Oak Slough Farm

Feels like summer

We weren’t sure if there was going to be a Wednesday evening Red Bluff Farmer’s Market, because of the heat, or if it wasn’t canceled, if anyone would go.  But we decided to bring some stuff anyway.  Except for the carrots and green onions, we left the rest of the spring stuff, chard, kale, beets, in the field.  We’ve been sprinkling a little water on them in the afternoon to try and keep them cool.  Nevertheless, the heat this week seems to have pushed our carrots from outstanding, amazing flavor, to so-so flavor.  It’s sad, because we still have quite a few carrots in the field.  After much debate, we decided to keep selling them, because they are just as good, or hopefully a little better, as the ones you can buy in the store.

Starthistle hits back  

Outside the vegetable patch, on the larger acreage of the farm, we have been trying to control the starthistle.  Over the winter we planted cover crops which, unfortunately, did not outcompete it.  About a month ago we did our first round of mowing the starthistle.  It had gotten to be 4 or 5 feet tall and was starting to make flowers.  This week, it was time to mow again, because it was starting to show flowers again.  (We want to mow before the flowers mature into viable seeds.)  This time the plants weren’t so high, like 2 or 3 feet, but they were still thick and the starthistle stalk is very hard to cut.  We used the big tractor and the big 15-foot mower.  The tractor wasn’t happy about the load we put it under and threatened to overheat if we kept mowing past 10:00 am.  

On my third day of mowing it, the mower started bouncing funny and making a bad noise.  Before I could shut it off, the center gearbox exploded.  This caused the shafts to the left and right gearboxes to break apart and bend.  It also caused the main shaft to the tractor to bend into a nice U shape.  Asa was ready to give it a shot fixing it, he really likes welding, but when he saw the mess, even he was doubtful.  Plus, the mower is older, and I could never find any information or parts for the model.  We bought it a few years ago used.  So, now we are looking to replace it.  The only one I could find used was built in the 1950’s.  I suppose that says something about its quality, since it still works, but I am worried if our starthistle will kill it too.  Also, it is 15 feet wide and 15 feet long, so I’m very nervous about trying to trailer it home.  I wish everything wasn’t so expensive.  That would make it a lot easier to take the risk of buying it.

Recipe – Squash Tacos

We eat this at least once a week.  The tacos vary a bit depending on who’s cooking them, but here’s the general recipe. Fry up onions and garlic (small pieces) in oil, as they soften, and green and yellow zucchini cut into small cubes.  The smaller the better.  Cook on high heat, to get a nice scald on the zucs.  I stir the pan with a metal spoon to keep stuff from sticking.  You want it to kind of stick to the pan and then scrape it off with the spoon, so it gets a well-cooked edge to it.  As it cooks, I season it with lots of black pepper and some garlic powder.  When the squash is well cooked, deglaze the hot pan with some Bragg’s amino’s or soy sauce.  I then add in some precooked rice to the mixture and get that warm.  You can add some extra soy sauce if you want.  We serve the taco mixture on warmed corn tortillas, with cheese and fresh salsa.  Raw tomatillo salsa is really good with it.

Stay cool –  Josh