2012 Season, week 7

June 16, 2012

This week's harvest:
Yellow Beans
New Potatoes
Garlic!!
Basil
Yellow Squash
"Sweet Valentine" Lettuce
Beets

This week's farm news:

We've had some special guests visiting the farm these past few weeks. One of our guests is nine-year-old Maya and this week's news is her perspective of the week:

2012 Season, week 6

June 9, 2012

This week's harvest:
Yellow Squash
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Garlic Scapes
Beets
Basil
Arugula
Swiss Chard

This week's farm news:

What a pleasant week we had. The weather was just fabulous! Most mornings were in the upper 40's to low 50's, which left us actually seeking more layers of clothing! Just crazy for June! We've had some guests on the farm this week... A lovely mama and her two lovely daughters. They plan to stay with us about three weeks to help us out on the farm. So far it's been like a kid's summer camp and my children are having an absolute blast playing and crafting and staying busy all day! Which leaves this mama a little (a lot, actually) more space to work out in the gardens! So Eric and I have been able to tackle the huge amount of cultivation work - together!

2012 Season, week 5

June 2, 2012

This week's harvest:
"Gentry" Summer Squash
Basil
Garlic Scapes
Carrots
Beets
"Tom Thumb" Lettuce
"Buttercrunch" Lettuce

This week's farm news:

The week started out hot - which always requires numerous trips to cool off in the creek. We didn't just spend the week swimming, however... Lots of cultivation work was accomplished - the parsnips, melon, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers. We hand-weeded the next round of carrots. We set out our eggplant and a bunch of lettuce and parsley transplants. Eric seeded some more cucumbers and he sowed a large patch of the garden to a cow-pea cover crop in preparation for our fall garden. (Crazy to be thinking of that already!) We even planted our first ever crop of ginger! We are just such kimchi addicts, and ginger was the only ingredient we didn't produce ourselves. (Aside from salt - we haven't figured that one out yet!) So this fall our kimchi will be authentic Bugtussle! Hooray! And we had one more first this week - our first ever peach off of our very own peach tree! While they were not the loveliest of peaches, insects and birds are very hard on them, our family all got to have several ripe and juicy bites. We felt almost sinful! And then to have the week finish off with a lovely rain and cooler temperatures... Ahhh, bliss!

2012 Season, week 4

May 26, 2012

This week's harvest:

"Red Sails" Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Radishes
Garlic "Pigtails" (or Scapes)
Swiss Chard
Assorted Herbs

This week's farm news:

The week was hot. It feels like summer's heat is upon us! This week we cultivated and hilled-up our main tomato crop. We also staked and caged up 200 plants. Now we are anxious to get them mulched with hay to preserve all the soil's moisture - because when it's as hot as it is, things dry out quickly! It is an absolutely gorgeous crop of healthy, robust tomato plants with lots of promising green fruit set!

We also cultivated our sweet and hot pepper crops and our first planting of basil. Lots of ground work was accomplished, too, so that next week we'll be able to get a bunch more seeds in the ground to keep your baskets brimming all through the summer.

Eric's trip to Sequatchie Cove Farm (near Chattagooga) for the livestock grazing conference was wonderful for him. He made lots of good connections with other holistic graziers, he got to eat lots of delicious farm-produced food (including their amazing variety of farmstead cheeses), and came home with a renewed focus.

2012 Season, week 3

May 19, 2012

This week's harvest:
"Red Sails" Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Beets
Carrots
Radishes (just a few...)
Garlic Scapes ("Pigtails")
Assorted Herbs - your choice

This week's farm news:

Early in the week the farm was drenched with over 3" of rain. It was great to see the farm soaking wet as we had been on the dry side of things all through this spring. Just prior to the rain, Eric set out some watermelon transplants and seeded some muskmelons and zucchini. After the rain, when the soil had dried up a bit, Eric squeezed in some cultivation work before getting himself ready to go to a livestock grazing seminar near Chattanooga. He left early, early Friday morning - therefore missing out on this week's harvest! So I called in a couple of dear friends to be my harvest helpers and to assist me in bringing in this week's harvest. Eric's father (Gracious PapPap) also came to the farm (from PA) to help me with the children in Eric's absence. (So that I could actually get necessary work accomplished!) And now here at market I have two lovely shareholder assistants! Many, many thanks to all of you who lent a hand to give Eric the chance to go to his conference! (Hopefully, he'll have a nice little break from the farm, too!)

2012 Season, week two

May 12, 2012

This week's harvest:
Lettuce
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Tatsoi
Garlic "Scapes" (or Pigtails)
Choose between: Arugula, Beets, &/or Cilantro

This week's farm news:

Hello again and welcome to CSA week #2! Lots more salad fixings in your baskets this week. The tatsoi is good to eat fresh or lightly steamed or sauteed. (Please excuse all of the little holes...the flea beetles LOVE tatsoi, too! Just let it be a reminder that we don't use nasty sprays on our crops!) The "green garlic" that we are giving you right now can be used like a green onion - just chop it and add it to any dish that needs some delicious garlic flavor.

This week in the garden Eric, with a little help from Ira and Opal, transplanted all of our sweet peppers, hot peppers, and basil into the garden. Ira can easily be convinced to "help" when part of his work involves getting to drive our little golf/chore cart. (A fairly new farm tool and an eight-year-old boy's dream come true!)

Eric also got a little cultivation work done on some of the young crops...but it's that crazy time of year for us where a "little" cultivation work is a mere drop in the bucket! There's so much to do!

Early in the week we hosted an awesome group of home-schooled kids on our farm for a pretty awesome fun-filled day of play. We need to do this again soon!

2012 Season, week one

May 5, 2012

This week's harvest:
Strawberries!
Lettuce
Arugula
Spinach
Swiss Chard
"Green Garlic"

This week's farm news:

Welcome, everyone, to the first CSA delivery of the season! Most of you have been with us in years past but we have a few who are new to Bugtussle CSA - so a special hello and welcome to you!

These past few months have seen us becoming increasingly busy on the farm. We are not hosting any interns this season, which is the first time since before Ira was born, so it's just the Smith family in action this year! (Along with the occasional helping hand from a gracious friend or neighbor!) We certainly have mixed feelings about not hosting interns. Last year's dear interns, Jesse and Hannah (follow their adventures at Rough Draft Farmstead), were about as good as we can imagine interns being! (As those of you who have been with us for several years know - some interns are, well, not so good!) So we have decided to end, or at least pause, on a positive note with our intern program and spend this season focusing on our family and really trying to improve the quality of our farm and CSA. Here's to a good season!!

Otherwise, the farm is bustling with life! The gardens are full of growing baby vegetable plants, we have one new calf and 63 (and counting) baby lambs!

Hooray for spring!