July 28, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Basil
Hot Peppers
Cucumbers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
The week was a busy one. We completely reclaimed what we call our "upper" garden - a one-acre garden patch - from the torrent of weeds that really took hold after all of that rain we had. We started by hand-weeding the late melon patch and hand-cultivating the butternut squash. Any place where Eric had a straight and open area he would first mow and then turn under the weeds with the tractor - like the long path beside our eggplants and tomatoes, in between the rows of butternuts, and the whole way around our sweet potato patch. The inside of the sweet potato patch was another matter entirely. Normally, our sweet potato patch is kind of like our showcase area of our gardens - completely weed-free and gorgeous. (Probably because it's our family's staple winter food so it's a high priority!) Somewhere along the way this season, we lost it! So we called in some intern recruits from our friend Jeff (aka the Barefoot Farmer) who has like twelve or so extra helpers right now! So with Eric leading the way, he and five young & able helpers made short work of the weeds that were trying really hard (and succeeding, too!) to take over our sweet spuds! And Eric, being the hard-working opportunist that he is, quickly devised a plan for having the crew of interns help mulch the fall tomatoes that we had just finished staking and caging the day before! Yes, it was a busy week... but a good one!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
2012 Season, week 12
July 21, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Basil
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
Zucchini/Cukes - medium shares this week
This week's farm news:
Just eleven days ago, we were still experiencing a severe drought. Now eight inches of rain later (and more rolling thunder in the distance!), it seems like the drought is officially broken! We are back to the sultry weather that is so much more "normal" to this region. Boy, it's kind of astonishing how quickly a body forgets how to cope with working out in that sultry heat!! Any garden task this week left Eric and I drenched (literally, dripping!) with sweat! And very much longing for a change of clothes! But, I suppose we got good and "cleansed". Our garden is like our very own sweat lodge, the sun our fire.
In the garden this week, our primary focus was tackling the jungle of weeds that have surged with all of the rain. A tractor with a mower sure helped speed up the arduous task of hand-pulling weeds - which we did a whole lot of, too! Next we need to turn under a bunch of finished crops and get the ground ready for fall-planting time! Hooray!
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Basil
Sweet Peppers
Hot Peppers
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
Zucchini/Cukes - medium shares this week
This week's farm news:
Just eleven days ago, we were still experiencing a severe drought. Now eight inches of rain later (and more rolling thunder in the distance!), it seems like the drought is officially broken! We are back to the sultry weather that is so much more "normal" to this region. Boy, it's kind of astonishing how quickly a body forgets how to cope with working out in that sultry heat!! Any garden task this week left Eric and I drenched (literally, dripping!) with sweat! And very much longing for a change of clothes! But, I suppose we got good and "cleansed". Our garden is like our very own sweat lodge, the sun our fire.
In the garden this week, our primary focus was tackling the jungle of weeds that have surged with all of the rain. A tractor with a mower sure helped speed up the arduous task of hand-pulling weeds - which we did a whole lot of, too! Next we need to turn under a bunch of finished crops and get the ground ready for fall-planting time! Hooray!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
2012 Season, week 11
July 14, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
"Peace" (Yellow-Flesh) Watermelons
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Garlic
Basil
Lettuce
Sweet & Hot Peppers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
What a difference rain makes! My, the garden has come to life again! (Well, all the weeds have certainly come to life, too!) And the pastures are just drinking up this lovely moisture. We had several rains this week. (My heart feels sad for those farmers that are still suffering through the drought.) Beginning with a pretty intense blowing, booming, crashing storm on Sunday night. (Of course, while trying to cook out over a fire at the creek...but, hey! I was happy to sacrifice a cook out for a good rain!) From that breaking point we've had mostly overcast skies all week and intermittent rain showers. Such a stark contrast to the week before! Hallelujah!
And, this week we had a young woman, Mindy, move to the farm to finish out the season with us as our intern. She's just in time for another big planting time as we prepare to get fall crops going. And she proved herself to be a trooper as her first "harvest day" with us was mostly done in the pouring down rain! So I guess our "intern-drought" was broken this week, too!!!
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
"Peace" (Yellow-Flesh) Watermelons
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Garlic
Basil
Lettuce
Sweet & Hot Peppers
Potatoes
This week's farm news:
What a difference rain makes! My, the garden has come to life again! (Well, all the weeds have certainly come to life, too!) And the pastures are just drinking up this lovely moisture. We had several rains this week. (My heart feels sad for those farmers that are still suffering through the drought.) Beginning with a pretty intense blowing, booming, crashing storm on Sunday night. (Of course, while trying to cook out over a fire at the creek...but, hey! I was happy to sacrifice a cook out for a good rain!) From that breaking point we've had mostly overcast skies all week and intermittent rain showers. Such a stark contrast to the week before! Hallelujah!
And, this week we had a young woman, Mindy, move to the farm to finish out the season with us as our intern. She's just in time for another big planting time as we prepare to get fall crops going. And she proved herself to be a trooper as her first "harvest day" with us was mostly done in the pouring down rain! So I guess our "intern-drought" was broken this week, too!!!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
2012 Season, week 10
July 7, 2012
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
"Rescued" Sweet Peppers
Basil
Zucchini/Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, folks, as of this writing still no rain here on the farm. Our "town" just 8 miles away received an inch and we got about 12 drops, no joke. We are beginning to see some heat and water stress in the garden. The second planting of corn just couldn't even produce ears. Our sweet peppers are loaded with big green fruit but are getting severely sun-burned (so we basically stripped the plants of most of their fruit, bringing you the ones in OK shape - thus, "rescued" peppers.) And when we were digging potatoes this week, we noticed a fair number that were blackened...like they are literally cooking in the hot soil. Not good. But the tomatoes are sure hanging in there, which is good news! And our melons that are ripening right now (and should be in your baskets next week) will likely be incredibly sweet. Our young planting of melons are still growing vigorously and beginning to vine out. And those butternuts we planted last week - nearly 100% germination!
As I'm writing this, I am keeping an eye to the sky watching a bank of clouds to the northeast, maybe (strangely) even moving this way! Needless to say, I am hopeful.
This week's harvest:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
"Rescued" Sweet Peppers
Basil
Zucchini/Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, folks, as of this writing still no rain here on the farm. Our "town" just 8 miles away received an inch and we got about 12 drops, no joke. We are beginning to see some heat and water stress in the garden. The second planting of corn just couldn't even produce ears. Our sweet peppers are loaded with big green fruit but are getting severely sun-burned (so we basically stripped the plants of most of their fruit, bringing you the ones in OK shape - thus, "rescued" peppers.) And when we were digging potatoes this week, we noticed a fair number that were blackened...like they are literally cooking in the hot soil. Not good. But the tomatoes are sure hanging in there, which is good news! And our melons that are ripening right now (and should be in your baskets next week) will likely be incredibly sweet. Our young planting of melons are still growing vigorously and beginning to vine out. And those butternuts we planted last week - nearly 100% germination!
As I'm writing this, I am keeping an eye to the sky watching a bank of clouds to the northeast, maybe (strangely) even moving this way! Needless to say, I am hopeful.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
2012 Season, week 9
June 30, 2012
This week's harvest:
The Very First Tomatoes!
Garlic
"Kennebec" Potatoes
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Sweet Corn
Carrots
Lettuce ("Deer Tongue" or "Jericho")
Basil
Zucchini &/or Yellow Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, if it wasn't fairly obvious, the week was a scorcher. We did our best to avoid working out in the gardens and pastures during the hottest part of the day, choosing instead to stand up to our necks in the cool swirling current at the creek. (An ice-cold beer in hand was certainly an added bonus!)
We planted our butternut squash crop this week and I think for the first time ever in our growing history, we watered-in the seeds. Eric pushed the seeds a couple of inches deep in the soil to try to reach some moisture and then stepped on the spot with his bare heel to firm that moist soil against the seed. Then I followed right behind him with the watering can, giving each seed a little sprinkle before covering the spot with dry soil to trap the moisture below. If we don't get a good rain sometime soon, keep your fingers crossed that our little method works!
Have a happy Fourth of July!
This week's harvest:
The Very First Tomatoes!
Garlic
"Kennebec" Potatoes
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Sweet Corn
Carrots
Lettuce ("Deer Tongue" or "Jericho")
Basil
Zucchini &/or Yellow Squash
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Well, if it wasn't fairly obvious, the week was a scorcher. We did our best to avoid working out in the gardens and pastures during the hottest part of the day, choosing instead to stand up to our necks in the cool swirling current at the creek. (An ice-cold beer in hand was certainly an added bonus!)
We planted our butternut squash crop this week and I think for the first time ever in our growing history, we watered-in the seeds. Eric pushed the seeds a couple of inches deep in the soil to try to reach some moisture and then stepped on the spot with his bare heel to firm that moist soil against the seed. Then I followed right behind him with the watering can, giving each seed a little sprinkle before covering the spot with dry soil to trap the moisture below. If we don't get a good rain sometime soon, keep your fingers crossed that our little method works!
Have a happy Fourth of July!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
2012 Season, week 8
June 23, 2012
This week's harvest:
Yellow Beans
Garlic
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Beets
Basil
Cilantro
Potatoes
Choose between: Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and/or Cucumbers
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Happy Summer Solstice!! It's pretty hard for us to believe that the pendulum is swinging the other way now and the days are beginning to get shorter. As much as we love midsummer and getting to enjoy so many of the fruits of our labor, we also secretly look forward to the days getting shorter because, well, that means the nights get longer and we get a bit more sleep!
This week was hot and dry and not a single itty-bitty drop of rain fell here on the farm. We sure could use some rain but the lack of it this week did make it possible to finish our garlic harvest. As we pulled it, certain areas of the patch showed signs of being over-mature. When garlic is over-mature it loses a lot of its protective papers and won't store as long. So, over the next few weeks or so, we will be bringing extra "seconds" garlic (in addition to your weekly grade A garlic) for immediate use that you can help yourselves to (maybe a pickling or fermenting project?). We would much rather you all put it to some good use than having it just dry out or rot in our barn!
And this weekend we'll be saying farewell to our farm visitors of the past three weeks. They have been a blessing and a joy to have around and we are really, really going to miss them!
This week's harvest:
Yellow Beans
Garlic
"Candy" Sweet Onions
Beets
Basil
Cilantro
Potatoes
Choose between: Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and/or Cucumbers
Hot Peppers
This week's farm news:
Happy Summer Solstice!! It's pretty hard for us to believe that the pendulum is swinging the other way now and the days are beginning to get shorter. As much as we love midsummer and getting to enjoy so many of the fruits of our labor, we also secretly look forward to the days getting shorter because, well, that means the nights get longer and we get a bit more sleep!
This week was hot and dry and not a single itty-bitty drop of rain fell here on the farm. We sure could use some rain but the lack of it this week did make it possible to finish our garlic harvest. As we pulled it, certain areas of the patch showed signs of being over-mature. When garlic is over-mature it loses a lot of its protective papers and won't store as long. So, over the next few weeks or so, we will be bringing extra "seconds" garlic (in addition to your weekly grade A garlic) for immediate use that you can help yourselves to (maybe a pickling or fermenting project?). We would much rather you all put it to some good use than having it just dry out or rot in our barn!
And this weekend we'll be saying farewell to our farm visitors of the past three weeks. They have been a blessing and a joy to have around and we are really, really going to miss them!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
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:
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:
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