We had more wind and more rain and then we woke up yesterday and discovered that summer was over; we all wore socks for the first time. Otis even wore two pairs. We fretted about our lack of winter plans and got batteries in the thermometer and talked about firewood and pre-warmed our coffee mugs before adding the brew.

It was … maybe 60 degrees, and it might seem we were over reacting, but nature is on the same page. The bracken ferns in our woods have all turned brown, and I’m pretty sure I heard a flock of geese honking southward.

The vegetable predator was caught on game cam in the high tunnel, and revealed to be not the woodchuck, but a rabbit. A motion alarm was set, and after several attempts I managed to catch it in the act amongst the peppers and tomatoes and end its reign of terror – and used the body as bait in an effort to bring the poultry slayer to justice.

The chicken predator, however, remains uncaptured, unkilled, and unidentified, and so our count of surviving chickens has fluctuated endlessly for two weeks – down by 2, then they reappeared. Then down by three, but one returned, shell shocked and not right in the head. Then up by 8 – while working far from the coop I hear a faint peeping, recognized as the reassuring motherly mutters of a hen to newborn chicks, and discovered that another of our hens had stashed and sat upon a clutch of eggs.

These, we moved immediately to safety – whatever our local killer is, it is relentless and the joy of having the chicken clans milling about has been blunted by the fear of when death would next come ripping through the flock.

Foraging this week has turned toward mushrooms; the lobsters keep coming, and the shrimp of the woods have started popping as well.

Inside Box 13

Farmer Kristin sez:

• Tomatoes – did you know you can freeze them whole?
  
• Cherry tomatoes
  https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/roasted-cherry-tomatoes/
  
• Eggplant
  I plan on making this recipe this week:
  https://www.loveandlemons.com/eggplant-salad/
  
• Peppers 
  Fresh, sautéed, roasted. Also an easy vegetable to freeze, as they don’t require blanching. Just chop up and seal in a bag.
  
• Zucchini 
  Zucchini fritters, zucchini pancakes, zucchini gratin, zucchini bread (savory, spiced, chocolate) zucchini ice cream, zucchini noodles, zucchini gazpacho … the possibilities are nearly as endless as the zucchini are.
  
• Onion
  
• Bok choi 
  I really love the crunch of Bok choi stems. We ate them raw along with other thin sliced fresh vegetables as part of rice noodle salads this past week. Margaret gave me this killer sauce recipe:
  https://www.recipetineats.com/thai-chicken-satay-peanut-sauce/
  
• Carrots – Finally! 
  
• Radishes 
  
• Edamame 
  We haven’t had a good edamame year in awhile, but this year they are doing good, so enjoy another round! If you don’t want to eat them right away you can blanch and freeze in pod for later enjoyment 
  
• Basil
  
• Mint
  
• Sunflower microgreens