Hello from the farm,

As our Farm Share has wound to a close for the season this year I can say that we had a fun and productive summer.  We had kinks to work out but we managed to work out most of them.  In the garden we still have lots of vegetables and will coninue to have all through the winter.  This weeks harvest included eggplants.  So I thought I might share one of my favorite recipes for eggplants with you.

TUNA TONNATO WITH EGGPLANT SALAD served in wide mouth canning jars!

12 ounces of tuna drained

1 large anchovy fillet

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 TBSP olive oil

2 tsp capers

 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 cups roasted eggplant

2 heads garlic chopped

1/3 Cup chopped parsley

1 tsp lemon zest

 1 tsp red wine vinegar

2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/3 cup chopped mint

2 cups croutons or toasted bread cubes

4 wide mouth pint jars

*Blend 1/4 cup tuna, anchovy, mayo, oil, capers, and lemon juice in a blender until smooth to make tonnato sauce.

*pulse eggplant, garlic, parsley,lemon zest, vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a food processor until combined but not smooth.

*Toss tomatoes with mint, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.

*Divide eggplant mixture amoung jars and layer remaining tuna (broken into large chunks), tonnato sauce, croutons, and tomatoes (including the juices) on top. drizzle with a little extra olive oil.  Serve at room temperature.

This recipe has gotten rave reviews every time I make it.  Even if you don't like anchovy you will like it in this recipe I promise.  Serving it in a jar just adds to the fun and allows you to see all the layers.  Beautiful taste and beautiful to look at!!

I love canning tuna.  With the help of Andy Hough I canned 300 pounds of tuna this summer!  The taste of home canned tuna or home canned anything for that matter is well worth the effort.  Try it sometime you will not want to go back to factory processed food.

Hello from the farm,

We are please to announce our first Art in The Garden show on August 28th and 29th.  Jon-Paul Dowdell local artist blacksmith will be displaying his art along with other local artists.  Artist reception will be on the 28th from 5 till 8 PM.  Mark you calendars this will be fun, the art is fabulous and there will be food live music and great fun!

Hope to see you there,

Camille

Hello from the farm,

This weekend July 24th we are having our first Dinner on the Farm!  We would love to see you. The evening will include an incredible 4 course meal with wine and chocolate, beautiful music and a local acting group will do some improve and dinner will be followed with more wine, coffee, fire breathing and fun. 

On Saturday evening, July 24th at 6 PM, an al fresco Dinner, which bring brings the community together to explore the connection between the earth and the food on your plate, will be held at the Raven and the Spade. The guests will sit in long linen draped tables in the middle of the farm, sip local wines, and eat a four-course meal prepared by local food artisan Jess Dowdell.  Food is the center of some of life's greatest joys. Please come join us and connect the passions of food, farm, and community!
Go to this link to get tickets :
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/118758

We hope to see you there,

Camille, Brad and Family

Hello from the farm,

We would like to invite you to come to our first dinner in the garden on the 24th of July.  We would love to see you and the evening will be great food, wine music and entertainment.  Elizabeth Lovelace and her band will provide beautiful music, a local acting group will do some improve and dinner will be followed with chocolates, wine, coffee, fire breathing and fun. 

On Saturday evening, July 24th at 6 PM, an al fresco Dinner, which bring brings the community together to explore the connection between the earth and the food on your plate, will be held at the Raven and the Spade. The guests will sit in long linen draped tables in the middle of the farm, sip local wines, and eat a four-course meal prepared by local food artisan Jess Dowdell.  Food is the center of some of life's greatest joys. Please come join us and connect the passions of food, farm, and community!
Go to this link to get tickets :
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/118758

We hope to see you there,

Camille, Brad and Family and all our farm helpers

Hello from the farm,

From behind the wheels of my push mower I looked around my garden today, Oliver planting , Yuri weeding, Camren tilling the soil, Fiona and Rowan pulling carrots and eating peas with friends it made my heart sing! This past week has been a very good week.  Two garden tours both really interesting groups and a lot of fun.  I really enjoy it when people come to the garden to enjoy it for not only the vegetables but for the beauty of it.  No matter how early I might start in the working in the garden or how tired I might be I still feel compelled to be there.  After mowing with the push mower and walking what seemed like 10 miles I came to the house got poured a glass of wine and went back to the garden to lay in the grass and look down the row of peppers and leeks.   My interns woke me up some half an hour later.  Life is good, please feel free to come to the garden / farm and enjoy it.  Come, walk around, stay a while and leave a little happier!

The sun is coming up and the garden calls me. 

Camille

Hello from the farm,

I am very happy to say that we have been blessed with 2 new interns, Yuri and Oliver.  They have been living in Japan for the last 4 years where Yuri grew up.  Oliver is from France and they are a husband wife team.  They have lived in the states for a long time before but on the east coast and have not been to the west coast before.  Te WWOOF organization (world workers on organic farms) sent them to me for the summer. They are enthusiastic and ready to help. 

Hello from the farm,

We are being washed once more with mother natures showers.  It has kept me inside this morning trying to work up the steam to harvest  and try not to get oaking wet.  It will be a good oportunity to process in the greenhouse.  I was asked this week what my favorite vegetables are.  So here is my list.

Hon Tsai Tai: A Chinese specialty. The young plants soon branch and produce quantities of long, pencil-thin, red-purple, budded flower stems. Pleasing, mild mustard taste for use raw in salads or lightly cooked in stir-fries or soups.

Mokum carrots:  Great for pulling and eating fresh,  so sweet that a little dirt doesn't stop me!

Orange cualiflower:  Contains 25 times the level of Vitamin A of white varieties.  I love to make roasted orange cauliflower with anchovies, even my 9 year old loves it that way.

Violetta Choi: Because vegetables are a thing of beauty and why not be purple!

Caraflex cabbage:  Smaller heads of great tasting cabbage that is good for slaws and cooking both.  It is a favorite of our farm visitors in tastings.  Plus the heads are  pointed for extra interest.

Island Sunshine potatoes:  I was crazy enough to plant 20 kinds of potatoes as a taste and productivity test a couple years ago and this potato grew and tasted to best.

Purple plum radish:  I love radish sandwiches and the purple pum radishes are great for that.  Also they are big enough to add to stir fries.  From a garden aspect they don't get worms nearly as much as other varieties and don't get pithy.

Zefa Fino fennel:  Slow to bolt and even when it does it is beautiful.  Steamed in white wine with chicken breast and cream, yum!

Kohlrabi:  Any kind really, I have loved kohlrabi ever since I was a little child.  Eat it fresh from the garden peeled and eaten like an apple.

Caspian pink tomato:  They are big tomatoes that will grow in the Pacific NW and are great for slicing.

Other favorite things.

My family

My Japanese hoe

My garden sculptures that Jean Whitesavage made.  WWW.whitesavageandlyle.com

Coffee in the garden at 5 AM when everything is quiet and the world is waking up.

Seeds sprouting will always make me happy

My greenhouse

Hello from the farm,

 We have extra starts!  Herbs and vegetables all at great deals!  We open at 10 AM on Saturday. 

Yesterday and today was harvesting and packaging for our farm share.  We are getting more organized as we go along.  Major harvesting of the vegetables happened yesterday and early this morning.  Can you guess how much spinach we harvested to go out today...  anyone?  Oh OK I will tell you.  15 pounds!  That is one entire 50 foot row to put that into perspective.  Yes we have many more don't worry. And then there was the 13 pounds of salad mix. I have great helpers this year.  Camren, Adam who is off in Europe for a spell and Sean all are great fun and good help.  I caught Sean sitting down on the job this morning.....

Hello from the farm,

The rain has blessed us with its drops yeah.  For us humans with Memorial Day weekend upon us the rain could perhaps go away and come again some other day, as the old nursery rhyme states.  The plants are drinking but a gentle reminder that it does take more rain than one imagines to actually water plants enough.  Deep watering makes for healthy plants.  Scratch the surface of the soil and see how far down the rain has moistened the soil, you might be surprised how little sometimes it sinks in.  After a rain is a great time to water, yes water your plants.  The rain will have broken the surface tension of the soil and the water will get down to the roots of the plants where it is needed.  This applys to vegetables, ornamentals, shrubs and trees give them a good soak not a 30 second dousing.   Our rain is workin' up to good things. 

If you have planted out your tomatoes try to keep their foliage dry it will help keep the blight away.  This is a hard time of year for tomatoes to have wet leaves and keep the soil from splashing up from below.  Mulch them with straw, a piece of landscape fabric a tomato crate or some such application to keep the foliage clean.  For those who have the privilege to live somewhere where tomatoes grow freely, I envy you but only a little because we are spoiled on our little island of Whidbey.

The garden is filling in beautifully!  I always have my favorite parts.  The plants come and go and the scene changes from week to week and month to month. The grass paths provide the peacefull rest for ones eye and body amidst the vegetable kaleidoscope.  Here are some new photos of the garden.  There are more in the about the farm section uner "the farm in photos"  Have a look see.

5AM and thinking that my coffee and warm house are sometimes preferred over planting more seeds this morning.

Happy Memorial Day,

Camille