This Week at the Farm: 04 August 08

Another week of fresh food and fun at the farm. This week we have sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, onions and garlic. Freshly dug, absolutely delicious red potatoes, chard, maybe some green beans, lots of carrots (with juicing and other specials), broccoli, cabbage, arugula, parsley, basil including lemon basil, sweet gypsy, italian frying and other sweet peppers, anaheim (my home town), poblano, serrano and many other mild and hot chiles and of course STRAWBERRIES.

I think we’re having a special on STRAWBERRIES as I am being told there are a lot of them today.

We also have a few eggs and the chili jams, honey from the field, chipotles and other dried chiles.

Hope to see you.

EASY RECIPE OF THE WEEK is my baked Ratatouille:

Onion, garlic, eggplant, zummer squash, chile and sweet pepper, basil, and maybe parsley, tomatoes.

Chop everything up and put into a baking dish with some olive oil. Bake at about 375, stirring every so often, until everything is tender and juicy, about an hour or so. I cover it for part of the time and then uncover. Parmesan on top. That’s it! note: sauteing onions first is nice.

Thanks,
Evie Truxaw

TierraVegetables.com
Tierra Vegetables Farm Stand (directions)

This week at the farm: 30 July 08

Another week is here. I am proud to report that Lisa and I checked on our three bee hives today and they are all doing okay !! Our winter surviving hive (which we call SWOH), is doing quite well and the girls seem to like the new frames we just put in as they are making more honey. One of the other hives (Nuc) is doing okay and our swarm (the bees that adopted us in the spring) is a little slow but doing the best that they can. The best news is that they all have working bees and some honey.

As for chickens, the newest mother has taught her babies to roost and now they are on their own. They are pretty small to be roosting with all their big aunties, but they seem to be up to the task.
Meanwhile, we have LOTS of vegetables!!!!

First of the SWEET CORN, cucumbers, and lots of green beans including romano and round, summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, EGGPLANT, and garlic. Onions, holy arugula (Lacy Arugula we’re calling it!), cabbage, tomatillos, chiles, gypsy sweet peppers, and many other varieties, maybe cilantro, and lots of basil varieties. Parsley, TOMATOES, STRAWBERRIES, carrots, beets, chard, green and spring onions, rhubarb–and as usual–I am sure I am forgetting something important.

A few eggs will be available as well as the jams and assorted dried and smoked as well as the newest batch of Sauerkraut.

We are planning on a Ratatouille Contest on Friday AUGUST 02. Anyone interested? Details are that it’s informal and please bring your Ratatouille around 4 in the afternoon on Friday.

Lee and or I will be at the Sonoma County Fair in the sustainability tent on Wednesday so stop on in if you’re at the fair.

That’s it for now. Hope to see you. Bring your walking shoes! It is beautiful in the field right now.
Thanks,
Evie Truxaw

TierraVegetables.com
Tierra Vegetables Farm Stand (directions)

This Week at the Farm

[A new life column from Evie Truxsaw at Tierra Vegetables]

Hello everyone,

Has summer weather finally arrived? Early morning fog followed by afternoon sun. Hope so. Yesterday was surely a beautiful day and today looks like the same.

Have I told you we have four more baby chicks? They are a few weeks old now. Running around with their mom, learning the ins and outs of chicken-ness: scratching around, eating bugs, running away from the big hens who chase them off of the food.

We love watching them. The mother chicken always teaches them to be afraid of us which is a bummer but the way of nature, I guess. That seems to be lesson number one from the first day: “Watch out for those big two legged things.” Oh, well. Someday I’ll have chickens that follow me to (but not into) the house. For now, I’ll watch them grow, thank them for their eggs and their silly antics, scold them for being mean to each other (even though they don’t listen).

Okay, enough about the cluck clucks. What’s available at our Farm Stand?

Speaking of chickens, we have a few eggs.

The eggplant has started. I had my first one last week and it was SWEET as our eggplant usually is. We’ve got plenty of tomatoes as well: nice red, vine ripe tomatoes. Carrots, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, chard, strawberries, rhubarb, maybe a few chiles and sweet peppers, especially Gypsy!!! (which I don’t think we had last year but looks like there are plenty this year!). Onions, freshly dug garlic and POTATOES, summer squash of many varieties and colors, including zucchini, GREEN BEANS, and maybe a few cucumbers. Definitely sweet basil (enough to make a pesto) and other herbs such as parsley.

Chipotes, dried chiles, jam and dried beans. Grown by us? YES! All from good old Sonoma County.

Hope to see you. Good weather for walking in the fields and visiting your vegetables. Bring the kids, bring a picnic (I’m serious).

Thanks,
Evie Truxaw

TierraVegetables.com
Tierra Vegetables Farm Stand (directions)