LDF News: Fall crops seeded, summer crops rolling in!

The moon waxing gibbous. I love looking to the night sky and finding my time. August nights really are some of my favorites. When we are lucky, the heat of the day is swept off the top and we are left in the cool with a chorus of night insect songs.

Direct seeding the fall crops is quite an endeavor. The size of the planting alone calls for attention. Add to that the timing, and well, whenever it goes in, I feel relieved and proud. In this field, just under the soil, there are seeds for daikon, greens like arugula and bok choy, sweet turnips, and purple top turnips! I am so looking forward to all their deliciousness.

A touch weedy, but going strong nonetheless. In this field you see our fall cabbage growing alongside our fall kohlrabi. I have a good feeling about these!

An up close and personal shot of some thriving Napa cabbage.

Ahoy!
​The heat was crushing last week. It was so enveloping, I forgot the weather could be any other way. So imagine my delight when I stepped outside Tuesday morning to a refreshing cool. Wednesday was even better. And I daresay, Thursday was the day of my dreams. I appreciate the blue skies and dreamy clouds overhead, the sound breeze sweeping through the trees, and the instant change in temperature when I step from the sun to the shade. All the while, the crickets and toads chirp and croak. 
 
In this email:

• Generally important notes
  • Farm Members, if you haven't checked out our new membership agreement please see a copy here. If this works for you, please send me an email saying so. If it doesn't, please let me know and we will sort it out. Thank you!
  • Here is link to our Social Justice page on our website. It is a list of resources to keep active in effecting positive social change.  
• Fresh from the Field
• Recipe: Caramelized Onions from Love & Lemons
• Market Details
• Tales from the Farm!

Fresh From the Field- 
Greens:
Kale
Pea shoots

All Manner of Deliciousness
Cabbage
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Kohlrabi 
Fresh Onions
New Potatoes
Scallions
Summer Squash!
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes!
Zucchini

Herbs
Basil
Dill Flowers
Mint
Parsley (Curly and Flat Leaf!)
Thyme

Coming soon:
Brussel Tops
Peppers- in drips and drops for now.

Recipe: Caramelized Onions
From: Love and Lemons

Learn how to caramelize onions perfectly every time! Rich, sweet, and deeply golden brown, they're delicious in soups, dips, pastas, and more.A note from Helen! I like to add them as a topping for tacos and sandwiches!
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet (edit by Helen- it is okay to whatever pan on hand) over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until starting to soften.
• Add the salt, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 50 to 80 minutes, stirring every few minutes, or until the onions are very soft, golden brown, and caramelized. The timing will depend on the size of your onions and the heat of your stove.
• If at any point the onions start to stick to the bottom of the pan, reduce the heat to low. If the onions aren’t deeply brown after 50 minutes and you’d like to speed things up, you can turn the heat higher to get more caramelization. Stir continuously to prevent burning.

A note from Helen! You can also deglaze the pan with white wine (or broth/red wine/balsamic/water) to add extra flavor.

Market Details: We are at market this week
 
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Saturday with Helen and Tyler and radish aficionado Wiley! 7 am to 3 pm (or till sold out)

Eastern Market, shed 2, Saturday with Peter! 6 am to 2:30 pm (Sorry for the mix up last week. We will be there on schedule this week!)
Royal Oak, Saturday with Jim and Lisa! 7 am to 1 pm

Tales from the Farm:
The rush to get the ground rototilled last week culminated in success! Jim, Tyler, and Sarah got a lot of plants in the ground. They direct seeded and irrigated many of the fall crops. You can see those above. That is a little over a third of an acre. The team also made a push to transplant the leeks and scallions plus and more kohlrabi. This adds to the transplants that they have gotten in the field over the last few weeks. Broccoli, Romanesco (or fractal cauliflower, as we like to call it), cabbage, napa cabbage, kohlrabi big and small, plus some direct seeded carrots and rutabaga. If we are able to protect the plants in the ground now, I can tell you, fall is going to be very tasty. 

I know our emails have been short for the last few weeks. We are banking on pictures to do our talking while we keep things moving forward in the field. See you at markets!

Helen for Jim, Tyler, Sarah!, Wiley, Boomer (bark layer), and Exie (morale officer)