2010 Season, Week Seven

June 26, 2010 newsletter

This week's harvest:
Green Beans
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
Zucchini (medium shares)
Garlic
Onions
Basil
Swiss Chard
Beets & Greens
Red Cabbage or Broccoli or Lettuce

This week's farm news:

Well, we were worried we were going to miss out on all the rain that y'all seemed to be getting in Nashville but on Thursday we finally got a substantial rain! About 1.5 inches. It was welcome, too! Now lots of our crops are "laid by" (local lingo meaning your crop "has got it made" & requires very little attention until harvest). We are always amazed at how quickly the seasons turn. The summer solstice has passed for another year. For us, the earth is beginning to tilt away from the sun. Spring crops are fading & summer crops are ripening. We worked on starting lots of fall crops in soil blocks this week -- broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, etc. Eric planted one more variety of winter squash as well as pumpkins. He also sowed buckwheat in between the rows of winter squash as a cover crop that will later be rolled or scythed and left on the ground as a mulch for the vines to ramble across & to protect the soil. And the crew harvested more than half of our onion crop and beautifully laid them out to dry in our dual-purpose greenhouse which is now too hot for seedlings but just right for drying onions. It was a great week on the farm but we're looking forward to what's in store for next week -- sweet corn, eggplant, peppers, & our first few tomatoes... all those delicious pleasures of summertime!