August Showers Bring...

Southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa have seen some extraordinary weather during the second half of August. Our unofficial (and flawed) tracking had us receiving over 15 inches of rain over a two week period from mid to late August. People in places like Rushford, Minnesota are looking at flooded homes. Many persons we know have wet basements. Many livestock farmers are fighting disease and feed problems brought about by excessive rain.

Tammy and I now cringe a bit when we see rainclouds or hear thunder. The ironic thing about this is the fact that we would have been VERY pleased to have any rain earlier in the season. In fact, we would have been ecstatic to get a full day of gentle rain like a couple we had during our rainy August.

This has been followed up by a very early killing frost (Sep 14). As a result, many crops were brought to an abrupt end. But, thanks to help from Rob's parents and Chris Haymaker, we were able to get some things covered in order to extend their season.

Putting all of this in perspective. We're fine, if maybe a little stressed at times. The mud made things a harder to do and the wetness reduced many of our crops significantly. In particular, you will find that green beans disappeared from distribution and potatoes will not appear at all. Fall crops could not be planted in a timely manner and it was difficult to prepare for markets, CSA deliveries, a frost and a Fall Festival at the same time. But, that's just the way it is when you rely on the weather!

Overall, this season has been successful enough to plan on a return for 2008. Despite the exceptionally challenging weather this season, we feel good about how well we've risen to those challenges. We feel that we have been able to provide our CSA members with a fair amount of food and we have done reasonably well at markets and in direct sales.

The hardest part is knowing how to inform everyone that there are problems without sounding alarmest or to tout success without being immodest. So, we'll just report - that should suffice.

Important Dates

• Sep 22 - Last Tripoli Market
• others TBA

Turkeys, Chickens, Beef and Pork

Turkeys:

The turkeys are ready for their trip to the 'park' on Tuesday, Oct 2. We will pick them up from the processor (frozen) on Oct 3 and they will be available for sale and delivery at that point. There are 31 birds, of which only 4 are spoken for.

So...do you want a turkey? Cost will be $3.00/lb this year. The turkeys have been fed organic grain based feed and only the finest in tomatoes, watermelons, melons, squash, peppers and other produce that the farm can provide for them. They are allowed to roam a one acre pasture during the day and are closed into a room in the barn to protect them at night.

Chickens:

Chickens are scheduled to be processed on Oct 8. There will be 80-90 birds available in this batch and we only have 2 reserved at this time. The rest will be available for reservation starting now. Cost is $9 a bird, add a dollar if you want them cut into frying pieces to cover the additional processing cost.

Like the turkeys, these birds are free-range, fed organic feed and given the chance to sample our produce.

Beef:

We have secured the rights to a side of beef. David Burns of Lawler has been certified organic in the past and raised grass fed beef. We need to know as soon as possible who is interested in this cooperative buy! The cow is due to be processed within the month. Please contact us.

Pork:

We have also secured a hog from Pat Menenga of Plainfield. A number of people have already expressed interest - but that does not mean you shouldn't. Pat will likely have more ready to go in a couple of months and there is still some room in the current buy! This hog is due to be processed within a month and a half. Contact us ASAP with interest.

CSA Endgame

The end of the season is upon us and plants are giving up this year faster than any other year we have grown produce. As a result, we are not likely to reach our 20 weeks of production this year unless our fall crops surprise us. But, since they were planted late - we aren't sure they can - or when they will if they do.

Until the next hard freeze, the following will be available as the volume permits:

• broccoli
• peppers
• brussels sprouts
• eggplant

We will continue to distribute winter squash over time so you will not be required to carry too many home at once.

It is possible that we may skip a week or two between deliveries once we reach October. Please stay tuned.

Wanted

• Persons to finish the job taking down a building.
• Picking/Display Crates
• Chicken/Turkey crates
• Fence Poles (metal, fiberglass or plastic)
• Fencing
• Recipes
• More Time (anyone having extra should send it on over)

Guest Writer: Barnyard Management

by Bob R Ooster

As the chicken flock manager here at Genuine Faux Farms, I thought it would be useful to provide an insight into a job that is underappreciated by many.

Management of the barnyard can be difficult and challenging, but there are some things the astute rooster can do in order to maintain order and control. First, personal conditioning is critical. For example, a rooster should be certain to work on his lung capacity on a regular basis. Poor lung capacity can result in inadequate volume and duration of the crow. It is also important to have strong legs for striking the necessary authoratative poses.

The good barnyard manager must also maintain the perception that he is a good provider for the flock. I have found that keeping an eye on the humans is a good way to be forewarned of the appearance of food resources. Once I have determined that food is most likely going to appear, I do my best to distract the flock with an emergency drill. Once the drill is over, it is a simple matter to saunter over to the food and announce its discovery. Please note, that the clever rooster will use varying approaches to keep the rest of the flock ignorant regarding additional food sources.

Another well known tactic to building a reputation as a no-nonsense barnyard manager is to periodically take on opponents bigger than you. I have found one of the human's legs to be a reasonable target, since it is obvious that they don't want to take me out. Just don't let the rest of the flock know this.

Finally, domicile identification each evening is important to maintain a safe and healthy flock. I have found that going back to the location we stayed the night before is an excellent approach. The good rooster must make certain that the entire flock is discouraged from aberrant domicile identification behavior. Proper use of crowing and posturing, combined with some pecking and flapping should do the trick.

page 2

Squash!

Each CSA members has probably received more winter squash this year than we have grown most seasons of our gardening careers! The really good news is that winter squash is easy to store and does NOT need immediate use to prevent it from spoiling.

Keeping Squash:

If you have a cool, dry location, store it there. You could store it in a garage as long as the temperature stays above freezing. Watch the squash for any soft spots or borer holes. If you find some, you may want to think about processing the squash sooner, rather than later.

If you cook a squash and there is more than you can use - it is VERY easy to freeze. Just scoop the extra into a freezer container and put it in the freezer. It heats up easily for a meal later in the season.

Types of squash:

Vegetable Spaghetti - yellow and oblong. Can store up into February given perfect conditions and the perfect fruit. However, into December is more normal. Watch for discolored, brownish spots that get slightly soft. At that point, you want to use the fruit before it goes bad (you'll have about a week or so). The stringy flesh is an excellent pasta substitute.

Waltham Butternut - creamy/brown colored. Straight neck with a bulbed end. Excellent storage qualities possibly keeping to April/May. Texture is between the moist and dry squashes, nutty flavor.

Buttercup: Dark green and rounded with a button end usually. Keeps into January/February. Dryer/flakier flesh is one of the sweetest tasting

Acorn: Smallish dark green or cream colored (two varieties) with a pointed end and ridged. These are one of the poorest storing winter squash and should be eaten by December usually. Watch these carefully this season, the extra water decreased their storage ability. Excellent for individual servings.

Marina di Chioggia - larger, dark green squash with button end. Warty and shaped a bit like a pumpkin. Excellent taste that rivals a buttercup. Good storing.

Sibley Hubbard - elongated football shape in a blue gray with some orangish tinge on soil side. The best storing squash. If there are no blemishes on the squash, it is said that these actually taste BETTER if you store them and wait until after New Year's to eat them.

Australian Butter - Size and shape similar to a buttercup but orange. They tend to be moister and firmer and need to be cooked longer. We have no experience storing these, so can't help!

Long Island Cheese - A pale orange/cream colored pie pumpkin. Flattened pumpking shape. Excellent for pies, but can be used as decoration for a month or so until you are ready to make into pies at Thanksgiving!

Musquee de Provence - Beautifully ugly pumpkin. Ripens to a brownish orange - often will have green on it still. French heirloom that is supposed to have a great taste. We have yet to try one and can't say how well they'll store at this point.

Amish Pie - heart shaped, orange fruits with some mottling. These did not get as big as they should have this year, but they are fantastic for pies. We usually don't look to store these beyond November and will freeze all of the excess for later pie making in the winter.

Recipe of the Month

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Tammy will add this later this week. We will send a note out when the page is updated.