Summer rain affect on our produce

The summer of 2015 - a different one for sure. Midwesterners will remember this summer as one with lots of rain. Here in Northwest Indiana we got 21 inches of rain in 16 days. Crops sitting in standing water. Everywhere. At a critical part in the growing season also! Farmers have taken losses for sure.

Picking kale for CSAs after 4 inches of rain

As produce growers, we have gotten several questions asking "How has the rain affected your crops?"

At first, we really thought our produce field would be okay. It is in a sandier soil and wasn't sitting in standing water. A few dry days went by. The ground was still wet, but the vegetable plants still looked good. Then we got more rain, inches at a time, for several days. Even after the lengthy period of rain, it was too wet to get in to the fields to cultivate and take care of our plants. 

Getting a late start at planting due to the longer winter and so much rain really put a dent in our production. So much that we haven't attended our usual farmers markets this year. 

You take the challenges as they come. With the wet weather, we are thrilled that we have been able to still fulfill our weekly CSA deliveries, getting a nice assortment of produce, and still have enough for ourselves to enjoy each week and preserve for the winter. But just not a lot extra to have a good variety to take to the market.

The summer rain has also created an interesting harvesting schedule for our sweet corn. We planted 3 plantings of sweet corn, each two weeks apart. Due to the rainfall in June, our sweet corn will all be ready very soon.

Our biggest crop, pumpkins, had minimum wash out and are basically on schedule. We are looking forward to fall harvest. We will see closer to fall how things will look for our Fall Harvest Days.

Each year we don't know how the weather will be and we take each year as it comes. This year was just one of those years that created issues and we are working with what we have.

Zucchini Custard Pie

If your garden is like mine, most summers, you have more zucchini than you know what to do with. Here is a recipe to enjoy this vegetable in a whole new way as a delicious dessert. Baking with zucchini is my favorite way to enjoy it. You will be pleasantly surprised with the deliciousness of this pie!

Ingredients:
-2 medium zucchini
-Frozen pie crust - I use the Ritz Deep Dish Pie crust
-1/3 cup sugar
-1 tsp salt
-2 tsp cinnamon
-3/4 tsp ginger
-1/4 tsp allspice
-1/4 tsp nutmeg
-1 cup evaporated milk warmed
-2 eggs

Directions:
1. Skin zucchini and cut into small pieces and place in a microwavable dish.
2. Microwave on high until the pieces are tender.
3. Pour out any water! This is important for the pie to set and not be runny, so drain as much as you can off the zucchini.
4. Place pieces in a blender and puree.
5. Mix dry ingredients with puree.
6. Warm milk and add it with the eggs to the mixture.
7. Mix well and pour into crust.
8. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce to 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. The center will be wobbly.
9. Cool for 2 hours then chill if desired. Serve.

Add a dab of Cool Whip to the top when serving to make extra yummy! I have been making this pie for years and always look forward to making it each growing season. You know those extra large zucchinis you stumble across in the garden and think, "wow that got big fast" or "how did I miss that one," this recipe is also great to use those large ones (I just use the meaty part and leave out the seeds). Enjoy!!

Fall Vegetable Garden...when to and what to plant?

Even with your garden being plentiful of summer vegetables, don't forget about planting to harvest vegetables in the fall. Extend your growing season and enjoy more homegrown produce in the cooler months. The fall months are quickly approaching and now is the time to start planning for that fall produce. So many vegetable plants grow well in the cooler temps, it is a great time to take advantage of growing your own food by really maximizing your garden's production. So don't put those garden tools away just yet...

For fall vegetable growing choose seeds for lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, carrots, radishes, turnips, and kohlrabi. For broccoli and cauliflower transplants work best.

Just like early garden planting, you pick your plant date around the frost date. Plan backwards from the average first frost date for your area.

For example:
Fall average first frost: Oct. 10th
Most of the leafy greens take 40 days for seed to table, but you can eat the smaller tender leaves anytime)
Come back 40 days = August 27th.
Then allow a few extra weeks for slower growing conditions in cooler climate. = August 13th
Then allow a few extra weeks to enjoy your produce, we usually start planting our fall vegetable crops around the end of July, beginning of August and this allows plenty of time to enjoy what you have grown.

Its so nice to enjoy those cool crop vegetables again during the growing season. Fall is my favorite time of the garden. Getting to enjoy my favorite cool crop vegetables along with the summer vegetables. Fresh lettuce and radish along with my summer tomatoes and peppers. Yum! It really is a great time to get the most out of your garden!

Now start planning your fall vegetable garden and enjoy those delicious cool crop vegetable later in the growing season! Happy gardening!!

Kids Craft: Straw Fireworks Painting

We are well into summer and sometimes to break up our day, the kids and I do a fun craft or activity. We have made a variety of things this summer and I thought something for the 4th of July would be appropriate this week.

What better thing to make this week than fireworks!

What you need:
bendable straws
tape
paint
paper to paint on - I used cardstock

Simply pull each straw to expand them all the way.
Gather up several and tape together, I did 6 straws in each.
Squirt some paint out on a paper plate.
Dab the straws in the paint and stamp them on the paper. Each straw doesn't transfer the paint all the way on the paper so you may have to push down each straw so the paint gets on the paper.

This made for a simple activity to go with the excitement of the 4th of July. Even my youngest had fun with it. We taped them to our chalkboard to display for the weekend.

Summer Travels 2015: Las Vegas

Last week I flew to Las Vegas with my grandma and cousin as she was having a family reunion with her siblings and cousins. Everyone is kind of scattered throughout the Midwest and the western states so Las Vegas was the city of choice.

One evening we traveled out of the city to Red Rock Canyon to watch a play at Spring Mountain Ranch. I have been out west before as a kid, but it was so neat to see the mountains again! I just wanted to share a few photos I took. 

 Breathtakingly beautiful!

Where can you buy locally grown produce?

I am often asked about the produce we grow and our CSA program. Consumers are interested in how they can join our CSA or where they can purchase our produce. I am asked what farmers markets we attend. Our CSA program and our local farmers markets are where we sell our produce. We sell our produce directly the consumer.

We love to welcome new members to join our CSA program as it is a great way to experience a variety of produce throughout the growing season! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and I talk about the program and its advantages here. Our CSA is delivered in weekly shares and I talk about that here. We have a smaller CSA program, but happily deliver about 20 shares each week to our town and surrounding communities. We also encourage consumers to attend our local farmers market. To find a farmers market near you check out Local Harvest, and it will show you all the local markets close to you. 

By selling the produce we grow directly to the consumer it is nice to build a farmer-consumer relationship with our customers. We appreciate when they give us feed back. We love to hear recipes they share with us on how the prepared the produce purchased from us. 

We also grow pumpkins! In the fall we have what we call Fall Harvest Days, about 4-5 weekends the end of September to October depending on how the weekends fall. This is where we invite the public to come out to our farm and pick out pumpkins and join in some of the kids activities. We grow our pumpkins off site, about 2 miles from our farm, so everything is picked and brought to our farm for the Fall Harvest Days. We also sell fall decor that we grow ourselves, such as grouds in all shapes, color, and sizes, straw, shocks, Indian corn, as well as fall produce. We also sell our pumpkins and fall decor to some local shops and stores to sell to their customers. 

We are proud produce and pumpkin growers and look forward to the growing and market season each year! You can support our farm and farms like ours by attending your local farmers markets or looking into a CSA program near you. Also by doing your yearly creative pumpkin carvings and decorating for fall, you are supporting my farm and others like mine! 

The Backroad Life Favorites -Strawberry Revolution tiebacks

I thought a fun way to start summer would be to share some of my favorite products here on The Backroad.' I will be sharing a few of my favorite products over the next few weeks, and having a fun giveaway at the end of the series.

First up is a product I was introduced an tried not too long ago - Strawberry Revolution Studio Tiebacks!! 

Now I was skeptical to order as I have a hard time with headbands... Previous ones I have tried are too tight and not comfortable. I would get headaches after only wearing them for a short amount of time. Or they would have to be re-positioned several times a day because they would move or slide off - which to me is the most frustrating.

Right at the time I was wanting to order a Strawberry Revolution Tieback, they were having a giveaway on their Facebook page. I entered the giveaway not expecting to win, but hey it is worth a shot. I also placed my first Strawberry Revolution order. I was super excited that I did win the giveaway (which never happens - so I was thrilled!!). I couldn't wait for my new tieback headbands to come.

The Strawberry Revolution tiebacks come with a card folded around it with their website information and directions for wearing and washing. You can wear them thick or thin for two different looks!! I LOVE their motto "Confidence is Beauty"

When they came I tried one right away. The tieback headband was comfortable and I didn't get a headache.  AND it didn't slide!!

The next day I put it to even more of a test and wore it during my workout. Same results! Comfortable, no headache, and it didn't move! I wore it the remainder of the day.

So how did I find out about Strawberry Revolution? I am a newborn photography prop vendor  - {Simply}Sassafras - and follow several photographers on Facebook and Instagram. I noticed several photographers and prop vendors wearing these tiebacks and how they loved them for the same reasons I do. So I thought I would try them out too.

But of course you don't have to be a photographer or a prop vendor to wear them. I wear the tieback headbands for any type of work. Gardening, working in the field, cleaning, workout, shopping, anytime I put my hair up (you can wear them with your hair down too. I wear them casually, or to dress up an outfit. Really anytime is great! I LOVE them!!!

It is great to support small, handmade businesses and I do very often, especially being one myself, I truly appreciate the uniqueness! Strawberry Revolution also GIVES BACK! Here is information from their website.  

With our “Confidence is Beauty” statement in mind, we have recently partnered with the KIND Campaign and donate $1 out of every purchase to this non-profit who campaigns against adolescent bullying. With OUR donations and many others, they can provide FREE assemblies and KIND curriculum to middle schools and high schools around the U.S. - Teaching our kids and our future America how to take the power out of bullying. One KIND at a time.

They are super cute and there are a ton of designs available on their website. I have just tried the Studio Tiebacks, but there is also the Truefit Band that is more of a fitness band. I look forward to ordering more and adding to my collection. 

Head on over to the Strawberry Revolution website and find your favorite bands! Use my code STRAWREV1047 at checkout for 10 % off your order through May 31st! They also offer a kid's tieback collection and tees for kids and adults! Its a great time to purchase some of these bands! You will love them!!