September 27, 2020
Back to Summer?
By Linda Dansbury

After a few delightfully brisk days, we are back to warm and high humidity weather, so back to wanting to cook summery foods. Here is a few things I made this past week.

Eggplant, peppers, onions - went back to the grill with these last night - simply drizzled with olive oil and grilled till soft and tasty. I added a couple hot peppers and froze them to add to a chili later, which will give it a slight smoked flavor. I did 2 weeks of peppers, onions and eggplant. I will eat leftover eggplant for lunch and the extra peppers and onions I chopped up and froze to add to something down the road. I have never done this before but am sure the grilled veggies will add a wonderful flavor to something during the long winter months.

Onions, garlic, sweet peppers, hot pepper, tomatoes, okra and kale - made a sort of fish gumbo last week when it was cold. Started with a light rue, added celery, peppers and onions and sauteed till translucent. Added cajun spices, tomatoes (I did a mix of canned and fresh, all diced) and okra and cooked till okra was getting soft. Added finely chopped kale and when it was cooked, added cod and shrimp and cooked until done. Topped with chopped cilantro. Yum!

Napa cabbage, radish, turnips, red onion, cilantro - made the Napa Cole Slaw recipe that was submitted by a fellow member.

How did you enjoy your harvest? Please email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net so I can share with the rest of the members.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Back-to-Summer-2547/

September 27, 2020
Crops are Returning
By Linda Dansbury

Crops are a great example of the Circle of Life - the crops we receive in the early part of the season, also thrive toward the end due to shorter days and cooler weather. Crops returning are broccoli, beets, cabbage, kohlrabi, escarole, celery, turnips and more. Just a few notes on a few of them:

Broccoli - don't have to tell you how to use it, but since it is organic, it is common to have a worm or 2 hidden in the heads. I have found that the worms make the broccoli go bad quickly. So if you are not going to eat it within a day or 2, check the heads carefully for worms when you get it home. Even run under water to push them out. If you put it under water, let it drain on a kitchen towel before putting in plastic in the fridge so it doesn't rot from too much moisture.

Kohlrabi - delicious as a snack all by itself or dipped in hummus or your favorite dip - also great in salads, where it adds nice crunch. Great mixed in slaws and it can even be roasted. It stores in plastic in the fridge for a while.

Escarole - among my favorite greens - it can be enjoyed raw when added to salads or as a main salad component, sauteed with onion and garlic and topped with grated cheese and enjoyed as a side dish, and is delicious chopped and added to soups. Try the Sauteed Greens Plus 3 uses for Them for ideas - I like to make a large batch (clean out the fridge) and then add to a couple soups and stews and enjoyed in an omelette.

Turnips and Radishes - these have been beautiful and I love them both - do not throw out the tops! They are delicious and super nutritious. I suggest adding them to the greens in the above recipe. Separate the greens from the roots when you get them home.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Crops-are-Returning-2548/

September 26, 2020
Autumn on my Mind
by Farmer Derek

Harvest #20 (Week B) should include broccoli, kale, arugula, leeks, garlic, lettuce, salad radishes, hakurei turnips, beets, kohlrabi, sweet peppers, green tomatoes, hot peppers, italian dandelion, swiss chard, and possibly escarole or celery. Some items will be a choice. U-pick should include herbs.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Autumn-on-my-Mind-2544/

September 26, 2020
Workshifts for Week of 9/28/20
by Farmer Derek

Workshifts will be held rain or shine. If it's raining we'll probably process garlic in the barn or clean up tomato patch in the hoop tunnel. When it's dry we'll probably harvest some crops or pull some weeds.

Workshifts scheduled for this week:

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Workshifts-for-Week-of-92820-2545/

September 26, 2020
Cold Open, Exit
by Farmer Derek

Well that was a first for us. Harvesting on a frosty morning in September, in Summer. Was that a harbinger of a cold fall, winter, or just a strange, random aberration, an early polar vortex-like delivery? A plunge in temperatures this early in the almost-fall was a strange but welcome respite from summer's heat and humidity though I'm not ready to turn on interior heat (though we did fire up the kitchen wood stove a few of those chilly mornings I withheld from burning the aged and compressed organic matter taken from deep underground aka oil). Are we now in what is colloquially known as an "Indian Summer" or is frost and cold in summer irrelevant? From what I can tell no harm was done to any of the fall crops except for slowing down growth (this minor dry spell doesn't help). The summer crops we were still picking (peppers, eggplant, okra, tunnel tomatoes, basil) were at their annual departure date anyway. We'll probably see peppers and green/less ripe tomatoes for another week or so as we harvest all edible fruit. Speaking of basil, I hope you noticed it's longevity this year! Organic seed companies and universities finally bred a few varieties that are truly resistant to basil downy mildew which for the past five years or more has been the scourge that ended the basil season mid-summer (see picture below).

Last week we seeded the final crops for 2020. That's about 30 weeks since we sowed the first seeds this year. We also transplanted kale, lettuce mix, head lettuce, and swiss chard and filled up the space in the movable high tunnel plot as well as one of the two new caterpillar tunnels. Preparation began in the hoop house for next week's transplanting of lettuce, arugula, and greens mix. Since that space was used to harden off plants prior to planting outside, landscape fabric had to be removed and manually forked (aerate). It's possible we did the final cultivation of outside crops last week, too. We'll probably need to cultivate or weed at least one or two of the tunnel plots but maybe we'll be lucky. The new caterpillar tunnels will reside where 2020 garlic and straw briefly called home and the straw probably deposited more than one weed seed. Speaking of the two new tunnels, we should have the frame of one finished this weekend.

This coming week we plan to continue indoor preparations for fall growing. Tomatoes need to be removed to make way for fall crops. Soil needs to be forked, hoed, amended, raked. We'll probably continue to retrieve miscellaneous storage roots (watermelon radishes, purple daikons, beets, kohlrabi). By the way, last week we finished the modest sweet potato harvest. Thanks to the farm crew and members for that!

Happy Autumn!

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Cold-Open-Exit-2546/

September 20, 2020
Fall...or Winter?
By Linda Dansbury

The cooler weather of this week definitely had me thinking of warming, hearty meals. Please send me how you are enjoying your harvest by emailing me at lindadansbury@comcast.net. Here are a few things we enjoyed this past week:

Onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, kale, green beans (frozen in the summer), parsley - made a beef soup/stew that was a blend of several recipes, with so many delicious farm veggies - marinaded the meat overnight in wine, garlic and rosemary. Browned the meat well, removed from pan, added finely diced carrots, onions and carrots and sauteed until getting soft. Added the wine back into pot, a large can of diced tomatoes and bay leaf. Added potatoes, gave it a good stir and gently simmered for about an hour. Added green beans and kale and simmered for another 30 minutes. Yum....

Eggplant, peppers, garlic - made the Eggplant Dip with Roasted Peppers - turned out delicious. I froze it for a delicious appetizer for later in the year.

Peppers, onions, garlic, herbs - made a clam dish that I made a couple of weeks ago again because it was so delicious and a great way to enjoy peppers which are slowly braised with the onions and garlic. Chorizo sausage was browned, creating yummy smokiness and heat - the recipe actually calls for a mild breakfast sausage, but I love the heat and depth of flavor the chorizo gives the dish. Warm crusty bread is a must for sopping up the juices.

Carrots, edamame, onion, garlic and cilantro - liked the Edamame and Carrot Salad with Rice Vinegar so much, we had it again.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Fallor-Winter-2538/

September 20, 2020
Yay for Fall Veggies
By Linda Dansbury

This week we are really getting into fall veggies with several new ones in our shares.

Napa Cabbage - is a variety of cabbage that was developed in China and is used in many stir fried dishes. It is high in vitamins C and K, so is very good for you. The leaves are more tender than the more common round cabbage and cooks up sweeter. It is best stored in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator where it will keep fresh for about 2 weeks. Try the Sweet and Sour Cabbage Stir Fry with Tofu or Shrimp.

Radishes and Hakurei turnips - these can pretty much be used interchangeably and the greens on both are edible, so don't throw them away. Add to soups and stews or chop up and saute with garlic and other herbs, or mix into an omelette or stir fry. Both veggies can be used raw in salads or dips; they roast up sweet as can be and braising them is delicious! Separate the greens from veggie when you get them home and store separately for best storage results.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Yay-for-Fall-Veggies-2539/

September 20, 2020
Workshifts for Week of 9/21/20
by Farmer Derek

Workshifts will be held rain or shine. If it's raining we'll probably process garlic in the barn. When it's dry we'll probably harvest potatoes or pull some weeds.Workshifts scheduled for this week:

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Workshifts-for-Week-of-92120-2540/

September 20, 2020
New Closing Time Monday & Thursday!
by Farmer Derek

**New fall/autumn/post-equinox/early sunset CSA pick up hours starting this week, #19, Week A: 1-7pm Mon and Thu; Sat remains 10am-12pm. If you are unable to make it by 7pm e-mail us and we'll accommodate you.**

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/New-Closing-Time-Monday-Thursday-2541/

September 20, 2020
Attributes of Autumn
by Farmer Derek

Harvest #19 (Week A) should include napa/chinese cabbage, lettuce, kale, arugula, garlic, leeks/onions, beets, kohlrabi, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, okra, hot peppers, Italian dandelion, Swiss chard, hakurei turnips, and salad radishes. Some items will be a choice. U-pick should include flowers and herbs. Due to the cold and time of the year the summer staples that have been hanging around will wind down but we don't know how much the weight will drop until we harvest.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Attributes-of-Autumn-2542/

September 20, 2020
Happy Fall Equinox!
by Farmer Derek

Ahhhh autumn! Mid-fall temperatures precede your true arrival. Did we receive an extra early frost as many of our neighbors did? I don't think so, but it wouldn't matter much for our crops anyway at this point except that we could proclaim more topsy-turvy weather conundrums and extremes. As another farmer exclaimed earlier today, we endured late cold in May, record hot July, and now almost record lows in September. Every season seems to bring a new event, experience. I'm glad this cold snap came now instead of two weeks later because then it could have possibly produced lows bottoming out closer to thirty degrees. We normally don't see our first light frost until around October 10th, our first hard freeze at the tail end of October or later. Some years we've had teens in November then mild weather until January. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. Either way this cool dry weather can at least slow the growth of some of our first fall plantings that have grown exponentially during the consistent weekly rains and heat of August and early September. My only concern now since they're in perfect condition is the lack of rain which hopefully won't become an issue. We haven't had to irrigate any bare ground crops this season and I don't want to start now.

Upcoming this week we have our annual certified organic inspection. This is a thorough process to make sure organic standards are upheld. We'll need to show them official documentation of everything that goes on here, including seeds, plants, fertilizers, compost, amendments, supplies, potting soil, and records for seeding, planting, harvesting, sales, crop rotation. I'm glad there are some standards and rules in place to guarantee a clean and healthy food source. The Certified Organic label is a good as it gets currently.

This week we also look forward to harvesting all of the sweet potatoes. Unfortunately yields are way down, literally a small fraction of the great yields we've had the past 3-4 years. I attribute it mostly to weed pressure from the get-go. The laws of farming also state that a crop cannot not fail at least once every 5-7 years. In other words, this is the year when our beloved sweets have underperformed. Worry not, though, for many other fall crops will be exceptional. We'll learn from our mistakes and will make improvements next year. I'm glad fall is here and look forward to the change in produce.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Happy-Fall-Equinox-2543/

September 13, 2020
Workshifts for Week of 9/14/20
by Farmer Derek

Workshifts will be held rain or shine. If it's raining we'll probably process garlic in the barn. When it's dry we'll probably harvest potatoes or pull some weeds.

Workshifts scheduled for this week:

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Workshifts-for-Week-of-91420-2533/

September 13, 2020
Nearer to Fall Food
by Farmer Dana

Harvest #18 (Week B) should include lettuce, kale, arugula, garlic, leeks, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, basil, okra, Italian dandelion, beets, and radishes. U-pick should include flowers and herbs.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Nearer-to-Fall-Food-2534/

September 13, 2020
Hearty Salads
By Linda Dansbury

As I said last week, the up and down weather makes it difficult for me to figure out what to cook each night, but one of the 'themes' in our meals this past week has been salads that use veggies other than lettuce since the lettuce is limited right now. Vegetables stand up to more robust dressings which are a nice change from the simple vinaigrettes that are my normal go-tos. So try a few of them. Below is some of what I did this past week:

Eggplant, peppers, onions - grilled them all - I figure the eggplants and peppers won't be around much longer so I should enjoy the tasty summer veggies while I can. I made an Asian style dressing for the leftovers and added to brown rice for a tasty side dish salad.

Carrots, edamame, onion, garlic, cilantro - made the Edamame and Carrot Salad with Rice Vinegar recipe on this site. It was a nice change of pace since most of what we had been eating as salads lately were tomato based.

Eggplant, hot pepper, onion, garlic, basil, mint - made the Thai-Style Grilled Eggplant Salad recipe from this site. Since we have the hot peppers, I used them instead of the red pepper flakes.

Arugula - we LOVE arugula! The simplest way to make it into a salad is to rough chop or tear it, cut some cherry tomatoes in half and place both into a bowl. Put a little salt and pepper into the bowl, squeeze fresh lemon juice to taste and drizzle a good quality olive oil into the bowl - it doesn't need much. Mix well, but gently because arugula bruises easily and enjoy!

Kale - made Kale Caesar Salad and served sliced, leftover steak on top of it. Yum!

Please share how you enjoyed your harvest by emailing me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Hearty-Salads-2535/

September 13, 2020
Fields Filled
by Farmer Derek

The 2020 outdoor seeding and transplanting season is finished. The last of the available/planned for field space was filled with the final round of external transplants and a last gasp direct seeding event to fill in the extra available bed space still vacant after transplanting. With the subsequent inch of rain received early Thursday morning the outdoor planting season was successfully concluded. This isn't the end of 2020 planting, though. We still have 2,300 feet of beds under cover, in the tunnels, to fill with crops to be harvested in November, December, and perhaps into winter 2021. There'll be a 2-3 week gap before we begin planting inside so at least we'll have a brief departure from one task we've been doing for almost six months.

Prior to establishing these indoor populations each tunnel space will require different methods of attention to achieve ideal conditions for planting into. Some tunnels house our seedling flats and need to have tables and landscape fabric removed followed by forking, hoeing, and raking. The movable high tunnel beds are able to be prepped with the tractor's bed shapers. This space was experimentally covered with large pieces of fabric for two weeks to passively kill grass and weeds and reduce the need for tractor tillage. After the bed shaping is finished we'll move the 30'x96' high tunnel over top. The hoop tunnel currently protects the 2nd and final round of tomatoes which will soon need to be pulled and composted and the beds will be forked, hoed, and raked. We should receive our new tunnels this week which will be erected to cover an additional 900' of bed space.

During this upcoming week we hope to harvest the rest of the potatoes. Spent summer crops like cherry tomatoes, husk cherries, and tomatillos will be cleaned up. New transplants will probably require cultivation. Some fields beckon the flail mower. Certain crops request hand weeding. More seeds will be sown for Late Fall harvest. A lot of time will be spent harvesting and distributing.

Please join us at a workshift if you can!

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Fields-Filled-2536/

September 13, 2020
Preserving the Peppers
By Linda Dansbury

It has been a banner year for peppers, both hot and sweet. The harvest of each will start to wane soon, and you might be thinking "good, because I don't know what to do with more peppers". Well, you can freeze them for one. Yes, they won't be crunchy when defrosted, but they are still delicious when added to chili and Mexican inspired soups and stews. I talked about the Pepper Puree in last week's post and that is a great option for preserving the peppers. Another delicious and flexible way to preserve the peppers is to make Romesco Sauce. It freezes very well and is great on grilled bread, chicken, fish, or pretty much anything!

I always freeze my hot peppers whole and then I can use them in all sorts of dishes throughout the year, until the fresh ones roll in again next summer. Whenever a cooked recipe calls for red pepper flakes or a hot pepper, I just take one or part of one out of the freezer and use what I want. They lose their crispness, but not their color - just place in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air and seal.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Preserving-the-Peppers-2537/

September 6, 2020
Workshifts for Week of 9/7/20
by Farmer Derek

Workshifts will be held rain or shine. If it's raining we'll probably process garlic in the barn. When it's dry we'll probably harvest potatoes or pull some weeds.

Workshifts scheduled for this week:

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Workshifts-for-Week-of-9720-2528/

September 6, 2020
Late Summer Flavors
by Farmer Dana

Harvest #17 (Week A) should include leeks, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, kale, arugula, lettuce, potatoes, basil, rosemary, okra, hot peppers, shishito peppers, green tomatoes, and italian dandelion. Some items will be a choice and may not be available during all pick up times (total weight/items will stay the same). U-pick is winding down but should include flowers and herbs. Edamame, tomatoes, husk cherries, and tomatillos may be open for 'gleaning' which basically means they're at the end of production, there's not enough quality fruit for everyone, the good ones are hard to find, take what you can get, etc. Consult the u-pick board for up-to-date information.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Late-Summer-Flavors-2529/

September 6, 2020
Fall Meets Summer
By Linda Dansbury

I don't know about anyone else, but this time of year seems a little trickier to figure out how to best enjoy the harvest. Fall crops mix in with summer, and it is very warm one day and chilly the next. So, what to eat? Below is some of what I did this past week.

Okra, eggplant, onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers - made a large batch of Caponata (1 & 2) to freeze for later use. There are 2 recipes on this site, so check out which sounds best for you. Okra is not on the list of ingredients, but that's okay. I added them because I didn't want them to go bad.

Shishito peppers - not much to say about these except yum! Heat a little neutral oil in a large pan and add peppers. Fry, turning frequently until they begin to brown. Remove from pan, drain, salt and enjoy! Alternatively, put them on the grill at medium/high heat - don't walk away, because they cook fast.

Kale - it was so nice to see kale back in the share last week. I used some of it for a small Kale Salad and I made Kale Chips with the rest. I skipped the dried fruit in the Kale Salad.

Spaghetti squash, tomatoes, basil - this is where summer meets fall. I made the Spaghetti Squash with Sauteed Tomatoes and Basil. Delicious, fast and easy.

Peppers - a few years ago a fellow member sent me the recipe for Pepper Puree - I had often made roasted peppers and used them as additions to sandwiches, as a topping for bruschetta, over eggs, etc., but I have found this version even more flexible and it even freezes well.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Fall-Meets-Summer-2530/

September 6, 2020
Lots of Veggies Used!
By Linda Dansbury

I love it when fellow members send me how they enjoyed their harvest - it always provides me with ideas I hadn't thought of before. Cheryl Dacey sent the following to me this week. I really like how she combines so many of the farm's veggies in one dish. Thank you Cheryl!

"We have really been enjoying the harvest each week. Been making Eggplant Caponata, and Ratatouille almost weekly. I really enjoy these with some foccacia bread. Been making and freezing salsa verde (mild and hot with Anchor Run hot peppers) and Pesto.

This week I made Salsa Verde Chicken Stew and added okra, carrots, onions and some sweet corn. It came out excellent. I made a roasted tomato basil soup with caramelized onions and roasted garlic. Pasta with pesto, chicken and cherry tomatoes - my son loved this. I think my favorite was stuffed pepper soup. It really came out so good!"

Please send me how you are enjoying your harvest at lindadansbury@comcast.net and put Anchor Run in the subject line so I can find your email.

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Lots-of-Veggies-Used-2531/

September 6, 2020
Assess, Observe, Reflect, Plan, Cope
by Farmer Derek (and Dana, ed.)

Each weekend I walk or bike around the farm, visit each field, look at most of the crops, perhaps take some pictures, document the growing season, and make a to-do list for the upcoming week as well as take any pertinent notes to add to our digital ongoing farm production please-remember-in-the-future document. The last couple of months have been a challenge, a grind, but with a new month, cooler temperatures, and lower humidity (and maybe the light is seen at the end of the proverbial growing season tunnel) we can feel a bit more relaxed and less overwhelmed.

Overall it has been a good season of production and the rains haven't been terrible. But there is an added undercurrent of anxiety I'm assuming is due to the current pandemic, political turmoil, and the ongoing climate crisis. It's a mental challenge to steer past or through all the negativity we're bombarded with while considering what seems like the grim position the world is in. It's pretty hard to find anything to read that puts a positive spin on the future health of us and this planet. In the midst of these troubles the farm is a consolation. Immersing ourselves in the work is many things at once: a physical and mental outlet; an opportunity to affect the environment around us positively; a space and nourishment to be comforted by. We hope that the farm is a bright spot in your lives too, at least that is what we strive to provide. But I digress...

Crops look great. Late summer kale is the best of the season. Summer crops are still trickling in. Fields are being cleaned up and sown with cover crops. Storage crops are being retrieved and have decent yields. Outdoor transplanting is just about finished for the year while very soon we'll embark on tunnel transplanting. There's two more weeks of seeding for tunnel production then that's all finished until late February. My brain is beginning to think about winter travels, downtime, registration for 2021 Main Season CSA as well as staff needs, big farm projects, longterm goals, and retirement (joking). This weather is a welcome relief and joy and I hope you're relishing it as much as we are!

Link: https://www.anchorrunfarm.com/blog/Assess-Observe-Reflect-Plan-Cope-2532/