Saturday, June 29, 2013

2013 Season, week 7

June 29, 2013

This week's harvest:
"Indy Gold" Yellow Beans
Yellow Summer Squash
Zucchini
Garlic
Baby Onions
Basil
Dill
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Hot Peppers
Elephant Garlic
Swiss Chard - free choice

This week's farm news:

First of all, I'd like to say a word about the elephant garlic that is in your CSA baskets this week: we've been saving this seed for several years now and this is the first time we've had enough to give all of you. However... even though it is impressive to look at because of its size, we are undecided about continuing to grow it because we are not sold on the flavor - which is much more like an onion than garlic - since in all of our taste tests it gives a slightly bitter aftertaste. The most appealing way we've prepared it is roasted and then mashed with olive oil & salt (served on toast). So, we want your input! Please tell us how you prepare yours and if you like it or not. We don't really want to grow a crop that isn't good to eat! If you give it a thumbs up, we'll keep on growing it! Have a fabulous week and enjoy this week's harvest!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

2013 Season, week 6

June 20, 2013

This week's harvest:
Cabbage
Lettuce - "Jericho" and/or "Pablo Batavian"
Swiss Chard
Yellow Squash
Green Onions
Garlic
Basil

This week's farm news:

Happy Summer Solstice!! As we officially enter into the summer season, you are going to see a shift in what you find in your CSA baskets each week. There's going to be a lot fewer greens now (which prefer the cooler weather of spring). Soon, soon, soon we'll have tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, sweet corn, and lots of other crops that love summer heat.

This week in the garden, we planted our butternut squash, Indian corn, and pumpkins. We transplanted more summer lettuce and our late tomato crop. Many helping hands worked together on erecting a 300' trellis for our lima beans. Eric also put up a small trellis for our (supposedly) "bush" beans that are developing runners. The seed source said "a small percentage may develop runners." About 85% of ours are! That's not just a small percentage! Oh well, now the beans have the support they need and should do just fine. Otherwise this week, we are still having lots of fun with our Nashville friends that are visiting. Eric & I were even able to slip away from our farm duties for a day to have a little date. It's been a good week! To see photos from the week, visit our blog.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

2013 Season, week 5

June 15, 2013

This week's harvest:
Lettuce - "Deer Tongue" or "Jericho"
Carrots
Beets
Kohlrabi
Swiss Chard
Garlic Scapes
Green Onions
Yellow Summer Squash
Broccoli

This week's farm news:

We had our first real taste of summer weather this week with a few days of heat and sun. But it felt good to sweat and get a little kissed by the sun. And now we're back to mild breezy weather. Not a bad spring at all! In fact, the solstice is just around the corner... Summer's officially beginning. We'll see what's in store for the summer season's weather!

In the garden this week, there was a lot of cultivation work accomplished. (Did I say a lot? Yes... A lot!) Pretty much everything that was cultivate-able got cultivated... Either by hand or by tractor (and sometimes by both!)

Jesse and Hannah were mulching heroes this week, unrolling big bales of old hay throughout the garden and generally getting absolutely filthy and itchy. Bless them.

We have some fabulous visitors with us here on the farm. For the next few weeks, our dear friends the Stewart family, will be calling our barn "home". Hooray! It's such a pleasure to have them here. All of our children have formed quite a posse and are fully living each day. So, so much fun!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

2013 Season, week 4

June 3, 2013

This week's harvest:
Lettuce - "Sweet Valentine" or "Red Deer Tongue"
Swiss Chard
Kohlrabi
Broccoli
Kale - "Red Russian"
Carrots
Beets - medium shares this week, much more to come!
Garlic Scapes
Green Onions
Hakurei Salad Turnips - free choice

This week's farm news:

We've had rain practically every other day this week and we are sure not complaining! It's amazing! We were comparing this growing season to last - and what a difference! By this time last year, the rain had stopped and the heat was intolerable!

This week in the garden we got our sweet potatoes in the ground. We seized a moment when the soil was just barely dry enough to fiddle with and voila! That's a big deal for us as sweet potatoes are our family's number one staple food. With Eric and myself, and Jesse and Hannah (Livi was a good helper as well) the planting was swift, efficient, and wonderfully pleasant. Hooray!

The okra was also planted into the garden this week and Eric potted-up our late tomatoes to bigger soil blocks. Otherwise, our greenhouses are practically empty right now - everything is in the garden soil now! (Except, of course, lettuce - we are constantly starting that crop to try and have it all season long.)

With so many days of wet gardens, Eric moved on to some building projects and finished our kiwi trellis. For the first time ever, our kiwi vines have set fruit!

Sunday, June 2, 2013

2013 Season, week 3

June 1, 2013

This week's harvest:
Mixed Lettuce
Swiss Chard
"Red Russian" Kale
Cilantro
"Hakurei" Salad Turnips
"Easter Egg" Radishes
Garlic Scapes ("Pigtails")
Spinach - free choice
Broccoli or Kohlrabi

This week's farm news:

The week was a busy one. So many things happened this week that I probably can't fit it all here. But the highlights of the week were a new calf, which we are bottle-feeding because the mama caw failed to bond with her. The calf seems healthy & strong, thankfully! We moved the two-month-old pullets (female chicks) "up on the hill" to be integrated with the older birds. We raise our poultry near our house so we can keep a closer eye on them at first... But our yard is small and with those 100-plus chicks, Ira's 40-plus ducks, 4 bottle lambs, a dog, & 3 children running around, our homestead was turning into a funny farm! So I was particularly happy to get the chicks on the pasture.

In the garden, we transplanted cucumbers, melons, and basil. We sowed lima beans and a cover crop of soybeans & buckwheat in prep for the fall garden. We started our late tomatoes, okra, and more summer lettuce in soil blocks. We mulched down a thick cover crop of vetch for those late tomatoes - giving the green matter time to decompose before we need to set out the plants. Jesse and Hannah staked and caged our main season tomatoes and, boy, do they look awesome! And Farmer Eric spent countless hours on the tractor this week cultivating and doing lots of ground preparation. He was pretty relieved for the Friday afternoon rains, giving him a forced and necessary rest! To see photos from the week, visit our blog!