CSA Week 12!

One of the sweet benefits of being a farm kid.

  Charlie waits in the distance for his big brother Eddie to gorge

himself with perfectly ripe watermelon directly from the field.

We have more melons for you in this week's fruit share.

 

 

 

Charlie has become quite the passionate insect finder and catcher.
Another benefit of farm life.
He can take or leave watermelon but grasshoppers, millipedes and worms...that's real fun!

 

This is a FULL SHARES week...Full Vegetable and Fruit Shares!

That means only those with Fruit and FULL Vegetable shares will pick up.

Pick up is Thursday, August 29th. 4-7 pm at your respective site.

 

 

 

 

 

Your Vegetable Harvest for this Week...

 

 

• Heirloom and Slicer Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes (mix of three!) 
• Sweet Peppers
• Basil
• Lettuce Mix
• Cucumbers
• Cipollini Onions (Italian, flat roasting onions)
• Zucchini
• Parsley (Italian Flat Leaf)
• Curly Green Kale
  
  

CSA Week 11!

Early, chilly, foggy.

A very atypical August morning looking over the Brussels sprouts, leeks and popcorn.

We are currently back to a little normal summer weather for now.

Lets wait and see what next week brings. Ugh!  

 

 

 

 

 

This is a ALL SHARES week...FULL and HALF Vegetable and Fruit Shares!

 

Pick up is Thursday, August 22nd.

4-7 pm at your respective site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Vegetable Harvest for this Week...

Peter and Joe harvest hoop house basil.

Carefully pinching the top set of leaves gives you the best, most tender basil and encourages the plants to produce more.

Our basil grows so well in our hoophouse, we usually don't plant it in the field at all.

• Fresh Basil
• Hoop House and Field Tomatoes**
• Lettuce Mix
• Broccoli
• Eggplant
• Large, Red Beets without tops 
• Dark Red Norland Potatoes
• Zucchini
• Mild, Sweet Onions
  
  
  
  **Our field tomatoes have suffered quite a bit from disease due in part to the very cool evenings we have had this August. Sadly, our field tomato season will be a very short one.
  I know, it is heart breaking to hear especially when the work required to maintain that crop is so substantial.
  Take heart. Our hoop house crop is growing strong and we wont give up without a fight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just had to show you this shot of my favorite farm creature.
Sporting a beautiful shade of bright summer green, he is a sure sign that autumn is fast approaching.

 

 

 

 

Your Fruit Harvest for this Week...

 

• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon (grown here at TFO!) 
• Goldenrod Seedless Grapes (Mick Klug Farm)
• Ozark Plums (Mick Klug Farm)
• Cantaloupe (sweet, orange flesh. Seedling Fruit)

 

 

*Our 5th Annual Farm Tour went really well and we had

a great turnout.

Take a look at some of the handsomest folks we saw that day...

 

Tania
gives everybody the overview in the cool of our big market tent.
She kept everybody cool as well with her cucumber and Thai basil ice water.
You aint had water till you had Tania's water.
You go water girl!

 

 

 

Looking at the chickens looking at us.

 

 

 

 

 

Larry,
 Tempel Farms manager and grandson of Tempel Smith points

us in the direction of his ever growing fertility project. His compost yard!
A few years ago, he started with a few experimental windrows and is now regularly
turning (ha ha) out huge mountains of black gold!
Made with ingredients entirely from the farm, we spread this precious stuff on all our vegetable
and flower fields. Lucky us!

Everybody taking a walk across Millburn Rd. to where things grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do the Onion Walk.
Out of the greenhouse and into the field.
All these onions are now safely in the greenhouse to finish curing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three lovely faces in the sunshine!
And more on the hill.

 

Get in line for a quick cool off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kale.
 Probably the most stereotypical CSA farm crop.

 But hey...it's good!
And it was free this day.

 

 

 

Thank you all for coming and sharing your morning with us.
If you couldn't make it this year, we will see you next year!

5th Annual Farm Tour!

Come one Come all! TODAY!

Our 5th annual Farm Tour will take place THIS Saturday, August 17 @ 10:00am -12:00pm.
This is a walking tour so bring sturdy shoes, light clothing, water, sun hats, sun screen....
Kids are most certainly welcome although strollers always prove to be very difficult due to our lack of walking paths and surprisingly steep, mid-western terrain.
We will share with you how we grow, we'll taste some food directly from mother earth and you will meet our lovely and talented crew!
(Alternate rain date: Sat. Aug. 24th)













Please stop by and see us to purchase retail farm products.....

*Every Thursday 4 - 7 pm on the farm

*Every Saturday 8 am - 2 pm on the farm

*Every Sunday 10 am - 3 pm at the Logan Square Farmers Market

*Every first and third Sunday of the month

May 5 through October 20, 2013 9 am - 3 pm at Chicago Botanic Garden

www.tempelfarmsorganics.com

CSA Week 10!

These yellow storage onions are pulled from the ground and laid directly on the soil in the sun.

In two or three days we will haul them into our shade cloth covered green house to finish curing in the cool, airy and rain free environment.

Laying onions out in the sun for a few days dries out the roots and greens and really cuts down

 the green house drying time. Cured this way, the storage onions will keep for a significantly

 long time.

You will start seeing some of these beautiful, pungent alliums in your CSA share

 in the coming weeks!

 

This is a FULL SHARES week...Full Vegetable and Fruit Shares!

That means only those with Fruit and FULL Vegetable shares will pick up.

Pick up is Thursday, August 15th. 4-7 pm at your respective site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Vegetable for this Week...

• Red Hoop House Slicer Tomatoes
• Broccoli
• 3 Heads of Lettuce
• Sweet Corn
• Green Swiss Chard
• Russet (baker) Potatoes
• Shallots
• Savoy Cabbage
• Cucumbers
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Your Fruit Harvest for this Week...
  
          
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Peaches
• Nectarines

Here you see Kyle continuing the task of tying or trellising tomato plants. This is a brutal job especially when it is hot and humid.(this picture was taken a few weeks ago when it was very hot and very humid.)

Speaking of weather...these last couple of weeks have been very un-August like with day time temps struggling to reach 80 and recent night time temps actually dipping into the upper 40s!

Cool summer weather makes for very slow tomato, pepper and melon growth and ripening.

CSA members WILL get a wide variety of field grown tomatoes in the coming weeks!

 Really!

It will just take some more time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our flowers are so beautiful, they are flying off the shelves at the farm stand!

 

 

 

Tania, Kate and Michelle make some really fantastic bouquets.

 

Special orders for special-occasion flowers are easy.
Please, email us to talk about your special event. 

Farm Stand & Farmer's Market

 

Come Check Out the Farm Stand on Saturday

Lots and lots of Vegetables, Fruit, Flowers and Eggs

The Farm Stand is open today, Saturday August 10th 8 am - 2 pm.

Click for a map.

Also...

Please Join Us TOMORROW, SUNDAY at the

Logan Square Farmers Market!

The Logan Square Farmers Market is open tomorrow, Sunday August 11th  10 am - 3 pm.

Come see us along with over 50 other vendors. It makes for a great Sunday!

CSA Week 9!

 It was a muddy morning as Joe unloaded 640 heads of lettuce into our wash house. These lettuce heads were then dunked and sprayed and quickly cooled so they remain crunchy and sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a ALL SHARES week...FULL and HALF Vegetable and Fruit Shares!

 

Pick up is Thursday, August 8th.

4-7 pm at your respective site.

 

 

 

 



 

Your Vegetable Harvest for this Week...

 

 

 

• Arugula

• 3 Heads Lettuce (romaine, green leaf and red leaf)

• Broccoli

• Fresh, Sweet, White Onions

• Purple Potatoes

• Celery

• Sweet Corn

• Summer Squash
  
  

Sweet, White Onions are curing in our shade cloth-covered greenhouse.

CSA members will receive fresh (uncured), cleaned versions of these onions this week.

We pulled these shallots out of the ground and they are curing as well.
Curing is controlled drying. When certain varieties of onions are grown to maturity and cured properly, they will keep for many months without sprouting.

CSA Week 8!

 

Your Vegetable CSA share for this week.

 

 

 

This is a FULL SHARES week...Full Vegetable and Fruit Shares!

That means only those with Fruit and FULL Vegetable shares will pick up.

Pick up is Thursday, August 1st. 4-7 pm at your respective site.

 

 

 

Next week is an ALL SHARES week again so HALF SHARE folks, no pick up this week.

But please stop by the farm, pick up a few things in our retail area and say hello!

 

 

 

 

 

Your Vegetable Harvest for this Week...

  

• 2 beautiful, purple Eggplant
• 3 mini Romaine Lettuce Heads
• Leeks
• Yellow Wax Beans
• Slicing Cucumbers
• Golden Beets with Greens
• 1 Garlic Head
• Cilantro

Armenian Striped Cucumber*

These Armenian Cucumbers are really crunchy, and sweet

but certainly not uniform!

You will receive one of these beauties whether long and curled or short and straight.

The skin is very thin and great to eat so don't peel them.

Your Fruit Harvest for this Week...

 

• Pristine Apples (a nice early summer variety! sweet - tart)
• Nectarines
• Apricots
• Peaches

Golden sunlight following an afternoon shower.

Our multi-colored hogs enjoying the rain after a long, hot spell.







Here we inspecting a sampling of 4 of the 7 colorful varieties of potatoes we planted this year.
This is turning out to be a great potato and onion year for us!


 
 



Have you been seeing a lot of these green katydids around lately?
We have.
This one rests on our cooler door.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yellow wheat straw from our winter wheat was cut, baled and loaded into
the barn for use as bedding for our laying hens.


 
 
 
 
 
 




We offer flower arrangements for special occasions.
Send us an email for more details!

















To ALL off-farm CSA members!

Please return your past weeks fruit and vegetable boxes.
We will reuse them.