July 17, 2010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Patty Pan Squash
Basil
Garlic
Onions
Hot Peppers
Red Peppers or Zucchini or Cucumbers (small shares choose one, medium shares choose two)
"Peace" Yellow Watermelons for medium shares
This week's farm news:
Wow! Here we are at week 10 already! Halfway through the main summer season! The season is really zooming along for us this year. The tomatoes are really (finally) coming in now as are the melons. Next week we should see the second crop of sweet corn, yellow wax beans, cucumbers, & many more watermelons. This week we gleaned the very first of the watermelons & there were just enough for the medium shares but, no worries, next week everyone will get one!
We had a big group of farmers & their interns visit the farm on Wednesday. There were about 40 folks in attendance. We are part of a regional group of farmers that host these events so that our interns have a chance to meet interns from other farms as well as have exposure to other farms' management practices. Eric took all the visitors on an extensive farm tour with a few demonstrations along the way... Like our method of soil block making; various cultivating tools & techniques; & of course he showed the way we move our animals to a new paddock on a daily (or twice daily) pasture rotation. We finished up the tour at the swimming hole where everyone got revived before eating a big potluck feast!
Sunday, July 25
Swimming & Potluck Picnic at Bugtussle
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
2010 Season, Week Nine
July 10, 2010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
Basil
Onions
Garlic
Patty Pan Squash
Zucchini and/or Eggplant
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Cilantro
Peppers - Hot
This week's farm news:
Every year, shortly after the summer solstice, the insects really turn up their volume... Actually, sometimes if feels like they are laughing at us! During the day it's the cicadas with their rattlesnake-like songs reminding us that it's hot & dry. During the night it's the katydids startling us from slumber with their abrupt "yank-yanks". In the garden the harlequin beetles & grasshoppers are just waiting for us to set out our luscious juicy succulent fall transplants - if the plants make it beyond the onslaught of flea beetles that found the shade house & thus began their feast on those just mentioned plants. Oh, & did I mention the flies? The flies like to remind us of every single spot & morsel of food that we failed to clean off the kitchen counters. Oh, the bugs. Maybe this lamentation sounds a bit like a complaint? To some degree it is as the bugs to represent one of my greater summertime challenges. But I'll take that challenge in exchange for all the unbelievable food that I get to enjoy every single day! Fresh tomatoes straight from the vine, crispy sweet red peppers, fat juicy watermelons, handfuls of blueberries here and there. While sitting here writing this & thinking about our food, I realize that now my mouth is watering & I've stopped itching all of my mosquito bites! The food makes it all bearable!
Reminder: Sunday, July 25
Swimming & Potluck at the Farm
This week's harvest:
Basil
Onions
Garlic
Patty Pan Squash
Zucchini and/or Eggplant
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Cilantro
Peppers - Hot
This week's farm news:
Every year, shortly after the summer solstice, the insects really turn up their volume... Actually, sometimes if feels like they are laughing at us! During the day it's the cicadas with their rattlesnake-like songs reminding us that it's hot & dry. During the night it's the katydids startling us from slumber with their abrupt "yank-yanks". In the garden the harlequin beetles & grasshoppers are just waiting for us to set out our luscious juicy succulent fall transplants - if the plants make it beyond the onslaught of flea beetles that found the shade house & thus began their feast on those just mentioned plants. Oh, & did I mention the flies? The flies like to remind us of every single spot & morsel of food that we failed to clean off the kitchen counters. Oh, the bugs. Maybe this lamentation sounds a bit like a complaint? To some degree it is as the bugs to represent one of my greater summertime challenges. But I'll take that challenge in exchange for all the unbelievable food that I get to enjoy every single day! Fresh tomatoes straight from the vine, crispy sweet red peppers, fat juicy watermelons, handfuls of blueberries here and there. While sitting here writing this & thinking about our food, I realize that now my mouth is watering & I've stopped itching all of my mosquito bites! The food makes it all bearable!
Reminder: Sunday, July 25
Swimming & Potluck at the Farm
Saturday, July 3, 2010
2010 Season, Week Eight
July 3, 1010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
Sweet Corn
Basil
Broccoli &/or Red or Green Cabbage
Zucchini &/or Eggplant
Lettuce (Tom Thumb or Jericho)
Yellow Squash
Hot Peppers
Tomatoes (just the beginning!)
Garlic
Onions
This week's farm news:
We had a little bit more rain move through our farm this week (2/10") and afer that the temperatures were drastically cooler than they had been. In fact, it was 54 degrees on our porch this morning. That's quite a change from last week when night-time temperatures never went below 70 degrees. It's so refreshing to not always feel sticky & coated in a layer of sweat!
The crew completed another round of garden cultivation this week after last week's heavy rainshower so the gardens look beautiful & well-tended. We have been enjoying our first tomatoes this week & made several small batches of salsa - one of our summertime staples! We're also enjoying the first round of sweet corn that you're getting in this week's basket. It was a fairly small patch so there's not a tremendous amount, nonetheless still a delicious treat. And a reminder... earworms love sweet corn as much as you & I, so if (when!) you find a worm in your corn just cut the tip off & you're good to go! (We use no chemicals in the growing of our crops & have found no feasible way to deter the hungry little critters.)
And finally, we would like to invite all of you to the farm on Sunday, July 25 for a potluck picnic/swimming party. Come for the day & see where your food is grown; meet the chickens, cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys, & ducks; & see our homestead where we live happily "off-the-grid", and, of course, we'll visit the swimming hole at the creek and share a delicious meal!
This week's harvest:
Sweet Corn
Basil
Broccoli &/or Red or Green Cabbage
Zucchini &/or Eggplant
Lettuce (Tom Thumb or Jericho)
Yellow Squash
Hot Peppers
Tomatoes (just the beginning!)
Garlic
Onions
This week's farm news:
We had a little bit more rain move through our farm this week (2/10") and afer that the temperatures were drastically cooler than they had been. In fact, it was 54 degrees on our porch this morning. That's quite a change from last week when night-time temperatures never went below 70 degrees. It's so refreshing to not always feel sticky & coated in a layer of sweat!
The crew completed another round of garden cultivation this week after last week's heavy rainshower so the gardens look beautiful & well-tended. We have been enjoying our first tomatoes this week & made several small batches of salsa - one of our summertime staples! We're also enjoying the first round of sweet corn that you're getting in this week's basket. It was a fairly small patch so there's not a tremendous amount, nonetheless still a delicious treat. And a reminder... earworms love sweet corn as much as you & I, so if (when!) you find a worm in your corn just cut the tip off & you're good to go! (We use no chemicals in the growing of our crops & have found no feasible way to deter the hungry little critters.)
And finally, we would like to invite all of you to the farm on Sunday, July 25 for a potluck picnic/swimming party. Come for the day & see where your food is grown; meet the chickens, cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys, & ducks; & see our homestead where we live happily "off-the-grid", and, of course, we'll visit the swimming hole at the creek and share a delicious meal!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
2010 Season, Week Six
June 19, 2010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
"Sweet Valentine" Lettuce
Green Beans
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
Fresh Garlic
Basil
Broccoli
Beets & Greens
Swiss Chard
This week's farm news:
The crew had a super busy & productive week - despite the heat & everyone's desires to sit in the creek & sip kombucha! (Our current fetish!) Not only did they cultivate the entire two acres of gardens to keep the moisture from the last rain in the ground & knock out any weeds, they put up about 400 feet of trellis for the yellow pole beans; they staked & trellised all of the pepper plants (a few hundred of them); they kept the tomatoes tucked in their cages; they kept all of the farm critters moved daily (or twice daily!) to fresh green grass; they harvested the remaining 3/4's of the garlic crop & neatly stored it in the barn for curing; and they composted & planted another patch of winter squash! Whew! We even took a field trip to another farm one day this week that got us all excited about the possibilities of growing ginger in our high tunnel! Oh, there's so much to do on a farm in the height of summer! These long summer days are really helpful for getting all of our many projects completed! Happy Summer Solstice!
This week's harvest:
"Sweet Valentine" Lettuce
Green Beans
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
Fresh Garlic
Basil
Broccoli
Beets & Greens
Swiss Chard
This week's farm news:
The crew had a super busy & productive week - despite the heat & everyone's desires to sit in the creek & sip kombucha! (Our current fetish!) Not only did they cultivate the entire two acres of gardens to keep the moisture from the last rain in the ground & knock out any weeds, they put up about 400 feet of trellis for the yellow pole beans; they staked & trellised all of the pepper plants (a few hundred of them); they kept the tomatoes tucked in their cages; they kept all of the farm critters moved daily (or twice daily!) to fresh green grass; they harvested the remaining 3/4's of the garlic crop & neatly stored it in the barn for curing; and they composted & planted another patch of winter squash! Whew! We even took a field trip to another farm one day this week that got us all excited about the possibilities of growing ginger in our high tunnel! Oh, there's so much to do on a farm in the height of summer! These long summer days are really helpful for getting all of our many projects completed! Happy Summer Solstice!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
2010 Season, Week Five
June 12, 2010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
Carrots
Lettuce ("Buttercrunch" for medium shares & "Sweet Valentine" for small shares)
Swiss Chard
Beets & Greens
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
Very Fresh Garlic
Basil
Flowering Onions
This week's farm news:
The temperatures were hot again this week but, unlike last week, we had some very lovely & timely rain showers. The crew planted our butternut squash patch this week. Every year we select & store several baskets of squash from last fall's harvest to save for seed. Then when it's time to plant, we cut open the squash, harvest the seeds, & go straight to the garden to plant them. We get excellent germination this way because the squash keep the seeds in the perfect storage environment. That also means our seed stock is coming from squash that actually stored for the entire winter, therefore (hopefully!) improving the overall keeping quality of the squash from year to year. We also planted our sweet potato patch this week & with Eric & four interns working together it was a pretty quick job. The sweet potato slips got watered-in by a fabulous rolling thunderstorm. We rejoice when our timing works out like that!
The crew also yanked out the spent pea vines & spinach to make room for our late planting of tomatoes & they began the garlic harvest - you're getting some of this juicy uncured goodness in your baskets this week! Enjoy it while it's so fresh!
During rainy spells throughout the week, both Beth & Ben worked on Beth's room in the barn & got the majority of it completed! Now Beth can finally get settled in!
This week's harvest:
Carrots
Lettuce ("Buttercrunch" for medium shares & "Sweet Valentine" for small shares)
Swiss Chard
Beets & Greens
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
Very Fresh Garlic
Basil
Flowering Onions
This week's farm news:
The temperatures were hot again this week but, unlike last week, we had some very lovely & timely rain showers. The crew planted our butternut squash patch this week. Every year we select & store several baskets of squash from last fall's harvest to save for seed. Then when it's time to plant, we cut open the squash, harvest the seeds, & go straight to the garden to plant them. We get excellent germination this way because the squash keep the seeds in the perfect storage environment. That also means our seed stock is coming from squash that actually stored for the entire winter, therefore (hopefully!) improving the overall keeping quality of the squash from year to year. We also planted our sweet potato patch this week & with Eric & four interns working together it was a pretty quick job. The sweet potato slips got watered-in by a fabulous rolling thunderstorm. We rejoice when our timing works out like that!
The crew also yanked out the spent pea vines & spinach to make room for our late planting of tomatoes & they began the garlic harvest - you're getting some of this juicy uncured goodness in your baskets this week! Enjoy it while it's so fresh!
During rainy spells throughout the week, both Beth & Ben worked on Beth's room in the barn & got the majority of it completed! Now Beth can finally get settled in!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
2010 Season, Week Four
June 5, 2010 newsletter
This week's harvest:
"Buttercrunch" Lettuce
"Speckled Amish" Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Shelling Peas
Carrots
Beets & Beet Greens
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
"Hakurei" Salad Turnips
"Easter Egg" Radishes
Garlic Scapes
This week's farm news:
It was another hot week in Bugtussle! We had a few light rain showers that maybe totalled 1/20"... so not much rain this week. But, I can hear distant rumblings of thunder as I write this so we are hopeful for a good rain this (Friday) evening. Our crops are doing well aside from a pretty intense infestation of cabbage worms on the spring brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, etc.). The crew dutifully (& laboriously) hand-picked worms from the plants this week but the little boogers are so camouflaged that many are inevitably overlooked which likely means another worm-picking will be on next week's "to do" list!
Our turkey poults arrived on the farm this week (via the post office). This is our first experience with day old turkeys (as last year we got them at 4-8 weeks old from a local breeder). We also chose to raise broad-breasted bronze & white turkeys instead of the heritage breeds we raised last year to hopefully avoid the near fiasco of the mature birds flying away! We figure that the broad-breasted turkeys will be able to forage more freely on pasture (since they can't fly) than we could allow the heritage breeds to do.
This week's harvest:
"Buttercrunch" Lettuce
"Speckled Amish" Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Shelling Peas
Carrots
Beets & Beet Greens
"Yellow Crookneck" Squash
"Hakurei" Salad Turnips
"Easter Egg" Radishes
Garlic Scapes
This week's farm news:
It was another hot week in Bugtussle! We had a few light rain showers that maybe totalled 1/20"... so not much rain this week. But, I can hear distant rumblings of thunder as I write this so we are hopeful for a good rain this (Friday) evening. Our crops are doing well aside from a pretty intense infestation of cabbage worms on the spring brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, etc.). The crew dutifully (& laboriously) hand-picked worms from the plants this week but the little boogers are so camouflaged that many are inevitably overlooked which likely means another worm-picking will be on next week's "to do" list!
Our turkey poults arrived on the farm this week (via the post office). This is our first experience with day old turkeys (as last year we got them at 4-8 weeks old from a local breeder). We also chose to raise broad-breasted bronze & white turkeys instead of the heritage breeds we raised last year to hopefully avoid the near fiasco of the mature birds flying away! We figure that the broad-breasted turkeys will be able to forage more freely on pasture (since they can't fly) than we could allow the heritage breeds to do.
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