My dad helped load all the bounty into the car! That's a full load.

Yes, it’s true.  Yesterday’s harvest had the worst mosquitoes I’ve ever experienced at the farm, and this has been a bad mosquito year on the whole–probably the worst overall according to Farmer Anne.  Fortunately your brave harvest crew, aided by plenty of citronella (and NO “Off”, thank you…!) managed to bring in a bountiful harvest.  We had a number of member-volunteers to help us, including my dad! It was fun having his help with the harvest.  The good news is that the heat and humidity that make for great mosquito weather also make for great summer crops.  The sweet corn, melons, and tomatoes are about as juicy and amazing as you can imagine.  We finished up the harvest in time to weed and thin a crop of fall carrots.  It’s amazing how quickly a job like that can go with a big crew working on it! I’m happy because this means that if all goes well the fall carrots should be really plentiful and delicious–a thorough weeding/thinning is the difference between a good carrot crop and a bad one.  If you’re thinking about getting volunteer hours in, consider coming this month and helping out with thinning and weeding our fall root crops!

If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to watch this 2-minute video from our friends at Real Time Farms.  They filmed most of it at beautiful Community Farm! (Also, it’s hilarious!).

Ed chopping our golden potatoes

In the kitchen, we’re hanging in there with the heat. You may have noticed our extensive fan set-up which is our heat-survival mechanism.  It’s always a joy to work with this beautiful bounty–one of the nicest things about working in the kitchen is the high quality food we get to use.  Hooray!

So, to see exactly what that bounty is this week, click “more”….

Read more

Roast pork with fruit--so colorful

Hello everyone!

Everything continues to roll along here at Harvest Kitchen.  It’s been a busy week getting back into the swing of things after my vacation, but I’m happy to be back and excited about what’s coming up.  Michelle and I have begun working on plans for the future, everything from the winter season to next year to the five year plan! It’s all exciting…and slightly overwhelming–sometimes I’m inclined to focus on the job in hand, namely today’s work,  instead!  That’s why it’s so great having Michelle around–left on my own I put my mind to surviving this week and getting things done that need to happen Right Now (there are always those things).  Michelle, on the other hand, while being great at the here and now, also focuses on the Big Picture.  She says we’re at a critical moment for taking Harvest Kitchen to the next level (she says this often, so I know I have her exact words) and she’s right. So, in the coming months, look for more from us.  Thanks, readers, members, and fans for being with us on this adventure. We love having your feedback, which helps us plan for the future, so keep it coming!

In the land of here-and-now, it was wonderful getting back to the farm today.  Truly, that place restores my soul.  I had

Jake pouring our homemade veggie stock

a looooooong session this morning washing kale, collards, and chard.  I wound up quite wet from splashing water everywhere, but very calm and relaxed (anyone who saw me in the kitchen on Tuesday will agree that I needed some calming chard-washing time).  One of the big highlights of the day was digging the first potatoes of the season.  All the rain has left the ground soft, so we were mostly able to dig with our hands, so the potatoes were safe from getting scratched by the digging forks, which is always a tragedy.  I love digging through the rich brown earth to turn up the golden beauties.  It’s always like finding buried treasure.  And they can hide and turn up unexpectedly! Just when you think you’ve got all the potatoes from one plant, there’s one more lurking. It’s very rewarding.

Finally, Michelle and I want to give a big shout out to our rockstar kitchen team.  As you may have noticed, we have the most hard-working, awesome cooks around.  This week we’re particularly grateful to Danielle, a volunteer who comes down from East Lansing just for the pleasure of chopping veggies and washing dishes with us for a few hours on Tuesday.  Hooray for Danielle, Jude, Shay, Megan, Josh, Kevin, Cynthia, and all the folks who have given us so freely of their gifts and time this season (and in the past).

(all together now:) Menu and share after the jump.

Read more

The root of this beet streches between Aaron's hands!

Well, we’re holding up here without Michelle–Tuesday was busy, but thanks to hard work from the Kitchen crew, the work got done and we made some really tasty food.  Today I was out at the Farm, very thankful that the heat has broken for the moment.  We picked lots of tasty, crisp greens as well as herbs and beets and carrots.  We found one amazing beet with an incredibly long root–see the picture of Aaron holding it.  Just imagine the nutrients that beet was soaking up from that depth of soil.  I’m also excited to see the very first of the “high summer” crops: 4 tiny tips of basil–just a taste of good things to come.  We’ll probably be making hay this week–one of my favorite farm projects, despite the fact that it’s really hard, it gives you a feeling of accomplishment.

Vibrant beets and carrots

I’m gradually getting back into the rhythm after my week away.  I miss Michelle when it comes to menu planning, but fortunately we discussed options before she left so I think I’m on track to put together a good selection of meals here.  In the kitchen we’ve been watching some World Cup matches while we do the cooking–this keeps Peter happy and is strangely compelling, even for the non-sports-oriented.  On Tuesday, Peter and I were really impressed with the Portugal v. Spain game, and Peter insists that we should watch the quarter final games on Friday.  We’re rooting for Germany!

So, details of this week’s share and menu are after the jump.

Read more

Ona holding delicious snow peas

Well, what a beautiful day this has turned out to be! This morning I was afraid it would be a very wet one at the Farm, but it actually stopped raining before we began working, which worked out well.  We spent most of the morning swatting mosquitoes (really–they were fierce) and picking peas.  The pea-picking part of this job was really fun, actually.  This is an incredible spring for peas at the Community Farm and today they are perfect.  The snow peas are sweeter and more tender than I’ve ever experienced.  We had a big team of pea-pickers, which made for a fun morning.  As lunch approached, though, I found it harder and harder to put these sweet delights into the bucket rather than my mouth!  Fortunately I didn’t eat all of them, so there are some for you. You’re going to enjoy them–the candy of the farm.

Overall it’s been a busy week.  We’re beginning to get into the rhythm of alternating

Happy Meatloaf is .... happy!

vegetarian and omnivore cooking days.  I’ve been saving these pictures from last Friday when we made the meatloaf.  If you ever wondered what a day at Harvest Kitchen is like, well, maybe these pictures tell some of the story.  We work hard, we make a LOT of food (in really large

Slicing spiral meatloaf

quantities) and we sometimes get a bit silly.

I’ve mentioned the peas. Well, that wasn’t all we got this week.  Share details and menu after the jump.

Read more