Taliaferro Farms: Great Food, Great Weather

~Food~

The weather has been so pleasant the last week or so. I really enjoyed just being outside and walking around the farm to see the chickens, pick some flowers and choose my share. And speaking of food, everything looked wonderful. I was thinking of what kinds of things I could cook with all the food choices.

radishes,
summer spinach,
arugula, lettuce, kale salad,
sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes
watermelons, apples,
poblano peppers, hot peppers
summer squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash, acorn squash,
garlic, scallions,
beets, carrots
green beans,
eggplant, and
butternut squash seconds.

(Please keep in mind that the items are subject to change based on availability.)

Kale Salad, so yummy.

Wow, I'm tired just typing all those vegetables. I couldn't try everything with my half-share, but I did snag some watermelon (I love eating it every day), kale salad, and eggplant.

Someone asked me what is a 'second' vegetable. This is an item that is damaged or tiny or otherwise not top shelf. It is still safe to eat, but is offered to members as a 'freebie' to take home and cook so that it doesn't go to waste. Non-members can purchase these seconds at a reduced price. Seconds are great for soups or canning, but I just use them for general eating. Everyone is hoping that the butternut squash we saw this week were just the beginning and that fatter, sexier squash will arrive next week.

Many people were asking about pumpkins. It's that season, you know. There weren't any pumpkins when I was at the farm stand today and I wasn't able to get any information from Pete about them. Last year, I recall that there were some pumpkins around this time. Last year Pete had sugar pumpkins, which are really for making pies or eating and aren't the huge fat carving type.

~Cilantro~

There is a ton of cilantro in the herb garden. Please pick some herbs! The herbs are all labeled with nice white signs...except for the cilantro, which is labeled by this tiny wooden sign at the beginning of the row. I actually didn't know what cilantro looked like so I had to ask which it was! Maybe these photos will help you. You can clip your own herbs (ask for scissors at the Farm Stand) as part of your share or farm card.

~Ombucha and Cheese~

I'm not sure Ombucha and cheese actually belong together, but maybe you can think of them as related since they are both fermented. If you haven't tried the Ombucha, give it a whirl. There are usually tasting cups nearby and if you feel refreshed, you can buy a whole cup to drink on your way home or while you shop.

And don't forget about the Acorn Hill goat cheeses. They are truly special in your mouth and go lovely with almost anything. Acorn Hill also makes fudge made with goat's milk (exquisite!).

~People~

Susan made some incredible apple brownies and I was lucky to get to try one. Yum!

Claudette is featured in Edible Hudson Valley's Fall 2013 magazine. She's on p. 46 in the print edition, or scroll about a quarter of the way down on the linked page. You haven't met Claudette? I haven't either. It just goes to show you how many people are involved behind the scenes to produce the containers of food we enjoy each week.

Ian was working with the forklift to move around some large crates.

The dog was relaxing in the warmth.

Delaney was still in school so Ana was single-handedly replenishing all the different food items as well as checking everyone out, all while keeping her upbeat style.

~Land~

Up until now, I haven't written much about the land. I was noticing today how much of the land was being worked even though, to me, it seems very late in the season. Pete told me that they are now working to get cover crops planted for the winter.

~Tractors~

OK, you know I have this weird fascination with the tractors on the farm. At first, I just thought "oh, they have a tractor", but now that I've been coming to the farm for a few years, I realize they have multiple tractors...different sizes, ages, and uses. Here are two different tractors I saw today.

This first one is a John Deere 5325N. Fun fact for the day is that it uses approximately 3.6 gallons of diesel fuel per hour. If you want to change the oil, you'd better have 11 quarts of fresh oil handy. If you'd like to see what the driver's console looks like, here is a link to a diagram in the owner's manual. The attachment on the back is a "chisel plow" which is used to plow with limited soil disruption.