Burn Out !
It has been a difficult week at the farm with the high heat. We have been arriving early to start the day at 6:00 am so most of the work & harvesting can be done before the mid-day sun gets too hot. A few times this week we almost lost the crew due to heat exhaustion. Both Ali and Renee felt the worse and Farmer Rich himself was close a few times. A few minutes cooling off in the shade and staying hydrated were the keys to be able to function during this 10 day period of 90+ temperatures. We actually had to shut down work in the fields everyday by about 11:00 am.
Franklin Greenhouse Report: Tonight’s delivery of microgreens is from thinning of the greenhouse planting. They are doing well and more are due to come. Two successive plantings of lettuce are scheduled. The chard that was started in the greenhouse was planted in the field mid-week, the one day it was cooler.
Asparagus beans, lettuce, chicory all were started in the greenhouse over the past week or two. Unfortunately we had a failure of broccoli & Brussels sprouts. We do plan on reseeding them and will need a little more cooperation from the weather.
From the Fields: Most of the garlic is now harvested and the beds are all ready for replanting. It looks like the farm is half-empty without the garlic rows! The transplants are ready in the greenhouse to be planted in new beds. We are close to being on schedule. If only we had an afternoon that wasn’t 100-degrees this would have been done. We lost some of the lettuce due to the excess heat and dryness, as this one bed was located too much in the sun. The other beds of lettuce are in a shadier area and they are much happier 
there.
No new plantings this week due to the heat, but for the chard. The onions, kale and chard are doing well, as are the cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. The tomatoes seem to be behind in the field. The variety of cucumber we have been delivering are probably going to be the last of the season as they are getting heated up. New varieties of cucumbers are doing well and will start showing up in the deliveries.
Weather Report: The weather has actually been too dry lately with little to no rain. We are in need of a few rain storms to help the field crops along. The irrigation system is all hooked up and we actually started it in the new round field & back fields.
Animal report: Fortunately, the animals are not breaking in to the fields to munch on your crops. The fencing is holding up well. The rabbits keep multiplying though they are not devouring the crops. It appears a weasel has been patrolling around the farm, and upon occasion we have seen evidence of its captures. Fortunately we don’t have any chickens or there would no eggs!
Trip to the Farm Scheduled for Saturday – July 21st
Want to help out at the Farm?? We like to schedule at least 2 work-days at the farm during the harvest season where CSA members can come up and help us with some projects. The first work-day is scheduled for July 21st starting at 11:00 am. Some projects planned will be to help with some mulching & transplanting. More details to come over the next few weeks. Please RSVP (by July 19th) so we can plan on lunch, refreshments & get you directions. Give us your contact # via phone or e-mail just in case the weather is iffy (it can be a whole different world at the farm) so we can give you a call if it will be a rainy day.
Week of July 9th - Pick of the Week: click on the links below or to the right to bring you to the delivery specific to your pick-up location. Deliveries will be of similar variety & poundage, but may contain different items at anytime during the season. Occasionally, some crops are ready to harvest but not enough to deliver to all our drop-off locations. What we do is start to filter them in each week to a different drop-off until there is enough to delivery to everyone.
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