Shopping Cart

Things that matter take work

Posted by on
Things that matter take work
Reminders & Announcements
  • This week, we will deliver to all Late Summer Vegetable, Fruit and Egg Share members.
Upcoming Dates
  • Winter Shares Savings - Before September 15th, and use the code winter to save $8 on your Winter Produce Share. Register soon so that we can be sure to preserve enough produce for everyone who'd like to participate. Thank you!
  • 2nd Annual Lake County Farm Stroll - 11am – 4pm, Sunday, September 16th at the Prairie Crossing Farm. The Lake County Farm Stroll is a self-guided tour of Lake County’s diversified family farms. There is no beginning or end to the tour, just simply choose the farms you wish to visit during the designated hours of the event. 
  • Pizza Night on the Farm - Save the date for our final two Pizza Nights of the season, September 30th and October 28th.
This Week's Vegetable Harvest:
  • Leeks
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Kale
  • Parsley
  • Arugula
  • Red/Yellow Bell Peppers
  • Crimini Mushrooms - from River Valley Ranch in Burlington, WI
  • Sweet Onions
  • Tomatoes
This Week's Fruit Harvest:
  • Bartlett Pears
  • 'Fredonia Grapes
  • 'Empress' Italian Plums
Farm Photo Journal
Happy belated Labor Day! We hope you enjoyed time filled with delicious food and loved ones nearby.

We celebrated Labor Day with (wet!) teamwork in the field. Yesterday, our farm crew demonstrated a shared determination, a good sense of humor and a focus towards our common goal: to harvest the best food possible for our community.
That said, we are bracing to receive more rain on top of the 4+ inches we've received throughout the past week. When extreme weather (right now, that's too much rain) or pests put our strength to the test, we focus on what we cando instead of what we cannot.
Jeff actively manages our vegetable and cover crop fields to stay ahead of the curve balls the weather can throw at us. We also keep a close eye on neighboring fields, hedgerows and natural areas. This consistent observation builds a long-range perspective on the land within the Prairie Crossing Farm and a better knowledge of how the land responds to various scenarios.
For instance, the buckwheat cover crop provides a welcomed replenishment of nutrients consumed by the garlic plants grown here for the previous fall and spring months. Yesterday this cover helped us control flooding and maintain good drainage, as the buckwheat held the soil in place through the winds and rain.
We continue to preserve the harvest for Winter Shares with peppers, beans and other goodies being chopped, sliced and frozen. In our farm kitchen, we fill the pantry with canned dill pickles, dried fruit and jams to enjoy the late summer harvest at a later date.
We warmly welcomed two new members to our team, Emily and Kim, who fit right in. They are already helping us pull in the rainy day harvests, work towards hoophouse rebuilding and add their farming enthusiasm to the team.

Enjoy today's sunshine and the harvest we have planned for you this week!

Best,
Jeff, Jen and the farm crew
Notes from the Farm Kitchen
With the addition of celery, this week's vegetable shares include the ingredients for a French mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery) a building block for cooking soups, stews and more. Midwestern celery is oftentimes quite a bit different than celery that you'd find in a grocery store from California. Our celery is extremely flavorful, firm and thusly, ideal for cooking. I love the fresh flavor of celery, so I never let any bit of it go to waste! Here are creative ideas for using all of your celery.
This week's Empress Plums are an Italian variety that is large in size, firm and sweet. These plums are particularly good for baking, and my neighbor, Linda Wien's always inspires me with her delicious German plum cakes that she shares with us. 

The Bartlett Pears on the firm side in order to prevent bruising during harvest. We'd recommend allowing them to ripen at room temperature. Placing pears in a paper bag at this point will speed things up because it traps the ethylene gas that pears naturally emit during the ripening process. 
Recipes and Ideas

Authentic Zwetschgenkuchen (German Plum Cake)

French Lentil Soup - This is a basic recipe that I start with and then, I tend to tinker. Sometimes I'll add Italian sausage or greens like kale or arugula. 


Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms - Another basic recipe that I use for a side, steak topping or pasta sauce (I tinker with this one by adding additional herbs like thyme and arugula).
Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)...lettuce, beets, grapes, tomatoes, pears and more!

Older Post Newer Post