September 24

Farm Notes

It’s been a little quiet over here, as we have some big news to share… our sweet baby boy has arrived earthside! Sawyer James Aronson arrived promptly at 9:36am on September 18th, weighing in at 6lbs 4 ounces & 20” long. Mom and baby are both healthy, happy and grateful for a smooth delivery and an amazing care team at UNC Women’s Hospital, and we were able to settle in back at the farm on Monday. We are absolutely smitten, more than a little sleep deprived, and still in awe that this tiny miracle is ours.

I will be a little quiet in the Farmbelly Journal & Farmbelly Club facebook page for the next few weeks as we focus our energy and love on Sawyer during these precious early days. I’ll be back to regular programming and will resume our weekly virtual farm tours soon, but ask for your understanding and grace as I take some time away to love on this little one!

Many thanks for all of the love and support that this community has given our farm + family, we are so grateful!

September 17

Farm Notes

Popping in for a quick farm update after a busy, but good week here at the farm! We’re in Week 2 of our fall CSA, and we’re grateful to have a colorful variety of late summer and early fall veggies filling our CSA member boxes. Our summer peppers, eggplant, and okra are still going strong, and tomatoes are making their final swan song of the season. Coming in hot are lots of fall root veggies like radishes and turnips, along with leafy greens like arugula, kale, and collards.

This week we started to pull out tomatoes from our caterpillar tunnel, which is a big, messy job (see photo below)! Our tomatoes have been growing in our tunnels since April (so for 6 months!) and it’s finally time to say goodbye and make room for the next season’s fall greens.

Yesterday we checked our sweet potatoes to see how the tubers were shaping up, and I’ll be honest… we weren’t thrilled! I’m noticing that the soil where the sweet potatoes are growing is pretty tough and clay-heavy, which has probably kept the tubers from growing as nicely as they would in a more sandy/compost-rich environment. We’ve decided to give them a few more weeks to size up, and will check them again in early October to see how they are doing. This is my first time growing sweet potatoes, so I’m learning lots as we go, and fingers crossed we get a nice harvest soon…!

Tomatoes coming down!

Lack-luster sweet potato check…

Kitchen Notes

Even though our sweet potatoes aren’t ready quiiiite yet, now I’ve got sweet potatoes on the brain, and want to share a few favorite sweet potato recipes today!

Here’s a round up of some delish sweet potato dishes to get you inspired:

• Roasted + Spiced Sweet Potato Fries

• Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes with Miso-Tahini Sauce

• Sweet Potato Casserole

• Sweet Potato Tacos

• Curried Sweet Potato Soup

• Roasted Root Vegetable Buddha Bowl

• Sweet Potato Biscuits

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 65F

• High temp: 82F

• Sunrise: 7:01am

• Sunset: 7:21pm

• Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous

• Additional notes: Partly cloudy and lovely

September 14

Farm Notes

I know it’s been a little quiet over here, but I’m back and all is well! I was without a computer for most of last week after accidentally spilling an entire bottle of water all over my laptop (yikes!) but thank goodness for laptop warranties and kind folks at the Apple store, who helped get me back up and running.

The plants and I are still soaking up this cooler and less humid September weather! This week will still be on the warm side, but it’s nothing compared to the crazy heat and humidity that we experienced back in August. Almost every bed on the farm is planted with fall veggies, and we are now in the process of beginning to “flip” our caterpillar tunnels from summer tomatoes/peppers to more fall greens.

Speaking of fall… last Thursday we kicked off Week 1 of our Fall CSA! Right now we’re in an especially abundant seasonal sweet spot when summer veggies like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, etc are still going strong, while cooler weather crops like radishes, turnips, and leafy greens are making their fall debut… so it’s really the best of both worlds.

I’m so thankful to our CSA members (and the entire Farmbelly Club community!) for the continued support, especially in this season full of lots of exciting new adventures for our family. Speaking of which, I’ll be sure to keep y’all posted with any baby updates! This little dude could really arrive any day now (or it could still be 2 weeks from now..) and we are so excited to meet him. :)

Kitchen Notes

Over the weekend, I was feeling inspired by all of our sweet + nutty fall winter squash, so I whipped up a hearty, colorful, and nourishing autumnal dish that I’m excited to share with y’all! I just made this salad up as I went, so feel free to add/substitute ingredients based on what you have on hand. I love making salads with a grain base using quinoa, rice, or lentils because they are packed with protein, and they store well in your fridge so you can enjoy leftovers for days. A note that if you don’t have delicata squash, you can substitute with any other kind of winter squash or sweet potatoes.

QUINOA & KALE Salad with Delicata Squash, Apples & Apple Cider-Maple Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS

For the Salad

• 3-4 cups cooked quinoa (or other grain like brown rice, lentils, etc)

• 2 delicata squash (or any other winter squash or sweet potatoes), halved, seeded, and cut into 1/2" thick half moons

• Olive oil

• 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped

• 1-2 apples, diced

• 1/2 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

For the Vinaigrette

• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 2-3 tablespoons dijon mustard

• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Slice the delicata squash (or whatever winter squash you’re using) in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Slice the squash in 1/2” thick half moons and toss together on a rimmed baking sheet with a few tablespoons of olive oil and some salt + pepper. Roast until tender and beginning to brown, about 20-30 minutes, tossing the squash at least once halfway through baking. When the squash is fully cooked and delicious, remove from oven and set aside.

3. While the squash is roasting, cook your quinoa (basic quinoa cooking tips here) and add 3-4 cups of your cooked quinoa to a large salad bowl (note that I usually start with 2 cups of uncooked quinoa for this dish).

4. Make the vinaigrette by adding all your ingredients into a jar and shake vigorously until emulsified. TASTE the vinaigrette and make adjustments as needed (you want to have a good balance between salt, sour, and sweet).

5. Next add your de-stemmed and chopped kale to the salad bowl with your cooked quinoa, and add a few tablespoons of the vinaigrette on top of the kale and use your hands to gently massage the kale with the vinaigrette (this helps break down the kale a bit). Now add the roasted delicata squash, chopped apples, almonds, mint, and parsley to the salad bowl, pour in more of your vinaigrette and toss everything together. NOTE that you may not need to use all of the vinaigrette that you made - it’s up to you how much you want to use!

6. TASTE and adjust seasoning to the salad as needed – you may want to add more salt or apple cider vinegar to give the salad a bit more punch.

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 67F

• High temp: 89F

• Sunrise: 6:59am

• Sunset: 7:25pm

• Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous

• Additional notes: Sunny and warm

September 3

Farm Notes

What a difference a new month makes! After a brutal August, the first few days of September have already felt like a very much needed breath of fresh, cool(ish) air. Our fall plants have rebounded from the intense heat over the past few weeks, and we’re continuing to plant heaps more fall greens, carrots, radishes, turnips, beets, etc for a bountiful season ahead.

Thursdays are still our main workday here at the farm, when I’m joined by my friend/fellow farmer Erin all day, and together we knock out some big to-do lists! Erin and I have been farming alongside each other for so long that we’ve established such a strong and smooth rhythm – we can anticipate what the other person needs without saying a word, we know and respect the other person’s strengths and weaknesses, and we both genuinely love farming… even on the toughest, hottest, and dirtiest days. I’m incredibly grateful to have Erin, and several other good friends + neighbors, who are going to step in big time while I’m on maternity leave, and I have full confidence that our little farm is in the very best hands.

Among other tasks, today we “flipped” (ie prepared and planted) 250 ft of bed space – here are some photos that show the progression of some of the beds that we flipped today! These beds started the morning covered by a tarp (as we had recently cut down and smothered a buckwheat cover crop on these beds) and ended being planted in lettuce seedlings and carrot seeds:

Wondering what you can be planting in your fall garden right now? For most climates in the US, now is a great time to plant the following (send me a message if you have questions about how to plant any of these crops): broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, fennel, scallions, leeks, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, lettuces, cilantro, dill, parsley, etc!

Kitchen Notes

As we prepare for our baby boy to arrive, one thing that I’m whipping up in the kitchen and stashing in our freezer is some delishhh date + almond energy balls! These petite treats are awesome to have on hand, as they are full of healthy fats, protein, and omega-threes and antioxidants… not to mention they taste so dang good. Below I’m sharing my basic recipe for homemade energy balls, but feel free to mix it up and use whatever nuts, spices, etc that you have on hand.

Date + Almond Energy Balls

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (10-12 large dates)

• 2 cups whole almonds

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder (plus extra for dusting)

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Pinch kosher salt

• Optional toppings: chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cacao powder

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak pitted dates in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain.

2. Place almonds in a large food processor and process until nearly the consistency of almond meal. Add the dates and pulse until the dates are in very small pieces and fully combined with the ground almonds, and the mixture comes together in a sticky ball. 

3. Add all additional ingredients and process, stopping occasionally to push the mixture down. Process the mixture until it is very smooth and fully blended. Taste and adjust seasoning. 

4. Transfer mixture to a bowl and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. With a spoon or tablespoon, scoop the mixture then roll it into roughly 1-ounce balls. 

5. At this point, you can also roll the balls into an assortment of toppings: finely chopped nuts, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, etc.

6. Enjoy immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for several months.

Today’s Stats

• Low temp: 68F

• High temp: 81F

• Sunrise: 6:50am

• Sunset: 7:43pm

• Moon phase: Waning Crescent

• Additional notes: Sunny, breezy and beautiful