What do I do with all this squash!?

If you've got a squash or zucchini plant you may be trying frantically to use it as quickly as the plant produces. Or if you are like me, you have probably killed yours. Fortunately, our neighbors are delivering squash and zucchini weekly from what seem to be the most prolific plants in the world.

If you don't have access to a garden, keep in mind that this stuff is in season! Visit a farmers market and get a great deal on what's in season here in Colorado and support your local farmers.

My husband, Mark and I tried this recipe on Sunday and it was delicious, easy and healthy too! We modified a few things from the original recipe to use up the few things that I've managed not to kill in our garden. (i.e. pepper and parsley)

Feel free to make your own modifications to make this recipe your own.

Here's what we used -

6 medium sized squash
1lb hamburger
1/4 red onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
1 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Optional Toppings (be creative)

Pasta Sauce
Parsley
or Cheese

Boil the squash for 10 ten minutes until you can lift it out with tongs and poke a toothpick into it. Remove the squash from the water, and set it aside to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

While the squash is cooling lightly brown hamburger with 1/4 - 1/2 cup water to keep it moist. (Don't over brown it as you will be baking it as well and it will get too dry.) After you've browned the hamburger add garlic, onion, pepper and bread crumbs and mix that up. Cover and set to the side.

Cut the stems off of the squash and split them in half. Scoop out seeds and leave the flesh. Scoop in hamburger mix by the spoonful into the squash.

Lightly oil the bottom of a pyrex dish and place halves in the dish. For extra taste you may add the following toppings. Pasta sauce, parsley or cheese!

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 min.

This will make 12 halves. Mark ate 3.5 halves and I ate 1.5... We have plenty of left overs but I'm looking forward to popping it in the microwave for a healthy easy lunch today.

Enjoy!

Krista

Purple Haze

In May we planted 6000 lavender plants on the hill side just to the East of our fish pond. Now, they are just little plants that need lots of loving care. We all take turns walking the lavender and checking for plants that may not be getting enough water or struggling a bit. Even with out the large purple branches you run your hand over the plant and it stirs up a strong lavender smell that fills your nose. I imagine, a few years from now you'll be able to smell it from a half mile away!

Lavender can be used for many different things, cooking, oils, candles, potpourri, lotions, perfumes and more! We look forward to sending the smell your way!

Check out this cool article on the front page of the post that mentions OUR field!

http://www.denverpost.com/frontpage/ci_15572869

A day in the life of a kid on the farm....

By Theresa May 13 years old

Every morning I get up about 6:30 and go down to feed the animals. We have 2 donkeys, Dolly and Clementine who get 2 flakes of hay and 9 goats who get 5 flakes of hay. My favorite goat is Peanut. She's the small white one. Her pictures are on the facebook page. My brother and I also feed the chickens, ducks, geese and cats. We check their water and make sure they have enough through out the day on really hot days like today.

When I am all done with the animal's chores, I get a hoe out of the shed and jump on the four wheeler and drive down to the pumpkin patch and start hoeing out all of the weeds. We hoe out the weeds so that they do not grow over the pumpkins and take water away from them. We do that early in the morning while it's still cool and not scorching hot. We usually are down there for 3 hours.

After we finish with that there are lots of jobs around the farm like laying down or picking up irrigation pipe that we use to water some of the other crops like the corn, wheat or pumpkins. Some days we have to mow all of the grass or check the garden and lavender that we have planted.

At May Farms we often have events during the week in the event center, like business lunches and we help serve food and clear plates. After the event we will clean up the building and set up for the next event.

At the end of the day when it cools off my brother and I usually go fishing in the pond or go four wheeling in the creek. By the end of the day we're all pretty tired from all of the hard work we have done and we try to rest to get ready to do it all again tomorrow!

How I learned to pick sweet corn...

The summer before my Junior year of High School, my sister Veronica and I took on what our parents called "a good learning experience." With 10 acres of land at our disposal we ventured out to grow sweet corn as our summer "money maker." In addition to our everyday chores on the farm we spent hours planting, watering and many long hot days in the sun caring for what was sure to be our cash cow. We walked between the corn rows digging up weeds, checking for bugs and signs of raccoons or deer nibbling our crop.

We made it through the early summer and the harvest season was upon us. As the corn ripened, each morning we would pick a trunk load of ears and sold them 10 for $1 out of the back of our 1976 Lincoln Continental by the fire house in our small town. We sold to people passing through, locals and even to the owner of the local grocery store. We took orders from old ladies for pre-shucked corn which they spent hours scraping off the cob and freezing for the winter. We stuffed full 13 gallon trash bags of shucked corn and delivered it to their front door for an extra couple of bucks. I think we only made $250 a piece that summer....But we were left with tan skin, toned muscles and dirty finger nails. Though much of that has faded I still recall some of the best memories of my life from that summer, the value of hard work and of course how to pick the perfect ear of corn.

So this summer when you're at the farmers market choosing corn on the cob consider these tips:

• fully ripened sweet corn has bright green, moist husks.
• the silk should be stiff, dark and moist.
• when grabbing hold of the ear it should feel thick.
• you should be able to feel the individual kernels by pressing gently against the husk.
• once you pick it - refrigerate (keep cool & moist) until cooking to keep the corn sweet.

Fresh corn, if possible should be cooked and served the day it's picked for the best flavor, if you wait too long after picking they lose their sweetness. That's why corn from a farmers market always tastes the best!

Hope to see you at our farmers market this summer!

Krista
www.mayfarms.com

On the way to the speedway!

Last week we hosted the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press (RMAP) for a breakfast and luncheon. They were brought a group of writers out to test and write about vehicles they got to drive at the two new race tracks just outside of Byers. This article about our farm and photo of Gary & Stacie was on the front page of the DRIVE section in the Denver post on Sunday! We enjoyed hosting the group and have a great time accommodating people who think outside of the box -- just like us!

New addition to the May Family!

We are happy to announce the newest addition to the May Family! Gary's nephew Jeremie and his wife Stephanie had their first boy, Liam James Knight, born April 23rd 2010 at 9:15. He is 7 lbs 14oz and 19 inches long.

Easter Prime Rib

So... in celebration of Easter we decided to have an meal and make one of our signature prime ribs. When we do an event for a guest it's not very often we get to sit down and actually enjoy the benefits of the meals we prepare. I am sure many of you with busy households can relate!

What a special treat!

Here's the secret! Our signature prime rib is rubbed with garlic, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and celery salt, slow cooked for several hours making special note not to over cook because when you pull it from the oven to let it rest it continues to cook. Those flavors some how touch every fiber of the meat. A good prime rib should always be pink! We serve it with horseradish however, I don't think it needs it. It was delicious ... an office Easter to remember!