Hot, wet, hot, wet, hot,
wet….you get the idea !
The conditions are still trying with the rain and hot temperatures, but
overall the harvests are well above past years. The zucchini have really taken
off, though you better enjoy them while they are producing well. Some plants are
starting to shut down and new plantings will be taking place soon. The peppers
and eggplant are starting to come online. We are slated to plant some beans.
Also, we have more lettuce on the horizon as they are planted in the shadier
areas of the field so they won’t shut down before they get started in this heat.
With the wet temperatures we have had a slug problem in some of the fields and
have put out more slug traps. The only problem with this is that when it rains
the slug traps dissolve. We continue to monitor.Michael started this week which was perfect timing as the fava bean harvest had to be completed. Michael, Ali and Lisa worked in the rain on Saturday to complete the harvest. We are pleased overall with the production as they were planted about 1 month late because of the heavy rains in the spring. With the rain during harvest, you may notice some discoloration of the outer pods but the beans are still good. In the same field the pea plants have shut down completely. This field will be totally replanted for fall crops. We usually follow the fava bean beds with turnips, radishes and Chinese greens. The fava beans fix nitrogen in the soil which is essential for the turnips, radishes and Chinese greens to flourish.
Animal report: We still have a rabbit in the field and the groundhog has decided to leave the premises. When Lisa arrived at the farm on Sunday at 6:00 am and got out of her SUV she noticed that there was a live small bird trapped in her grill. It was green with an orange beak and not a species that anyone had seen before. We tried to free it, but there was no way to get it out. To the rescue were Matt and John who arrived and proceeded to entirely remove the grill so that the bird could fly to safety.
Weather report: During the week about 1” of rain fell on top of what were already too wet fields. This is causing some crop causalities. In addition, we had to work over the weekend in the excess heat, though starting early in the day does help. At least we had a nice Thursday and Friday for working in the cooler, less humid temperatures.
From the Fields: The wet weather has played havoc with the garlic so on some garlic bulbs this has caused the outer skins to be incomplete. Tonight’s delivery will contain those garlics which are perfectly good to use within the week, but not good to store for the long term. While they don’t look supermarket fresh they will have great fresh garlic flavor. We are holding the better garlics that have the intact skins for curing in the greenhouse for later deliveries. It is during the curing process that the intense flavors develop. The crew finished the garlic harvest on Sunday afternoon with the last of the Elephant garlic the last of the garlic to be pulled. This variety happens to be in good shape.
Reminders –the sites that have an open delivery - remember to bring your own bags to the delivery to cut down on our use of plastic!
July 15th- 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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