From Helen
I love June not for the heat but for the vegetables.
My favorite, sweet corn is in full swing and my second favorite butterbeans are ready too. Can it get any better than picking fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, butterbeans and squash for dinner.
I love the nostalgia of this time of year also. We weren't allowed to watch TV this time of year without a bowl of butterbeans or peas in our laps to shell. Times have changed and we have mechanical bean/pea pickers and everything is shelled by a machine now. I know it is easier but I really loved those days of having an important job no matter how young you were.
Linda will talk little more about the old days later in the newsletter but I had to add my thoughts on vegetable season.
Even though we are harvesting the majority of our yearly vegetables now, it is time to start planning for the fall harvest. Pumpkins are by far our biggest fall crop but we also do 6 weeks of CSA vegetable deliveries in the fall. We'll start with the warm season crops and then move into the cooler season crops.
Farming is all about planning and preparing for the next crop. Of coarse mother nature always comes along and messes with those plans and preparations. If I could predict the future and the weather, I'd be a really rich woman and wouldn't have to have a back up plan.
I think the heat has been bad really early this year or maybe I'm just a year older and it is harder to handle. Hopefully June is not an indication of things to come. We have been receiving a fair amount of rain so we haven't had to turn the irrigation on as much. I'm sure that will change as July and August get here.
We are busy with the harvesting season but also have to pay close attention to all of the animals in the heat. Everybody has to have plenty of water and fresh grass or feed. The chicken pens get moved every morning so they have fresh grass and bugs to chase. The cows, donkeys, horses, goats, and sheep have free run of most of the farm.
They can search out that perfect plot of grass and have unlimited access to fresh water in the farm ponds. The water buffalo have free run of all the pastures too and usually spend hot afternoons up to the tips of their noses burried in the pond water. Some days I wish I could join them.
We are selling tomatoes by the 25 lb. box, and butterbeans by the bushel or half bushel. We also have some corn available. Tomatoes are $25, butterbeans $38, and corn $22 per bushel. Call Helen 843-514-1218, if you want some.
Here's Linda's contribution:
There are two quotes that always give me a warm fuzzy feeling.
A number of years ago our friend Carol Jenkins Hardman brought us something that she had printed off on her computer to hang on the wall in the office. It said
"Ancient oaks, Spanish moss,
Salt water creeks and dirt roads
Define who we are and from whence we came."
Every time I see it I feel happy. It always says home and summertime to me.
The other one is part of the lyrics to the song "Summertime" from "Porgy and Bess".
"Summertime and the living is easy, catfish jumping and The cotton is high."
Although it has been many years since cotton was grown on Johns Island, for some reason both of these quotes make me think of long hot summer days on Johns Island, front porches and watermelons.
This is God's country and I can't think of any better place you could live. It would be a fantastic place anyway but right now it's particularly awesome. Why? Because the corn and tomatoes are ready.While I'm not a big tomato eater, I could eat corn three meals a day seven days a week.
As children it was our job to shuck the corn after Daddy and Grandpa had picked it and brought it home. We ate it any way you can imagine. On the cob, cut off and simmering on the stove, cooked on the grill with the shucks still on, or mixed in pancake batter for corn fritters for breakfast. There was always at least three or four weeks of fresh corn and while we were eating it, we were also canning it and putting it in the freezer for the winter.
Our Georgia relatives, being a little bit further west, got corn a little bit later than we did. It was always a treat to go up there in late July or early August because there would be fresh corn again.
Our great-grandmother, Mama Belle, had a special pan she cooked corn in. She also cooked cobblers in it, but it was mainly reserved for corn. She would cut the corn off the cob, throw it in the pan with some butter or bacon grease and a little salt, and let it simmer for hours.The pan went to Mama and is now mine. It is on the stove right now full of corn.
Not only am I having the best food in the world for dinner, but I am having warm happy memories of people I loved. I think I'll go get a couple of Legare Farms ribeyes to go with that corn. It doesn't get any better than this.
Calendar
- June 23rd Canning Class
- June 20-24 Summer Camp 9-11 year olds
- June 25 BrewMoo Beer Festival
- July 11-15 Summer Camp 6-8 year olds
- September 17th Backyard Chicken Workshop
- October Pumpkin Patch
Feature of the Month
The BrewMoo Beer Festival is this coming Saturday 6/25/16 from 4 till 9 pm. We have 10 local breweries participating. The breweries include: Palmetto Brewing, Holy City Brewing, Tradesman Brewing Co., Freehouse Brewery, Fat Pig Brewing Company, Oak Road Brewery, Low Tide Brewing, The Frothy Beard Brewing Company, Snafu Brewing Company, and Revelry Brewing Co. We will have music by Sunflower and Sin duet and the Mason Dixon Band. We'll have Legare Farms' hamburgers and sliders , and hotdogs, along with Britton's BBQ. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the gate. Tickets will include 5 food/drink coupons. You can purchase tickets at http://legarefarms.com/pages/the-brew-moo.
Special of the Month
Get your ground beef for the 4th of July picnics. Ground beef is on sale for $5/lb.
Recipe of the Month: Corn Fritters
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup corn kernels
Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt; then slowly add egg and milk. Mix well then add corn. Drop batter in pancake shapes in lard or butter in frying pan. Turn when bubbly.
We try to be open every Saturday 9 till noon so come by and visit.
If you have any questions or suggestions, call or email us,
Helen Legare-Floyd
Legare Farms
2620 Hanscombe Pt Rd
Johns Island, SC 29455
843-559-0788
info@legarefarms.com
www.legarefarms.com
www/facebook.com/legarefarms