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Monday, July 17, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 7 - Week of July 17th

Bluebearies!!!

It is blueberry time - just in time for the late arrival of a new CSA member (see photo below)! We had a great day at the farm on Saturday with Hoboken West members Desiree, Jay and their daughters Claire & Renee and Hoboken Midtown members, Patricia, Francis & Eric driving up to help out. Upon their arrival we gave them a tour of the farm and then proceeded to the major task of the day; harvest the rest of the fava beans. We were cruising along, hot, but not too hot as there was a nice breeze blowing, then all of a sudden a rain storm came which drove everyone into the greenhouse to keep dry. Sometime Farmer Sue stuck it out under the ash trees in the picnic area to cook up lunch. We had a fresh picked squash, salad, fresh garlic-pesto, garlic bread, cheese, fresh sweet corn on the cobb, campfire pizzas & hotdogs! The CSA members were real troopers! While they were waiting out the pouring rain in the greenhouse, they weeded it - it has never looked so good! After lunch they actually were able to finish harvesting the favas. Unfortunately with the rain delay we did not get to harvest any garlic. This was a crucial task to complete, as with 6 adults harvesting over 1 hour each was equal to Farmer Rich having to work a full day performing the same task or ½ day with helper Leslie. It has freed up time so he could complete today's harvest as well as working on continued plantings and harvesting garlic on Sunday & Monday. We usually like to schedule work-days at the farm for tasks such as this; labor intensive. It truly gives those who help an appreciation of where their produce comes from. We were able to show them the different stages of plantings, new seedings, problems that occur and more. Late in the day Claire, who is about 2 years old, asked her dad Jay to bring her up to see our pond again. It is up & over a small embankment so we couldn't see them up there, but when then came back they told us they saw 2 fawns by the pond! What a treat that must have been. After everyone left & Sue & Rich were cleaning up and loading up their vehicles, Sue looked down into the back of the picnic area & a new CSA member was checking things out. Luckily Sue had on her telephoto lens to get this shot. More photos will be posted on the weblog (http://www.catalparidge.blogspot.com/) !

From the Fields: The chard is up & doing well, we just need to get some water on it. The cilantro & fava greens are doing well and the dill is a bit iffy at this point. The original fava patch was seeded with beets on Saturday & Sunday. Our squash seems to be coming back from the dead as are the tomatoes (the flooded conditions had really done them in for a while). We were able to show the CSA members that the potatoes were potatoing-up. Hopefully this week we can transplant the seeded veggies from the greenhouse to the fields. The freshly harvested fava patch will be mowed up tilled to be planted as well as the round field.

Weather Report: Nothing more to say than it is HOT!

Animal Report: Our neighborhood groundhog continues to break into the field to eat the parsley. He seems to like the parsley & weeds. Doesn't say much for Farmer Rich's crops now does it!

Bear.jpg

Late arrival: New CSA member or just looking for a free lunch?

Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

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