. This year she added strawberry plants.  

As we were picking the luscious beauties I decided that strawberries might very well be evidence that there is a Creator God Who loves us very much. 

organic Iowan grown strawberries and sugar snap peas

Scribbles and Scrambles - Bulky

A few weeks ago we had pears. 

This week the theme is apples. Lots and lots of imperfect apples.

During the pear blitz & and I made pear sauce, pear pies, pear tarts, pear pie filling and dehydrated pears, Last night I arrived home to the delicious scent of freshly baked apple pie. I've frozen cups and cups of applesauce...just apples no sugar and it's amazing. We've dehydrated a dozen or more cups of apple slices, made up bags of apple pie filling and there are still cups and cups more to process.

Those free apples and pears are saving me $$$ on organic applesauce usually purchased from the store. Dried apple slices, uh yeah, those aren't cheap. And using the imperfect apples makes me feel virtuous and earthy.

Tomatoes are on my agenda for the weekend, too. Our garden is producing those little suckers now. Oh what a problem to have too much delicious organic produce to put away for a rainy day!

Speaking of rain. We got an entire summer's worth last night. Whew. The temperature on Tuesday hit 100 (hearsay, not necessarily fact) today is looking like sweater weather. Crazy Iowa.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Veggietalk

Things you might overhear at an organic CSA pack.

"Don't forget to grab all the discards you want from the pile."

"The white ones are thin-skinned." 

"Uh oh, we have an extra bag. Who didn't get one?" This is a favorite, it is followed by the sound of several people going through 42+ boxes until either a) the box with the missing produce is found or b) we determine the count was over by one. It is a standard statement. When there are six women packing about a dozen or more items into 40+ boxes, you can bet your bippy that it is blurted almost every week.

"So, then what did you put on it?  How long did you cook it?" 

"My spiralizer is on it's way."   Yes. We talk about food. Quite a bit. And how we like to prepare it. And sales of spiralizers have spiked in the past few weeks.

"That one's weeping. Get rid of it!"
"If it's crying, clearly it's upset, getting rid of it just seems cruel." 

"And this one is thin-skinned. Chuck it." 
"So there is no room for weak tomatoes, is that what you are saying?"   Many, many sarcastic and goofy comments are made and we are usually tired, dirty and punchy enough we laugh hysterically.

"How many half share boxes again?" 

"Who's box is missing? Someone read the list again." 

"Those cucumber beetles are a scourge this year. No more sweet corn, they ate the silk." 

"The basil got burnt!"

"Snack time?" "When is Costco going to get the Ghiradelli chocolate chips back?" Farmer number two packs each helper a baggie of dried fruit and almonds (and the above mentioned chocolate when available.) After a few hours of intense and sometimes dirty, nasty work, these baggies almost bring us back to life. There may even have been tears of gratitude during some packs. She also brings tea which we manage to guzzle with gusto, too.

"Look at this __________fill in the blank, radish, tomato, etc. __________________? Isn't it beautiful?"

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm-a-Ling-a-Ding-Dong

The farm was pretty low key yesterday. We brought home fragrant basil, five pounds of heirloom tomatoes and a t-shirt kangaroo pocket full of too-ripe, too-ugly or too-oops tomatoes that needed to be used right away. Which we did. Everyone got a 2 pound sweet potato or a few that added up to that. Zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, onions, garlic, beans, peppers, a few apples and a pear. Another week of heavy, heavy boxes and a time consuming pack. But, as always, satisfying on so many levels. 

On the home front, tomatoes. And those crazy tree pumpkins. The volunteer pumpkin vines have wound themselves through our 8 foot yew bushes in front of our house. One big guy holds firm at 4 feet off the ground and is oranging nicely. Others have not fared so well. One big one was lying in the ditch, still wrapped in her speckled green black immature robe. However, as she sits on the front porch she, too, is developing an orange glow. 

Scribbles and Scrambles . Farmerly Known As...

First things first.... I'm going to practice blogging from my phone. Why? Good reasons... one of which is my computer's current mood swing. And the thrill of adventure that surges within when I ponder what auto-correct might do in a blog post.

Now farm report. Everyone and I mean every single CSA recipient is the proud owner of a 25 + pound watermelon. 

Note pictorial proof.

I especially love Rob snapping a picture of Big Bertha with visuals and a tape measure. And check out the entire ear of corn smut!!! Guess who that went home with? Yep.

Recipe tomorrow, using corn smut. For reals. Now let's see how phone posting went shall we...Okay. Now on the real blogger. I can't change the font or move pictures on my phone. I can't change the size of pictures or change the post time or date.  Auto correct let THREE screw-ups pass, it didn't even bother to embarrassingly correct the words I thumb-tripped over. But, it also didn't make me say something really weird. (I guess I don't need help in that department.) I also can't type horizontally on my phone so I'm more likely to trip over my stupid thumbs. BUT. I must say, phone blogging could be great when I can't post from my computer for some reason. I can always edit later.

Oooooh Pretty!

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm Funs

Teeny, tiny, teensy tomatoes...fingernail sized.

Iowa's largest zucchini and tiniest pickling cucumber

Fresh picked, bee-yo-ti-ful pears

Planted by aliens overnight. It's what they do now instead of crop circles.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fresh, Farm Art...

Nothing crazy happened at the farm. No creepie-crawlie, shuddery encounters. 

The vegetables were picked and ready to pack. The day was beautiful, almost autumn-like. And after weeks of heat, heat, heat, so welcome. The hundred degree dry wave has taken a toll on the veggies. The tomatoes are beginning to rebound from the heat and will probably continue as there are lots of sets and plenty of time for ripening. With the cooler temperatures there should be some decent picks left. The lettuces will be appearing again, soon. The potatoes are a different story. After some research, the farmer has decided that the uppermost potatoes were nearly cooked in the ground so they were quick to rot. They pulled out a decent yield. Just decent, though, and barely equivalent to what they planted. Then, over the following days potatoes began to turn. The yield shrunk to nominal. But. There hasn't been hail like last year.

The pack was quick and full of delicious items like eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, kale and basil.

Picmonkey helped me turn the pictures of the fabulous piles of eggplant into art. Something about the well-used plastic table and the harsh daylight shining on the eggplant, though beautiful, was a little bit stark. 

And, yes, I'm enjoying Picmonkey experimentation. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farming, Farming, Look at That Nasty Thing...

The weather cooperated enough that we were able to harvest sweet corn on Farm day. Yay. The tomatoes have gone slightly dormant with the heat. And for literally two minutes we got a rain storm. A two minute downpour that soaked the parking lots and teased everything else desperate for rain.

But those are just the little details. Here's the big adventure we had at the farm. While checking the organically grown, you know it's organically grown if there is evidence of pests having nibbled, but I digress, corn, & found something.

When I say she found something, I don't mean something innocent, or cute, or ordinary. I mean she found SOMETHING. As you have already correctly judged from the pictures she found something nasty ugly. I've seen this stuff call corn smut. And I've shunned it like the plague that it appears to be. I believe my childhood dreams were haunted by this corn monstrosity many, many nights.

But, get this, the farmer begins educating us on what corn smut is, and actually tells us she's eaten it before and it's tasty. Okay. I'm a major mushroom fan and this kind of piqued my interest. It's edible? Oh, yes, it's a delicacy in many parts of the world. She pulled one off the corn and showed us that it indeed looked like a mushroom under the black, oozy looking covering. So. I tasted it. I took a bite right out of it. And it's good. Tasty, mushroomy. And I am able to, 36 hours later, type this without hallucinating or stumbling around any more than usual in my words. I looked it up on wikepedia...why do I always go there? Anyhoo, I did. And here's the link to Mexican Truffles i.e. corn smut.

I wouldn't try this with non-organically grown corn. But, hey, how often do you get a chance to break off a hunk of ugliness and take a big bite? You only go around once.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Bits From the Homestead

You haven't seen bunny pictures in awhile. So here's a picture of Edward Screwy-ears. One ear droops the other does not. How cute is that? The first couple of days it flopped he walked with a tilt.

 On my way out to the car the other morning I noticed a squawking mama bird and a rustling in the weeds (I'd say grass, but I must be honest, Creeping Charlie is not considered grass). A nestling was hopping it's way to the safety of the bushes.

My folks have a burbling fountain that apparently has another purpose, as a bird bath.

& poses with her first potato harvest. More coming in a week or two.

Our compost pile contained many squash guts and pumpkin seeds. Something took root and took over a 6 x 8 garden section. I don't know that you can see the really, really high squash/pumpkin hanging 6 feet up in the yew bushes. This should be an interesting process as it unfolds.

A closer view of another "fruit" of the vine that is a bit closer to the ground. Only four feet up in the bushes. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Is a CSA For You????

Is a CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture or Community Supported Agriculture) for you?

Good question. Most of the ones in our area are halfway through and you may be hearing all about how awesome the hauls are and are feeling jealous that you didn't get on board.

Before you leap into one these are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

What is your goal/motivation? 

It might be to support local farmers. Maybe you want to force yourself to eat more vegetables or try new ones. Possibly you think local is better nutrition or less poisonous. You could be looking for a way to save money over farmer's markets or just can't get to farmer's markets. Or friends or co-workers are going on and on about their CSA hauls every week and you are tired of drooling on your keyboard.

What are your expectations?

Every single CSA is going to be unique. And not all of them are organic or completely local. What? Yep. The definition of local can be a little wishy-washy. You can hook-up with a cooperative, or a single farmer, or a CSA that is a single grower with an occasional collaboration. Some CSA's contain fruits and other products, some contain only vegetables. The organization you are going with should have a website or pamphlet, or can verbally tell you what they grow, how long the season typically is, and what you should expect in your weekly box. If you are thinking about joining one, get your facts, do your homework before signing on the bottom line.

Generally, each contract is going to look a little different, too. Some offer whole shares, a big box every week, from mid-May thru September or October, but offer half-shares as well. A half-share could be a weekly 1/2 portion of what the full share gets or a full share every two weeks. You need to understand that and know what works for you and your family. If you are getting a half share because you know you can't eat 7 tomatoes, a pound of lettuce and 8 ounces of basil in a week on top of the cabbage, kale and chard, an every other week box of that quantity will probably result in waste for you and you'd do better with less every week. If you are trying to feed a family of four on a full share, but that family is picky and only likes sweet corn and tomatoes but hates anything green and leafy, you are going to be disappointed. If you don't do your homework and find out halfway through the season that half of the produce in your box is organic but the rest is traditionally grown, you will likely not enjoy your CSA experience. If you sign up for organically grown produce and expect it to be untouched by bugs, that's unrealistic.  

Why a CSA may not be for you. Period. No matter how neat you think the concept is, here is why you should not jump in.

If you are picky. Here’s the deal. You get what you get. Two weeks of sweet corn might be all you get out of your organic CSA. If your palette hates green leafy veggies and you let those go to waste, why invest the money? And all of May and throughout early summer and then again at the end of the summer season (September/October), you are going to get lots of green leafy. Tomatoes (organically grown heirloom) are going to be 4-6 weeks in your boxes, depending on weather and bug conditions. Sweet corn, 3 to 4 weeks, and that’s if the farmer staggers the crop to extend it and the weather is cooperative to growing corn. Case in point. Last year we got 3 weeks and the last week was small chopped up portions of salvageable ears harvested after the softball sized hailstorm that rocked the farm. Expect cucumbers and zucchini, but not enough to make pickles every week for 6 weeks, or enough to supply your co-workers. If you don’t know what to do with an summer squash or swiss chard, you may not want to invest in a CSA until you do some serious homework.

If you are looking for a bargain. Honestly, speaking organically here, and with a minimally involved point of view regarding the man hours that go into growing organic, organic CSA’s are a bargain. The prices charged at farmer’s markets and grocery stores/health food stores and coops are a bargain, too. 

Conventional farming is designed to get the biggest bang for the buck and to produce quantity and the quantity that looks picture perfect. Consumers want red tomatoes without defect, shiny apples, and lettuces with no bite marks. To that end, conventional farming is scientifically and mass-productively making those items. Tricks, chemicals, tools and timing are keys. 

Organic farming is sweat and tears. In organics you can’t shoot a mist of chemicals over the field and know that you just likely wiped out the nymph cycle of a pest. Nope. You go out, look under leaves and scrape the eggs off of the back side of said leaves. And you crush every adult bug you see, unless it’s a lady bug, or a spider. And then you watch those plants for any evidence of nearly invisible hatchlings. Because within a day or two you could have overrun plants and lose your harvest. 

Weeds? You don’t spray those either, you bend over and pull them out. Gotta make sure they don’t end up choking your plants. And, after harvest, you have to make sure you don’t let either weeds or bugs go unchecked because some can over winter making your next growing season challenged before it even starts. Then, the produce, if it survives and thrives through weather, bugs and weeds, needs to be picked and prepped. No mass picking in a small 1 farmer CSA. Nope. All picked by hand. You will never, never, never fully appreciate organically grown vegetables until you’ve spent a few hours weeding, whacking bugs, and picking the produce. Back breaking, thankless work. Then. Washing, drying, looking over and bagging produce. Counting, weighing, measuring…and delivering. Oh, and any newsletter or recipe page, and the picking up of boxes from the last round. And dealing with any phone calls or emails while doing it all again the next week. Trust me. Organic, local CSAs are a bargain.

If you love one or two or three kinds of veggies but not so much the rest, or you think this is a great opportunity to be buried in produce.

Do not, do not, do not expect a plethora of the things you love. If you want 7 pounds of broccoli or enough cucumbers to put up pickles, then go to the farmer’s market or nursery or big box grocery store.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Farm Report, Not by Les Nessman

Farm day was a scorcher. 

So, imagine how glad we were when we were assigned "just the pack, ma'am, just the pack."

The farmer and interns were sitting around the packing area, looking at a pile of kohlrabi when we arrived. At 1:30 they all looked like they had used up one of their nine lives. Have I mentioned that the farmer is in her early 60's? Important note. They had been working since 8:30. The temperature was low 90's and there was some pre-hoped-for-rain-humidity in the air. They'd killed beetles and removed damaged leaves. They'd picked, they'd weeded. The farmer made an organic veggie lunch for them and they'd just recharged.

We exchanged niceties and the details of the pack and the washing and box wrangling commenced.  The farmer grabbed her hat and gloves and the twenty-something interns sighed, stood up and grabbed theirs. "Off to pick more kohlrabi." The farmer chirped on her way out. 

An hour later the door opened letting in the blazing sun and bringing women bearing armloads of octopus like veggies. They dumped them, soaked up a little cool air in the cold room, came out into our area wiping their faces on their arms. 

"Ready girls?" The farmer said. In her hand rested two packets of seeds. "It's going to rain tomorrow. I want to get these seeds in." 

The interns followed. I may have seen one mouth "Help Me!" over her shoulder as she exited the protected cocoon. 

This was a long pack. We didn't get home til after 7:00. We packed the last bits of broccoli and early harvest of beans, the last of the snap peas, lettuce, kale, chard, beets, garlic, a kohlrabi or turnip, and some cabbage found it's way into a few boxes. Oh, rhubarb, can't forget that little addition. As I've sung the praises of volunteers benefiting from the less-than-perfect produce extras I took the discarded ends and not so beautiful chunks, and so far I've gotten 8 cups of chopped fruit and I expect to get another pie's worth out of the rest. Three pies for a little elbow grease...Hmmm I think that's a deal. But, as per usual, I digress.

Our box was full. And we worked hard. But we didn't do diddly compared to the farmer and her interns. They came back two more times for seeds. If it was going to rain, by golly, those seeds were going into the ground. They'd gulp water or green tea and scarfed their snacks.  Each time I saw them, they seemed a little more wilted. But not the farmer.

I've mentioned the nibbling that goes on in the garden? The farmer grazes, and we follow her example. I can't back this claim,but I'm pretty sure organic vegetables are super juice and that doing what you love is 220 voltage energy. Gotta be. Because if she didn't love this, the farmer would be insane. 

And the farmer got her beautiful rain. And we will all benefit from her diligent work in a few short weeks. And it's awesome to see tough Iowa stock in action. When I'm 60 I want to make 20-somethings sweat and grow weak in the knees, too. Gotta eat more organic veggies.  

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Well, Mr. Darcy, I Nevah...

Farm day was perfect. 78 degrees, sun, breeze and lots of help. 

Toad Boy was at our house building a bunnie palace and & and I got to the farm a bit later than usual. All the lettuce was done. I can't tell you how nice that was. I've been the chief lettuce washer for the past couple of weeks and that is a job that is tedious. 

We have two interns who are now helping. One has been with us for a couple of weeks and she brought a friend along. They are both in the horticulture program at a local community college. And they seem to love what they are learning and doing. 

More hands makes quicker work and for fun conversations. We ended up getting home in record time. Toad Boy was still hard at work on the palace. We had our delicious Kale and sesame/onion/rice vinegar warm salad and a farm fresh lettuce salad. 

A good day was had by all. Except a few deceased-by-force worms. (Oh, and Elizabeth Bennett Bunny was violated a bit. Seems Mr. Darcy's cuteness fooled & into thinking he'd be a gentleman if she removed the divider between them. Uh. Not so much. He was no gentleman. I even suggested that she change his name to Mr. Wickham. We will cut a hole and add a mesh so they can communicate. I'm pretty sure Elizabeth Bennett Bunny prefers her communication to be longing glances and nose rubs verses the reception she received upon her last visit with Mr. Darcy.)

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Organic Farm Fun... Bless Your Little Pea Picking Heart...

Well, I thought I could fill your minds and thoughts with some rich "root" of meaning for a phrase I have become close with of late. 

Turns out, I can't. So I'll just have to ramble enough that this is worthy of posting, or at least makes you get off the computer and do something of value with your time. You can thank me later. 

Food has wormed (excuse the organic farm pun....) it's way into our very language. In medicine, well, it's pretty cotton pickin disgusting. Coffee ground or cottage cheese are not something you want to see in your medical record. Nor do you really want watermelon flesh. Anyhoo, if you're still hanging onto your cookies, I'll move forward. 

Food phrases... how about bean counter. Hmmm. Bet you've heard that term. Egg on your face.

The phrase that I thought might be rich with deep meaning is Pea pickin... as in the famous and possibly only use "Bless your little pea pickin heart." Ala Tennessee Ernie Ford.

So what the heck does that mean? 

At the farm yesterday I picked some peas. So the recipe for picking peas... Apparently it takes intense 95 degree directly overhead sun. Why? I'm not sure, but I do know that the cool breeze we felt before and after the pea picking was non-existent during. Also, many hands are required. And those many hands can pick 66 pounds (66.4 - says my inner bean counter. Every pea counts. Trust me.) in about 12 hours of woman time. Yup. That's a lot of peas. 

Pea picking also really should require a gymnast or yoga master. Pea plants grow way low as in "how low can you go" low. Peas like to hide in their swirly, viney foliage. So I think I can say that it is painstaking and back painstaking work. 

However, there is a nice benefit. Okay, several. 

One, all the peas you can eat while you work. Okay. That's pretty good. So we probably picked 68 pounds between the five of us. 

And while working side by side the conversation flowed nicely. And not so nicely. Someone I picked with, who won't be named to protect her reputation, was sometimes inappropriate. There was a wee bit of laughter while we worked. A few stories, too. 

So we sweat(sweated, swat????) and laughed and whined and got thoroughly filthy. At one point the farmer got separated from the pack (I think it might have been by choice) and when she rejoined us she said. " You know, while I was over there by myself I was listening to you. I couldn't hear the words most of the time. But, the rhythm of your voices, the laughter, the buzz of conversation, it was just beautiful. I enjoyed my background music very much." 

Sigh. And to think. I never really liked peas very much. Seems like they've wound their little tentacles vines right around my pea picking little heart....which is indeed blessed.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Crittercized

Critters.

nothing to do with critters. a salad named fresh garden salad. ha. ha.

1st handful of raspberries. AMAZING

A few critter experiences of late.  Coincidence? I think not!

Chipmunks have been a problem in Wisconsin. I found a tip for making their homes less welcoming and sent it to our Wisconsin friends. Hopefully, the changes in their environment will mean they'll move to a better location soon. 

Soon to be moving chipmunk?

(The chipmunks, not the people.) 

Spicy front door.

I found a few friendly little critters while at the garden shop in Wisconsin. Mine is now sporting a nice blue stripe that wasn't there when I bought him. Someone, who broke his little neck, wondered why anyone would keep snakes on the floor. I wondered why anyone would walk without looking. But it's all good.

Snakes on the floor = broken necks, who knew.

The farm this week....the lettuce. Well, let's just say critter season is in full bloom. And if you buy organic lettuce at a decent price, you should probably find the farmer who picked it and give him/her a pat on the back, a huge hug, or a jumbo java. Because, if their experiences are anything like mine, they need hugs, pats and java. Let's just say, after I picked the green or white gutted vermin off the lettuce leaves and stomped them over and over again, I got a wee bit queasy. Not tomato worm weirded-out, but, it changed me. 

Not THE squirrel...a country cousin.

Finally, Mrs. Toad Boy (my daughter-in-law) and Toad Boy strolled to a local restaurant and had an encounter with a squirrel. Now, this girl LOVES squirrels. I've seen her stand statue still for a VERRRY long time to get some good pictures of rodents. So, no doubt, when she spied the squirrel she was probably giddy. 

But, then, it started chasing/stalking them. She said they'd stop and look at it and it would veer to one side and become all incognito and pretend that it wasn't following them. But peripherally she'd see it keeping pace and even creepier, gaining on them. She said they sped up and actually rushed the entrance. Heart pounding, feeling like they had escaped an awful fate, and the squirrel, seeing that they got away, went and hid behind a car and peeked at the door.  Was it waiting for them to come out? 

She said the walk home was a little tense, especially down the block where the incident occurred. They did arrive home unscathed but a little shaky. Methinks her squirrel picture taking days will include a catcher's mask and some leggings now. 

Watch your backs, people. That's all I'm going to say. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Random Thought Bubbles

 After the first trip to the farm where we cut, washed, and sang the praises of the most amazing bounty we arrived to the parking lot where we'd met up to carpool. 

Ironically, it was a local grocery store. Even more ironically, check out the sign. 

Yeah. Right.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Sigh. Nuff Said...

Oh, perfect day at the farm. 

Sunny, glorious. And we got out of there at a decent time so I had evening left in my day. Rob joined us again. I'm thinking he's hooked. Especially since every time I turned around he was tasting something, or volunteering to be the one who tasted it. 

He and I got to take a little hike to the high tunnel to search for the farmer. She took the high road while we were on the low road and arrived right after we left.  (There are technically three roads that lead to the high tunnel, each challenging in it's own special way. ) But we didn't miss out by missing her, Rob got to eat a pea pod fresh off the vine and I was able to show him the blooming tomatoes we had planted just a few weeks ago. It was a gorgeous afternoon for a walk.

& and Aunt HarHarHar went out earlier and they got the pick done and the pack started and the farmer served lunch. Radish sandwiches. Bread. Thin sliced radishes and butter or Earth Balance. Apparently they are delicious. I'll no doubt rave when we try this at home. 

The side was kale, chopped carrots, a garlic clove minced a bit of oil and a healthy splash of rice vinegar sauteed into deliciousness. This was recreated at home for dinner. 

Look at the haul. A garlic scape (the curly growth from, wait for it, garlic.) Cauliflower, broccoli, plus lettuces, kales, chard, radishes. So, so tasty.