Memorial Day Weekend

It is the un-official summer kick-off weekend. School is out and neighborhood pools are opening. Time to clean off that grill and get together with friends and family. Lots of good food available at this time of year for a wonderful holiday meal.

Farm
John is wiring the Pavilion so that Doe Run can have electricity for any function on the farm. John and Judy are planning on having a workshop or starting farm tours from the Pavilion this fall. Judy will be driving the tractor to lift John up (in the platform on the tractor) so that he can reach his work areas. John was an Electrical Engineer before becoming Farmer John—he will do this job very well!

Today John and Judy picked up more work tables for the packing shed as they were running out of counter space for packing all our CSA boxes for delivery. The finishing touches have been put on the two new walk in coolers in the packing shed. They are great!

This week John and Judy will be cleaning out two of the high tunnels and planting crops in there that will tolerate summer's heat. John will be installing the new sand filter for the pump. That should allow the water they irrigate with to flow more freely and give them one less problem to contend with. It was an expensive fix (filter) but, should be worth it in the long run.

Doe Run has some gorgeous Savoy cabbage that will be showing up in CSA boxes soon, and Judy thinks it is the prettiest she’s ever seen! The summer squash and zucchini are looking wonderful. The chard, lettuce and broccoli are all doing very well too. All those yummy vegetables will be showing up in CSA boxes over the next few weeks, and before you know it, those luscious tomatoes will be here. I can't wait.

Unfortunately, it seems this may be a short season for strawberries. Doe Run has had some of the best strawberries this season, but with this heat, they’re not sure how much longer they will be around. After talking with other farmers in the area, the consensus is that they will be short lived. Judy says not to worry though, blackberries and blueberries are coming and we can look forward to eating them! When you eat what's in season, there's always something delicious just around the bend………

Recipe

Creamy Sweet Slaw
1 large cabbage, shredded
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Stir together sugar and next 5 ingredients; spoon over cabbage mixture, tossing to coat.