Farm News- August 14,2008

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all been enjoying the beautiful weather this past week. The mild temperatures for early August are quite a pleasant surprise and have made the hard work my crew and I do a bit more bearable. It seemed as though most of the crew’s time this week was spent picking beans which are producing quite prolifically. There are hundreds of pounds stored in the new cooler and many of them are French filet beans, haricot verts. We have also been busy trying to catch up with the trellising and tying of tomatoes which had been neglected due to our preoccupation with the garlic and onion harvest. And we also needed to turn our attentions to part of the winter squash patch which was in danger of being overtaken by the grass in the former hayfield. Another important task during this past week has been moving tables and other infrastructure, putting up shelves, and generally organizing, as we make the transition to working out of the barn where the new cooler has been completed. August marks the beginning of a new round of intensive planting in the field, as we begin to sow all of the cool weather crops such as spinach, radishes, turnips, arugula and other mustard greens, for the fall harvest. We are also still busy planting lettuces, brassicas, and chicories in the greenhouse. This week we will be trying to transplant broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower plants that we started in late June. Tomatoes are starting to come in a bit heavier now and I believe there will be enough for at least one or two per share in the distribution this week. Very soon I expect the flood gates to open and we will have large quantities of tomatoes to ship. The share for this week will be:White onions, peppers, eggplant, carrots, haricot verts, tomatoes, sweet corn (conventional), choice of fennel or celery, and choice of an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John