Monthly Archive: August 2019
Hello Everyone! So, the heat wave broke and now we have a little taste of fall. The nights have been a bit chilly up here in the mountains of NW New Jersey! The daytime temps will be creeping back up into the 80’s, but the nights will be dipping into the low 60’s. It seems that we might get a brief break from the frequent rain in the coming weeks, although this Wednesday looks to be a little wet. Somewhat drier conditions will be welcomed, as we have lots of potatoes to harvest, and the digger doesn’t work well when the ground is saturated. It may also give us a chance to do some work on the farm roads, which are deeply rutted in most of the low spots around the fields. (more…)
Hi Folks! So, it continues to rain regularly here on the farm. We received almost 2½ inches over the past week, a bit more than the inch per week that is ideal. I’m not complaining though — it’s been good for the thousands of transplants we’ve been setting out, as well as helpful for germinating the direct seeded crops. It’s come mostly in the evening and overnight which means it hasn’t interfered with our work. In case you hadn’t noticed we’re in the throes of another heat wave, which might be worth complaining about if it would do any good. Besides, I’m still working on my string of consecutive weeks without complaining about the weather! Although the Guinness folks haven’t returned my call yet. (more…)
Hi Everyone! So, the weather continues to be excellent for both plants and humans! If this keeps up, it will be a Circle Brook Farm update record for consecutive weeks without complaining about the weather! Maybe I should call the Guinness Book of World records folks – I understand they’ll certify just about anything if there’s enough money in it. There are strong storms forecast for tomorrow, so we’ll have to wait and see how that goes. In the meantime, we have lots of nice produce heading your way! (more…)
Don’t be scared by these unique looking heirloom beans – they are really very delicious. Dragon’s Tongue beans have vivid purple streaks that fade when the beans are cooked. Here’s a simple preparation from the It Ain’t Meat, Babe food blog. (more…)
Sometimes you want a tomato and balsamic vinegar salad, and sometimes you want a mojito. Don’t compromise! With this recipe from starchefs.com, you can have your salad and drink it too. (more…)
Here is another classic Italian dish that makes great use of our summer eggplant shares.
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Hi Everyone! So, we begin as usual, with the weather report. We had two light rains over the weekend totaling about a half an inch. This was greatly appreciated as we are in the process of transplanting the fall brassica crops as well as direct-seeding other crops for harvest during the second half of the season. Generally, we have been receiving plenty of sunshine and warm, yet not scorching, temperatures. All in all, I would say the weather has been copacetic and is predicted to remain so for the next couple of weeks. We did have a large planting of fall carrots and a planting of dill and cilantro fail to germinate after the heavy rain 2 weeks back. I am in the process of replanting but had to order more seed, since I used up all of my favorite varieties. (more…)
Ground cherries (aka goldenberries, husk tomatoes, or cape gooseberries) are one of the fun, unique items that you learn about when you join our CSA. These small fruit are in the tomato family and have a paper wrapper similar to a tomatillo. They are very sweet and have an interesting flavor, nutty and a bit of pineapple. (more…)
Ground cherries are one of our CSA’s favorite summer treats – you won’t find them in grocery stores! Their natural sweetness can be used to make a delicious and unique salsa, like this recipe found on A Farm Girl’s Dabbles food blog.
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