We are so grateful to have our farm intact this week. Neither hurricane nor tornado struck here! We didn’t know we would be celebrating this fact, but here we are. Hooray! No catastrophic destruction!
We have had, however, 13 inches of rain in the past two weeks, and 40 inches of rain in the past 5 months. That is a powerful lot of precipitation. Accordingly, our farm is soaked. The mushrooms (not edible) that pop up here and there are quite happy. The vegetable plants are less than thrilled. We have a lot of plants that are significantly less healthy this week than last due to the extra rain. Thank you for enjoying what we will harvest this fall, and join with us in looking forward to more abundance and diversity in the future! We’ll still harvest a lot of yummy food, but there will be disappointments. (Not every season can be the best!)
Check out how these mushrooms grow in a circle in our orchard every year. Folks call this a Fairy Ring, and we’re delighted to have this grace our presence this week.
We hosted a lovely group of visitors last night for the RVA Maker’s September Meet-Up. We served snacks featuring some of our vegetables and herbs. The recipes for what we made are found below.
We are so grateful for everyone that supported us at the Brandermill Farmers’ Market last Saturday when most other markets cancelled. The weather was fair and mild and we were thrilled to put our delicious food into the hands of our community members. Our market schedule is back to normal this weekend and we will see you at Brandermill Green Market and the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s.
Saturday’s Farm Share will likely include:
Salad Mix, Scallions, Non Spicy Jalapenos, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes, Okra, Arugula.
Vegetable Notes & Recipe Suggestions…also cataloged on our Recipe Page and see our Pinterest Page
Non Spicy Jalapenos?!? What?!?
If you don’t get these this week, your pick up location will get them next week. (Unless our farm washes away in this rain. Just kidding. Sort of.) Returning members may remember these. New members: Welcome to the world of Jalapenos with flavor but not heat/spiciness. We love Jalapeno Poppers, but our jalapenos were getting so spicy that our meals were getting dangerous. Enter in this variety that somehow has all the flavor and none of the blaze. So – enjoy these family friendly Roasted Jalapeno Poppers or if you’re bacon eaters, make these Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers.
Sweet Peppers – Cowboy Caviar is a scrumptious combo of lots of things, including Sweet Peppers. Black Bean Quinoa Salad is a riff on that with two protein sources included. We love dishes like this featuring a rich mixture of flavors and textures. Or make Homemade Pizza with Peppers & Onions (you choose whatever crust you prefer). These types of dishes are the way to round out the last few weeks of real summer!
Sweet Peppers & Scallions – Saute both of these with garlic and make Tacos or Taco Salad. See Caramelized Onions and Peppers. Layer with protein and lettuces and olives and salsa and cheese and chips or tortillas as your heart desires.
Summer Squash/Zucchini – We made this Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread and added our Mint (chopped finely) to give it some zing. (We used coconut oil as the vegetable oil, and we omitted the shredded coconut.)
Okra & Sweet Peppers & Garlic – We made Quinoa using vegetable broth and added our Okra that we had sauteed in small chunks with garlic, plus our Sweet Peppers diced raw, and mixed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Goddess Dressing Base from Penzey’s.
Tomatoes & Garlic – We diced a big bowl of our Tomatoes and added our Garlic minced plus olive oil and salt. Plus, we made this Bean Dip but tossed in our diced Tomatoes plus Salsa seasoning by Penzey’s and used cheddar cheese instead of colby.
Scallions – We made this Cheese Dip using our Scallions and omitted the bacon. We served it with slices of our Bread.
Our harvest for Saturday’s farmers’ markets will include:
Arugula, Eggplant (Italian & Fairy Tale), Flower Bouquets, Garlic, Hearty Greens Mix, Jalapeno Peppers that are NOT spicy, Okra, Salad Mix, Sweet Peppers (bullhorn shape and bell shape and snack size), Shishito Peppers, Summer Squash, Tomatoes…and our Organic Hearth Baked Bread (Baguettes, Tomato & Basil, Whole Rye, Raisin, & Seed loaves for this weekend).
{Our farmstand is open Thurs & Friday with most of the above items…see here for updated inventory}
Anything remaining after CSA shares are distributed and our farm stand is shopped (plus the bread we bake Saturday morning)… we’ll bring on Saturday to the Brandermill Green Market and the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s . Keep an eye on what we have available via the online farmers’ markets: FallLineFarms.com and Local Roots Food Coop.
~Market Share member? You’re likely looking for this link here.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
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