Sunday, September 26, 2010

S.O.S.

Somehow I managed to distract myself at the farm pickup yesterday and forgot to grab a newsletter. If you have one you can get to me, please leave a comment here. Thanks!

2010 Season, Week Nineteen

September 18, 2010 newsletter

This week's harvest:

Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Okra
Green Beans
Eggplant
Onions
Garlic
Cilantro
Sweet Potato Greens

This week's farm news:

There was something both intensely exhilerating and profoundly intimidating about holding down the fort while the Smith family took their much-deserved vacation. But once we cancelled all of the parties and concerts we had planned, our nerves calmed immensely! This gave us the chance to concentrate on the one idea that brought us all here in the first place: running a farm.

Beth kicked off our solo run with a spectacular Sunday dinner of deviled eggs and fried green tomatoes which was, unbeknownst to everyone else, the envy of the world.

On Monday, it was discovered that the grasshoppers have yet to relent on their campaign to devour everything we plant. Beth noticed that they'd been feasting on our recently uncovered brassicae patch, and immediate action was required! So the crew and I set forth fortifying our maturing patch with row cover and metal hoops in a way that kept the insatiable grasshopper population out, while maintaining the integrity of our beautiful, yet fragile, cabbages & bok choy. After that, we're unsure what they feasted upon, but we ate a fresh salad with tomatoes & pickled squash, washing it all down with a nice, sweet glass of accomplishment.

Our good friends at Bell's Bend recommended that we try our sweet potato greens, and try we did - they found their way into nearly every meal we ate. In the spirit of that, we've decided (as your stand-in farmers) to offer these wonderful greens to our shareholders this week, along with a recipe we all found rather compelling. In general, treat them like you would spinach, though the stems might need a little extra cooking time. Don't feel the need to be gentle however, they are tough and can stand a good amount of heat!

On behalf of your Bugtussle interns, we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for supporting this farm, as it has provided an irreplaceable education and experience that would not be possible if it weren't for you! Thank you again, and have a great week!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

2010 Season, Week Eighteen

September 11, 2010 newsletter

This week's harvest:

Tomatoes
Green Beans
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Garlic
Onions
Winter Squash - "Sweet Dumpling" &/or "Honey Bear"

This week's farm news:

Well folks, today after market the Smith family is leaving for our annual vacation to the beach!! Yeah! For the next ten days the now very experienced crew will be running the farm on their own. We have no doubts that they will do an excellent job taking care of it all. We also thank them tremendously for their willingness to make our family vacation possible. So the Smiths will be seeing you in two weeks. Jesse and Beth will be taking care of the CSA and market next Saturday. I would like to ask all of you shareholders to help them out with your names and basket sizes. Thanks!

On the farm this week, other than doing lots of preparation for our vacation, we started more fall plants in soil blocks. Eric & crew also spread several loads of compost in preparation for planting the high tunnel & our garlic crop. We are greatly increasing the amount of garlic we're growing for next year so we've had to reserve more of this summer's harvest for seed. This is why the garlic you've been getting the past few weeks has been so much smaller. A little bit less now = lots more garlic next year!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

More details on the 2010 fall share

This year's eight-week fall season will begin Saturday, October 2 and will last until Saturday, November 20. It will include a wide variety of vegetables starting with a continuation of summer crops (tomatoes, peppers, etc.), a variety of lettuces, kale, Chinese cabbage, bok choi, arugula, mizuna, mustard, collards, Swiss chard, spinach, tatsoi, sweet potatoes, winter squashes (acorn, butternut, pumpkins), kohlrabi, celery, salad turnips, cilantro, daikon radishes, carrots, beets, and possibly even peanuts!

Pick up hours will be from 8am - 12pm

Small fall share = $175
Medium fall share = $275
Large fall share = $475

Make checks payable to Bugtussle Farm

Address: Bugtussle Farm
950 Rack Creek Road
Gamaliel, KY 42140
(270)457-BUGS
www.bugtusslefarm.com

2010 Season, Week Seventeen

September 4, 2010 newsletter

This week's harvest:

Sweet Red & Yellow Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Garlic & Onions
Basil
Okra
Green Beans or Yellow Squash for medium shares

This week's farm news:

It was a fairly quiet week. The temperatures have been dropping into the lower 50's at night. The leaves are dropping from the walnut trees. I say this every year but, mercy, the seasons pass so quickly.

Eric & crew cultivated the fall crops this week - all the while cursing the *$*!@*!! grasshoppers. They are voracious little things! But, they are on the menu for next week. We hope that if we turn the tables & shift their status from garden predator to prey, maybe they will leave us alone.

The high tunnel project is nearly complete. The goal is to add compost to the soil next week, till the soil to prepare for planting, & then we'll be ready to set transplants when we get home from our family vacation in a few weeks! Yeah! The light at the end of the "tunnel" (ha) for winter greens!

The most exciting event on the farm this week was hearing Ira's joy at finding his ducks' first few eggs!