Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 8

Top Row: Lemon Cucumbers, Cantaloupe, Swiss Chard, and Cabbage

Bottom Row: Beets, Squash, Tomatoes, and Beans

Hey y'all, welcome to week 8 of your CSA! We hope everyone had a great weekend. Hazel and I were in a wedding in Estes Park, Co this past weekend. Hazel was a flower girl, and she did so good throwing flowers down the aisle (proud mama moment). Van actually got to buy a last minute flight and get away with us as well. We had a great time together, but it is great to be home. Hazel has especially been loving the mud holes at the farm. We were really nervous leaving the farm for those 3 days, but with all the rain limiting us anyways, it seemed to be good timing. 

Now we are ready to continue getting the rest of the onions out of the field and onto drying racks. We have already put up about 1,600 lbs. of onions, and have about 4 times that amount to get out of the field. Unfortunately half of the onions have gone bad because of the excess rain. It is so wet in the fields. Really hoping for some drier weather this next week, or even for a few weeks!

The amount of loss that we are experiencing because of the weather has been terrible, but it's mother nature and that is the risk we take when doing what we love. We are so grateful and lucky to have people like yourselves who take that risk with us and are understanding of what it takes to have a farm in Mississippi. Thank you so much for being a part of our farm and encouraging us everyday! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Beets

2. Lemon Cucumbers- Heirloom variety that's tender and sweet. Great for salads and pickling. 

3. Miniature Cantaloupe

4. Swiss Chard

5. Cabbage

6. Squash

7. Tomatoes

8. Beans

Pictured below is Hazel and Van at the wedding in Colorado. She sure does love her daddy! Then Hazel loving being back at the farm helping give chickens water and playing in the mud holes.

Lemon Cucumber Salad and Italian Basil Pesto

30 Beet Dishes (try something new!)

20 Recipes where Cabbage is King (roasted cabbage and bacon is my fav)

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 7

Top Row: Bush Beans, Zucchini, Squash, Beets

Bottom Row: Potatoes, Sorrel, Cucumbers, Fennel, Collards

Hey everyone and welcome to week 7 of your CSA! It's hard to believe that we are half way through the season already. We really hope everyone has enjoyed their boxes thus far. It has been a very challenging season on our part, we are trying to compete with the rain, and get everything planted and everything out of the field before it becomes too saturated with water and rots. Some of you last week received broccoli instead of cauliflower in your box because it was indeed too wet and the cauliflower started to go bad. We lost about 4,000 heads of cauliflower in the fields due to the wet conditions. 

This past week we planted our pepper, eggplant, okra, tomato, and watermelon plants. We are almost a month behind schedule because of all the moisture. All we can do now is pray for sunshine to make everything grow fast and plentiful. I don't think our prayers will be heard this week tho. There seems to be high percentages of rain until Tuesday of next week! 

This week we will focus on getting all of our cabbage, turnips, and some of the onions out of the fields before the excess moisture gets to them as well. We have a wonderful friend who has helped build drying racks for us to use for the onions. We are hoping to be able to include onions in your boxes for a couple more months. 

Tomatoes are getting close to being ready and into your boxes! We are thinking by next week, of course depends on the weather, we can include some juicy, vine ripened tomatoes for y'all to enjoy! 

I just want to say thank you so much for being here with us and I hope you are able to get into your kitchens and cook some great meals with family and friends. Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Sorrel- The lemon of the vegetable world. Sorrel is a great herb that has a nice citrus finish. wonderful to throw into smoothies, chop up fine in salads, sauté with other greens, or chop and use to marinade different proteins like fish and chicken. 

2. Fennel- Fennel has a bulbous base and green feathery leaves. Both are edible and have a mild aniseed or licorice flavor. Try the pizza recipe below, and substitute the swiss chard for spinach! I also like to make pizzas on Naan Bread! Easy way to make your own pizza

3. Beans (1 lb)

4. Beets

5. Potatoes (2 lbs)

6. Squash

7. Zucchini

8. Collards

9. Cucumbers

Pizza with Caramelized Fennel, Spinach, and Goat Cheese

10 Sorrel Spring Recipes

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 6

Top Row: Hakurei Turnips, Dino Kale, Swiss Chard, Squash and Zucchini

Bottom Row: Cucumbers, Snap Beans, Cauliflower, and Napa Cabbage

Howdy folks! Welcome to week 6 of your CSA! We hope you are enjoying all of the greens, roots, and other crops that have been coming out of the field! We have been SO BUSY!! I'm sorry I wasn't able to get last week's blog updated. We are working overtime trying to get all of our roots out of the field before it gets too hot. We were out until after 9pm the other night getting much needed rows up for our summer plants to go in the ground. I was out in the field until after 10 picking all of the squash and zucchini that was ready, about 500 lbs, the night after that. It has been so hot that we have to pick our squash and zucchini every day so they don't get too large. It has been crunch time getting everything done before the rain came. It rained on the farm for 18 hours straight. I honestly can say that is the longest I have ever seen it rain there. 

We had the Garden Club of Jackson come and tour the farm the other day. I love when new people come to see us. Especially people who have the same passion for what we are doing.

The city of Flora has a new park a block away from the farm! It has a small playground and walking trails. The land was donated by a very good man, and many volunteers helped to construct it last week. I am so excited to see this erected and I already brought Hazel to play this past weekend. 

My sweet baby girl, Hazel is turning 2 tomorrow!! I am so blessed to be her mother. She has taught me so much about myself. It is often very hard at times to be a good mother and to be a good purveyor of vegetables to my community. This is something I struggle with and learn how to do more and more each day. 

Hope y'all had a great week and we look forward to new vegetables making their appearance in your homes! Thanks so much for the support and we truly hope y'all are enjoying everything. Here are your vegetables for this week:

1. Cauliflower

2. Hakurei turnips

3. Cucumbers

4. Bush Snap Beans

5. Dino Kale

6. Swiss Chard

7. Napa Cabbage

8. Squash 

9. Zucchini

Pictured below Hazel found the dogs dirt hole, the new park in Flora being constructed last week, spreading fertilizer on summer rows, plastic being laid into the night on those summer rows, and Isabella about help pick squash and zucchini behind her. 

Cucumber and Zucchini Salad

Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower

36 Green Bean Recipes  A lot of these recipes were paired with potatoes if you have any left over from last week! 

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 5

Top Row: Mustard Frills, Red Leaf Lettuce, Heirloom Carrots, and Curly Kale

Bottom Row: Cabbage, Potatoes, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Scarlet Turnips

MORE INFORMATION AND RECIPES TO COME!! 

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 4

Hey everyone! Hope y'all are doing well, and you were able to cook a lot of good meals this last week. I made a big pot of broccoli soup that turned out great, especially after everyone in our home got the flu! We are all on the mend now, thanks to some good vegetables! 
Our new cooler is working great and helping so much with extra storage of produce. Once the vegetables are packed into boxes then they go straight to that new cooler and the boxes remain dry and firm! Our previous cooler, which we still use, has 100% humidity and is great for vegetables, but not boxes. If you were with us last year, you may have received a "soft" box due to the humidity. Hoping we have eliminated that issue! 
I have gotten some feedback from some folks, and they are concerned on how to store vegetables in their fridge to keep them fresh longer. If you are able to put any greens like kale, collards, or Swiss chard in plastic bags, then this really helps to keep them fresher and to eliminate some wilting. Air exposure can dry out your vegetables, so try to create a humid environment for them. You can do the same for squash, radishes, etc., but the vegetables that have a thicker skin on them are not as necessary as greens such as kale and collards. Another thing I suggest doing is once you get your weekly box, you can go ahead to prep, chop, and store in bags for easy access later in the week. If anyone has any questions on storage, or if you need tips to eat everything in your box, please let me know! We are more than happy to help, and if you have any suggestions and tips that you would like to share, we would love to hear those as well. 
A couple things we do regularly are "compost", whatever you have left in your fridge to help clean it out, stir fries, fried rice, pasta, roasting or just put everything in a pot and make a soup.  
Hope y'all have a great week! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. radishes
2. kohlrabi
3. Dill
4. Collards
5. red leaf lettuce
6. spring onions
7. broccoli
8. carrots-  a first harvest of these beautiful carrots. Smaller in size, these could be considered baby carrots.
 

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/04/roasted-carrots-with-dill/

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 3

Top Row: Red Leaf Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beets, Swiss Chard, and Hakurei Turnips

Bottom Row: Bok Choy, Broccoli, Zucchini and Squash, and Dino Kale

Hey y'all, welcome to week 3 of your CSA! We hope that everyone enjoyed their Box last week. 

Flora received some really bad weather early Sunday morning. A tornado went through downtown, and actually blew off the roof of one restaurant. We were so lucky to have as little of damage as we did. Several of our squash plants were literally torn in half from the wind and trees are down, but that is minimal considering the damage done just 2 blocks away from our farm! Our summer crops have really taken a beating this year so far! I wish we could keep these cooler days, they feel amazing, but I'm ready for some calmer weather. 

Poor Van is trying to find the time to install this new window unit, cool bot to get our new cooler running. Between harvest and the numerous projects we have going on, there are not enough hours in the day to do everything.  *****UPDATE*** we were actually able to finish and install earlier today. Check out the pictures below! 

We have our delivery truck in the shop getting work done this week. Van got into a fender bender on Saturday after the farmer's market. Hope they are able to get it up and running again quickly, so we can bring this week's box of goodness to you! Here is what to expect in this week's box:

1. Beets- You will either get a bundle of Golden, Chioggia (striped beet), or Red beet. Delicious roots that you can roast, sauté, or eat raw! Thats right raw. We eat them raw constantly when working, very good. Beets have an earthy flavor and the greens are very similar to swiss chard in flavor. 

2. Hakurei Turnips 

3. Dino Kale- Also called Lacinato Kale, one of our most tender varieties. Ideal for raw kale salads and soups. 

4. Swiss Chard

5. Red Leaf Lettuce

6. Spring Onions

7. Broccoli

8. Bok Choy

9. Squash and Zucchini

First image is of the Railroad Pizza Co., a local restaurant here in Flora, that lost the roof to their building. Spring Onions, and then the outside of our new cooler, and the inside of cooler. 

Broccoli, Beet, Kale, and Onion Brown Rice Bowls with Pesto

Roasted Spring Onion and Beet Salad

Marinated Zucchini Salad

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 2

Top Row: Green Leaf Lettuce, Broccoli, Curly Kale

Bottom Row: Braising Mix, Napa Cabbage, Spring Onions, Red Radish, Collards, Scarlet Turnips

Hey y'all and welcome to week 2 of your CSA. We hope everyone enjoyed the first box of produce for the season. We received some great feedback from everyone cooking delicious meals and prepping vegetables last week.

We are hiring!! If you know of anyone that may be interested in working on our farm, please tell them to email us at twodogfarmsllc@gmail.com. Job description includes harvesting, cleaning, and packing vegetables. Experience isn't necessary, but a hard working attitude and eagerness to learn is definitely appreciated! 

We are in a state of transition right now. We just recently bought a shipping container, divided it in half, cut doors into the side, and then sprayed the inside with an insulating foam. We are planning to turn it into a cooler using a Cool-bot. This is a really unique gadget that tricks a window unit into thinking it is blowing 65 degree air, when really it is blowing mid 30-40 degree air! Salad Days has used one for a couple years now with great success, as have many other farmers that we follow. One side will strictly be 30-40 degrees for produce and the other side will be in the upper 60s to store tomatoes, watermelons, boxes, and other misc. things. Van said he may even put a desk in that side! Makes sense to me! It will be really nice to have this project finished and get back some organization. 

We have really enjoyed the cooler weather the past couple of days, and we hope you did too. We hope you were able to enjoy your week/weekend with family and friends and perhaps even toasted over a freshly cooked meal of local vegetables. We have a great box coming your way this week: 

1. Red Radishes- This variety is called Sora. It is a very crisp radish that would make a great addition to any salad or slaw. 

2. Scarlet Turnips- Beautiful in color with large stalks and greens. 

3. Curly Kale

4. Collards- A southern tradition, but click the link below to find 13 new ways to try collards. 

5. Green Leaf Lettuce- This variety is called Salad Bowl, a delicate, lime-green oak leaf variety. A very tender lettuce that makes for a delicious and delicate salad. 

6. Spring Onions- Sweeter than your regular onion, and greens carry an intense flavor. Can be used many ways raw or such as grilling and roasting whole.

7. Broccoli

8. Napa Cabbage- Light green leaves with white prominent veins. Can be used in stir fries, raw in slaws. Makes great cabbage rolls and great Kimchi, a traditional fermented Korean side dish.

9. Braising Mix

Below you will see the shipping container being spray foamed and transformed into our new cooler, tomatoes being pruned and staked, Hazel being adorable amongst some kale that was being harvested, our vegetable washing table, and lettuce and broccoli that you will see in this week's box:

13 Ways to Cook Collards

Grilled Spring Onions

Napa Cabbage Salad

Two Dog Farms 2017 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 1

Top Row: Braising Mix, Kohlrabi, Bok Choy, Swiss Chard

Bottom Row: Spinach, Green Curly Kale, Hakurei Turnips, Romain Lettuce, Dill

Hi everyone! Welcome to week 1 of your CSA! We are so excited to be starting a new season with new and returning members. Thank you so much for joining us on this journey and we look forward to a great season! 

Van and I took into account the past couple of years' weather patterns. We started to work the ground and get rows up about 2-3 weeks earlier than we normally do, and thank goodness we did! We were able to have rows up and plants in the ground about 2 weeks earlier as well. This was all before these rain storms moved in. There were weeks where we weren't able to do anything after it rained. We did have a really bad storm come through Flora a few weeks ago and we got about 8 inches of rain and hail damage. We had planted a few thousand collard, broccoli, and cantaloupe plants that we did lose due to flooding and hail. That is a big loss, but we often have to remind ourselves that it is all a part of farming, and mother nature is our boss and what she says goes. 

We took a gamble and planted tomatoes early as well. Early as in a few weeks before Easter. We look forward to an early harvest! We also were able to plant watermelons earlier than we normally do, and we can't wait to have sweet and juicy watermelons just in time for the 4th of July! Now we wait for more ground to dry so we can continue to plant our summer crop.

Since we were able to get a good amount of crops in a little earlier, we are so excited to have a great assortment of vegetables coming your way! Make sure to follow the links below for recipe ideas. Here is what to expect in this week's box:

1. Kohlrabi- A unique and favorite vegetable of ours. It is wonderful to eat raw, tastes like a mild broccoli, in salads or dipped in hummus. It makes for a wonderful potato substitute. You can mash it, bake it, fry it, sauté it, etc.. make sure to peel until you get to a crispy center, and don't discard the greens they are also edible. 

2. Bok Choy- A tasty Asian green. The entire plant is edible. The greens will be a bit spicier than the ribs. Wonderful in stir fries and also great roasted in the oven. 

3. Hakurei Turnips- A sweet and mild Asian specialty salad turnip. I tear the greens off and cook them down like normal turnip greens and then sauté the roots with a little coconut oil, sweet white miso paste, and onion. Delicious! ( see picture below )

4. Swiss Chard- A really colorful and earthy tasting green. It is great raw in salads or used as a lettuce wrap, but also cooked down like spinach and added to a variety of dishes or all by itself. 

5. Green Curly Kale- Great used in salads, soups, or sautéed as well. 

6. Dill- I LOVE this herb. It is delicious on roasted vegetables and is my absolute favorite to chop up and toss into a salad. 

7. Braising Mix- A mix of Mizuno, Kale, Red Mustard, Choi, and Arugula. This mix is flavorful and colorful. You can really use any of our greens to braise. Add any greens to this mix if you need to stretch it further for a meal. See easy recipe below. I personally use coconut oil or butter. 

8. Spinach- A beautiful red veined spinach. 

9. Romaine Lettuce- A tasty head of lettuce grown in the field. 

Below are a few pictures from around the farm. First picture is of our cover crop being turned and getting ready for new rows. Second is of Van and Isabella planting. Third you will see a recent full moon over the farm. Then pictures of Hazel loving the recent rain and napping at the farm in an old push cart. The last picture is of the oh so tasty Hakurei turnips being sautéed for supper. They are delicious and beautiful! 

Simple Braising Greens Recipe

Simple Sauteed Bok Choy

5 ways to prepare Kohlrabi

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 9

Howdy folks and welcome to your final CSA box of the 2016 season. We hope you all have enjoyed the past 8 weeks of fresh produce. It's been a wonderful fall season here at the farm, and we have enjoyed getting to know everyone. Yall are all so amazing and we are so grateful for your support of our farm.

We are preparing for the freeze that is coming this weekend and picking all of our swiss chard, broccoli, and cauliflower that is left in the field. We will also cover some crops like the beets and kale with a cloth. Hopefully this will prevent them from getting a freeze burn. We plan to have a lot of produce at the Farmer's Market this Saturday. Come see us downtown and perhaps do a little local Christmas shopping from the many venders that will be there! 

The weather has been so crazy this fall. We will hopefully be able to continue harvesting throughout December and into the new year and supply our produce to local grocery stores like Rainbow Co-op and local restaurants like Local 463, Walkers, The Manship, and more. So if you are missing us as much as we are missing yall, please support local! But if you are in our neck of the woods, please stop by to say Hi and grab some produce! We would love to see you!

So, THANK YOU!! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for joining us, and we hope to see you next year in the spring. Cheers to you all!

Your farmers,

Van, Dorothy, & Hazel

1. Broccoli

2. Yukina Savoy

3. Acorn Squash

4. Purple Daikon Radish

5. Purple Cabbage

6. Red Beefsteak Tomatoes

7. Carrots

8. Collards

9. Mustard Frills- A wonderful leafy green with a taste similar to arugula. Try using mixed in salads, on sandwiches, topping a pizza, or even a pesto.

Roasted Daikon Radish, Carrots, and Peppers

Yukina Savoy Quiche

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 8

Hi folks, welcome to week 8 of your CSA. Hope everyone had a great holiday spending time with family and friends. Was anyone able to make a pie out of the Kabocha squash last week?  We actually got really sick this holiday and stayed home just the 3 of us. We ate a good turkey sandwich and celebrated the holiday.

We actually lost one of our dogs, Trixie, this weekend It has been really hard for us, but I know she had a great life at the farm getting to run everyday and do what she loved.

We have been getting some rain at the farm, but it has been really hard keeping everything dry under our work shed with 25 mph winds. We are harvesting our BEST crop of carrots that we have ever grown. They are so beautiful! So sweet and delicous. I know they are sure to please. Y'all stay safe out there with this crazy weather, and hope everyone has a good week. Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Swiss Chard

2. Kohlrabi or Yukina Savoy

3. Red Tomatoes

4. Green Tomatoes

5. Butternut Squash

6. Cauliflower

7. Carrots

8. Hakurei Turnips

Roasted Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard

Simple Roasted Cauliflower

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 7

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! The cooler weather has moved in at just the perfect time to get into the kitchen to bake and roast so many yummy Thanksgiving dishes. 

We did get a freeze this past weekend and lost our tomato plants, summer squash plants.  We did however pick all of our tomatoes red and green, so needless to say your box will be full of red and green tomatoes! A few ideas for the green tomatoes this thanksgiving might be to fry them as an appetizer of course, or make a chutney to use and save for the holidays. I was thinking how good a green tomato chutney would be with a pastry wrapped brie! If you have never had pastry wrapped brie before, it is to die for and so so easy to make. Recipes for both will be included below. Or for the really adventurous try the green tomato cake. Okay, remove whatever image you have in your head—it's not what you think. Green Tomato Cake, which calls for 2 cups of diced green tomatoes, is more of a spice cake than anything. If you've ever had an apple spice cake baked in a bundt pan, you have an idea of what this cake is like. The dominant flavors of Green Tomato Cake are cinnamon and nutmeg, and there's nothing at all wrong with that. And as such, it's actually the perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table. Be forewarned, though; it's a Paula Dean recipe. It has two sticks of butter in it, and there's no need to add the Brown Butter Icing, but I'm sure its delicious. 

Also, listed below will be the BEST recipe for Kabocha squash pie. It is amazing and so easy to make. Kabocha is a wonderful winter squash with a flavor mixed between pumpkin and sweet potato, so you can see why this is so delicious. I'm sure that it would make a great casserole as well, but I have never tried it. If anyone does, please let me know how it is. 

Hazel and I were visited by some family this past weekend and have gotten sick, so we might end up having a quiet Thanksgiving to spare anyone else getting sick. I will be bringing out the crock pot as well for some simple and oven-freeing dishes like a broccoli and cauliflower casserole recipe I found online, which is also posted down below. 

We hope everyone has such a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving and enjoy their time with friends and family over some home cooked vegetables. We are so thankful for every single one of y'all!! Thank you so much for supporting us and trusting us to provide vegetables for you and your families. Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!! 

Contents of this week's box:

1. Broccoli

2. Cauliflower

3. Cabbage

4. Butternut Squash

5. Kabocha Squash

6. Daikon Radish

7. Collards

8. Green Tomatoes

9. Red Tomatoes

10. Dill

Green Tomato Cake

Green Tomato Sweet Chutney

Crescent Wrapped Brie

Broccoli and Cauliflower Crock Pot Casserole

KABOCHA SQUASH PIE

YIELD: 4-6 servings

PREP TIME: 50 minutes

COOK TIME: 35-40 minutes

2 cups squash cooked and mashed

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese

2 cups of sugar

1 tsp. of vanilla

4 eggs

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Halve and de-seed squash. Place cut side down on oiled cookie sheet. Roast at 425 degrees for 35-45 minutes until fork tender. Scrape out cooked squash and mash with fork.

Blend squash and cream cheese with hand mixer. Add remaining ingredients and pour into pie crust. Bake for 35-40 min at 350 degrees

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 6

Hi Folks, welcome to week 6 of your fall CSA. Hope everyone had a wonderful week. Our tomatoes are really starting to peak. So many are coming out of the field. We are picking as many as we can to prepare for the possibility of a frost this weekend. If we do get a frost it will be the end to tomatoes, squash, and basil, but I just love this time of the year and the weather so much right now. Minus the lack of rain part of course, but the nights feel wonderful! It really feels like the last transition into winter. 

We planted a large cover crop/deer deterrent under the huge super moon. It was so beautiful and felt so close to us. Hopefully the deer will find this mix of greens planted tasteful and will prefer it over our crop of vegetables. 

Looking forward to this week with the Food Summit at the Ag. Museum. It is such a wonderful way to gain knowledge about the food around you. There are so many speakers from all over the country and such inspiring people there to talk to. We hope to see some of you there. 

We would like to remind everyone that we will only have one pick-up day next week, which is the week of Thanksgiving. It will be on Tuesday, November 22. Two pick up locations include at M7 Coffee house in Ridgeland or at the farm in Flora from 4-6pm at both locations. We will send out an email to further explain the details and ask you where you will be picking up. Please keep on the lookout for this email. We would also like to let y'all know ahead of time what will be in your box for next week's holidays, so you are able to plan around the veggies you will be getting. You can expect to see Kabocha squash, which makes the best squash (pumpkin) pie! You can also expect to see butternut squash, plenty of greens to cook down and roots to roast, broccoli for casseroles, cabbage, and more tomatoes, plus some other yummies. 

Be sure to look at the pictures below, our CSA member Barbara sent pictures of her cauliflower pizza she made!! Looks delicious. Also, there is a recipe below for an easy cheat to cauliflower pizza. Hope y'all have a wonderful week. Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Broccoli

2. Curly Kale

3. Cauliflower

4. Beets

5. Zucchini or Squash

6. Spaghetti Squash

7. Tomatoes

8. Watermelon Radish

Cauliflower Pizza Cheat

Buffalo Cauliflower Steaks

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 5

top left to right: tomatoes, acorn squash, lemon cucumbers

middle left to right: Hakurei turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini/squash

bottom: curly mustard, bok choy

Hi everyone, Van did his rain dance and it worked! We are finally getting some much needed rain at the farm. Actually, we are getting the perfect rain "slow and steady". It has rained for 24 hours straight! Praying it continues and we can clean the mud off Van's dancing shoes. 

With the days getting shorter, we are finding ourselves staying in the fields even after the sun goes down. Headlamps are a much needed commodity. Van stayed late last night to pick broccoli in the dark, in the rain. He found some beautiful, large heads! 

We were able to make it to an annual pumpkin drop in Flora this past Saturday after the farmer's market. Van was invited to drop a pumpkin out of a plane and he actually hit the target!

While he was flying above, he noticed the food plots in the surrounding area around the farm are all empty. This KIND OF explains why the deer are as persistent as they have been. I never thought they could have been any worse than they were last fall, but I was wrong. 

Hopefully the rain keeps them at bay.

We hope everyone has a great week, and be safe out there this Election Day! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Cauliflower- a member of the brassica family, this favorite is delicious raw, roasted, sautéed in a stir fry, or made into a healthy pizza crust! We like to throw a little hot sauce on the head and roast in the oven. 

2. Tomatoes- many of these that are in your box this week will need to ripen a day or two.

3. Cucumbers- there will be either lemon or slicing cucumber in your box.

4. Broccoli

5. Hakurei turnips

6. Curly Mustard Greens- loaded with disease fighting nutrition, mustard greens add a rich peppery flavor to any dish.

7. Acorn Squash- a hard-skinned, winter variety squash. They may be peeled, but are most often cooked with their skin-on. When cooked the skin is edible making the squash ideal halved, baked and used as a bowl stuffed with meats, cheese, grains, soups, or other vegetables.

8. Bok Choy

9. Squash and/or Zucchini

Van celebrating the rain:

Simple Sauteed Mustards

Classic baked Acorn Squash

Baked Acorn Squash with Greek Yogurt, Honey, and Pecans

Citrus and Ginger roasted Broccoli

SO MANY TURNIPS YOU DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO? Stir Fried Greens with Turnips

Cauliflower Crust

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 4

Top left: Watermelon radish, Hakurei turnip, Yukina Savoy, below the Yukina from left to right: green cabbage, Spaghetti squash, broccoli, and collard greens. Below tomatoes and then lemon basil.

We hope everyone had a great week! Van and I had a very busy week moving from our house in Madison that we recently sold and moved to a 5th wheel travel trailer in Flora. We decided to do this to save money and live a more simple life close to the farm. This week's harvest is full of fabulous fall produce with a few hints of the remaining summer season, such as lemon basil and tomatoes. 

We wanted to inform everyone of an event coming up in a few weeks. The Mississippi sustainable agricultural network has put together an event called The 2016 Mississippi Food Summit & Agricultural Revival. It's a great event to learn about local farming and gardening. Here is a link to their website. http://www.mssagnet.net/programs/ms-food-summit/

What: 2016 Mississippi Food Summit & Agricultural Revival 

When: Thurs-Sat, November 17-19

Where: Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum (1150 Lakeland AveJackson, MS) 

Hope everyone has a great week and look forward to digging into their box this week! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Cabbage- A head of green cabbage.  One of my favorite ways to eat this is Sliced about an inch thick and roasted in the oven. Try putting slice of bacon on it to roast as well.

2. Hakurei turnips

3. Collards

4. Lemon Basil- Fragrant basil that makes for wonderful sauces, marinades, or drinks.

5. Spaghetti squash- This wonderful winter squash is delicious as a side dish or try substituting for noodles in a dish. Once cooked, you can spoon out the squash which looks similar to spaghetti noodles.

6. Tomatoes

7. Yukina savoy- This leavy green produces thick and savoyed leaves in dark green color. The plant grows very well in various climates. Young tender leaves and stalks are excellent for salad mix and stir-fry dishes. Also referred to as Asian spoon spinach because it cooks and looks similar to spinach.

8. Watermelon radish- An heirloom variety of daikon radish originate in China that doesn't actually taste like watermelon, but once cut into it resembles a watermelon with its green exterior and pink interior colors.

9. Broccoli 

Yukina Savoy Skillet Roast with Broccoli and Chicken

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

TRY ADDING YUKINA SAVOY TO THIS EASY RECIPE Lemon Basil Orzo

Lemon Basil Grilled Pork Chops

Lemon Basil Margarita

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 3

Hi folks, welcome to week 3 of your CSA. Fall is approaching fast with these cooler nights. It feels so good at the farm in the mornings and evenings. Looking forward to grilling out more on these cool evenings. One of our favorite ways to eat Bok Choy is to throw the head on grill. It's great when you can allow the choy to sit in the marinade for about an hour before. I enjoy the recipe listed below. It calls for baby bok choy, but I just halve or quarter a regular head instead. Also would pair great with salmon or pork tenderloin thrown on the grill. 

We are still working hard pulling weeds and scaring off deer. It really is the most challenging part of our season so far! The deer have walked down rows and taken a single bite out of butternut squash, acorn, and are now eating beet greens and cilantro. Cilantro?! They really are just treating the farm like an all you can eat buffet. It's awful! Van shined a light out in the field and saw 16 deer at once in our winter squash patch.

We are hoping for more rain, the amount we got was just a tease, but made things a little less dusty for a brief moment. 

Hope everyone enjoys the box this week, it sure is a really great one! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Beets- One of our favorite root crops. I personally like beets roasted and I like to sauté the greens! They actually cook down wonderfully with the swiss chard. 

2. Tomatoes

3. Swiss Chard

4. Turnip Greens- a southern favorite. I have also been throwing them in my smoothies and also using the greens as lettuce on my sandwiches. 

5. Zucchini

6. Bok Choy

7. Kohlrabi

8. Lemon Cucumbers- An heirloom variety of cucumber. Sweet and mild. The lemon cucumber does not have a lemony taste, just the shape and color. Get to these as soon as you can because we notice them spoiling quicker than the other types of cucumbers. 

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Grilled Sesame Ginger Bok Choy

OR TRY THIS

Roasted Spicy Bok Choy

Miso Honey Glazed Turnips (Rainbow has a large selection of different misos)

Roasted Beet Salad with Flash-Pickled Radishes and Swiss Chard

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 2

Contents of this week's box include: lettuce, dill. Next row tomatoes, zucchini, squash, kale, napa cabbage, daikon radishes, and hakurei turnips.

Hi folks, welcome to week 2 of your fall CSA! We hope everyone was able to get into the kitchen a little more last week and eat some fresh veggies. 

The last couple days' weather has been really enjoyable out on the farm! Hazel has been having the best time helping out! She is definitely a farmer's daughter. The deer are still present on the farm. We have yet to go buy a blow up halloween yard decoration. We have to do that this week. Or anyone else have any other ideas? Shoot us an email! We have tried every thing from a fence, moving farm equipment around, blasting talk radio in the fields at night, and hanging ivory soap. We were even getting hair from the local barber and stuffing it into panty hose to hang on the fence. It worked for a couple days, but they catch on quickly! Hopefully we will be able to outsmart them.

Y'all have a great week, and get into your kitchens and cook some food with the ones you love. Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Hakurei Turnips- Like all turnips, the Hakurei, or Tokyo, turnip is a member of the Brassica family. This Japanese variety is sometimes referred to as a salad turnip, due to its crisp, delicious raw flavor. Unlike other turnip varieties, hakurei do not need to be cooked. They have an even-textured density and the flavor pairs well with a  variety of different food items. Eat them raw (just whole, or chopped/grated in salads), make a quick pickle, or cook with their greens to enhance their natural sweetness. We also love to throw them on the grill whole or roasted whole in the oven.

2. Radishes- the variety this week is my absolute favorite!! It’s the Daikon variety. This massive radish has a cylindrical body with white skin. A tangy and milder radish. Throw it into a stir fry, it is SO delicious when cooked with a little soy or tamari. Don't forget to remove greens before storing, and place aside because you can also add to a stir fries or soups. To not confuse anyone with the turnips, we will be putting a colored rubber band on the Daikon radishes, and a neutral colored rubber band on the turnips.

3. Lettuce- a head of lettuce grown in the dirt.

4. Kale

5. Napa Cabbage- Also referred to as Chinese Cabbage. This delicious cabbage is packed full of vitamin C. Great to make into a slaw or use as lettuce in salads. Also these cabbage leaves make for a perfect cabbage roll

6. Summer Squash

7. Zucchini

8. Tomatoes- that's right, big, juicy, home grown tomatoes! Ripened on the vine!

9. Dill- I love dill and put it on anything and everything. Great in dips and I especially love it chopped up finely and thrown into my salads. Give it a shot. 

6 THINGS TO DO WITH NAPA CABBAGE

DAIKON RADISH CHIPS

RADISH AND DILL DIP

Two Dog Farms 2016 Fall Harvest Week 1

Contents of this week's box: Top row: cucumber, zucchini, squash, kohlrabi, lettuce. Bottom row: dino kale, easter egg radishes, swiss chard, bok choy

Hi Folks and welcome to week 1 of your fall CSA. We are so thankful and excited to have everyone join us this season! It is so great to have our returning members back for another season, and we have many new members this season as well! 

A lot has been going on at the farm and now we are desperately trying to fend off deer. It's amazing that our 3 dogs have no interest in chasing deer off! Really?? Is that even normal? Van has had a genius idea to buy the blow up halloween decorations that go in your yard, and put it out in the middle of our vegetable rows! Hilarious and festive! I will post a picture as soon as it happens. 

We are also busy planting the last of our crops for the season, and fending off lots of weeds. "Pig weed" is so bad this season and we are trying to remove the 'blankets' of it from our direct seeded crops such as carrots, beets, mustard greens, turnips, etc. If you don't know what a Pig weed is, it is one nasty weed, big, vigorous, and has thorns all over. Not a weed that you want with your seedlings.

It is very dry at the farm and so thankful for irrigation, but there is nothing like God's rain that makes a plant grow big and happy. Let's all say a prayer and do a dance.

We have some yummy greens and vegetables to share with you this week, and look forward to seeing everyone! Have a great week and cheers to a great season!

Below is a list of the bounty in your vegetable box this week followed by pictures and recipe suggestions:

1. Bok Choy- a very tasty asian green. The entire plant is edible, and leaves will be milder than white stalk. Great for stir fries.

2. Swiss Chard- Such an earthy tasting green! Great sautéed, and thrown into everything from quiche to pasta, or just eaten by itself. YUM. 

3. Lettuce- A head of lettuce grown in the dirt (we will only have lettuce this week and next week since most members purchased the additional hydroponic lettuce). 

4. Kohlrabi- This is one of our favorite vegetables, and has been gaining popularity. It is incredibly versatile! You can eat raw, with just a little s&p, or made into a coleslaw. It can be sautéed, roasted, baked, thrown into soups.. the possibilities are endless. It is a wonderful potato substitute for fries, chips, or Au gratin. Make sure to peel until you get to its crispy apple like texture, and don't discard those greens, they are also edible. 

5. Kale- The variety this week is Tuscano, also called Dino Kale. We actually like to substitute for lettuce or mix it with lettuce in our salads. Kale yeah!

6. Radishes- This bundle will be a Easter Egg variety. Did you know that the leaves have more protein, vitamin c, and calcium than the roots. Spicy, peppery throw into smoothies, soups, or make into a pesto. If leaves are removed before refrigerating, the radish will store longer and stay crisp. 

7. Summer Squash- Toss on the grill, eat raw in salads, stuff them with other veggies and cheese, or simply dip in hummus or your favorite dip.

8. Zucchini- same as above.

9. Cucumber- A big and delicious slicing cucumber. 

10. Salad Days Hydroponic Lettuce (if already purchased)

KALE & BOK CHOY SLAW WITH SPICY SESAME-GINGER DRESSING

KOHLRABI AND ZUCCHINI FRITTERS WITH SRIRACHA MAYO

BOK CHOY STIR FRY WITH SAVORY MUSHROOMS AND CHILI SAUCE

Two Dog Farms 2016 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 16

Top left to right: Cucumber, krimzon lee, peaches

Middle left to right: Eggplant, honey, Bell Peppers, Okra

Bottom left to right: Shishito and corno di toro 

Hi Folks, welcome to the final week of your Spring/Summer CSA. We hope everyone has enjoyed the last 16 weeks of produce. We have enjoyed getting to know everyone, and we are so grateful for you all! We really hope to have y'all join us again in the fall! 

We have the website updated to accept fall CSA members! So please go ahead and secure your spot to join us. We have also added Salad Days lettuce as an add on to your CSA box this fall.  If you would like to receive hydroponic lettuce  with your weekly box, please add "Lettuce Share" to your cart when checking out.

We have gotten 5+ inches of rain in the last week! It was been great for the plants, but we are looking forward to a break so the ground can dry out enough for us to get our fall tomatoes planted. We are working hard getting plants seeded and everything prepped. I love the fall season, it is my favorite time of the year to grow, harvest, and eat local produce. 

Between the heat and our cooler freezing we are having to supplement more items this week including honey from MS Bees Honey in Flora. They have about 40-50 bee hives on our farm. The peaches are from Cherry Creek Orchard in Pontotoc, Ms, they are also our neighbors at the High Street Farmers Market. 

Thanks again for helping us have a great season and we look forward to seeing everyone in the fall! Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Bell Peppers

2. Okra

3. Eggplant

4. Slicing Cucumbers

5. Shishito Peppers

6. Krimzon Lee Peppers- A large paprika frying pepper. Sweet and spicy thick flesh is choice for roasting, frying, grilling, salsa, and adventurous salads. 

7. Corno Di Toro- translates to 'Horn of the Bull'. So juicy and so sweet, this Italian heirloom variety is sure to be a favorite! (bagged with the shishitos to not cause any confusion with the Krimzon Lees. 

8. Honey- A bottle of honey from our friends at Mississippi Bees. 

9. Peaches- from our friends at Cherry Creek Orchard.

These are great looking recipes all suggested to me by a few CSA members, Enjoy!! 

Roasted Spanish Tapas Peppers

Easy, Stacked Eggplant Parm

This recipe looks really great. Substituted Okra. Here are a few adjustments: regular flour instead of chickpea flour, and she cut the little okras in half and then quartered the larger okras:

Cornmeal Masala Roasted Okra

Two Dog Farms 2016 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 15

top left to right: hot pepper mix, eggplant, bell peppers

middle left to right: cubanelle peppers, cantaloupe, anaheim peppers

bottom: okra, eggs, onions

Hi Folks, and welcome to week 15 of your CSA. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. We have been busy ordering seeds and starting what seeds we already have to get ready for the fall. There is a short window to get everything seeded, I have had some extra help from Hazel, and the ground worked and prepped to make sure we will have produce available before the first frost. But of course some plants depend on the frost to deliver a sweet, delicious crop like winter squash for example. Also, root crops turn sweeter once a frost is upon them as well. I can't wait for the fall bounty. We are looking forward to a really great fall CSA and hope to have you join us! We will be accepting applications starting next week, so don't delay and reserve your spot. We will have a link on our website to do so. 

Well, it is always something. Our cooler at the farm malfunctioned and froze all of our produce that we had in it. We had to throw away HUNDREDS of melons, eggplant, squash, zucchini, peppers. It will literally make you sick and want to take the week off. BUT that is what farming is, and you just do the best you can do. That's what we have to remind ourselves anyways.... So this week we are supplementing some fresh brown eggs from our friend Mike at the Brown Egg Co. You will be receiving a half dozen share in your box along with quite a few peppers. We have added a hot pepper mix, that makes for a great hot pepper sauce, which would be perfect to put on all those yummy greens coming out of the field in the fall!  Van's dad sent us a bottle he made, and it turned out so good! Or try a hot pepper jelly. I hope everyone has a great week and are able to get into the kitchen and clank some glasses. Here is the bounty of this week's box:

1. Onions

2. Cantaloupe

3. Cubanelle Pepper- Great mild/sweet family friendly pepper

4. Okra

5. Hot Pepper Mix- A mix of Jalapeños and Serranos

6. Bell Peppers

7. Anaheims- Great mild/sweet family friendly pepper. Great for rellenos or stuffing

8. Eggplant

9. Brown Eggs

Pepper Vinegar Sauce

Pepper Jelly

Anaheim, Sweet, Hot, Bell Pepper Egg Scramble

Two Dog Farms 2016 Spring/Summer Harvest Week 14

Howdy folks and welcome to week 14 of your CSA. We are moving right along through the season and now we are looking forward and getting ready for our fall CSA. The fall CSA's bounty will include a lot of the same cooler weather vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, greens, kale, brussels sprouts, radishes, carrots, beets etc. And we are also planting another round of summer squash and zucchini and tomatoes that will hopeful make it to your box for the first couple of weeks. 

Sorry about the blog being tardy, but our internet has not been working. We are starting to work the ground and seed some more plants. Right now we are seeding an assortment of winter squash and pumpkins. I am getting excited because I know that cooler weather is right around the corner! The 'real feel' at the farm today was 110 degrees!  IT IS HOT! 

I was hearing a lot of really good feedback about the Shishito peppers, and they are back in the box this week. And new to the box are beets and cantaloupe. 

We are looking forward to sharing more info with y'all soon about the fall CSA, and hope to have y'all join us for another season. Here are the contents of this week's box:

1. Sweet Peppers

2. Cantaloupe

3. Watermelon

4. Beefsteaks

5. Okra

6. Eggplant

7. Shishito Peppers

8. Lemon or Slicing Cucumbers

9. Beets

Mexican Casserole with Eggplant

Italian Eggplant Casserole