We had a sick pig this week on the farm. We noticed one of our pigs, Anya, laying down more often, taking much longer to get up, and eating less than the other pigs, the next day she had developed a limp and a red diamond mark on her shoulder. It was our old nemesis, eryseplyas! One of our pigs, Daenerys, got very sick with this bacterial disease 2 years ago, and it can quickly lead to the pig's death. So we went and got some penicillin, and gave Anya a dose, and another the next day. She has improved remarkably, and is in the clear. But we are keeping a close eye on the other pigs to detect any signs of infection. We do not like the overuse and abuse of antibiotics in conventional factory farms, where are used profilactically to keep the animals alive in unhealthy conditions rather than promoting healthy conditions. Rather, the way we currently use antibiotics on factory farms is encouraging antibiotic resistance in animals and humans. Antibiotics should be conserved as an important piece of scientific heritage, one saves lives, and we could very well lose if we abuse its use.
Besides the one sick pig, the pigs have been enjoying cool wallows and shade, and a new trick we picked up from Temple Grandin's Animals Make Us Human. In it, Grandin recommends giving pigs flakes of straw or telephone books to pigs to play with and tear apart, as they love using their noses to root and poke about. So if any of our local readers has any old telephone books they'd like to clear out of their house, send them our way!
New this week is the first ground cherries of the year, which make a fun desert as pie or ice cream topping for a summer treat!
We'll have extras available at market, pickup and the farm stand:
Summer Squash: 2/$1
Cucumbers, Slicer: 2/$1
Lemon Cucumbers:4/$1
Tomatoes: $2/lb
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| Large Share Pictured: 2 Kohlrabi, 2 herb bunches, 2 bunches kale,2 lbs tomatillos, 6 onions, 1 lb ground cherries, 2 cucumbers, 4 lemon cucumbers, 2 slicing tomatoes, 2 roma tomatoes, 2 lbs snacking tomatoes, 2 summer squash, 2 anaheim peppers, 2 bell peppers. |
Ground Cherries
This strange golden berry is related to the tomato plant, and is indigenous to the new world. It has a similar texture to the tomato, but in flavor is more like strawberry or pineapple. The fruit are rich in cryptoxanthin, and contain pectin and can be used in pie filling. They can be eaten raw and used in salads, you can add them to dessert, use as flavoring, made into fruit preserves, or dried and used like raisins.
Ground Cherry Jam
Ground Cherry Pie
Tomatoes
The Mothership Tomato Salad
Peppers
This week we have a bell pepper and an Anaheim pepper for everyone.
Tomatillos
More tomatillos this week. We enjoy making a salsa verde out of these or for enchilada sauce with chicken or pork. They also go well in a pot of chili or soup! These are easy to preserve for another day, just take out of the paper-lantern like husk, wash and then freeze whole for later.
Kohlrabi
The word Kohlrabi is German for cabbage turnip, and it can be eaten raw or cooked. We usually eat them raw, just peel off the skin and slice them like an apple and sprinkle with a little salt or dip in your favorite dressing and enjoy! They're also great raw on a salad, or roasted, or baked. They are also popular in Indian food, in dishes like Kohlrabi Curry.
Roasted Kohlrabi
Butter-Braised Kohlrabi
Onions
Everyone gets a three onions again this week.
Cucumber-Slicer and Lemon
Cucumbers have been doing well in the the greenhouse, though those out in the field are losing the battle to cucumber beetles and downy mildew. We like to just eat the lemon cucumbers raw, like an apple, but they can be pickled or used in salad or cucumber salad just like any regular cucumber.
Summer Squash
More Summer squash this week, Try these sautéed or steamed or grilled, but they also make a great addition to a quiche or frittata. Sadly the squash beetles have been holding back our zucchini, so we haven't been able to get any good size zucchini for zucchini bread.
Kale is back again this week, it's nice to have some greens again! Try these sauteed, or add them to a soup. Or try making Kale chips with them!
Herbs
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