Month: August 2016

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market tomorrow with:  sweet peppers & jalepenos, 3 kinds of eggplant, okra, garlic, potatoes: German Butterball, Peppermint, Huckleberry Gold, Carola bakers;  cipollini, red & yellow onions; wheat berries.

Have you made eggplant pizzas yet?  Eggplant slices topped with pizza sauce, cheese, oregano, tomatoes, pepperoni or whatever you like then broil.  Like these.

Our grass fed, grass finished Angus beef in these cuts: Ribeyes, NY strips, filets, sirloins, skirt, flat irons,  ground beef, stew beef, philly steak, cube steak, oso bucco  short ribs, brisket, soup bones (BOGO 50% off), liver, sirloin tip roasts, eye of round and bone-in chuck roasts, and bologna, pastrami, corned beef, hot dogs made from 100% grass fed beef without any nitrates/nitrites.

OK. So the most exciting thing ever (this week) is that a customer told me about the scandalous article in Charlotte Magazine about our Farmers Market, and  Wendy found it online here, but nevermind everything else GUESS WHOSE TOMATOES are on 2 pages.  Yep that’s right (doing my centerfold tomatoes dance).

Back to business:

It won’t be long before these chestnuts will be ready for roasting on an open fire! Sooo…..just leaving them outside while you seek shelter. Last year I had them at market second week of September.

WOW! Hello millet cover crop! If I knew you could drown out spiny pigweed like a BOSS my life would be so much different right now. Planted August 2, three weeks later it’s over 2′ high. Shazaaaam. That 5′ high pigweed you see in the distance is in the sweet potatoes.

Last weekend Shane weaned last year’s babies – these guys, born Octoberish.  I had the dogs when I went by on the Gator so they all ran over to see (strangely obsessed with the dogs) and I got some pics. When I left they all ran back to the trees, kicking up their heels with tails in the air.

Can’t really tell they’re running here but it was super cute watching.

I know I already showed you this but it’s the coolest thing I’ve done all year. Hibiscus roselles for tea. One of our customers is from Jamaica where it grows, and she said to take out the seed pod before drying or making tea so this is the roselles and the seed pods which are slimy like okra seeds. I’m not sure if this is the right way to cut them out but I’m lacking any guidance here.

The plants look just like okra too! And grow like weeds. So easy to grow. Any pods below a blossom are for harvesting and the ones above the blossom will bloom then when the flowers fall, that’s when you harvest it. Next spring I’m going to grow hibiscus plants to sell. So easy and beautiful, I’m in love with them therefore everyone else must have one too.

They say hibiscus tea is good for treating high blood pressure. I can say with 100% certainty that it lowered my blood pressure. You know how I was saying I always have dizziness in the summer from low blood pressure caused by dehydration? So a few summers ago I was making a lot of <store bought> hibiscus tea (tired of plain water) and I started getting so horribly dizzy, I couldn’t walk straight, like almost falling down dizzy. Falling sideways into walls dizzy. I thought well it’s not really organic then because I sometimes have reactions to chemical stuff. Stopped drinking the tea and the dizziness returned to the normal level. I didn’t know that it was lowering my blood pressure even more. So I haven’t tried my homegrown hibiscus tea yet, just drying all my pods – for hot tea in the winter when I’m not dehydrated.  Can’t wait!!

So if you have high blood pressure, it might work for you (it’s also super delicious tea).

We just ran three miles then our person strong-armed us into sitting still so we are refusing to look at her.

See you guys tomorrow!!

Save

Save

Everyone proceed immediately to Ashe County. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back.

Two nights was just two nights shy of being gone long enough to be mentally prepared to come home. It’s perfect there right now, low 80’s/low60’s, low humidity and sparkly fresh breezes. Did you know that the New River is the second oldest river in the whole world?? So cool.

They still have lush, productive gardens right now with corn and tomatoes. A stark contrast to our haggard, burned-out gardens here. Speaking for my self of course.

My okra is looking good though!

It’s over my head now. The fire ants are all over it, going up to the blossoms so when I reach in to pick it, they get in my gloves, on my neck, in my hair, up my sleeves and wherever that path takes them, while the scratchy okra leaves abrade my face like a dull razor blade. Picking okra right now is kind of like walking over hot coals really slow.

Hi, ant frienemies! Wanna have a party in my pants?  If anyone out there has a deep-seated self loathing, I’ll let you come put your face into that okra blossom and then we can go to therapy together.

This is the first planting of okra – I stopped picking it a few weeks ago, it’s Silver Queen and red something. It’s really pretty with the huge pods, I think I’ll let them dry for decorations.  Bouquet of dead okra for your loved ones??

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market tomorrow with:  sweet & hot peppers, 3 kinds of eggplant, okra, garlic, potatoes: German Butterball, Peppermint, Huckleberry Gold, Carola bakers (omg you have to make these Greek Potatoes!);  cipollini, red & yellow onions; wheat berries.

I started pulling up ginger but it’s still too small so I’m going to wait a couple weeks. Extra hot temps cause it to send up a lot of leafy shoots instead of concentrating on growing it’s roots. They say it was the 3rd hottest July on record.

Our grass fed, grass finished Angus beef in these cuts: Ribeyes, NY strips, filets, sirloins, skirt, flat irons,  ground beef, stew beef, philly steak, cube steak, oso bucco  short ribs, brisket, soup bones (BOGO 50% off), liver, sirloin tip roasts, eye of round and bone-in chuck roasts, and bologna, pastrami, corned beef, hot dogs made from 100% grass fed beef without any nitrates/nitrites.

Nicely tilled bed before I set out the transplants. Don’t worry, I mowed at the edges later.

Now, my food styling fail for this week.

Since I’m sure no one has any idea what that is and probably thinking whatever recipe that is I am definitely not making it, let me just say it is super delicious and EVERYONE says so.  It’s my auntie’s Baked Eggplant, topped with ground beef (or spicy ground pork sausage or ground venison), sauteed onions & sweet peppers, marinara and goat cheese. Kind of like a casserole and it’s even more delish the next day.

Here’s what you need: a few eggplants, a jar of good marinara,  onions and several sweet peppers, garlic, 8 oz goat cheese, 1 lb ground beef, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper, a little oil. 9×13 baking dish.

Slice the eggplant about an inch thick and I peel it. (Eggplant shrinks so overlap the slices until the 9×13 dish is filled then when it’s done baking squeeze them down into one layer side by side.) Brush both sides of the slices with a little oil and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, bake about 20 min at 400 or til soft. When it’s done, spread a little marinara on the bottom of the dish under the eggplant to keep it from sticking later.

Meanwhile brown the beef  and season with salt and pepper (I like some crushed red pepper), take it out of the pan and saute 2 onions, and a lot of sweet peppers til soft and throw in some chopped garlic near the end.  Top the eggplant with the onions/peppers/garlic then ground beef, then the rest of the marinara. Slice up 8 oz of creamy goat cheese and arrange the slices on top. Bake for 30 min at 350. Serve as is, or over pasta.  I promise, it’s so good. And almost everything in there is available at the market (conveniently also all at my table).

I took my Moo for a leisurely stroll.

He loves going for walks.

See you tomorrow!

Save

Save

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market tomorrow with:  sweet & hot peppers, 3 kinds of eggplant, okra, potatoes: German Butterball, Peppermint, Huckleberry Gold, Carola bakers; onions: red, cipollini, yellow onions; wheat berries.

Our grass fed, grass finished Angus beef in these cuts: Ribeyes, NY strips, filets, sirloins, skirt, flat irons,  ground beef, stew beef, philly steak, cube steak, oso bucco  short ribs, brisket, soup bones (BOGO 50% off), liver, sirloin tip roasts, eye of round and bone-in chuck roasts, and bologna, pastrami, corned beef, hot dogs made from 100% grass fed beef without any nitrates/nitrites.

This is the MOJO:

Now that my veggies are kind of whittled down to storage crops and heat-loving Seventh Inning Stretchers that bridge the gap between the veggies that couldn’t take it anymore and the ones whose time has not yet come, there’s space again on our plates for beef. Specifically, Carne Asada Tacos marinated in an “amazing” (Shane’s word) mojo marinade, piled onto homemade tortillas with grilled sweet peppers & onions, fresh jalepeno slices, creamy guac and store bought lettuce (sad face). Gah so good. Mojo makes all the difference.

I tried taking photos of our scrumptious tacos but mine just appeared to be a head of chopped lettuce and Shane’s was a total mountain of meat so there you have the best I could do. My food styling sucks. I should take a class. If I cared more. The Mojo marinade:

The juice of 2 limes and an orange. 4 cloves of garlic minced. 2 Tb white wine vinegar, good handful of cilantro chopped, a whole jalepeno including seeds, very finely chopped and some oil, the recipe calls for 1/2 c olive oil – I think that’s too much but who am I to second guess Tyler Florence? Marinate the meat for AT LEAST an hour, I can’t even wrap my brain around how much more deliciousness 3 or 5 hours would impart. My go-to for steak tacos is sirloin steak. Here’s the original recipe.

Heirloom strawberry popcorn! Isn’t it beautiful. (again with the food named after other food…what is my hang-up!!) Last Sunday morning we decided to pick it even though it’s not quite dry.

We’ve had at least 10″ of rain in the past couple weeks. Daily downpours cause kernels to sprout inside the shuck.

I spent 2 days shucking all of it then I put it in the greenhouse with a fan to help it dry. About half of it was no good. This is one of those crops that you grow because you like to. You don’t make any money off it, it’s way too much work to even break even but I feel like it’s such a cool thing that we can’t let it fizzle out. Lots of folks have come back and said they planted what they got from me at the market and I’m sure SOMEBODY gave some of it to friends who planted it. I know of a few. So I guess it’s maybe kind of worth it sort of. SOMEONE HAS TO GROW IT. I’ll bring it to market once it’s dry.

There was also some that popped inside the shuck while still in the field. I know how it felt.

This week it was so soppy wet that I couldn’t do the things I need to, like set out my transplants or direct seed; it’s too wet to till. I also can’t stand it when my shoes are completely soaked and squish when I walk.  NO it’s way too hot for rubber boots. In the mornings before it got too hot I worked on cleaning out the other hoop house so now it’s ready for tilling, then winter crops.

Free to good home:

Nutty rooster. Free to…average home. Fair to middling? FREE TO TOLERABLE HOME.

Selling points: runs fast;  attractive;  doesn’t cause much trouble;  his babies are fantastic egg layers that don’t get broody. He’s slightly insecure so he is a flogger. He will flog the ever-loving ****  out of you and your family and friends which is super hilarious so his entertainment value is way up there. Once you and he come to an understanding, the danger of flogging is greatly reduced, so we can also say he’s  highly trainable.

I don’t have enough hens anymore to satisfy him and he’s wearing the feathers off their backs. They run from him in terror.

Please save us from this lascivious rooster!

See you tomorrow 🙂

Save

Save

Save

Save

I’ll be at the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market tomorrow with:

A few tomatoes (very few), the most beautiful sweet peppers. So good with guacamole instead of chips. Or these mini pepper nachos! The brown ones are chocolate bells. Does it seem like I always grow foods named after other foods??  3 kinds of eggplant, okra, potatoes: German Butterball, Peppermint, Huckleberry Gold, Carola bakers; onions: the last of the sweet onions, red & cipollini and yellow onions; sweet potatoes; wheat berries.

Our grass fed, grass finished Angus beef in these cuts: Ribeyes, NY strips, filets, sirloins, skirt, flat irons,  ground beef, stew beef, philly steak, cube steak, oso bucco  short ribs, brisket, soup bones (BOGO 50% off), liver, sirloin tip roasts, eye of round and bone-in chuck roasts, and bologna, pastrami, corned beef, hot dogs, & andouille sausage made from 100% grass fed beef without any nitrates/nitrites.

Using the cultipacker to pack down broadcasted cover crop.

This week we did a lot of getting rid of summer stuff that was played out, cleaning up fields, tilling and putting down foxtail millet cover crop where harvests were done. I would’ve liked to have all that done already but I needed Shane to help me and he’s been super busy. I broadcast cover crops using this Earthway spreader. It’s hard to use, I usually fall down a few times (haha Have a nice trip! See ya next fall! The voices in my head.) because it’s apparently built for a race of giants? I’m 5’6.5″ and I can’t get it to fit right at all. Plus trudging all over creation in freshly tilled ground with 40# strapped to your chest in this heat…beyond exhausting. I finally gave out and Shane came and helped me finish where the potatoes had been, and then a couple hours later we got 3″ of rain. Phew, good timing.

Last year I conducted scientifical experiments to see if I really need to pack down my cover crops and it turns out YES I definitely do. According to my sciencery, germination was determined to be “lots faster” and “more better” if I run over it with the cultipacker (above).

In the hot weather our Great Pyrenees livestock and human guardian, Nikoli gets off work at 7am and doesn’t clock back in ’til around 10pm. Nevermind that there’s a red coyote the size of a German Shepherd standing in the front yard sweating the chickens and I’m screaming bloody murder for Nik to come save us all. Oh nevermind that I just fell into a trench 2 feet away and twisted my ankle and I’m rolling around on the ground gripping my leg and wailing and might be in need of being dragged to the nearest bandage. I don’t even get an ear twitch.

This is a dog that heard a strange man talking loudly at me from almost half a mile away and came all the way out there to see if I was ok.  He chases hawks out of our yard and if I stumble or trip he’s about to drag me to safety –  but not when it’s too hot! No, it’s every man for himself all summer. He sleeps in his den all day and by den I mean under the cultivating tractor. BTW those are just his drool spots he’s not laying in oil. TRUST Shane Poplin’s tractors do not leak.

The ginger and turmeric are looking pretty good! The farmers I get my seed from say,  “OH YES well if it’s not doing well it’s either had too much water or it’s too dry, or you used too much fertilizer or not enough fertilizer.” So I always feel like it’s just kind of a crap shoot and how the hell do I know why some of the leaf tips are brown and twisted.

See you tomorrow!

Save