Gosh it’s hot. What’s it like on the farm when it’s hot? Well, you know, it’s hot, and we start work a little earlier each day. Normally we start at seven, this week we’re aiming for six thirty. Six is just too early when you factor in getting up at five and driving to the farm. We spend more time watering the starts, more time moving irrigation lines to water the fields, and our main goal is to get all the produce out of the fields and wet and cold and in the cooler as fast as we can. This week in an effort to speed it up a little due to extreme heat, we are pulling carrots loose rather than bunching. That way we can do all of our washing, culling and packing in the shady wash area. We will cull out bad ones, but likely leave in carrots of interesting shapes and sizes. This might be a good week to make carrot juice, or carrot cake, or just snack on lots of crunchy fresh carrots.

The next round of baby chicks were scheduled to come out of the barn this week, but it’s too hot!! Farmer Chicken Daddy Colin has decided that the old barn is actually the coolest place on the farm, and so has decided to make it a little better in there for them, rather than thrust them out into the hot cruel world just yet. They were scheduled to move out this week because they are getting bigger, it is seriously wall to wall chickens in there. So Colin put a table in there with ramps so that they can get up onto the deck of their chicken condo for some fresh air and then he brings in some freshly cut clover and rye from their future pasture. He also set up a fan for them. It seems like too much, but just think of the people with little dogs in cute outfits. It’s not too much, it’s just right. We love our chickens. We love all 250 of them exactly the same, just like our kids. Only half of our dearly beloved meat birds are reserved for our Sept. 21 harvest date, so if you want one, let us know, and we will put you on the list.

Kirsop farm would officially like to thank the amazing crew of youth at Garden Raised Bounty for all of their help in bringing in the Garlic!! This is the first year that we got it all in and hung up in the barn before midnight of the big day!! We even had time to weed some beets and have a tour of the farm besides. Many hands make light work.

We harvested about 700 pounds of Green beans today. Did you get that? S-E-V-E-N H-U-N-D-R-E-D!! I am in shock, and a little swoony from the heat, even with all the recharge and water I took in, it’s still a little much. This is a record amount of beans for the Kirsop Farm. It’s only eight rows. There were 10 of us working and it took us three hours. Those plants were just dripping with beans, ripe for the picking, such abundance, such bounty. These beans will go to CSA members, restaurants and grocery stores. Do you want to buy a case of beans to pickle or preserve some way? Call to ask about a bulk discount for large orders of green beans. We sure do got ‘em!

While attempting to enjoy this plethora of green beans I stumbled upon a rather efficient way to prepare them for any recipe. By grabbing a handful of beans and then picking off all the tips and ends, I can get a lot more of them into the pot faster. While it is not techinically necessary to remove the tips and ends, I find that I enjoy eating them more without them and therefore I will eat a great many more of them, and since I have 700 pounds of them in my walk in cooler, that is definitely the object of the game.


Recipe for CSA member Trish Bagnall’s best grilled cheese sandwich in the whole world. Use some good chunky bread, havarti cheese, butter, honey and basil. Sounds great, thanks for the idea, Trish!

This is a good week to try golden mashed potatoes, an idea from one of our market customers, use equal parts carrots and potatoes, boil until tender, then mash with plenty of butter and salt.


Dilly Beans
Dilly Beans-Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. Red pepper flakes
2 cups green beans
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 TBS chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp. Sugar
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. Vegetable oil
Bring water to boil in small pot. Add beans; cook 3-5 minutes. Drain when beans are still bright green and just tender. Stir dill into warm beans. Combine garlic, red pepper flakes, vinegar and sugar or honey in a saucepan and quickly bring to boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Pour dressing over green beans and mix well. Add oil if desired. Serve hot or chilled 2o minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.