Last week we found beets (again) in our distribution, lovely baby salad greens, and for the first time—green beans.

I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed we are not getting more each week. I know the weather and the woodchucks have been challenging, but still, we hoped for more. However, I must say that everything we get is top quality. I was really hoping for more chard as we had planned to make the Leek and Swiss Chard Tart for our upcoming dinner party. So on Wednesday I headed off to the farmer’s market and bought some there. They only had a curlier leafed chard with white stems and I didn’t think the flavor was as nice as the red.

The peas just didn’t make it. They got some kind of disease and were not looking good because of all the moisture and Pedro said he never wants to give us anything that is not up to his standards. I don’t blame him!

The green beans were just enough for Rick and I to have as a side vegetable. The greens we used several times as a green salad, and once as a bed for the beets which I oven roasted. So, no new grandiose recipes this week, just eaten plainly. Delicious though!

I don’t know why I’m sitting here trying to blog today. I am kind of in a funk and not really sure why. I have no reason to be. I feel like summer is passing me by and soon it will be gone and I won’t have done any of the things I intended to do. I had a goal of keeping my flower beds weed free and it all started out so well. Then the rains came and so did the weeds. I battled them for a while but now I just looked at them this weekend and said go ahead, clog my flower bed, see if I care! I’ve given up. Plus, I think that in my zeal to weed early on I must have pulled out my coneflowers since not one do I have now. Bummer.

It is still not really summer here. More like an extended spring. The pool temperature I think has topped out at 78 degrees on a good day. Yesterday three-quarters of an inch of cool rain fell over much of the day and I’m sure the pool temp will fall by a few degrees too. It’s just sad. I do like the cool nights for pleasant sleeping but I really could use a little more heat. I think we may have broken 80 degrees once or twice. My day lilies did not bloom as vigorously as years past and we’ve not had the dragonflies we normally do. They usually love the lilies. Neither have I seen my little buddies the hummingbird moths, and only a few butterflies so far. We still have a few hanger-on fireflies, still looking for love (most likely in all the wrong places), winking high in the treetops. And the cicadas? I am really not sure they will make an appearance this year. I’m afraid it may be too cool for them. I associate the sound of cicadas with hot weather and it’s not looking good!

There are so many things to blog about that I have just let pass me by.

Like the day we had two trees removed from our front side yard. It was fascinating to watch how quickly and easily the tree removal crew took them down. And how their super-charged shredding machine chewed up huge branches and limbs into mulch in a matter of seconds. We kept the wood from the trunks of the trees and will season it for use in a year or so. One tree was a black birch and when they cut it the smell of root beer, or to be more exact—birch beer—permeated the air for hours afterwards. I can still press my nose to the pieces of wood and smell that wonderful odor.

Like the two tea towels I finished.

Like the rest of the photos from our trip to San Miguel.

Like the somewhat upscale dinner we gave for a few friends of ours on Saturday night.

Like the great walk we took through the old Jungle Habitat with the dogs on Sunday. (Jungle Habitat is a story within itself! Another abandoned New Jersey attraction.)

All likely topics to blog about, but yet, I didn’t. Or haven’t. I need to get on with it here!

Watch this space ...

Edited on Wednesday afternoon to add:
Okay, so I lied. But not on purpose.
I went out to take some photos around noon today and these three things were different than my post above.
It was steamy and very warm. My camera lens even fogged up!
I heard a cicada!
I found one coneflower blooming and several others about to!
So, there you have the latest.
I’m thrilled about all three things above.
Well…maybe not so much the foggy camera lens ...

On Wednesday I hiked with neighbor Luke to Terrace Pond. Although there are No Swimming signs posted both at the beginning of the trail and at the pond itself, Luke assures me this used to be (and probably still is) a popular swimming hole.

The trail, like the other hike that Rick and I took back in the fall, is an uphill climb with a few rock scrambles. Here is Luke at the beginning of the trail.

And up the rocky trail we go! See the blue blaze marks on the rocks?

The view from the first uphill climb. Pretty! It was a gorgeous day: clear blue sky with not a cloud in it, perfect temperature, and lower humidity.

A bit further up the trail the rocks got a bit more dramatic. I wasn’t brave enough to join Luke in admiring the view. Can you blame me or do you think I’m a wimp? (Actually I was mindful of twisting my back again since it’s mostly healed.)

Luke thought this mushroom looked like a slightly over-cooked pancake and I agree.

The trail was easier than I thought it was going to be and after a few more rocky places and a few bogs we soon reached our destination: Terrace Pond.

The water was clear and calm. Bullfrogs were giving a concert from the edge of the pond sounding very much like they were plucking guitar strings. We stopped to eat a bite of lunch before heading back down.

Luke showed me this cool sheltering overhang that made a sort of cave. It would offer a lot of protection from the elements if you needed it.

Are you getting the idea that New Jersey is one rocky place?

These Indian Pipe Plants took advantage of a mulchy spot on the rocks.

The hike back down took about half the time of the hike up. All in all a very pleasant hike and a great way to spend a few hours. Next time we need to find the loop trail that goes all the way around the pond for more of a challenge!

Tonight I held a baby bat in my hands. No, really, I know what you’re thinking (ewwwww!) but I really did. And it was very cool. Rick and I were out swimming tonight after it was dark by the light of the Tiki torches. We were doing laps in the *almost* 80 F degree pool water (finally!) when I noticed something strange crawling right along the edge of the pool. At first I thought it might be a frog due to its ungainly gait. When I got close I realized it was tiny baby bat!

With our bat population down here in New Jersey by a huge degree due to a fungus that has been affecting our bat population, I was ecstatic to see this little guy! He was insistent upon going into the pool no matter how Rick or I tried to redirect him. He seemed to be unable to fly. Finally I jumped out of the pool, let him climb on my hand, and transported him to the railing where he would at least be safe from puppy-everything-goes-in-my-mouth Bella who was also out with us. He felt strange to my hand. Not like the hummingbird which I held last year; not like a rodent-like creature either. I felt its wings a bit and maybe its feet. I can’t describe him quite. Not creepy though. 

When I put him down on the railing he started crawling along. We weren’t sure if it was hurt and unable to fly, or just too young to fly.

I jumped back in the pool and continued swimming. About ten minutes or so later I decided to get out and see if it was still making its way along the railing. I found it not too far from where I had left it. I spoke softly to it and said something like “are you still here” and with the breath from my voice it spread its tiny wings and flew away.

I can only hope in that instant it finally learned how to fly. Am I just plain weird that I feel quite blessed tonight?

See you next year, little fledgling bat ...

Now my blog posts about the produce we get from our CSA (Bear Swamp Farm) will be named CSA and whatever week we happen to be in for our distribution. If you want to read just those entries all you have to do is enter CSA in the search box and all those entries will be ready to view. The first two entries have different names, so you can find them by clicking on “CSA 2009” under the categories listed on the right side of the blog.

Last week’s included what you see pictured above: Swiss chard, beets, fresh garlic, and two kinds of lettuce. The lettuce was young and tender and was eaten just in salads and on sandwiches. The freckled lettuce was kind of funny. When I reached in my box to pull it out my first thought was gosh, this has lots of dirt on it. I’m going to have to wash all that off when I get home. Was I surprised to find that it wasn’t dirt—just spotted lettuce. It had a wonderful peppery kind of taste. Absolutely delicious!

Pedro seems to be struggling with the weather and different kinds of creatures in his garden. Here are a few excerpts from his weekly newsletter:

I love his sense of humor about all of his trials. But really, what would Bear Swamp Farm be without at least one bear?

It’s interesting to try and use what we get in a new recipe. I hate to just braise/cook/wilt/whatever and have it as a side vegetable dish. Too boring! I scan the recipes online at either allrecipes.com or epicurious.com. Epicurious has mostly recipes from Bon Appetít, but it does have other recipes as well. Food & Wine’s web site also is a good source. As always, the recipe can be found by clicking on the link which will take you directly to our personal recipe book. This way I don’t have to take up space with the actual recipe in the post, plus if you want you can just print it out directly from the recipe archive.

We made a delicious Swiss Chard and Leek Tart with the chard. It was ever so creamy! The puff pastry tart shell made making this a breeze!

We have several good beet recipes but I wanted to try something new. I had picked up some golden beets at our local farmer’s market with the idea of mixing the two together. When I found Golden and Crimson Beet Salad with Oranges, Fennel, and Feta I knew it was meant to be tried! The flavors were fresh and all the ingredients worked perfectly together. The feta cheese added just the right amount of saltiness to the citrus. The beets, especially the red ones from the CSA, were wonderfully sweet and oh so good! Yum!

We used to eat beets only occasionally, but they are fast becoming one of my favorite vegetables when in season. If you think you don’t really like them, try tossing them with some olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, then roast them in the oven (400 F; cover the pan with foil) until they are just tender. When cool, the skins will slip right off. I dare you—go ahead and try them!

Update: When I picked up our distribution for this week (nope, not telling you yet; next week!) I told Pedro about the “freckly” lettuce and how good it was and that also I had thought it had dirt clinging to its leaves. He told me that strangely enough the lettuce is called Freckled Amish Bibb!