Zenger Farm

Most peppers belong to summer, but poblanos feel like fall. Which works out, because we don’t want to turn the oven on to roast a pepper until the days get shorter anyway.

With most hot peppers, we know they’re ready when they hit their true color. Poblanos turn deep red at maturity, and at that point they’re called anchos. But we pick ours green, so color doesn’t tell us much. Instead we look at the shoulders. When they’re well developed and cup around the stem, the seeds and the spicy pith they cling to have come along far enough to give us the heat we want.

This week’s Sharecast is here! CSA members can expect bok choi, romaine lettuce, Astiana sauce tomatoes, hot peppers, poblano peppers, and Petit Marseillais peppers in their share this Thursday. A few of the following might also make an appearance: celery, cabbage, kale, and carrots.

Last call for bulk tomatoes! The weather’s turning and our tomatoes are slowing down with it. If you’ve still got canning or preserving plans, email [email protected] with your order this week and we’ll have it ready at pickup.

Volunteers needed! We’re taking part in Community Impact Week with Hands On Greater Portland this year. Join us Thursday, October 8th from 9am to 12pm to plant natives in one of our hedgerows and spread mulch.

Hedgerows earn their keep around here. They feed pollinators when our crops aren’t flowering and give birds a place to live. The plants you put in will eventually outcompete and shade out the invasive weeds like blackberry and garlic mustard.

No experience needed. Open to anyone 12 and up. Sign up at our link in bio.

Save the date for our Harvest Festival! Join us Saturday, October 17 from 1-4pm for a friendly neighborhood celebration of the farm’s fall abundance. We’ll have fresh produce in our market, seasonal eats, farm activities and crafts, local vendors, live music, and more. Entry is $10. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for details!

It’s hard to believe we’re three quarters of the way through the season already. After Thursday there are only six share weeks left! And, for these last six weeks, we’re excited to offer a fall fruit share in partnership with Kiyokawa Family Orchards.

Apples, pears, and whatever else they have coming off the trees, picked up at the farm on Thursdays, though you don’t need to be a CSA member to join. Signups close this Sunday, September 20th.

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This week’s Sharecast is here! CSA members can expect heirloom tomatoes, Jimmy Nardello peppers, bok choi, hot peppers, collards, and red beets in their share this Thursday. A few of the following might also make an appearance: shish*to peppers, eggplant, and tomatillos.

Canning, freezing, or pickling this year? We’ve got bulk tomatoes available for CSA members, ready to add to your Thursday pickup so you can skip the farmers market trip.

Astiana sauce tomatoes are 10lbs for $35, heirlooms are 10lbs for $30, and a B-grade mix of both is 10lbs for $20. Email [email protected] with your order and we’ll have it waiting for you.

Big delivery day today! We just dropped off heirloom tomatoes at New Seasons Market on Woodstock, Seven Corners, and Hawthorne, and loaded up Bon Appétit at Reed College with tomatoes, shish*tos, collards, and Italian plums.

If you’re in SE, you can grab our heirlooms at any of the three New Seasons. And if you’re a Reedie, just hop on down to the Commons!

And just like that, it’s September. We’d say we can’t believe it, but the rain and the chill have made that hard to argue with. Time to break out the cozy sweaters and the soup pot.

This week’s Sharecast is here! CSA members can expect heirloom tomatoes, Petit Marseillais sweet peppers, eggplant, hot peppers, carrots, and parsley at pickup this Thursday. A few of the following might also make an appearance: shish*to peppers, kale, lettuce, and tomatillos.

Our summer fruit share with Kiyokawa Family Orchards is wrapping up, and the fall round starts September 24th. It’s six weeks of fruit, running through the end of our CSA season, and it’s open to everyone. Sign up at the link in bio.

The rain’s here, so we’re out picking tomatoes as fast as we can. Ripe ones drink up water quickly once it starts coming down, and the skins split from the inside out, so it’s a race to get them off the vine before they crack.

The pleated ones you’re seeing are Astiana. As tempting as it is to bite right into one, they’re really meant for the pot. They’ve been bred for sauce and for Oregon’s cool, wet weather, and their flavor doesn’t come alive until you cook them down.

Nobody grows Astiana commercially, so we save our own seed every year. That means choosing fruit from the strongest vines and the ones that taste best cooked, which is why we set the first crop aside for a big side-by-side taste test. Once we’ve saved seed from the winners, the rest is ours to eat and share.