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Welcome to Late Summer!

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Welcome to Late Summer!
This Week's Vegetable Harvest:
  • Summer Crisp Lettuce
  • Tropea Onions
  • Scallions
  • Zucchini
  • Green Beans
  • Green Bell Pepper
  • Tomatoes
  • Salad Mix
  • Celery
  • Sweet Corn* - from Didier Farms, Prairie View, IL
*Please note: The corn is not USDA-certified organic. 

This Week's Fruit Harvest:
  • 'Pristine' Early Apples
  • Blueberries
  • White Peaches
What's New at the Prairie Wind Farm Stand
  • Greens and Beets - After a break between our lettuce successions, we're happy for greens to return to the farm stand this weekend! Greens in combination with early summer roots or summer fruit offer plenty of nutritious, delicious combinations for summer salad making.
  • Hours: Open daily, 7am-7pm. We restock two to three times per week.
Farm Journal
Good evening from the farm!
Welcome to the Late Summer season! This season is marked by the bountiful summer harvests brought in from the fields, the continuous change in day length, visits from native wildlife as they prepare for autumn and students heading back to school soon.
As we partner with farmers to bring you the traditional treats of late summer (think sweet corn!), many of our own late summer crops are looking very promising, too. Jeff checked on the delicata winter squash this week, which are beginning their late summer ripening and curing in the field.
Our deer population has noticed and they are assisting with the summer harvest as well. While we fence in a number of our lettuce plantings, we have so many green successions that sometimes we cannot put up fencing fast enough! A few of our late summer gem lettuces show that the deer love them, too.
Another harvest that took place earlier this summer is making an appearance again. We harvested elderberry flowers from our food forest in early July and these beautiful flowers had time to ferment into a late summer beverage.
Jeff's brother, Jon, brewed an American Wheat with elderflowers, and good news: it is ready!  Livin' on a Prairie is a refreshingly flowery beer that is perfect for a summer weekend meal of sweet corn, green salad and grilled goodies. Bubblehouse's beer is available on tap and in cans at their brewery in Lisle. This is one of many collaborations to come for the Miller brothers!
This is also only the beginning of the harvests from the regenerative food forest. Luckily, we've got the food forest fenced off from the deer population, too.
One final late summer crop that is fenced from adoring deer is our heirloom, Roma and slicing tomatoes in the field. The plants are holding plenty of green fruit right now, so we're anticipating our field harvests will take place in late August or early September. We will keep you posted on this much-anticipated harvest.
In the meantime, enjoy this week's late summer farm share!
~ Jeff, Jen, Owen, Gavin, Arlet, Cleto, Riley, David, Yamany, and Silas
Notes from the Farm Kitchen

We're happy to welcome the start of sweet corn season! The sweet corn in this week's CSA shares comes from a nearby farm, Didier Farm, located in Prairie View, IL. While their sweet corn is not organic, it is local, sweet and delicious.
This week's Pristine Apples are an early, delicate apple that are a great addition to grilled meats or back-to-school lunches. The skins bruise easily, so we handle them carefully! If you do find a bruise, you can simply cut off or throw the apples into a pot with water for a quick applesauce.
Midwestern celery is oftentimes quite a bit different than celery that you'd find in a grocery store from California. Firstly, we harvest in bunches rather than in heads! This is to allow our harvest to last (ideally) into the fall season. Secondly, our celery is slightly different in size, extremely flavorful, somewhat firm, and thusly, ideal for cooking or slicing very thin. We expect to have celery with members this week and again in a few weeks, so here are creative ideas for using your celery.
Seasonal Recipes in the Farm Kitchen

White Peach Tart

Cowboy Caviar

Celery Soup

Tropea Onion Jam

Corn and Zucchini Quesadillas

Ideas for Using Celery Leaves
 

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