We hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather. It has been a wonderful break from the hot summer heat. The plants that are growing here on the farm are loving it too!

Ondrea is adjusting to her new job at the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) where Chris also works. We travel throughout the southwest region of the state surveying long-term care facilities to make sure they are in compliance with providing good and safe care for our elderly population.

Sometimes we are on the road away from home staying in hotels. Sometimes we are surveying locally and get to sleep in our own bed. Best of all, sometimes we get to travel to the same place and work together.

We work in teams of three to four surveyors at each facility. Each member contributes their own strengths to the team. Chris is very good at checking the facilities’ infection control practices. So far, Ondrea is enjoying making sure the kitchens are cooking, cleaning, and storing food and dishes sanitarily. But she is still learning and looks forward to mastering all the different areas.

Our four hightunnels all have their job to do as well. Hightunnel 3 is busy incorporating old crops into its soil with the help of a tarp to hold in moisture. Hightunnel 2 is working very hard producing food for our own use. It is currently growing celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, dinosaur kale, beets, purple cabbage, green cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and of course our famous Salad Mix. Hightunnel 1 and 4 are busy growing cover crops. They are growing a peas and oats mix along with some old leftover seed tossed in. The cover crops are keeping the soil alive, photosynthesizing, and feeding the microbes. Once the crops are big enough we will push them down and cover them with a tarp to be incorporated back into the soil.

The photo above was taken last Sunday so you can see how the cover crops are growing in Hightunnel 1 right now. The middle bed is planted in turnips for Chris’ mom Eva. She will harvest them around the end of December when she comes from Wisconsin for Christmas. She has created her own turnip soup recipe which you can find here.

So far the farm has been doing a great job providing fresh produce for our meals away from home. We have been exploring new recipes like salads in a jar to help us eat healthy on the go. We are looking forward to making kimchi with the Chinese cabbage too. Our only regret is that we cannot grow enough veggies to share with our loyal customers.

Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement. We cannot wait until this phase of our lives is over and we can get back to growing for you. In the meantime, buy fresh, buy local, or even better, grow your own!