Month: July 2015

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market tomorrow, July 25. Here’s what I’ll have:

Veggies: Tomatoes, okra, cherry tomatoes; 3 kinds of potatoes: German Butterball, Carola, & Rose Finn Apple fingerlings. Onions – red, sweet and cipollini. Garlic, purple and mini eggplant, green peppers, basil, tricolor snap beans mix.

Beef: hot dogs, beer brats, corned beef and bologna all made from our Angus beef with no added nitrates or nitrites.  Ground beef, stew meat, short ribs, oso bucco, brisket, liver, soup bones, oxtail, bone-in chuck, sirloin tip roast, eye of round, sirloin steaks, NY Strips, ribeyes, filets, skirt, flank, flat iron.

Oh my gosh. Abby and Moo got into a huge fight on Monday. I had to run out there and break it up. When cows fight they put their heads down and push each other hard, trying to knock each other down, and they swing their giant hard heads at the other one, aiming for the soft part in the underbelly.  I could hear the WHAPS all the way to the house.  Moo’s head must weigh 150 pounds; when he lays it on my lap my legs die within moments. It’s like being trapped under a car.

I was terrified someone was gonna break a leg so I went running out there screaming and calling the dogs when I could not get them apart. They were pushing each other down the pond dam and carrying on so, I’ve never seen a cow-fight like that. I finally got them separated by startling Abby with my insane behavior and ran her through the gate and shut it. Abigail stood across the fence and GLARED at Moo while he pawed at the ground with his front hooves, flinging chunks of grass like 3 feet. He never charged though. He cracked me up because steam was literally blowing from his nostrils, but when I’d touch his head and say Moo, calm down you’re gonna overheat, he’d turn and touch my hand with his nose with the sweetest face, then turn back to Abigail with a RAGE face. In a while I brought them a bale of alfalfa and they reunited peacefully.

Silver Queen Okra

Grain Sorghum (milo) I planted as a cover crop in one of the hoop houses. It’s supposed to be drought tolerant. I ran the sprinkler in there a couple days before I sowed this, that was in May. No water since and it’s been over 100 degrees in there most days. Uhhh I’d say it’s drought tolerant. That’s the seed head just starting to form.

Strawberry popcorn tasseling. See the little ears below the tassels forming silks, there are 2-3 ears per stalk.

We’re breaking up. Yeah YOU Stowell’s Evergreen. Stupid heirloom sweet corn from the 1800s. I’ve spent 3 years of my life trying to make this work and I’m over it. I’m going back to my dependable old hybrid sweet corn. We get along so much better. Some things just need to become extinct, because they suck.

Moving on.

Creamy dreamy Carola bakers! Smoky, rich Tongue of Fire Beans! I have new things for tomorrow at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market. OH all the picking. It’s all on the downhill slide now though, everything’s slowing down.

Veggies:  heirloom tomatoes including huge romas; German Butterball and Carola potatoes, both German heirlooms. Edamame, 2 kinds of eggplant, mixed cherry tomatoes, tongue of fire shell beans – oh so delicious with just salt and pepper! Tricolor snap beans, lemon squash, purple basil, red & sweet onions, garlic, okra, cutting celery, parsley, the last of the sweet potatoes.

Beef: hot dogs, beer brats, corned beef and bologna all made from our Angus beef with no added nitrates or nitrites.  Ground beef, stew meat, short ribs, oso bucco, brisket, liver, soup bones, oxtail, bone-in chuck, sirloin tip roast, eye of round, sirloin steaks, NY Strips, ribeyes, filets, skirt, flank, flat iron.

This sandwich. Madness!

The STOOPIDEST tomato sandwich EVER: a Giant Belgium or Brandywine tomato, which must be cut as thick if not thicker than the bread; Duke’s Soft Crust Sourdough bread (get it at the market), lots of Himalayan sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and of course a boatload of mayo slathered on. You can thank me later.

Before the rain came this week I drove the hay truck for Shane while he loaded bales from the field, and the dogs helped by filling up the cab with their hot breath and then drooling all over me. Gross.

Wow. Organically grown heirloom tomatoes. Come on! Does it even get any better?

I’ll have all these at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market tomorrow:

Red Brandywine, Black Krim, Green Giant, American Original Beefsteak (the only hybrid and I don’t even recommend trying those).  Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Giant Belgium, Azoychka Russian, Bloody Butcher, Green Zebra. Long Tom, Limmony, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Beauty.

I’ll also have: lemon squash, Butterball potatoes, red and sweet onions, lots of different kinds of cukes, okra, some purple green beans 🙂 uhhhhh all I can think of right now is tomatoes. Oh yes, sweet potatoes.

Beef: hot dogs, beer brats, pastrami, corned beef and bologna all made from our Angus beef with no added nitrates or nitrites.  Ground beef, stew meat, short ribs, oso bucco, liver, soup bones, bone-in chuck, sirloin tip roast, eye of round, sirloin steaks, NY Strips, ribeyes, filets, skirt.

It looks like there will be some sweet corn. Yay!!! Some of it stood back up, just like Shane and Dean told me it would. Needs rain though. Maybe 2 weeks til some is ready if we get some rain.

This  Provencal Vegetable Tian is one of my favorite veggie recipes. Soooo it’s just a  casserole. Onions, potatoes, eggplant, squash, and tomatoes all layered with salt, pepper, olive oil and kalamata olives. I skip the olive oil. Good and easy to make, I just slice all the veg with the mandoline right into the baking dish.

I can’t wait to see you guys tomorrow!