Fall CSA - Week #8

It's coooold around here! The thermometer read 5 degrees this morning. Brrr. I knew the frost in the garden would be thick so instead of freaking out about it (which I do a little too often) I met a friend for coffee. 

After several hours of sunshine, coffee and chatting the frost melted off the hoophouse plastic and the greens were warm and happy. Woohoo! Everything is holding up well. It looks like another night or two of cold temps and then it warms up again. I hope mother nature keeps the snow coming! The last storm delivered 4-6 inches here on Monday morning along with bluebird skies, unbelievably gorgeous! 

We're already 8 weeks into the Fall CSA Season, 4 more to go. This week's share includes:

Salad Greens

Spinach

Cabbage 

Carrots

Potatoes

Onions

Garlic

I hope you're enjoying the Fall veggies!

Fall CSA - Week #6

Good morning! 

Winter arrived this week and we're buzzing on snow. So much snow! 

The greens are looking happy in the hoophouses, and probably excited for the sunshine and warm up coming today. 

We spent the weekend putting beds to rest and mulching most everything with a thick layer of leaves. And we shelled more beans, below is a picture of some beautiful cranberry beans. Whoop! 

Off to pack up veggies for today's CSA deliveries.  Have such a lovely day!

Week #6 - CSA Share Details:
Salad Greens
Spinach
Bok Choy
Cabbage
Parsley
Turnips
Winter Radishes
Potatoes
Leeks

Fall CSA - Week #4

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you have been enjoying the perfect Fall weather as much as we have! Wow, the last few days have been absolutely gorgeous but a different kind of beauty is in the forecast. It looks like clouds, wind, snow and cold cold temps are a comin'. So we're cleaning up, clearing beds, harvesting hard and prepping the garden as much as possible. 

Several hard frosts happened this week and had the kale looking a little icy. And we saw the first snowflakes of the season in the garden on Thursday morning, along with very thick fog most of the day. 

It is time to think about planting garlic but the soil is wet up here so that project is currently on hold. Patience... patience. 

The greens growing in the hoophouses are looking good! 

Ok, off to prep for harvest. Have a wonderful day!

Fall CSA Week #4 Share:
Salad Greens
Spinach
Braising Mix
Carrots
Beets
Winter Radish (Daikon, Watermelon or Green Meat)
Potatoes
Onions or Leeks
Garlic
Herbs (Cilantro or Lemon Thyme)

Fall CSA - Week # 3

Brrrr! The thermometer reads 25 degrees this morning. Frosty. 

I knew it was going to be chilly last night, but didn't realize it would be this cold. Ouch! I am curious, err anxious, to see how the garden looks once the sun comes up and things thaw out. Hmm...

Here's a shot of one of the hoophouses with greens growing, kale and the last seeding of salad greens and spinach. This is from 10 days ago and things are growing pretty quick at the moment. 

I completed the CSA Harvest yesterday and here are the details:

Salad Greens
Kale
Bok Choy
Cilantro
Watermelon Radish
Turnips
Onions
Garlic
Winter Squash

Have a beautiful day! 

Fall CSA - Week #2

Fall is in the air and leaves are dancing through the yard. Foggy mornings with rain in the garden and snow in the mountains. Perfect. 

We skinned the caterpillar tunnel on Sunday afternoon, woohoo! And then a powerful storm blew in around 4 a.m. on Monday morning... the wind was strong and so loud it woke me up. I definitely mumbled 'hold on caterpillar tunnel' and then went back to sleep. And was happy to see it held up just fine even with those 35 mph gusts. So... the salad and spinach beds are looking good and should appreciate the additional protection once cooler weather arrives. Looks like a frost may actually happen Thursday or Friday night? I still have dahlias and sunflowers blooming in the garden... a bit strange.

I spent a rainy day earlier in the week getting organized and trying to clean up some of my projects. I shelled the Jacob's Cattle beans that we harvested a few weeks ago, so gorgeous, and the perfect rainy day activity. My body is appreciating the slower pace and extra sleep. Yay Fall.

Quick reminder, I love mulching my garden with leaves so... please let me know if you rake up leaves in your yard and would like me to take them off your hands. Thanks! 

This week's CSA share will include:


Salad Greens
Spinach
Kale
Cilantro
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Carrots
Daikon
Onions
Potatoes
Garlic

Fall CSA - Harvest Week #1

Hello Everyone, 

Today marks the first harvest for the Fall/Winter CSA Season! I am very excited for the farm to start slowing down (this Friday is the final Ridgway Farmer's Market, wahoo!). And at the same time, I'm jazzed that I will be harvesting for the CSA as winter moves in. The shares should be pretty diverse and tasty in the weeks to come. 

We spent time clearing beds, getting organized and making Fall to do lists this week. Hopefully a little rain is on the way this weekend? I started to pull out the heavy weight reemay yesterday... I think colder temps are on the way and I'm trying to avoid the normal scramble that happens the night before :). 

We still need to skin the caterpillar tunnel that was moved a couple weeks ago. The salad greens and spinach growing in those beds are looking great and should be harvestable in a few weeks. 


Harvest Details:
Salad Greens
Arugula
Head Lettuce
Kale
Turnips
Celery
Herbs
Onions
Garlic
Winter Squash - Acorn?
Tomatoes
Maybe: Tomatillos, Ground Cherries or Beaver Dam Peppers?

Here comes the sun... Have a lovely day!

CSA Harvest - Week #18

Brr, it is dark and chilly outside, not that chilly though. It's October 7th and we  haven't seen a frost here yet. Craziness. So, despite the date the garden still has a few signs of Summer, like these dahlia showoffs and sweet honeybees on blooming carrots. Gorgeous! 

Fall is in the air though... last Friday was very windy and had leaves blowing everywhere and yesterday morning the clouds broke to reveal some very snowcapped mountains. Ooo ooo ooo! 

We cleared a few more beds over the weekend and seeded some cover crop in anticipation of the rain... hoping it pops right up. And I had a couple trays of scallions hanging out so I transplanted them outside, maybe they'll put on a little growth before winter and then grow like mad come spring?! Experiment. 

Final Summer CSA Harvest  - Week #18:
Salad Greens

Head Lettuce
Bok Choy/Cabbage
Braising Mix
Peppers
Tomatillos?
Onions
Carrots
Herbs (Cilantro or Dill)
Hot Peppers
Celery

Here comes the sun... have a beautiful day!

CSA Harvest - Week 17

Hello Everyone! 

Very productive and beautiful week here. The second half of September has been so much warmer than the first half... I'll take it! The Fall colors are really starting to shine and have me anxious to play in the mountains this weekend.

We harvested the second half of winter squash at Blue Grama Farm over the weekend along with a few dry beans. Butternuts, delicata and spaghetti squash! Mmmm, they're going to taste so delicious and comforting during the cold winter months. 

Dry beans are fun. It's a fact. Tucked inside those pods are vibrant red and white speckled kidney shaped beans called Jacob's Cattle. 

It is time to say farewell to the tomatoes... they have been delicious and gorgeous. I finished pulling the last few beds out on Monday to make way for seeding winter greens. It feels good to end tomato season when I deicide too rather than when mother nature sneaks in with frost! First time this has happened, normally I'm pulling dead vines out in October... So, the hoop houses are feeling spacious now that the walls of tomato vines are out and I must say, having this task complete has me feeling on top of things. I have been scrambling for a few weeks trying to get greens seeded as quickly as possible because seeding dates in the Fall are critical. Things grow slower and slower by the day as the daylight hours shorten and temperatures drop. So I have been tackling a few beds at a time and am excited to have them all planted in spinach, kale, salad greens, arugula, mustards, herbs and scallions.  We'll see which planting dates and which greens do the best. So, with this task complete I feel like I may actually be able to get organized and start to catchup on things around here. Yes!! 


Wednesday snuck up fast and it's time to harvest for the CSA. Bread is baking in the oven as we speak, and thankfully the starter was much more alive and happy this week so the bread looks lovely. 



CSA Harvest Details for Week #17:
Salad Greens
Lettuce
Braising Greens
Bok Choy
Peppers
Tomatoes
Hot Peppers
Potatoes
Onion
Turnips
Herbs

Enough rambling! Have a great day! 

CSA Harvest - Week 16

Good morning! Today is the Fall Equinox and the hours of light and darkness are just about equal... but the shift to shorter days and longer nights is about to begin. Wowza, Summer went so fast (too fast?) this year. 

We harvested half of the winter squash at Blue Grama Farm yesterday!!! So. Much. Fun. And oh so beautiful. The weather was perfectly overcast and made for a great harvest day. Now they are lined up outside for a couple weeks to cure before we store them inside for enjoying throughout the Fall and Winter. Mmm mmm mmm. 


The veggies really are full of and expressing love... and if you need proof, check out this sweet red pepper!

Most of the week was spent harvesting and planting crops for Fall and Winter. We're down to two tomato beds and one pepper bed in the hoop houses and I think they're coming out in a few days? So, make sure to savor those Summer flavors this week and next.

With a little help over the weekend, the caterpillar tunnel has been relocated. It came off of the beds filled with tomatoes, basil and peppers and is now resting over spinach and salad greens that we seeded a couple weeks ago. Yes! I want all my houses to be moveable... I need to keep track of seeding and harvest dates, but I think these might be ready to harvest by Thanksgiving? Stay tuned. 



CSA Harvest - Week # 16

Salad Greens
Head Lettuce
Braising Mix
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Celery
Herbs
Scallions
Tomatillos?


Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

Have a lovely day! 

CSA Harvest - Week #15

Hello hello. It's Wednesday morning and we're baking bread and getting ready for harvest. There's a cool breeze blowing outside and coffee, lots of coffee. Exhaustion hit me this week and my body forced a slow down and rest the last few days. Which is great but not something I can do without getting a little antsy... 

Did everybody see the mountain tops dusted with snow yesterday morning!? Aaah! Such a gorgeous surprise! Oh my, a frost is coming.

With that in mind we are still pulling crops from the hoophouses and seeding and transplanting greens for the winter. It gets a little tricky because I don't want to pull the tomatoes and peppers too early... but it is getting cooler and cooler so make way! There are lots of sweet peppers for the share this week as I cleared one of the pepper beds on Monday and planted scallions and arugula. Ooooo, and I found the sweetest little salamander hanging out in that bed. 

And we are finally cleaning up space outside and seeding cover crops to protect the soil throughout the winter. Woohoo!

OK onto the harvest plan for today! 

Week 15 Harvest Details:

Salad Greens

Lettuce

Kale 

Heirloom Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Peppers (lots!)

Carrot

Scallions or Onions

Garlic

Herbs

Have a beautiful day!

CSA Harvest - Week # 14

Good morning! Brrrrr, it feels like Fall outside. The temperature is 45 degrees and dropping. Luckily we're cozy inside, baking off a few sourdough loaves before the sun pops up. Mmm mmm mmm.

So much rain last week! The skies opened up on Thursday and Friday, it poured in the garden and really cooled things off. Fog layers, stunning rainbows, soggy forest. So gorgeous! 

Prepping for Fall here. I ripped the first couple beds of tomatoes out of the hoop houses this week and seeded spinach and salad greens, hopefully for harvesting during the cold snowy month of December. Whoop! Clearing out hoop house beds feels so good and has me anxious to pull the rest of the tomatoes! But have no fear... we're going to do a couple beds at a time and stretch the tomato harvest a little bit longer. The evening lows have been dropping though so the hot crops are really starting to slow down, It may be the last week for zucchini, eggplant and beans? We'll see.

Week # 14 Harvest Details:
Head Lettuce
Arugula
Kale
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant or Zucchini
Carrots
Beans
Scallions
Garlic
Herbs

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

Have a great day!

CSA Harvest - Week # 13

Good morning!

Can you believe it's already Wednesday? I'm trying to figure out where the days go... they're zipping by!  Great week here filled with family, friends and garden work. 

We have been harvesting like mad and tackling one project after another. Yesterday the last push of outside greens were seeded and transplanted, it may be a little on the late side so we'll see? And the early planting of tomatoes has slowed down so we plan to pull those plants in the coming days and make room for spinach in the hoophouse. Yep... it's September. 

We cleaned the garlic, finally! Half of it is beautiful and fatty, the other half is on the small side. Turns out garlic wants all the sunshine and some of the beds were shaded a bit by the trees. Haha, oops! Seems obvious, I know. Rookie move. Wonder what I was thinking last November when I planted the garlic there?! I learn best by doing... and making mistakes. We have lots of beautiful Romanian Red, Inchellium and Chesnook for planting this Fall though so it's fine. Expect garlic in the shares soon! 


I think the garden is peaking right now folks, enjoy those gorgeous tomatoes, crisp beans and flavorful peppers! You may want to bring an extra bag this week to haul your bounty home...

This weeks share will include:

Salad Greens
Arugula
Kale
Heirloom Tomatoes, Lots! 
Cherry Tomatoes
Beans
Carrots
Scallions
Zucchini
Basil
Pepper or Eggplant
Hot Peppers

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain (and crazy beautiful this morning!)

Yay! So happy to share the harvests with you all. Have a great day!

CSA Harvest - Week # 12

Hello there, 

I have sleepy eyes... am writing down today's harvest list and drinking coffee. Mmmm coffee. 

Can we talk about the fact that this is the last week of August and come Tuesday it will be September? Summer, I request you slow down and hang around for a while, ok? The days already feel so much shorter... Eeek! 

The garden is overflowing with color! Flowers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, etc... and the harvests are pretty constant at the moment which has us very busy and trying to keep up.


This week we started pulling storage crops. A few onion varieties (Cabernet, Walla Walla and Mill Creek Red) have started to fall and are ready for curing. The Walla Walls are HUGE, I've never grown softball size onions and am pretty pumped. We also harvested the potatoes and are making room for the last seeding of spinach and salad, which we plan to place a small moveable caterpillar tunnel over in October to keep some greens rocking through the cold snowy months to come. Whoop! 

Details on what you'll find in this week's CSA Share:

Salad Greens

Kale

Tomatoes

Green Beans

Zucchini

Radishes

Pepper or Eggplant

Turnips and Cabbage (Thank Mike Nolan/Mountain Roots Produce!)

Scallions
Herbs

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Seeded (Quinoa, Sunflower, Sesame and Oats)

Have a lovely day! 

CSA Harvest - Week 11

Good morning! 

It feels pretty brisk outside this morning and the thermometer reads 43 degrees. Brr! So I am drinking a little extra coffee and waiting to harvest until the sun comes up. Fabulous week here. Sunshine, heat, harvesting like mad, seeding green beds, and eating the most amazing meals, and a gazillion snacks. I always forget how wonderful this time of the year is... so beautiful and flavorful. Ha, last night I was starving and could not decide what to make for dinner... too many options. What a wonderful problem!

We discovered quite a few tomato horn worms in the greenhouses over the weekend. Aaaaahhh! I knew it was only a matter of time. The little buggers were chomping on tomato and eggplant leaves.

I have exciting news, the beans have started and will be in the shares this week!! We are growing a few varieties this year: Provider, Rattlesnakes and Gold of Bacau, pictured here. Yum! I snack on them raw all day everyday, but I imagine there are great things you can do with them in the kitchen... ?


The tomatoes are rocking and I think my hands are officially stained green for the rest of the season. Whoop! And the peppers and eggplant are starting.

CSA Harvest - Week # 11:

Salad Greens
Kale
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Carrots
Beets (Thank you Mike Nolan/Mountain Roots Produce!)
Scallions
Beans
Zucchini
Basil
Pepper or Eggplant

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain

Recipe! Oh yea. I've been talking about sharing recipe ideas for... 4 years now. Here goes!

Roasted Beet Spread:

Blend together roasted beets, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt until smooth and spread on EVERYTHING. So beautiful (about the same color as this zinnia!) and so delicious. We enjoyed it on veggie sandwiches yesterday. 

Have a lovely day folks! 

CSA Harvest - Week #10

Hi there. I hope everybody had an amazing week. Things got a little crazy here on Wednesday after I updated the blog... I had to say goodbye to my puppy dog. He was very sweet, hilarious and spent so many days helping me in the garden. He would charge out the front door with me in the early morning hours and head down to the garden super excited. I'd open the gate and head off to my morning task and he would walk the perimeter of the garden, checking this and that and then lay down near the gate and wait for me to need a break or a snack. When he was a young pup he would steal my shoes and sandals, but he'd only take one and stash it with his toys under a tree in front of the house. Deegs, thank you for hanging out during late harvest evenings, sounding the alarm when bears were in the yard and always being there. You're going to be missed. 

Whew. Ok... 

The garden is looking amazing. We received a couple big storms yesterday that soaked the garden, the forest, me, everything with rain. I think it was the first real Colorado storm I have felt this Summer. The kind that appear out of no where, dump rain, move quickly and then all of sudden the sun is shining again. LOVED IT.  So, it should be a glorious muddy harvest morning.  

Tomatoes are on and they look stunning. Yesterday morning I woke up in a panic... the actual low temperature in Ridgway for the night was supposed to be 55, and in my dream the temperature dropped to 15 degrees. I had a little freak out and was relieved to wake up to a warm August morning and ripe tomatoes to harvest. 

CSA Harvest - Week #10:


Salad Greens or Arugula
Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes
Basil
Scallions
Carrots
Zucchini
Kale or Chard
Turnip or Radish

Have a beautiful day!