10 Reasons My Children Are Awesome

If you tell your children that you love them and give them encouragement they will walk a little taller each day. Each of our teenagers have unique skills and abilities, but there are some common denominators that they all share.

1. They have a real faith.
2. They value relationships
3. They respect those who have a leadership role in their lives.
4. They are good students. 
5. They work hard.
6. They save for the future. They have learned to delay gratification.
7. They like to read.
8. They are learning to win with money.
9. They are givers.
10. They pick good friends. They involve their parents in their friendships.

They are my children and I love them.

Squash Blossom Farm Fair

We were invited to set up a display of pumpkins and squash at Squash Blossom Farm today. They celebrate fall in at their farm every year at the end of September. We appreciate the chance to be a part of their celebration.

It was a beautiful day for their celebration and an excellent chance for many folks to get out to the country.

Squash Blossom Farm has some unique features. They have an aquaponics set-up using fish to grow greens and herbs. They milk a cow. They have an art gallery.They bake bread in a stone oven.

Pretty cool.

Market Menu for September 28, 2013

We will have the following items at the market for Saturday, September 28, 2013 (New items are in Bold Print)

Pumpkins - Decorating, Cinderella, Fairytail
Cantalop - Jenna's Favorite.
Winter Squash - Acorn, Spaghetti, Orange Hubbard, Butternut, Orange Kuri, Delicata, Jester, Kubotcha,
Pie Pumpkins - New England Pie, Winter Luxury Pie
Yellow Watermelon, Orange Watermelon
Baby Zucchini & Patty Pan - Seasonal Specialty
Cherry Tomatoes - Good Supply
Heirloom Tomatoes - Really Good Supply
Canning Tomatoes
Watermelon - Amazing (I picked 50 melons this week!)
Eggplant
Fresh Cut Basil
Salsa Kits - Red, Green
Salsa - Fresh Canned, Squash Blossom Salsa!
Hot Peppers - Jalapeno, Poblano, Serrano, Ancho & Habernaro
Tomatoes - slicers, Romas, cherries
Tomatillos
Squash Blossoms
Beets
Baby Zucchini Squash
Yellow Patty Pan Squash
Red Onions
Slicing Cucumbers - Burpless (Nice)
Mini Cucumbers - Tender, Crisp, Sweet, Bitter-free and Seedless (Top of the Line)
Red & Green Okra
Garlic - New Crop
Leeks
Walla Walla Sweet Onions
Chipolini Onions
French Filet Beans - new row this week
New Baby Potatoes - Red & Yukon
Baby Spring Mix - Lettuce, Beet Greens, Kale (new lettuce bed this week)
Baby Red Russian Kale - Good Supply
Baby Kale - Regular
Spinach
Arugula
Baby Cilantro
Cress
Sweet Ruby - a fine frilly mustard green, new bed this week
Fresh Cut Herbs - Basil, Mint, Oregano, French Tarragon, Rosemary, Cilantro, Thyme, Dill
Dandelion Greens, Beet Greens
Shallots - New Crop
Worm Farms - Red Wigglers, Worm Bedding, Worm Castings
Potting Mix - Made a Fresh Batch This Week
Cipotle Smoked Peppers
Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Lisa's Soap

Borrowed Time

I can't remember the last season where we hadn't had at least some touch of frost by this time in the season. The late season frost sensitive crops are always a little bit of a roll of the dice and usually don't make it before they are killed or damaged by frost. For example we just started picking a beautiful row of french fillet beans and I have another one staged to start next week. I did not really expect to harvest these beans, they were more for soil building, but hey we will take the windfall.

We are still harvesting a basil in bountiful quantities. Basil and Okra are two of the most frost sensitive of the garden plants and they are yet untouched. Cherry tomatoes and peppers. Several more weeks of the best of summer.

The flip side of this discussion is we can hardly wait for the first frost kissed Brussels sprouts and those sweet sweet candy carrots. Leeks, broccoli, and kale are all improved by the fall cold.

This again reinforces my premise that the averages of weather are just a string of extremes that meet in the middle. At least this year has stacked up that way, snow every weekend in April with a massive break all the records snow the first week in May. See my post on Once in a Blue Snow.

10 Ways to Preserve the Harvest

Here are 10 of the best ways to preserve the harvest.

1) Canning, discover the lost art of water bath canning. Be a Salsa Freak.
2) Dehydrating, many things will keep forever if dried and frozen.
3) Freezing, works well for many things. Consider the on going energy costs.
4) Curing onions and garlic well allows extensive storage.
5) Blanching, enhances the freezing process.
6) Can or freeze jelly or jam.
8) Pick varieties that store a long time. Shallots will store for a year.
9) Pickle cucumbers, zucchini and beets.
10) Ferment cabbage, pickles and garlic.
11) Puree and freeze pumpkin and squash.

Dryhydrate Everything

We have a row about 300 feet long of very large Jalapenos, that are the source of a bushel of Jalapeno peppers in the dehydrator this evening. We had two bushels at the market this week. We sold one and I am drying the other. It takes about 30 trays in my dehydrator for that many peppers. It will take about 24 hours to dry the peppers to a pliable consistency and 36 hours completely dry. If you are going to smoke them, the pliable consistency is best. If you are going to store them long term completely dry them and put them in the freezer. If  you want to try your hand at drying, stop by our stand.

We have a lot of Jalapenos but the real gems are the Poblanos or Ancho's as they are sometimes called. We have two rows 300 feet long of beautiful dark green peppers. Poblanos are quite a bit larger than Jalapenos and don't fit as well into the dehydrator. But the medium and small ones can fit in the trays. They dry beautifully and smoke even better.

I had a few extra trays so I loaded up a few hundred serranos with the Jalapenos. They are hotter so a little goes along way. They have a unique flavor, which is different than the other two.

Tomorrow night I'm thinking that I will load up some Roma tomatoes. They have much more moisture in them so they take a little longer to dry. You can also smoke the Romas and the will dance in your tomato dishes.

You can dehydrate just about everything:

- Green beans, for winter soup
- Watermelon, like cotton candy
- Herbs, pretty much anything
- Sweet Corn, makes ooh soo sweet corn meal
- Egg Plant, really reconstitutes well for late winter lasagna

10 Ideas to Improve Your Quality of Life

Here are some ideas to improve your quality of life.

1. Pray regularly and read scripture.
2. Shop at the farmers market.
3. Attend church regularly and get involved.
4. Become debt free. Spend less than you earn for a long time.
5. Invest in relationships.
6. Save 15% of your pay check for retirement
7. Exercise regularly.
8. Loose 20 pounds.
9. Read more books and watch less TV
10. Sleep well and take naps (my favorite)

You can grow HOT peppers in Minnesota

Hot peppers like hot weather and a long season. Some gardeners assume that you can't grow hot peppers in Minnesota. This is definitely not true.

We like to grow Jalapeno, Poblano, and Anneheim peppers. They are recognizable in our markets and sell pretty well. I also like to dry and smoke these peppers for consumption over the winter.

We use them in our salsa and other cooking.

Peppers are a great way to spice up many bland Minnesota dishes and are very healthy.

We grow our peppers with liberal amounts of compost, organic fertilizer and no sprays or chemical fertilizers, ever!

10 Ways to Maximize Your Food Dollar

Produce at the Rochester Downtown Farmers Market is one of the best ways to maximize your food dollar.

1. Local farmers have a better selection of produce
2. Local vegetables are fresher
3. Fresher means vegetables will keep longer
4. Longer shelf life means less waste due to spoilage
5. Fresher means vegetables have better nutrition
6. Local produce is more sustainable (less miles from farm to table).
7. Get to know your farmer so you know how your produce is grown.
8. Local purchase dollars stay in the community
9. Local produce supports local farmers and families
10. Local vegetables are far less likely to be genetically modified.

10 Reasons to Shop At the Rochester Farmers Market

We shop at the Rochester Farmers Market and here is why.

1) If real estate is about location, location and location. Food is about fresh, fresh, fresh.
2) The farmers market has more diversity of produce and other foods. Just our stand has more diversity of seasonal produce than some supermarkets.
3) The knowledge base of the farmers about their product is orders of magnitude beyond any other source of produce or meats.
4) You can know your farmer. We want to be your farmer, get to know us.
5) You can get advice about cooking and preservation.
6) Some of the items offered for sale are weird. The vendors actually think about what you want, not just the latest fashion foodie trend. From basic to way out, you can find it all. Charcoal, black garlic, moon and stars watermelon, and chipotle smoked with apple wood.
7) You will never ever ever find some things anywhere else. Sun gold cherry tomatoes, ruby streaks mustard greens, baby patty pan squash and brandywine tomatoes have to be picked fresh, fresh, fresh. Putting them in a truck for a week would destroy them.
8) The market is a source of community, wisdom, and stability.
9) The farmers are our friends.
10) The market is a small business incubator. We talk about various business incubators in the region, from the Bio Business Center to Elk Run, the Farmers Market has them all beat hands down. The market has nearly 100 small businesses and all you need is a parking lot for 1/2 a day. Sounds like the spirit of American business to me.