Here we go…now that fair is over, it is the mad dash to fall. These last weeks of summer are filled with so much harvesting and preparing for winter. But don’t get me wrong, we are soaking up the warm days, beautiful sunsets and all the summer fun before fall sets in!

We just spent the entire last week at the Western Montana Fair with our son, Gus. He showed his final 4H steer plus he entered 4H projects in Communications and Leadership. He gratefully sold his steer to Neptune Aviation (very appropriate since he leaves for flight school this Sunday and his steer’s name was Cessna!)! Plus, he received lots of generous add-on’s to his sale price. We have the most generous and supportive community in Missoula! They love their farm kids and it is so appreciated! Gus also earned top awards in his Communications and Leadership projects…walking away with the top award in both those areas! This was his 10 and final fair. It is our family’s 15th year of having kiddos showing animals so it was a bittersweet week for us! We are the Club leaders for Blue Mountain 4H and we plan on continuing that role so we aren’t completely done with 4H and the fair! Yay!

The gardens are hard to keep up with these days! Things are definitely at their height. Today, I stood and looked at everything and noticed the subtle changes in the plants indicating their readiness to be done. Their vibrant green color is fading to a deeper, less bright green, the under leaves are starting to shrivel, and they are putting out as much seed as possible. All signs the plant is preparing for the end of the season.

But this ending means one thing for all of us….we are eating well and abundantly! Now’s the time to enjoy all the fresh food! If you are into canning or freezing, it’s go time! If you need a bulk amount of a veggie or fruit for preserving, let us know! We may be doing a bulk canning sale this Saturday morning for peaches, tomatoes and such. Watch our social media for that announcement!

Here’s what’s in your bags today:

~Corn: We’ve picked a couple thousand ears already. We are nearing the end but still have some left out in the field. So enjoy!!

~Tomatoes: The tomatoes are coming on strong and heavy right now!

~Basil: A bit of basil to go with your tomatoes! I just made a tomato, onion and basil salad for dinner. I drizzled some of the Mushroom Lovers’ olive oil from the Farm Store on the veggies & sprinkled some salt & pepper, gently mixed it and then topped it off with a hefty drizzle of Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar! I know that sounds weird but wow, it is so good!

~Peppers (Sweet bells and spicy jalapenos!)

~Broccoli: Amazing to have broccoli this late in the season. Usually it gets quiet in the late summer before hitting it again when the cooler fall temps hit. We’ll take broccoli anytime we can get it!

~Nectarines: We took a box of these to the fair to have as a healthy snack and once our 4H kids discovered them, they were GONE! So sweet and tasty!

Beets: Here is a fabulous recipe from Garden City Harvest for beets! Supposedly even non-beet lovers will love it! Is there such a thing as a beet hater???! What?!

• Serves 6

• INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium sized beets (should be around 1.5 lbs or 4 cups cubed beets)

• 1/2 a medium Walla Walla onion

• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or any oil you enjoy, at home I would use olive, but Safflower is definitely more local, if more refined)

• 4 oz feta (we used Feta-U-Beta from Lifeline Farms to keep it local and organic — whoop whoop!)

• Salt to taste

• HOW TO

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• Wash the beets and remove tops if still attached (and feel free to use for another dish!). Peel and chop beets into bite sized pieces. Chop coarsely, about the same size as the beets.

• Place beets and onions on a large cooking sheet (or two, best not to crowd the veggies). Cook until fork tender, approximately 20 – 30 minutes.

• Let the beets and onions cool enough so that they won’t melt the cheese when you toss it all together.

• While the beets are cooling, combine the crumbled cheese, safflower oil, and salt.

• Once cooled, combine all ingredients together and serve!

~Garlic: So many uses for it this week!

~Onions: Use in the beet recipe above!

FYI: We are having a Bulk Canning Sale this Saturday, August 19th from 9a-12p at the Market Garage (across from the Farm Store). We will have peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, tomatoes, peppers and more! Buy a little or a lot! It’s the season to stock up!