I like to think of the next four to five weeks as the "You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too Season."  The summer crops can slow down a bit in the shorter days and cooler weather, but it's still warm enough to keep them coming in, typically until the end of October.  And with each passing week, we're harvesting a greater selection of cool-season crops.  It always feels a little surreal to be picking beans and basil on the same day as we're cutting broccoli and greens, but I love the variety in my kitchen and on my dinner plate...especially after "Pepper and Eggplant Season" (most of August).

Or maybe we should just call it "Bean Season?"  We're up to our ears in beans right now - so how about buying a few extras to put in the freezer for the winter months?  Dilly beans, anyone?  We've been picking beans off of the more prolific stand of beans I've ever seen.  A new planting is ready to pick this week, and the previous planting is still going strong.  Beans are on sale this week at 2 lbs/$5 or 5lbs/$10.  Now's your chance, if no one wants them this week, we will just turn under the older planting next week.  Beans need to be picked at least twice a week to keep them productive, and beans take way too darn long to pick to end up harvesting far more than we need.

We also have some big beautiful heads of early broccoli this week, and little Hakurei turnips that are so sweet and crisp, our favorite way to eat them is to just munch on them raw like a little apple!

We get quite a few inquiries about a fall and winter CSA program now.  We accept new memberships at any time.  Please visit our website over here if you are interested in more details.

Saturday is officially the first day of fall - hooray!  It felt like a cooler than usual summer, but it's always such a relief to be able to work outside all day without sweating to death, and to leave the windows wide open day and night!

Fall-like weather seems a little earlier than usual this year (no complaints here), and our fall crops are a little ahead of schedule as well.  The sweet potatoes are ready to go, and we're adding kale to our greens offerings this week.  We grow two varieties of kale: Red Russian and Tuscan kale.  The Red Russian kale is very sweet and tender, and tends to be the choice variety for those of you who like to juice your kale or make kale chips.  Tuscan kale (also sometimes referred to as Dino kale or Lacinato kale) has a sturdier texture and slightly more assertive flavor - this one is my favorite for simple sauteed greens.  I like to cut the leaves into thin strips, heat a bit of olive oil in a large pan, throw in some minced garlic, then add the kale and cook until it's just barely wilted.

We're cutting the last of the baby bok choy this week (more to come in a few weeks).  The larger bok choy have a seen a bit of insect damage, but a few holes in the leaves doesn't make them inedible, and we've knocked our price back a bit to compensate for it.  We seem to have an army of tree frogs out there on the fall greens this year.  We're enjoying their chirping frog songs every evening, as well as the fact that they're out there gobbling up any damaging insects!

In other fall-related news, we get quite a few inquiries about a fall and winter CSA program now.  In the past, we've only accepted new memberships in the first few months of the calendar year.  No more!  We're now accepting new memberships at any time.  We already offer one of the most flexible CSA programs you'll find in the area, in that we allow you to choose what you want each week, in the quantities you'd like, when and where you want it.  Now you can also sign on at any time you'd like.  Your investment in the farm gives you a credit account with our farm that you may spend down as you see fit, with an expiration date of 12 months after we receive your payment.  Current CSA members - some of you tend to run low on funds by the end of the summer.  We have about an acre of beautiful fall and winter crops planted, and hope you'll continue to eat with us through the back half of the year.  If you choose to add to your CSA account, all funds are good for 12 months after we receive your payment.  Please visit our website over here if you are interested in more details.  Feel free to contact me with any questions at wildonionfarms@yahoo.com (much easier to reach me through email; I'm rarely hanging out by the phone).

Heavy thunderstorms yesterday dropped three inches of rain on the farm in a short time, and came with some ferocious winds as well.  This just as some of our late summer crops were poised to bounce back.  We were anticipating a fuller crop of tomatoes and peppers, and looking forward to picking the first of our fall beans.  Nothing's dead, done, or gone, just set back another week or so.  This summer's been all one step forward, two steps back.  Ahh ... farming.

We do have a nice variety of early fall greens this week!  Plenty of lettuce and arugula, baby chard and tatsoi.  All of the greens are looking lush and full after the rain.  Dark green 'Shiro' baby bok choy are a perfect single-serving size (about 1/2 pound each).  Heaps of radishes this week!