AUTUMN THANK YOU'S

Michael and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to EVERYONE who supported us throughout the 2011 growing season. 

We want to expressly thank all of our CSA customer's from Lake City, Red Wing, and Rochester.  To the restaurants who believe in us - Hope's Harvest, Rabbit's Bakery, and Zzest!  To our farm customer's!   To the families who allowed us to bless them with veg and to my niece, Lori, for delivering said food!  To ALL of the volunteers who gave of their time and energy this past summer - Paul, Theresa, Caryn and Garrit, Luke, Evan and Michelle, Anne, Jason, Erin, Scott, Nick, Mark and Erin, and Will!  To our granddaughter's Bella, Amaya, and Ellie who HAVE to work when they visit so they can play!  To my daughter, Tona, and son-in-law, Alberto, for supporting us and making sure the girls were able to visit during our crunch time!  To Michael's parent's, Bob and Bette, and his sister, Barb, for all the moral support!  Of course to our other family members and friends who were afraid to visit because they might have to work!  We appreciate the moral support from afar!  To everyone who has listened to us, visited the blog, visited the farm or touched our lives in some fashion - thank you!

We also would like to thank the wonderful groups of young, promising, hope filled individuals who visited the farm!  Some of them harvested and then dined on tomatoes and some of them assisted in putting the fields to rest for the winter.  We truly appreciate your efforts!

Finally, a huge thank you to Michael, my husband, who had to put up with a tired, intense, and grumpy wife for six months.  He often heard - "No honey, you can't harvest that.  We have to save it for our CSA customer's!"  "Honey, can you do this for me?"

The 2011 growing season was a challenge and another blessed year of learning and adventures! 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

MORNING DEW

 

MONARDA

Aka - bee balm, bergamot, horsemint, oswego tea.  This genus has roughly 16 species.  Native Americans used bee balm as a seasoning when cooking wild game, in particular birds.  They also used it to brew teas, to treat flatulence, to treat headaches, and when needed as a stimulant. 

Monarda also works wonders as a companion plant for tomatoes!  We have three colors adorning our herb bed--pink, purple, and red.

We call it bee balm around here and we are touting her attributes because she LOVES to attract those busy pollinators, the bees.  But you can call her what you like stunning, beautiful, interesting, versatile...........

PAYING FORWARD A QUOTE

"He who is aching in every limb, worn out by the effort of a day of work - that is, a day when he has been subject to matter - bears the reality of the universe in his flesh like a thorn. The difficulty for him is to look and to love. If he succeeds, he loves the Real." -Simone Weil

 

The above quote came across our facebook page from Polyface Farm's Blog, THE HEN HOUSE.  Polyface is home of the ever present and well spoken advocate for local food, Joel Salatin.  You may remember him from Food, Inc. and other assorted documentaries. 

 

As of late, the "aching in every limb, worn out by the effort of a day of work" is very true and AS we fight the tiredness we reflect on why we do what we do.  Simone Weil sums it up completely -"If he succeeds, he loves the Real."

 

When we succeed our tenacity and ability to work with the natural elements has allowed us to grow along with our veg!  We have been able to find the place between worry and joy that brings peace of mind.  Anyone who relies on the earth, the sky and the elements she creates, to make a living, finds a gentle space in their inner being to patiently wait for the ripening of the harvest!

 

 

 

We hope your inner being finds a gentle space too.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

NOBLE

FALL IS IN THE AIR!

ZINNIA

HIBISCUS

TOMATO TASTING!!!

Absolutely and positively going to be a fun afternoon at Carefree Living in Burnsville tomorrow.  We are going to delight the residents with our wonderful heirloom tomatoes.  We will be taking Brownberry, Hartman's Gooseberry, Green Grape, and Sweeties a full range of colors - brown, yellow, green, and red.  A medley of other varieites such as Sudduth's Brandywine, Plum Lemon, Red Zebra, Green Zebra, Gold Medal, Beefstake, and San Marzano. 

See you at 3:30 everyone!!!

TOUCH-ME-NOT

BROWNBERRY

Yes, these are brown cherry tomatos.  Snackingly delicious one-by-one or toss handfuls of them with salad greens, oil and vinegar and sheep's cheese!  However you devour them you won't be disappointed. 

WILD BERGAMOT

A DROP OF DEW

After walking the tomato rows this evening we were a little bit disheartened.  There are several rows of tomatoes that took a bigger hit from yesterday's storm than what we had originally thought.  They are tattered and torn and very slow to recover, even after the beautiful growing day we had.
  

A little sun of dewdrop to end the day with.

PETAL SHINE

YULI GARDENS

This year we added four small gardens.  Two strips near our home filled with herbs and two strips near our out buildings filled with flowers.  As is tradition (naming gardens after our grandchildren) we named these four gardens the "Yuli Herb and Yuli Flower" gardens.  All four beds are flourishing and this morning they were filled with a heavy dew.

From the Yuli Herb -- borage and cumin.

From the Yuli Flower -- poppy.

MORNING LIGHT AND DEW

SPIDERWORT

FLAX