Week of October 13, 2019 Full Hunter Moon

After the first hard frost last Friday, October 4th, the farm truly shifted into Autumn.  The days seemed even to shorten that much more!  Although still grazing, the cows and horses would need supplemental hay.  There is much less head tossing and tail swishing: the fly population is dwindling. They are much more comfortable in this cooler weather, although the cold, rainy, windy days we have had a few of send them into the shivers and the “marish behavior ” comes out. Those are the days that make you feel fortunate to have a warm bed! Lexie, one of our dairy cows who has become a trademark of sorts for our farm, tested negative on the pregnancy test I did. She usually breeds back right on schedule to calve in February.  It must have been the twins she had this past February that threw her schedule off. I put the bull back in with her Monday. They seemed to be very interested in each other Monday,  so hopefully she breeds. It’s late in the season, but better to calve in July than not at all next spring.  If she doesn’t breed and doesn’t have a calf, she will not provide any milk and will have to sit a year out, hanging with the beef cows. We are feeding and letting the hen’s out of their barns earlier each day now. With the shorter days this will give them more time outside before it’s dark and they have fo go back into their barns for their own protection.  The cooler season veggies are seeming to thrive despite the onslaught of the pesky late season grasshoppers, which can eat 16 times their own weight each day.  Yes, some of the vegetables have browned from the frost:  the basil and dill, the pretty flowers and squash plants, but we were able to cover the other less cold hardy ones, and they pulled through.  So far the tomatoes in the high tunnels are still producing.  The condensed days are a reminder that winter is coming and to appreciate the warmth that has been coming mid day this past week.

Produce from the Farm This Week

Arugula,  Chicory,  Fennel,  Pink Blush Onion,  Radicchio,  Rainbow Chard,  Zucchini,  Tomatoes,  Toscano Kale

Kale Soup

This easy recipe is wonderful for those chilly nights!

1 bunch kale, chopped

1/2 large onion, chopped

3 quarts chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

1 lb hot beef sausage such as hot Italian or chorizo (optional)

sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat liquid of choice to a boil.  Add kale, salt and onion. Return to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer, covered, several hours.  Add sausage if desired and cook another couple of hours.  Correct seasoning.  Ladle  into bowls and enjoy!

Chicory Salad with Pears and Blue Cheese

For the dressing:

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp honey

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme

sea salt and pepper

for the salad:

1 head chicory, chopped

1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

1/4 pink onion, very thinly sliced

3-4 small Seckel pears, thinly sliced and dressed with a little lemon juice

6 oz crumbled blue cheese

Whisk dressing and adjust seasoning.  Combine salad ingredients and toss with dressing.

adapted from rachaelrayshow.com

Next week……daikon radishes, red leaf lettuce

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, 1916