View From the Tractor
Whew, we have reached the mid-way point of the season and man are we tired! I am so blessed that I have such a dedicated staff that really makes the farm run. Everyone is all trained up and in full-on go mode. Did I mention that we are pretty darned tired? We have been arriving at the farm at 6AM to beat the heat so we can try to catch up on all of the planting, harvests and weeding that the land requires. Every day here at the zenith of the season, it feels like we are falling a little bit farther behind no matter how fast we hustle. While I might whine a little bit, I know that this is just how it goes and that in a few short weeks life will get a touch easier and the task list will get just a wee bit shorter.
This week we have harvested all of our garlic and shallots, which is truly a big lift. We have also been tending to our hail-damaged plants and quite gratefully we are seeing an amazing rebound in plant growth. Before you know it, the hail storm will be a long and distant memory.
We are also deep into the planting of our fall varieties of watermelon radish, carrots, radicchio, and Napa cabbage. Soon we'll be harvesting our onions and our winter squash to start the curing process right next to garlic and shallots.
I am so thrilled to be hosting an event at the farm on the 13th (more details below). We have worked so hard this season and I look forward to having the opportunity to show off our beautiful land and answer all of your farm-related questions.
Take care, stay cool, and we will see you soon.
-Michael
P.S.- We are honored to work with the wonderful folks of Pinemelon who dedicate their business to supporting local farms and distributing their produce. Check out their page and watch the incredible feature they put together that shares a little more behind our farm story. If you have an instagram account, you can watch the reel here!
Farm Celebration Saturday August 13th!
If you haven't heard yet (don't worry-- we'll keep mentioning it), we are hosting a Farm Celebration!
While the initial date of the event had to be rescheduled due to the Iron Man race, you can't stop these farmers from throwing a party...
The farm gates will be open from 10AM - 2PM on Saturday August 13th and we invite anyone to come swing through during that time for farm snacks, beverages, community gathering, and hayride tours of the farm.
Hayrides will be offered as people come and go, so drop in whenever you have the time and want to visit the farm. It's bound to be a lot of fun, and a great learning opportunity, too!
All are welcome! This event is open to anyone, so feel free to spread the word and invite your neighbors, friends, and family.
You can RSVP using this link (but RSVP’ing is not required).
Please reach out to csamanager@kiltfarm.com with any questions about the Farm Tour + Celebration event. We hope you can join us, and we cannot wait to celebrate the land with you all!
Fruit Share
The Fruit Share this week will be 5 lbs of GloHaven peaches-- We can't get enough of these irresistible, crunchy, juicy, and sweet freestone fruits!
More fruit is incoming-- but peach season is upon us and it's hard not to admit that peaches are the epitome of summer freshness. These freestone peaches are perfect for canning, preserving, and making jams, so we are also offering a 20 lb box as an extra as well as a standard 3 lb box that you can add to your share.
Product Highlights
Let's talk about eating with the seasons:
Regenerative agriculture and eating with the seasons go hand-in-hand. When we work with and for the land, we won't have every crop at our fingertips every time we go to cook a meal. Farming regeneratively in this day and age takes what our ancestors have taught us about how, when & where to grow food, and applies it real-time to the 21st century.
When customizing your share, why not try choosing vegetables that you can use to curate a few special dishes in mind this week to make some meals that work directly with the season? With tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions, bell peppers, colorful carrots, & eggplants on the rise, we happen to think it's the perfect time to make some Pasta Primavera (cue this week's Rigatoni from Pastificio)!
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Here in Colorado, we are entering the time of year where peppers, fresh herbs, eggplant, onions, garlic, summer squash, and tomatoes flood the fields in abundance. And of course with it being between summer and fall, countless other crops are still thriving and growing on the farm. What dishes do these CO summer crops inspire you to make? |
Primavera means "spring" in Italian-- and while it may be summer in the Rockies, this classic warm-weather dish is perfect for the organic veggies our hard-working team has been planting, growing, and harvesting these past few weeks.
We know some of you are probably thinking "less hot, please!"-- Try mixing your fresh veggies and herbs in a cold pasta salad with some extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, serve kabobs at your next cook-out, or even make a veggie-and-dip bowl for the next baseball game get-together with the neighbors.
Add-Ons
Like always: We have some awesome extras that you don't want to forget! New Green Chilé Powder from Pueblo Seed & Food Co (among many other tasty offerings), Skypilot Eggs, Rigatoni from Pastificio (we're serious about making some Pasta Primavera this week!), Kilt Farm Raw Honey, GloHaven peaches, and organic mushrooms from Hazel Dell.
We hope you and your family & loved ones are able to stay cool during the extreme temperatures August has been throwing our way so far. Stay safe, enjoy the weekend, and we hope you enjoy your coming shares.
-Your Kilted Farmers
