Mayhem in the Field

It's a relief, being able to sit here and type a blog post after the power outage we experienced on Thursday. I was worried it would last days, like the ones in the residential neighborhoods where some of our friends live. Fortunately, the first real storm of July 2012 only knocked out the farm's power for about seven hours. That meant we could keep our plants alive through the heat that's continuing over the next several days.

In the meantime, we spent three of those hours hurriedly looking over the storm damage and preparing to be without water - the most important thing our electricity provides us - for a couple of days. We gathered generators, water jugs; evaluated water and air storage tanks, and started to determine where to go to fill them up. One generator was dedicated to the refrigerators so our CSA members' produce would stay fresh for pickup Thursday afternoon.

Of course we also discovered some damage in the fields as we slogged ankle-deep in mud in some of the freshly tilled areas. The market garden and sweet corn field sustained the worst of the wind damage. The 15x150ft shade tent that we built over the pepper plants on Tuesday didn't make it through the storm. Of course a lot of the fabric landed on plants, but most of the plants had been laid down by the wind already. Thank goodness the shade cloth isn't terribly heavy - as we moved it off the plants, we realized that not many of them appear to be severely damaged.

It's been very interesting to watch the vegetable plants return from their wind damage. I wish I'd gotten some photos of the "before" to show how they were leaning over. But now the green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, as well as the tallest sweet corn are all standing back up again, with just a few exceptions. Only time will tell how this affects all these beautiful plants that we've worked so hard to nurture. The one category that doesn't seem to have been much affected is the cucurbits: the cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes and squashes all seemed to be standing tall or if they're vines, lying in a healthy-looking pose on their rows.

So we've pushed on, watering where it's needed (because the storm didn't end our drought by any means) and trellising and pruning those plants that are long and leggy like tomatoes and cucumbers. Now all that's left to clean up from the storm are a few sections of plastic mulch in the zucchini field that were torn, and finish re-erecting that pepper tent...just as soon as enough of us are in one place at the same time. And we're grateful that our storm damage was truly minimal, compared to what others have experienced!

My New Favorite Veggie: Purple Potatoes

We started growing these last year, and all winter long when I'd go to the potato boxes I would reach for the purples before any other. These relatively uncommon tubers have flesh that ranges in hue from dark blue to lavender, sometimes mixed with a little white. They have a subtle nutty flavor; we think they taste even more "potato-y" than many white or yellow potatoes. Microwaving preserves the color the best, but steaming and baking are also favorable methods of preparation. When boiling, it's fun to watch the water change color! In fact, if you leave the skin on, prepare to see your potato water become a lovely shade of green. Since it's purple inside and out, the pigments make it very high in antioxidants - more, I've heard it said, than blueberries, pound for pound!

Here are a few ideas for adding this tasty, nutritious spud to your menu:

Combine it with other potatoes and veggies when doing roasted veggies

Mash some of these babies, and separately mash a lovely orange-colored winter squash, or sweet potatoes. Serve them side by side, or gently swirled together in a serving bowl.

Roast a couple and toss them with a baked spaghetti squash.

Prepare them as you would any other potato and surprise the family!

How about a specific recipe? This one's Fork Crushed Purple Potatoes

Enjoy!

SWEET CORN is ready!

The verdict is in! Sweet corn is ready for harvest, and we'll have our first batch here to open our roadside stand tomorrow. See you Saturday, July 10 for some delicious sweet corn! One of my favorite ways to enjoy it is raw, right in the field. In a few days I plan to collect some recipes and prep tips from our customers. Want to add yours now?