Hello!
Are you ready for more rain? As you read this, it’s probably raining cats and dogs. Just what we needed … more water. Seriously, it’s like living in the Pacific Northwest but without the good seafood.
I’m keeping it brief tonight because I’m typing in the dark. There is one downside to living in one big room altogether a la the Ingalls family – we need to turn off the lights when it’s bedtime for the boys. We’ve been letting them stay up a bit late but that came back to haunt us this morning when I got a phone call from the grade school telling me that Ben fell asleep on the bus this morning and ended up traveling all the way to Eureka High School. They found him when they did their walk-through at the end of the route. Don’t even ask me how an entire bus load of kids walked past our little porkchop without saying something helpful like, “Hey, that kid is asleep!” It’s a fend-for-yourself kind of world, I guess.
The funny boy thing that happened this week involved a Lego battle. Our little neighbor boy came over to play. When he walked in, Noah said, “Let’s have a battle!” Fresh from church, the other little boy said, “Yea, let’s battle the Philistines.” Noah then responded, “No, you mean the Philippines!” Yikes.
This weekend will be much the same as far as vegetables go … loads of tasty winter squash, fall greens, turnips, carrots, beets, and more! This will be the LAST WEEKED for the summer veggies because of the Saturday night frost in the forecast. So this is your last chance to stock up on sweet peppers and eggplant (if we even have any left). The sweet peppers will be available in mass quantities. Be sure to take advantage of our 5 lbs. for $10.00 deal and then just freeze them for later use in the winter. (Less than 5 lbs. is $3.00 per pound.)
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Winter Squash
Parsnips
Eggplant (?)
Leeks
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Summer squash (?)
Potatoes
Carrots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is won’t be restored until next week!
Best,
Mercy
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The House is Home!
Hello!
The house has been moved. It was amazing – so quiet and smooth. I imagine tomorrow will include more noise – the sound of 85 years worth of sagging being corrected in 5 minutes. Ouch! The world’s most expensive chiropractor visit.
How did you like the early fall broccoli last week? We’ll have more next week if you missed it.
As the cool weather sets in, you need to be prepared for the disappearance of your summer favorites. The first frost, which could happen any time, will kill off the sweet peppers, eggplant, green beans, and summer squash. So get some now before it’s too late!
October confuses people. They think the market is over, that plants stop growing, and that it’s time to stop eating real food until next May. NO! Please let your friends know that the market lasts until October 31 – come in costume, and we’ll throw in a free head of garlic! Ha ha.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Winter Squash
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is won’t be restored until next week!
Best,
Mercy
The house has been moved. It was amazing – so quiet and smooth. I imagine tomorrow will include more noise – the sound of 85 years worth of sagging being corrected in 5 minutes. Ouch! The world’s most expensive chiropractor visit.
How did you like the early fall broccoli last week? We’ll have more next week if you missed it.
As the cool weather sets in, you need to be prepared for the disappearance of your summer favorites. The first frost, which could happen any time, will kill off the sweet peppers, eggplant, green beans, and summer squash. So get some now before it’s too late!
October confuses people. They think the market is over, that plants stop growing, and that it’s time to stop eating real food until next May. NO! Please let your friends know that the market lasts until October 31 – come in costume, and we’ll throw in a free head of garlic! Ha ha.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Winter Squash
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is won’t be restored until next week!
Best,
Mercy
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Autumn Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes
Hello!
This will be a quick one because it’s early in the morning and I need to get the boys ready for school. This week’s big news is BROCCOLI! Have you been missing it? It’s back, and it will be delicious. This is the first year EVER that Bill has had fall broccoli. It is so sweet and crisp – be sure to get some!
Also, you should know that the squash is getting PROGRESSIVELY BETTER every week. It really needs to cure for a few weeks before the flavor fully develops. We ate acorn squash last night and were amazed at how much better it was than last week (when we also liked it).
We’ll also have SWEET POTATOES! Whoo-hoo! Like squash, sweet potatoes really need time to cure but we can’t wait that long to sell them. If you want to be really diligent, you could buy sweet potatoes and put them in a space heated to 80-90 degrees with 90% humidity for 7 days without burning your house down. (They are really a southern plant, so they like the heat.) We do this by putting them in our little space under the staircase, running a space heater and a humidifier, and covering the crates with wet towels. We just can’t do that for 1000 pounds of potatoes!
Here are two funny things from Noah this week. Yesterday in the car, Noah was reading a book out loud. I heard him read the phrase “a little black male.” I gasped and asked him to read it again. He said the same thing. My sensitivity meter going bananas, I asked for a spelling and it turned out to be “a little blackmail.” He was just sounding it out. Thank goodness. I thought Captain Underpants (the book) was going to have to be confiscated. The second funny thing was at the prayer before supper last night. We all went around the table to say one thing we’re thankful for. Noah said (and I’m not exaggerating), “Thank you God for the world being just like it is and not any worse.” (He’s been watching the Planet Earth series and the most recent episode was filled with some of the bad news, like animal extinctions and climate change.) Noah is already preparing for the worst. We try to reassure him, but he’s pretty smart and opinionated!
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Squash – butternut, acorn, spaghetti
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
This will be a quick one because it’s early in the morning and I need to get the boys ready for school. This week’s big news is BROCCOLI! Have you been missing it? It’s back, and it will be delicious. This is the first year EVER that Bill has had fall broccoli. It is so sweet and crisp – be sure to get some!
Also, you should know that the squash is getting PROGRESSIVELY BETTER every week. It really needs to cure for a few weeks before the flavor fully develops. We ate acorn squash last night and were amazed at how much better it was than last week (when we also liked it).
We’ll also have SWEET POTATOES! Whoo-hoo! Like squash, sweet potatoes really need time to cure but we can’t wait that long to sell them. If you want to be really diligent, you could buy sweet potatoes and put them in a space heated to 80-90 degrees with 90% humidity for 7 days without burning your house down. (They are really a southern plant, so they like the heat.) We do this by putting them in our little space under the staircase, running a space heater and a humidifier, and covering the crates with wet towels. We just can’t do that for 1000 pounds of potatoes!
Here are two funny things from Noah this week. Yesterday in the car, Noah was reading a book out loud. I heard him read the phrase “a little black male.” I gasped and asked him to read it again. He said the same thing. My sensitivity meter going bananas, I asked for a spelling and it turned out to be “a little blackmail.” He was just sounding it out. Thank goodness. I thought Captain Underpants (the book) was going to have to be confiscated. The second funny thing was at the prayer before supper last night. We all went around the table to say one thing we’re thankful for. Noah said (and I’m not exaggerating), “Thank you God for the world being just like it is and not any worse.” (He’s been watching the Planet Earth series and the most recent episode was filled with some of the bad news, like animal extinctions and climate change.) Noah is already preparing for the worst. We try to reassure him, but he’s pretty smart and opinionated!
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Sweet Potatoes
Broccoli
Squash – butternut, acorn, spaghetti
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Fall crops are coming in. Welcome, parsnips!
Hello!
We’re still in the neighbor’s basement, but our basement is coming right along. The walls are up, their pouring the floor today, and the house moves back next week. We just need this dry spell to hold.
The school year is also going well. Ben is doing a great job in kindergarten, getting a “smiley face” almost every day (which in his world is a big deal). He’s still in pronouncement mode, where he randomly bursts out with declaratory statements. Last night he said (with no obvious provocation), “You can’t get married when you’re little because your lips can’t reach anyone.” So there.
Noah has taken first grade by storm. He’s a little ahead of the curve right now, which makes our lives easier. He recently came home and asked for a shoebox. No explanation. I said we didn’t have one. He asked for any other box. I spotted a beer box on the floor and said he could have that. He busily got to work, cutting off the top flaps and coloring the inside. I finally asked him what he was doing. He said he was creating a diorama about the snowy white owl for his big assignment. Good lord … a diorama in a beer box. Not appropriate in any first grade setting but particularly inappropriate in such a religiously conservative area!! So he has to cover up the beer logo, etc. before turning it in.
But enough about our kids. Let’s talk farmer’s market. What happened to everyone? This past week marked the beginning of what we call “The Dropoff.” Many people just stop coming. We know that you are still coming, of course, and buying a lot of produce I might add. We appreciate that! Consider bringing a friend or at least talking about the market at work – we could use some extra traffic.
Here’s another reason why you should keep coming – this is Bill’s last season. Yes, Bill is not going to farm anymore. It’s complicated, but let’s just say that he’s tired of being tired. All the time. 10 months of the year. For very little money. Bill’s also concerned about the toll this takes on his body. Pick a joint above the waist, and it hurts. (Fortunately, he doesn’t have knee or hip problems! It’s all back, neck, shoulders, arms, etc.) We would also like to have more of a normal family life. We’ll actually be able to cook and preserve the food we grow next year! Yee-haw!
Clearly, the worst part about not farming will be that we won’t be a part of your lives anymore. We have really loved serving you the best food we have every Saturday for the past seven years. We know your kids, your food tastes, your politics, your favorite college football teams, and more. Sigh. It is sad, but I guess it’s just a seven year cycle that’s coming to an end.
But for the rest of this season, Bill will continue to bring you the best of what he has! No slacking off! (This season is paying for our basement!! Ha ha.) He’s also going to cap off his career with a rockin’ Thanksgiving market.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday – note the new PARSNIPS!! …
Squash – butternut, acorn, spaghetti
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
We’re still in the neighbor’s basement, but our basement is coming right along. The walls are up, their pouring the floor today, and the house moves back next week. We just need this dry spell to hold.
The school year is also going well. Ben is doing a great job in kindergarten, getting a “smiley face” almost every day (which in his world is a big deal). He’s still in pronouncement mode, where he randomly bursts out with declaratory statements. Last night he said (with no obvious provocation), “You can’t get married when you’re little because your lips can’t reach anyone.” So there.
Noah has taken first grade by storm. He’s a little ahead of the curve right now, which makes our lives easier. He recently came home and asked for a shoebox. No explanation. I said we didn’t have one. He asked for any other box. I spotted a beer box on the floor and said he could have that. He busily got to work, cutting off the top flaps and coloring the inside. I finally asked him what he was doing. He said he was creating a diorama about the snowy white owl for his big assignment. Good lord … a diorama in a beer box. Not appropriate in any first grade setting but particularly inappropriate in such a religiously conservative area!! So he has to cover up the beer logo, etc. before turning it in.
But enough about our kids. Let’s talk farmer’s market. What happened to everyone? This past week marked the beginning of what we call “The Dropoff.” Many people just stop coming. We know that you are still coming, of course, and buying a lot of produce I might add. We appreciate that! Consider bringing a friend or at least talking about the market at work – we could use some extra traffic.
Here’s another reason why you should keep coming – this is Bill’s last season. Yes, Bill is not going to farm anymore. It’s complicated, but let’s just say that he’s tired of being tired. All the time. 10 months of the year. For very little money. Bill’s also concerned about the toll this takes on his body. Pick a joint above the waist, and it hurts. (Fortunately, he doesn’t have knee or hip problems! It’s all back, neck, shoulders, arms, etc.) We would also like to have more of a normal family life. We’ll actually be able to cook and preserve the food we grow next year! Yee-haw!
Clearly, the worst part about not farming will be that we won’t be a part of your lives anymore. We have really loved serving you the best food we have every Saturday for the past seven years. We know your kids, your food tastes, your politics, your favorite college football teams, and more. Sigh. It is sad, but I guess it’s just a seven year cycle that’s coming to an end.
But for the rest of this season, Bill will continue to bring you the best of what he has! No slacking off! (This season is paying for our basement!! Ha ha.) He’s also going to cap off his career with a rockin’ Thanksgiving market.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday – note the new PARSNIPS!! …
Squash – butternut, acorn, spaghetti
Parsnips
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tasty Squash now in season!
A boat-load of squash
A busy day at the Blue Schoolhouse
Hello!
Sorry about missing a blog posting last week. Our house project is pretty time-consuming and I figured you could live without a rambling blog post! Ha ha. Speaking of the house, everything is going well. We should have the basement floor poured early next week and the house moved back to the new foundation the week after. We have gotten so comfortable in our neighbor's basement, though, that I'm not sure how we'll readjust to living in our place!
This week Bill will have some really delicious squash -- acorn, butternut, and spaghetti. We've been eating it, and it's PERFECT! Be sure to grab a few. It's easy to cook squash and scoop out the guts into a ziploc bag in the freezer for later use in the winter.
We will also have tons of sweet peppers. Have you ever roasted and frozen them? It's so easy, and it's wonderful to pull them out of the freezer in the winter to add to homemade pizza. We go through a ton that way. If you do roast them, put them into a covered bowl immediately afterward. The steaminess makes it much easier to peel off the blackened skin.
You'll notice by the veggie selection that we are transitioning nicely into fall. We'll have lots of head lettuces, beets, rose-heart radishes, Japanese turnips, arugula, ruby streaks, and more!! The radishes are pretty mild and very crisp right now. The rose-hearts have a brilliant pink interior -- perfect for slicing onto the side of a main dish. The ruby streaks are for those who like arugula -- it's just another fantastic mustard green with the perfect amount of sparkle in flavor and appearance.
Please come out this weekend. We're starting to experience that September slow-down in customers, which is disappointing because we have so much delicious produce to share! Bring a friend! Here's what we'll have:
Squash -- acorn, butternut, and spaghetti
Tomatoes (much fewer)
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Okra
Best,
Mercy
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Blue Schoolhouse on Stilts
Hello!
Our house is now floating 8 feet above the ground – what a sight! The boys love it. It looks like our house just sailed in and docked on the side of the yard. They’re getting ready to excavate the basement. It will be a complete mess. The big trucks will have to drive through Bill's new blackberry and aronia bushes, which is quite sad. On the whole, though, they are restricting the damage to a pretty reasonable area.
The guys are all sleeping, so I have nothing that I can truthfully report about the farm. (I’ll avoid my usual strategy of making things up.) I will say that I had a hybrid tomato for lunch, and I honestly can’t believe how much better the heirlooms are. I ate it because I had no choice, but I will not do it again. Lesson: Buy heirlooms.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Dragon tongue beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Broccoli?
Cabbage (Red)
Okra
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
Our house is now floating 8 feet above the ground – what a sight! The boys love it. It looks like our house just sailed in and docked on the side of the yard. They’re getting ready to excavate the basement. It will be a complete mess. The big trucks will have to drive through Bill's new blackberry and aronia bushes, which is quite sad. On the whole, though, they are restricting the damage to a pretty reasonable area.
The guys are all sleeping, so I have nothing that I can truthfully report about the farm. (I’ll avoid my usual strategy of making things up.) I will say that I had a hybrid tomato for lunch, and I honestly can’t believe how much better the heirlooms are. I ate it because I had no choice, but I will not do it again. Lesson: Buy heirlooms.
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Dragon tongue beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Broccoli?
Cabbage (Red)
Okra
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Heirloom Tomato Week -- We Mean It This Time!
Hello!
The house move is underway. We are in the neighbor’s totally awesome basement, and there’s not much time for the blog. (Too much pool, foosball, air hockey, and Legos to play with! Ha ha!) The house move is going fine. Today we ran into our first two little problems. They discovered a large concrete pad under half of the back room in a location where we could not see it. We think it was the porch floor on the back side of the school house, and then someone just built over it. So they’re having to bust it up with a horizontal jackhammer mounted onto the bobcat – it sounded like a war zone. Then, the plumber found quite the leaky pipe in the back corner of the house where the water comes in from the well. He pulled up a section of the floor and said things you never want to hear about your own house, like “Wow, that’s a LOT of standing water!” and “There’s even a sinkhole!” The late afternoon deluge just added to the general soup-like quality of our yard. What a mess. I’ll post pictures next week.
Bill and Pete are working around the construction zone. This week’s harvest will be greatly complicated by the fact that we have no electricity or water at our house. It will work out, though. Just be sure that his extreme efforts don’t go to waste – be sure to come to the market with a big appetite!
It shouldn’t be hard to convince you to attend this week’s market given the mounds of beautiful heirloom tomatoes that Bill is bringing. I’ve seen the stack of tomato-filled crates, and it’s really amazing. (You’d cry to see all of the tomatoes that go into the compost – at least 75%!! People just won’t buy a tomato with a crack or too many cosmetic issues. Of course, he still has to pick them!) Our favorite market tomatoes this year are Pink Brandywine and Kellogg’s Breakfast. Here’s some tasty information sure to get you to the market with wallets blazing:
Pink Brandywine: This is Bill’s favorite. It’s very difficult to grow for market – lots of splitting. Bill estimates he only gets 10% of the fruit to sell at market. One book describes pink brandywine as winey, robust, mouth-watering, sweet, tart, and complex. Whoa. I’m tired just thinking of all the adjectives.
Kellogg’s Breakfast: Juicy AND meaty, this beefsteak variety is truly scrumptious. Look for a big, orange tomato, and you’ve found it. You can’t go wrong with Kellogg’s (product placement – we get paid for that. Ha ha!!).
Striped German: This is aesthetically the most beautiful varieties that Bill grows. And to top it off, it’s really delicious. I think it has a fruitier flavor with a bit less acidity than a red tomato, but I’m not sure if it’s just the colors that make me taste it that way.
Green Zebra: It’s ripe even though is a green-and-yellow striped tomato. The flavor is sweet and tangy. It’s a perfect foil for a sweeter tomato, and adds a visual flair.
Cherokee Purple: It is said that this variety was originally grown by the Cherokee Indians more than 100 years ago. It’s one of my favorites because it has a wonderfully complex tomato flavor and meaty texture.
Hybrids: The hybrids that Bill grows are also quite good. They’re cheaper at $2/pound because they’re easier to grow and yield much better. Of course, they have nowhere near the complexity of the heirlooms as far as flavor goes, and the skins are a bit thicker (hence their being more blemish and ding-free.) That said, if you need a lot of tomatoes and don’t want to spend as much, these are a very good substitution.
Bill is sure that this will be the biggest tomato week of the season (he was surprised about that, since last week was so good).
You may have noticed the lack of green beans last week, which was due to the beans being just too immature to pick. That means that Bill will be totally overwhelmed by beans this week. (Picking them is torture – seriously, every year I wonder why he does it.) This would, subsequently, be an excellent week for you to buy beans!!
Here’s what we’ll have on Saturday …
Tomatoes
Eggplant
Leeks
Poblano Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Dragon tongue beans
Summer squash
Potatoes
Carrots
Shallots
Fennel
Swiss chard
Head Lettuce
Beets
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Broccoli?
Cabbage (Red)
Okra
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at blueschoolhouse@yahoo.com, although during the farm season we can’t guarantee that we’ll be checking the email as often as usual. Our phone service is dead for the next few weeks until the house is moved back onto the new basement!
Best,
Mercy
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