I think I really love August.  It’s truly high summer and the harvest is abundant and it seems like these long, hot days

Happy Harvest Crew!

will never end.  I am beginning to think about the cool days of fall and winter, but it really feels far-off, like a dream.  Last week was a good one out at the farm.  On Thursday we had a good team and got a lot of weeding done, rescuing the kale and Brussels sprouts from an overpowering crop of weeds.  We were weeding in one of our toughest fields, Heron, but all the rain we’ve had made the ground soft and the weeding went easily, accompanied by conversation ranging from local gossip to philosophy and politics! In the kitchen things have been busy too. All these veggies require a lot of washing and chopping, especially the bountiful, beautiful root vegetables.  Michelle got to visit the

Kris and her son and the 2nd place dairy cow

Saline County Fair to pick up some of our meat from Kris, and while there she got to see Kris’s son take second prize with his dairy cow (see picture).  So, on the whole, a busy and productive week on our end.  Sorry I’ve been so lackadaisical about taking photos–more photos coming soon!

This week’s harvest includes some favorite tastes of summer which we can’t improve on–melons and sweet corn, so look for those items to be sent home fresh and ready for enjoyment. More after the jump.

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Beet, Carrot, and Cuke salad from last week's share

Hello again everyone!

Here we are at week 9 already! It’s hard to believe.  It was a good morning at the Farm today, but all of us harvesters were extremely sleepy because we’d been out late attending our dear co-worker Aaron Gold’s farewell concert.  Aaron has been an amazing presence on the farm since last fall, and we’re sad to be losing him, but the attractions of the west coast beckon, and Aaron is off on a journey.  Since he’s a musician, Aaron’s final gift to his friends here in Ann Arbor was a beautiful concert featuring 16 of his closest musician friends.  Naturally, this event ran quite late, and we were a little bleary-eyed at the farm this morning.

Farewell, Aaron!

However, it was worth it to see a concert featuring Aaron playing everything from the didgeridoo to the jaw harp to the mason jars (really!).  Despite our late night we managed to bring in quite a bounty of vegetables (while Aaron took a nap in the hammock–there are pictures, but I won’t post them here).

In the kitchen on Tuesday we had one of those events that will go down in memory as a classic Harvest Kitchen experience:  one of our members, Howie, came in to teach the team (and my dad) how to chop up a raw chicken.  We usually get our chickens chopped by the butcher, but sometimes it doesn’t work out and we have to deal with whole birds.  Thanks to Howie, this is no longer a daunting or scary thing!  Sadly I have no pictures of this fun and business-like lesson because my hands were busy while it was happening, so you’ll have to imagine the scene of us gathered around the steel table with knives in hand.  This is so classic of Harvest Kitchen–we get incredible help from members, workers, and volunteers all the time, and we wouldn’t be the same without all of you!

So, we aren’t doing chickens this week, but we’ve got a great menu planned.  Read all about it after the jump.

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Green Bean Salad is pretty!

Summer Lightning is actually the title of a novel by P. G. Wodehouse–he wrote in the introduction that he decided that Summer Lightning was an ideal title, “But my enthusiasm has been a little diminished since by the discovery that I am not the only one who thinks highly of it.  Already I have been informed that two novels with the same title have been published in England, and my agent in America cables to say that three have recently been placed on the market in the United States.  As my story has appeared in serial form under its present label, it is too late to alter it now.  I can only express the modest hope that this story will be considered worthy of inclusion on the list of Hundred Best Books Called Summer Lightning.”  I love Wodehouse, and this week has certainly had more than its share of Summer lightning!  We had an amazing series of storms roll

Colorful garlic bulbs

through while we were cooking on Friday, culminating in a tornado watch during pick up time.  Fortunately none of our omnivore members were swept away in the deluge.  The storm knocked over a LOT of trees out near the farm–not an official tornado, but the farm got over 3 inches of rain and experienced 70 mph winds! Fortunately all is well out there.  The power was out over the weekend, but the power from our solar panels provided light for Saturday’s harvest.  The corn and basil was windswept, but we’re hoping they’ll bounce back before too long.

On Saturday I had help collecting your shares from two little girls who were at the farm with their moms.  They loved helping take the tops off the carrots and they didn’t want to leave when we were done.  Think of them when you enjoy this week’s food.

We’ve got another good hot-weather menu planned for this week with another chilled soup, marinated salad, and more.  Check it out after the jump!

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Travel highlight: Sailing with my sister (I'm in red and blue)

Hello dear readers,

I am glad to report that I am back, safe and sound, from my sailing vacation to Canada.  The weather for our trip was amazing–we had gorgeous sailing and even some swimming.  It only rained one afternoon, but that provided us with respite and the chance to finish our novels.  Now, since Michelle is also back and not planning to go anywhere for a while, we’re very excited to have the WHOLE kitchen leadership team in one place at one time, ready to rock and roll in the kitchen.  (Still, it should be noted that many valued members of the cooking team are off on adventures at the moment: we’re missing Bridgette, Melanie, and Mary M–we’re a constantly rotating cast of characters these days!).  It’s been a VERY busy day being back.  Michelle and I had a meeting this afternoon where we both basically talked a mile a

Kirt is delighted with our giant salad spinner

minute, trying to tell one another about everything that’s been happening in the Kitchen for the past month and everything that’s coming up in the future.  Lots of exciting things, basically!  We’re finally beginning planning for the winter season and should have details on that coming up sometime in August.  Stay tuned!  I’m going to be planning awesome vegetarian feasts to tickle your tastebuds all through the winter, and Michelle is working up a delicious omnivore menu. Yum!

So, I obviously haven’t been at the Farm for 10 days or so, but from all I

Travel Highlight: My friends Anna and Garrett have a baby goat, Henry, who I got to bottle feed.

hear, things have been going well.  Michelle had a wonderful time chatting to Anne and Paul on Saturday while she collected your gorgeous vegetables.  It’s amazing how things can change in just one week–it’s clearly midsummer, with all of nature’s bounty flowing in.  Peter has given me a bit of a report on Farm life this week.  He says that all of the garlic is now harvested and is laying out drying everywhere in the barn.  It’s amazing, he says.  Also, he wants you all to know that a new record was set: a whole bed of garlic was harvested in a mere 27 minutes.  Our CFAA team could certainly take on our friends at Tantre in the Farm Olympics!

Menu and share, as usual, after the jump….

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Yippee! The tomatoes are in already. Can’t wait for you all to taste the amazing tomatoes from the farm.

Hello everyone. It’s Michelle here blogging today as Mary winds up her family vacation in Canada.

As most of you know, Jordan(my partner) and I drove to Florida to see family, hold a new nephew, eat southern food and to take long walks on the beach.  We logged 2500 miles and stopped for all of our favorite southern foods along the way. Our favorites were Indiana tomatoes, Ga Peaches, Boiled peanuts, white acre peas, baby butter beans and watermelon. YUM! I do love the treat of eating local.I also visited the Jacksonville, Florida farmers market which is about a city block. They had tons of fresh melons, fresh peas, and tomatoes not to mention a vast selection of just about anything you could imagine.

Melons at the FL farmers market

Shelling our white acre peas

We had a great trip but are very glad to be home.

Each full share received:

Carrots                             1.25lbs

Cucumber                        2ea

String Beans                   1.25lbs

Chard                               1.5lbs

Garlic                               6 bulbs

Bell Pepper                      1ea

Summer Squash            4ea

Lettuce                             2 heads

Arugula                           1 bunch

Basil                                 6 tips

Green Onions               10 each

Tomatoes                       2-3 each

So this weeks menu:

Mother Ocean

Stuffed Summer Squash with Ground Beef

My signature Breakfast Dish with Ground Pork

Chilled Cucumber Soup

Citrus Ginger Roasted Carrots

Green Beans Roasted w/ Feta and White Wine

Tomato Basil Salad

Fresh Lettuce and Arugula

Hello everyone. It’s Michelle here blogging while Mary is sailing in Canada with her family.

As most of you know, Jordan(my partner) and I drove to Florida to see family, hold a new nephew, eat southern food and to take long walks on the beach.  We logged 2500 miles and stopped for all of our favorite southern foods along the way. We  bought local food the entire trip down and back. Our favorites were Indiana tomatoes, Ga Peaches, Boiled peanuts, white acre peas, baby butter beans and watermelon. YUM! I do love the treat of eating local.

So back to reality. The harvest at the farm keeps growing and we’re really close to getting fresh tomatoes. YEAH.

Each full share received:

Cucumbers                 2 ea

Carrots                        1 bunch

Summer Squash        4 ea

String Beans               1 1/2 pound

Bell Peppers                1 ea

Swiss Chard                1 lb

This is a famous destination in Brunswick, GA

Arugula                        1 bunch

My newest nephew.

Garlic                            1 bunch

Parsley                          1 bunch

Lettuce                           3 heads

Beets                              3 each

Green Onions             1 bunch

Basil                              6 tips

This weeks delicious menu is:

Split Pea & Zucchini Soup ( a fan fave)

Chilled Cucumber Soup

Sauteed Swiss Chard with Garlic & Balsamic

Roasted green beens with feta, garlic and white wine

Citrus-Ginger Roasted Beets and Carrots

The bounty of the beach

Creamy Yogurt Basil Salad Dressing

Sail Away Arugula and lettuce Salad

Ash rinsing basil leaves (can you spot the scissors?)

Phew. Today was certainly a hot one!  We got to the farm early to get the harvest in before the heat set in.  For once, the job of washing all the vegetables was in high demand (cold water is great on a hot day and terrible on a cold or cool one).  Despite our efforts, it was still quite toasty by the time we were done–and then Anne sent us to weed the leeks for an hour!  I’m sure we’ll appreciate it when they’re all grown, but it was tough work in today’s sun and heat.  Plenty of water (including buckets over the head) helped us keep cool.  When we were finally done working, most of us workers headed to a kind neighbor’s pond for a refreshing swim.  Still, I like to point out that we don’t have AC at the farm OR in the kitchen, so these hot days are tough.

However, I can tell you that in terms of crops we’ve really turned a corner into summer’s bounty.  We’re seeing the first of the zucchini and summer squash, as well as the first tiny sweet pepper, more basil, and green beans.  Even if the hot nights make it hard for us people to sleep, tomatoes love them–I’m hoping we’ll see the first tomatoes in a week or two!  We’re irrigating out at the farm, so hopefully the crops won’t suffer from the dry spell.

So, what to do with all this bounty?  Fortunately we just got our July meat from Old Pine Farm and I’m able to stretch my creativity a bit.  Share and menu details after the jump.

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