Category: Uncategorized

Veggie Treadmill

August 13, 2016

It all feels a little out of control this time of year.  Besides the CSA and my full-time dayjob, we just keep running to keep up with thre farm stands (one at Essentia in Detroit Lakes and Falls Baking Co in Fergus Falls plus the 24/7 one at then end our our driveway) and supplying the farmers market on Saturdays.  It’s kind of constant harvesting.

From the outside it might seem kind of simple.  After all, many have experience gardening and that’s pretty chill.  But once a person gets to packing 55 boxes a week with a whole mix of produce, it takes an investment of time and effort.  For the 47 boxes we packed this Friday, for example, this is how it happened:

  • Thursday evening: Maree, Ryan, and Kelsey picked yellow beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and pulled red onions (3 hours)
  • Friday Morning: Maree and Ryan pick corn, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots (4.5 hours).  
  • Friday Afternoon: Mix cherry tomatoes, wash produce and pack boxes (3 hours).  Ryan and Maree deliver boxes to members (2.5 hours each). 
  • After getting home, we start on farmers market (6 pm – 11:30)….wake up and go again.

In the box:
Silver King (white) and Trinity (bi-color) Corn
Red Onion 
Cucumber
Garlic 
Mix of Tomatoes (some heirloom, some slicers)
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Wax Beans
Carrots: Wow, this has not been my year on carrots….Maree and I scrounged around the bed for a few hours to get these.
Eggplant: Certainly this time of year ratatouille is great.  It uses eggplant and pretty much anything else you feel like adding in.  This recipe gives you the idea, but feel free to change with the produce you have on hand: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/ratatouille

We’re in a Video

August 6, 2016

Earlier this summer we had one day’s experience of reality TV stars when a camera crew followed us around the farm while we went about our business.  West Central Initiative is doing this regional marketing campaign about West Central Minnesota and wanted to have a farm featured which was incolved in local food production.  I think it turned out great.  Check it out:

  https://player.vimeo.com/video/172964018
Live Wide Open – Lida Farm from H2M on Vimeo.

Now that we’re in August, we love how nice the fields look in the video.  In June the weeds were under control, whereas, today, you’d find a big mess.  We’re also impressed with how these shots done with a drone make the farm look huge.  My overall impression is “Hey, that place is beautiful…I’d like to live there!….Oh, ya, I do.”

In the box:
Sweet Corn: A mix of the Trinity bi-color which is coming in and the early yellow Sugarbuns which is going out of season.
Fennel: Green stalk thing on top of the box. Check out this recipe from the Spendid Table http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/roasted-beet-fennel-and-citrus-salad  You will have to adjust a bit since there’s a single fennel bulb.
Cucumber
Pepper
Satina Yellow Potatoes
Beets
Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
Mix of Regular Tomatoes: There’s getting to be a fair amount of ripening out there. Everybody got some red tomatoes plus some yellow romas or orange blossom for some color.
Red Onion
Fresh Garlic 

An Apprentice’s View

July 30, 2016
I’ve been privileged to live and work out at Lida Farm for three years and I am still in awe every single day of the landscape, the critters, the veggies, and the family that call this place home. 

Most of our CSA members have had the opportunity to come out to the farm a time or two so you probably have an idea of what I’m taking about. 

With my 7 year old flip-phone, I try to capture some of those quiet moments where a person can feel the simple poetry of every day life.

I’m not able to catch even a quarter of them, but here are a few. – Kelsey Wulf, Lida Farm Apprentice 

Argo Surveying East
Bea’s Kiss for Bruce Stringsteer

Misty Morning – Front Field

Pirate Pete the Cat in Milkhouse

Queen Bea

Kid’s Treehouse

Kelsey and Bea the Milk Cow
In the box: 
  • Early Sweet Corn: The small yellow variety is Sugar Buns (I hate this name) and the bi-color is Trinity
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Sweet Onion
  • Green Beans 
  • Westlander Kale
  • Zucchini
  • Satina Yellow Potatoes
  • Basil: Please don’t refrigerate basil…it’s a sensitive herb and will go black.  Best to treat like a cut flower: trim bottom and put ends into vase with water.   
  • Fresh Oregano: Small bunch with band.  You can let dry on your counter for a 3-4 days to get dried oregano if you don’t get to it.  


Rainbows and Peace

July 8, 2016

I had been moping around the farm for the past two weeks, kicking the dirt and complaining about the lack of rain.  As each day went by my blood pressure and stress went up just a little more.  Then, last night, a whole half inch fell from the sky.  I went and stuck my hand in the soil to find that it had soak inches into the ground, not just the surface.  I could hear a big sigh of relief from the plants as every bit was soaked into the hard, dry ground.  As incredible as the rain was, we were elated as my daughter ran in and told us to come outside and see the double rainbow.

All this happened about an hour before five police officers were killed in Dallas and a day after the fatal shooting in St. Paul.  Combine that with all the other turmoil we’ve been witnessing and I think we’ve all had heavy hearts as it feels like the world is on fire. I was taught long ago that the rainbow was God’s promise to never flood the earth again, but it’s also a symbol of peace and reconciliation.  In this time of growing tension, I think we need to remember that God cares for all his creation, both earth and people alike.  I want to see yesterday’s rainbow as a sign of hope.  Just as he brought water to dry land he’ll bring a hard rain down onto our troubles.  Our responsibility to remember that we’re all brothers and sisters in this kingdom, not enemies.  Sorry for getting preachy…it’s kind of on my mind. 
In the box: 
Napa Cabbage: Usually people aren’t using a lot of Napa, so I put a recipe below.  It is also fine to use as a salad like a cole slaw or simply  
Broccoli
Frisee: Frilly small green.  This is good mixed into a salad with lettuce
Small Romaine: Some got green, some red
Beets 
‘Hakurai’ Salad Tunips: These look like white radishes, but they are much sweeter and tastier than any radish you’ll find.  Slice and marinate as you would radishes to nibble alone or in a salad.  
Green Garlic: Use as you would dry garlic or let dry down on your kitchen counter. 
Fresh Thyme: Small bunch with red band 
Summer Squash: Use yellow summer squash or pattypan squash (flat ones) just as you would zuchhini.  Try zucchini fritter – grate together with some onion and eggs and cook in fry pan. 
Sweet Onion: Hey, it’s about time I get an honest to goodness onion in the box. 
Stir-fried Pork and Peanuts
from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix
Put 3 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola) in a large skillet over high heat.  Brown 8 oz ground pork in the oil before adding 1 tablespoon each minced garlic and fresh ginger.  Cook for 15 seconds.  Add about 1/4 – 1/2 of a napa cabbage (shredded).  Cook, stirring, until soft and slightly brown, 5 minutes.  Add a handful of peanuts and cook a few minutes more (until slightly toasted).  Turn off heat and stir in soy sauce to taste.  

End of the Line

October 4, 2015

It seems but a week ago that I was planting seeds in the greenhouse and now we’ve just delivered the last box.  Overall, this has been one great summer growing season and we appreciate all of you who have been along for the ride.  We had consistent rains through early August which helped establish  good crops and no crazy weather: no tornadoes, huge winds, or bad hail.  

This time of year, like many, we feel like eating high calorie foods and sleeping.  It’s the fall where our bodies ready themselves for winter.  At least for us, after five months of vegetable growing every day, we’re spent.    
Even Coffee Doesn’t Help Sometimes
Don’t worry, Lida Farm’s never sleeps for long.  A vacation over MEA weekend, and we’re looking towards some winter growing.  After a winter’s rest, we get just as excited as ever for spring planting and we’ll be be ready to roll for yet another season!
In the box: 
  • Long Pie Pumpkin: Oblong Orange Squash 
  • Regular Pie Pumpkin
  • Acorn or Red Kuri Winter Squash
  • Fresh Sage and Rosemary
  • Yellow Onion
  • A couple Sweet Peppers: These plants just won’t die off…
  • Parsnips: No, not funky carrots…you need to cook these.
  • Swiss Chard 
  • Spinach
  • Rutabaga