I believe I have forgotten to mention one of the hardest workers on the farm. She’s been here as long as we’ve had the farm and has helped us through the muddiest, the heaviest, and the dirtiest of jobs. She pulls her weight one hundred times over each day we set to work, and she gas never missed a day of work. We call her Ol Bessie. She’s the finest 1995 Ford F150, inline 6 that ever came off the production line. She starts every time we turn the key, and with a little fresh gas and routine oil changes, she has shown unwavering loyalty.
Each morning when the crew shows up we all pile into Ol Bessie as she creaks “Good Morning”. She carries all of our knives, water bottles, harvest bins, bodies and rubber bands to wherever we steer her to go. She starts up just as strong and solid every time that we move the truck forward down the rows, down to the packing shed to drop off a load of veggies, back up to the field for more loads of veggies, back down to the cooler to drop off more veggies, back up to the other field to begin a new harvest.
Ol Bessie providing shade for our harvest.
Ol Bessie has been with us since the very beginning of our days on the farm. She’s nothing fancy to look at but she’s as loyal as a dog, waiting patiently for us each day we set to work. The sound of her engine running has become a form of communicating with other folks on the farm. When we hear the truck coming or going we know that someone is coming in from the fields or going out the fields. She communicates transition.
More than one farm worker has learned how to drive a stick shift with Ol Bessie. She has been patient and tolerant when we entrust her with inexperienced drivers. And when she is not being driven correctly or is incapable of what we’re asking of her, she just quits for a moment like a fainting goat. After a moment’s rest she’s back at it with as much strength and forgiveness as a team of mish horses and horsemen.
I am not a particularly superstitious person, but I do believe that Ol Bessie is an important element to our farm. She has seen us through years of learning and often bears the brunt of the decisions we make on the farm. One year she drove us out to the pigs every morning and evening carrying our chore buckets for us when we foolishly decided to raise our pigs on the farthest corner of the farm. She’s our ATV, she’s our harvest wagon, she’s part of the crew, and she’s our friend. Ol Bessie deserves as much recognition as the rest of us. Here’s to Ol Bessie!
Buttercup Squash- Buttercups are my favorite hard winter squash. They are on the difficult side to grow, but we had a great year with them this season. Their flesh is very thick and a bit on the dry side, so be sure to add lotts of butter to whatever you’re making with it;) These are a bit dirty as we did not have the time to get these cleaned up before we shipped them. Maybe give your squash a wash before you use it.
Yukon Gold Potatoes- These potatoes did not size up quite like we had hoped they would. With the drought this summer, our poatoes are one crop that did not get irrigated in time to save them. We’re expecting a less than bountiful potato harvest this fall, but there will still be plenty to go around. Yukon Golds are a soft, creamy flesh that is great for mashing or baked potatoes.
Mixed Tomato Bags- Another hefty 8.5lb bag of tomatoes this week! We tried to give you a mix of each variety in the bags with romas, yellows, heirloom mixes and the standard red slicers. Remember to leave your tomatoes outside the fridge on the counter to ripen. The unripe tomatoes will not ripen in refrigeration. We’re expecting a couple more weeks of tomatoes. We will likely be shipping bags of tomatoes until frost hits. Some of the varieties are just getting going now while others are on their way out.
Eggplant- Plenty of eggplant to feed a royal family. What to do with it all? I’ve even heard of folks seasoning and dehydrating slices of eggplant for either snacks or for re-hydrating later to cook with. It’s time to get creative folks. If you have an eggplant recipe you love, send it to me so I can share with everyone! We also like it on pizza!
Sweet Pepper Mix- A generous 6 sweet peppers per member. We had a nice mix of the red, orange, yellow and red ruffled (the smaller ones with the ruffly edges). No matter which variety you got, they’re all sweet and a real treat!
Yellow Beans/Dragon Tongue Bean Mix- A nice mix of the yellow and dragon tongue beans. We predominately picked Dragon tongues. 
Hard working, tomato-picking hands.
Green Curly Kale– Nice bunches for sauteing or making chips. We’re amazed at how the kale is growing this summer with no rain. Once the cooler weather sets in the kale becomes sweet from the frost. It’s so nice that kale will carry us the end of the season with fresh greens.
Curly Green Parsley- Wonderful for making Tabouli (see recipe below) or just adding to your fried new potatoes! You can also dehydrate parsley in your dehydrator or on trays in the oven and crumble it down and store it in a mason jar for the winter. Parsley drys very nicely!
Head Lettuce- Very tiny heads of lettuce. This is an example of what our crops would look like without any rain. We think these heads of lettuce grew off of the water they received at transplant alone. They were planted on the far corner of the farm where we do not have drip lines reaching too. At least you have a few leaves for your BLT sandwich.
Jalapeno Pepper– A hot and spicy pepper to spice up your life.
White Onion- Another onion for your everyday cooking.
