After only one week away...

As the days of summer get shorter but warmer, after only a week away from the urban farm I came home to a jungle of tomato plants, huge and heavy with long-awaited ripening fruits. The sunflowers had shot up well over my head, and even with daily inspections from my family, a couple of zucchini squash got away and became sizable clubs, perfect for shredding up and baking into chocolate chip zucchini muffins. It's also time to start canning. This year, Italian peppers are the first to go into the boiling water. I look forward to mixing them with olive oil and scooping it all up with a local baguette this winter.

There should be a walkway in the middle!

The mess is worth it for the great veggies this time of year.

Peppers and carrots + garlic and spices + vinegar and olive oil = love!

Knowing I will eat food in the winter that I put away myself helps me look forward to the cold months ahead.

Thinking ahead to next year

It's hard to admit, but I've been in a blog funk. While not writing, I have been mulling over my thoughts about urban farming and trying to articulate the reasons I've been going through some changes. 

For me, the number one reason to grow food is to feed my family and share with friends. This year I ventured into farmers' market sales and found that with the three yards I farm, I didn't have enough produce left over to share and enjoy (there's nothing worse as a vegetable grower than having to buy lettuce because you sold all of your crop!).

Freshly dug carrots are like candy!

This left me with two options-- buy/rent additional land for next year or continue to grow only in town and say goodbye to the marketing side of the urban farm.

Although the idea of moving to the country or leasing land is temping and there would definitely be benefits, I have decided to stay in town and grow for the pleasure of feeding the ones I love. I'm thankful that our family is in a position for me to be able to make this choice.

Small, city-yard sized garden plots can grow a lot of food-- enough for summer family meals, freezing, canning, and sharing!

So I am going to get back on the blog horse so that I can put my thoughts and photos out into the world and hopefully get some new ideas from those who enjoy urban farming as much as I do!

Urban Farm Update

The year has been somewhat chilly and very wet. We really need some hot, dry weather to push our summer crops along. That said, we've been enjoying the cool weather garlic scapes, carrots, kale, lettuce, kohlrabi, and we just finished the peas!

And raspberry season has only just begun! 

Early summer eating at the urban farm

After cultivating, planting, and then spending a few busy weeks weeding, now is the fun time of summer before the tomato plants become large and unruly and the flurry of canning has started. This is the sweet time when you can really begin eating something besides salad.

Due to my locavore tendencies, I've also been thinking more about reducing food miles where I can and eating what is in season and available in my region. Many of the veggies and fruits we now eat are grown in our own plot of land, and if not here, then purchased from local growers. And food miles aside, this food is ripe and tastes better than much of the produce trucked in from some other time zone.

Things we've been enjoying this week: green onions, broccoli, broccolini, basil, cilantro, parsley, and Swiss chard from the urban farm, and homemade bread made from local wheat and homemade sourdough culture (a real treat toasted and smeared with last week's strawberry jam). I also made my raspberry millet muffins (recipe from February 24) and subbed in local sour cherries. (I may now need to plant a cherry tree!)

Some other foods in photos...

Local bread cheese (Juustoleipa), warmed up on a hot griddle.

This is my second week of enjoying local strawberries. These were frozen on a cookie sheet and then stored in baggies for wintertime smoothies and shortcakes.

On a bike ride with my daughter today we found a patch of wild blackberries. They are tiny but perfect (maybe even more perfect because they were a gift from nature with no work involved).

Our cultivated raspberries are starting to ripen. There were only enough red ones today to pick and eat immediately, still warm from the sunshine, but I'm hoping to be freezing and making jam out of an abundant berry harvest soon.

Until our chickens start laying eggs, we're very lucky that a neighbor is selling eggs for a local farmer this summer.

Our first harvested kohlrabi (German for "cabbage turnip"). Very easy to grow and tastes a little like broccoli.

The community garden plots are producing some very nice beets, which I like roasted or pickled.