Eighth of an Acre Bounty

This entry is late, the weekend got away from me. Yesterday was pretty nice but it is cold and cloudy again today. Right now the temperature outside is a balmy 54 degrees F. I am not ready for fall.

Plant -Ok, so I didn’t plant anything this week. I’m a bit demoralized, it appears summer is over.

Harvest – Kai Lan, green beans, bunching onions, 8.5 lbs rhubarb, butter crunch lettuce, 2 tomatoes (is it really just going to end like this, one or two tomatoes a week? ugh).

Preserve – 1 quart blackberries frozen, 1 gallon Kai Lan blanched and frozen, 7 pints green beans canned, 5 pounds Rhubarb frozen, 4 pints rhubarb juice concentrate canned. Stemmed and bagged another round of dried organo and another bag of dried spearmint. Husked arugula seeds.

Prep – Trimmed back the dogwood tree that was rapidly overtaking the path round the tomato bed. I am considering putting in a hoop house over the entire bed (this September if the weather doesn’t start cooperating with Tomato season). Cobbled together (again) the pole bean trellis which is suffering terribly from the rain and winds we have had. I just need it to last until the beans are done producing, is that too much to ask?

Cook– Corn pudding with Farmers market corn, roasted poblanos, okra and onions. Garden veggie mac n cheese. Sumac and cumin spiced chicken thighs roasted with summer squash and zucchini. Chocolate pistachio zucchini bread.  Red wine braised lamb shanks with red potatoes, carrots, fennel and onion. The ever present garden salad.

Manage Reserves – With the consumption of the lamb shanks this week we now have one leg of lamb left in the freezer from last years lamb. Our quarter beef won’t arrive until October and the pig arrives January/February so we will be eating a lot of veg til the meat comes in.

Work on Local Food Systems – No shopping at the markets this week.