Oak Slough Farm

Aunt Bobbie

A couple of weeks ago I went back east to a family get together at the lake.  It was nice, but bittersweet because we all knew it was going to be our last time with my Aunt Bobbie.  She passed away this week.  She loved gardening and especially growing flowers.  I remember her stopping the car for us to pick wildflowers along the highway right-of-way.  I also remember her strawberry jam and fresh baked bread.  Good stuff.

Countdown

Asa and Kat have started the countdown of days until they will be leaving us to go back to school in North Carolina.  I don’t know if they feel the same way, but, for me, their time here has passed very quickly.  I’m sad thinking about them leaving because it has been very nice working and living with them, even if we have had a few family issues here and there.  

Fall

While it is still crazy hot and it sometimes feels like summer will never end, it is time to start thinking about the fall.  Sadie is working on a seed order for cool season crops, and if we can ever find a spare moment, the plan is to dig the rest of the potatoes out of the spring garden area and then start prepping the ground for the new fall planting.  We hope to start planting in August.  But first we will need to mow down the weeds, irrigate to get the ground soft again, and then disk the ground up.

Breaking even – sort of

This week, Jess gave us the financial report.  It wasn’t terrible news.  I expected to spend about $5,000 to get the vegetable/flower enterprise started.  Instead, we spent about $17,000.  The cost of doing business has sure increased since Jess and I first tried vegetable farming almost 30 years ago. One big cost was getting certified organic–that was over $2,000.  Irrigation supplies and used T-posts for fencing and tomato staking were also expensive, as were organic seeds.  Nevertheless, Jess reported that this week we broke even.  Sort of, because she did not count anyone’s labor.  

Recipe – Tomato basil garlic pasta 

This one was my idea, but Sadie executed it beautifully.  It is a light pasta that is quick to make.  Parboil some garlic in your pasta water.  I like my noodles al-dente so I set the timer for exactly 8 mins.  Sadie used spaghetti noodles for this dish and they were great.  While the water is boiling, gather your tomatoes, basil leaves, shishito peppers (I got to admit that the shishito peppers were Sadie’s idea), and feta cheese.  Cut cherry tomatoes in half or cut a larger tomato into chunks.  When the noodles are cooking, in a fry pan bring oil to high heat.  Flash fry the peppers until their skins pop, then add the tomatoes for a quick fry of their skins.  Coat the finished noodles with some olive oil and salt, then add the peppers, tomatoes, basil, and feta cheese crumbs to the warm noodles, to bring it all together.  Enjoy!

Be well – Josh