csa days: boxes the sixth and seventh

 For as much as our farmers have been struggling this growing season, we CSA folks have been getting some unusual and fun things in our boxes!  Much appreciated!

Our sixth box contained a carton of blackberries (likely the last of the summer), a big head of cauliflower, a cantaloupe, tomatillos (!!), two ears of corn, a couple of chonky pears, two green peppers, a couple of peaches and one apple.  The berries and corn were consumed right away; the melon was chunked up for immediate consumption as well.  The peaches took a couple of days to ripen and the pears took a full week, but were really very good - and this coming from someone who doesn't prefer pears at all.  The tomatillos and peppers (plus a small zucchini and summer squash that were languishing in the crisper drawer) were eventually cooked down into a nicely spicy enchilada sauce for the freezer.  And that giant cauliflower (would rather have broccoli but better than more dang squash) was cut into florets, blanched and frozen for future use.

Psyched about those tomatillos

Box #7 had a couple more peaches (not yet ripe as of this posting), a couple of pears (ditto), a couple of nectarines (tart and sweet), small orange and red bell peppers, larger green peppers (love to get peppers - we use a lot of those), two ears of corn, a teeny zucchini, two tomatoes (!) about fifteen brussels sprouts (!!), another cauliflower, an onion and a cantaloupe.  The melon was cut immediately and eaten (good but it suffered in comparison to the Krenshaw melon we picked up in Green River) and the rest of the fruit was eaten as it ripened.  The corn: eaten day of, and better than the prior week.  The sprouts were blanched and frozen for future use - I'm picturing a big tray of roasted veg this winter.  And my hopes for this smaller cauliflower are to transform it into vegan buffalo wings, if it cools down enough to turn the oven on.  If not: florets, blanched, frozen.

Fun little peppers

ten miles

 Continuing with the incremental increase in distance project, A did ten miles up at Alta on Sunday.  (Saturday was spent with early morning dog walks (A and M), trail runs and bike rides (H), before it got back up to the triple digits.  This excessive heat is getting, well, excessive.  We're over it.)   It was already 80F at the house in the valley when I left to drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon, but a lovely 62F at the Albion base parking lot.  

Chunky whistle-pig

It's getting more difficult to put together the mileage I want to do up at Alta without also dramatically increasing the amount of uphill hiking.  I'm looking to challenge my distance, not elevation.  For this ten miler, I did what I did for the nine miler, with just a couple tweaks: up on Supreme, I decided not to do that half mile on the ridge towards Devil's Castle; when I got out of the campground, I veered right on another access road, which took me up to the top of the Sunnyside lift where I hopped back on the trail to the Catherine's Pass trailhead, before rejoining the regular route down Homerun.  

Past peak, still pretty

When I got to the Albion Meadows gate, I was at 8.4 miles.  It's only .6 miles to the car from that gate, so in order to meet my miles, I walked UP the Summer Road half a mile, before turning around and going back down to finish things up.

See those tiny yellow dots? Those

are the coneflower's actual flowers

There are noticeably fewer folks up hiking than even last week, and hardly any kids.  What there was a lot of this time were marmots.  I stopped to observe a big one and a small one under the Sunnyside lift; when I got up to Catherine's Area and Devil's Castle, I could hear a bunch of them yelling at me; and when I came back down to the CA trailhead, the big one was still there (I'm assuming it was the same one).  I also saw a couple of pikas up under the Castle - they also yelled at me.

Surveying his domain

Hike stats: 10.12 miles, 3:47 hours.  Would have been faster if I hadn't stopped to talk with the marmots.

csa day: box the fifth

 Got some high value stuff in this box (although I was sure we were supposed to get a melon too ...): green beans, sugar snap peas, a couple heads of broccoli, two cartons of blueberries, one carton of blackberries, a red onion, one each of zucchini and summer squash (sigh), big fat peaches, some donut peaches and a couple of ears of corn.

Request to double the berries and

halve the squash (wishful thinking)

As per usual, the corn and green beans got eaten post-haste.  The blackberries too - we snarfed those down quick (they're H's favorite).  The pea pods went to that tofu, rice and ginger sauce recipe; and half the broccoli went to a red pepper, tofu and rice noodle dish with a hoisin-peanut butter sauce.  Some of the blueberries went into morning oatmeal and the rest were snacked on - they were only okay but it's obvious that Maine blueberries are the best blueberries.  And the peaches were delicious just eaten on their own - no need to cook them down into pie filling this time.

nine miles

 After a couple of days respite, even with some scattered rain, SLC was right back up in its nonsense with triple digits for the weekend.  This of course involved getting up with (or before) the sun to do outdoors things (walking, trail-running, road riding, weeding) and then hunkering down indoors with A/C and cold drinks, grumbling all the while.  

Summer is over when fireweed

blooms to the top

But on Sunday, A did her early morning walking up at Alta, this time putting together a nine mile effort.  I pulled into my parking spot around 6:40 a.m., noting 61F and fewer cars than the last time I was up there.  We're now 2-3 weeks past peak wildflowers and that (thankfully) has cut down on the number of photo shoots and looky-loos.  I mean, it's still busy but it's not quite as busy.

Flax (maybe)

Since I was looking to do nine miles, my route was like last time (8 miles) except that I would take the high road to Cecret Lake (adding another .5 miles) and going out and back a little bit up atop Supreme to make the mileage.  After two miles, I'd seen three mule deer, four hummingbirds and one fake "service dog."  No brides, though.  Just over three miles got me to Catherine's Pass and the sky was noticeably smoky - not terrible but definitely a yellow/gray tinge.

New Roka sunglasses (old everything else)

At the top of Supreme, I did a .25 mile out and back on the trail up to Devil's Castle, turning around just when it started to get some exposure.  On my way back, I passed a couple of hikers who were intending to do Devil's Castle; I wished them well and did not at all wish I was going with them.  Five miles found me halfway down Rock N Roll, just before turning off the cat track/dirt road onto the hiking/MTBing trail that goes under the Apron to the lake.  I had to pause for a couple of minutes there under the Apron when a very brave pika ventured within a couple feet of me.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo - I didn't want to move and startle the little guy - but SO CUTE.  Bigger than a hamster but smaller than a guinea pig, and looking like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit.

Definitely a tinge of smoke

6.2 miles brought me to not-so-Cecret Lake and the hordes of people on its shores and making their way up and down the rocky switchbacks.  It is fantastic that the mountains are so close to the city (that's why we moved here, of course) but I sure do wish some of these folks understood trail etiquette.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Luckily, it was all downhill and I finished up the last miles without incident, getting back to the car with a distance of 9.05 miles and a time of 3:36.  A bottle of Gatorade, a sneaky beer and a packet of trail mix later, there was nothing left to do but go back down into the heat.  Can I put together ten miles next weekend?

Flowers holding on at higher elevations

pie and beer weekend

Here in Utah, July 24th is Pioneer Day, the state holiday celebrating the Mormon pioneers' arrival in 1847.  For the non-Mormons among us, it is known as Pie and Beer Day and is a welcome day off from work.  Since it fell on Friday this year, we of course loaded up the car with t-shirts and the dog and went off down to Moab.  "In July?" you say, "isn't Moab stupid-hot in July?"  Well, yes, it did hit 106F but in all honesty, it really wasn't that much cooler in SLC, thanks to the heat dome parked over the west.

Morning light against the cliffs

The heat just means you have to get up and get going early, if you're of a mind to do things outdoors.  On Friday, while H did a five mile trail run, A and Milton drove to Millcreek Canyon for a four mile hike.  The creek is still flowing, but not a lot.  We made sure to be out the door by 6 a.m., getting to the trailhead before the sun had come up over the La Sals.  This time of year, if you go early enough, this hike keeps you out of the sun until the last quarter mile or so, so it's a good one with dogs.  After the trail time, H and A got on their road bikes for a 21 mile ride along the river/up to Arches NP/back along the river.  It was a bit too late in the morning for A, however, who struggled with the growing heat.

Total goober

So on Saturday, H did a six mile trail run, and then did a solo road ride (20 miles), while A and M returned to Millcreek for a 5.8 mile hike.  This time we went up the canyon a little further, crossing over to the other side (and flailing somewhat through the prickly plant matter) for the walk back down canyon.  We paused to chat with another hiker and throw a ball for his rescue dog (Milton watched, completely baffled as to why anyone would want to chase and retrieve a ball), and then chatted briefly with our neighbor A and her dog.  She was getting an admittedly late start and decided to bail out on Millcreek and instead drive up into the mountains for a hike to Clark Lake.

Art shot!

Sunday qualified as a partial rest day in that none of us went out on foot (other than an on-leash neighborhood walk for Milton).  But H and A got on their road bikes and did another 20 miles on the bike path.  Since we hadn't gone hiking/running first, we were able to start before 7, which definitely helped with the heat.  A was faster than she'd been on Friday (but by no means fast).

Goober in motion

Other weekend activities included reading, crossword puzzles and drinking beers with friends.

csa days: boxes the third and fourth

 Ask any Utah farmer (of human food, not the alfafa farmers who take more than their fair share of water, grow hay and sell it to China for their cattle) and they'll tell you that 2026 has been a rough year.  The super warm March that caused the stone fruit trees to blossom early, only to lose those blooms - and nearly the whole stone fruit crop - with subsequent hard frosts.  The little-to-no rain we've had.  And now the really hot summer with multiple triple-digit temperatures in northern Utah, making the food crops ready faster, but also shortening the season for cooler weather veg, like lettuces.  Even now, the green beans and corn are tougher sooner.  But I'm still proud to support local growers through our CSA and am excited every week to see what we get in our boxes.  It encourages creativity in meal planning and keeps money local.

Regular carrots this time

Our third box had a good, if on the verge of overripe, cantaloupe, carrots, apricots, donut peaches, green beans, five (!) ears of corn, a cucumber, a zucchini and sugar snap peas.  We ate the corn and beans ASAP, of course; and had the peas, still in their pods, sauteed in a ginger sauce with tofu and rice.  The melon and cucumber got eaten and the stone fruit was flash-frozen for baking later.

I prefer regular watermelon to yellow,

but we'll make it work

Box #4 contained a yellow watermelon, a cantaloupe, four ears of corn, green beans, pickling cucumbers, a couple of squashes, regular peaches and donut peaches.  Again, the corn and beans were consumed immediately.  The melons were chunked up and about half the watermelon was flash-frozen for margaritas, while the rest were eaten - sweet enough for dessert.  The squashes were shredded and flash-frozen (I'm imagining zucchini bread, cornbread filled with zucchini and zucchini fritters, all when it gets cool enough to cook).  Still haven't come up with something for the little cukes: there are only a handful of them, so maybe a very small batch of refrigerator pickles.