Farm News- July 9, 2009

Hello Folks,

The weather looks good for the week ahead so perhaps this means we have reached the end of the monsoon season here in the Northeast. With abundant sunshine and some moderate heat the warm weather crops should begin to grow rapidly.

The summer squash has recovered from the hail damage and is beginning to produce prolifically. The tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are beginning to flower, so we should have these in another 3 or 4 weeks. The sweet potatoes, cucumbers and beans are growing nicely, although the main bean crop was planted about 2 weeks later than planned, so it could be awhile until beans are abundant. The broccoli crop is still coming in heavily so we should have broccoli to deliver for the next 2 shares.

The pea patch, which looked so beautiful and promising for the longest time has succumbed to the one two punch of hail and repeated rains. Most of the dwarf varieties, which are not trellised, were flattened and the developing pods ended up against the soil under a mat of wet vegetation making them quite ugly if not completely rotten. This has been an especially bad problem with the sugar snaps since they are eaten whole. I hope to have peas in the shares for the next 2 weeks, but I can’t make any promises as to the quantities or quality.

By the way, I promise not to open next week’s update with a weather report or mention the hail storm again! You will have a choice this week of baby salad turnips or red skinned turnips, which are generally cooked. I suspect than many of you may be tired of the radish and turnip rotation by now, so I wanted to reassure you that this will be the last until the fall, and that carrots and beets are coming!

If you still have your radishes, take the tops off and they will keep for weeks until you find a use for them (this is true for the turnips as well). Radishes can be cooked in stir fries or soups and lose much of their spiciness in the process. One idea for getting your family to eat turnips is to make fritters out of them substituting them for potatoes in a potato pancake recipe.

The share for this week will be: Peas, scallions, summer squash, Oak leaf lettuce, choice of tatsoi or kale, turnips, choice of dill or cilantro, and kohlrabi (broccoli for those groups who got kohlrabi last week).

Enjoy!
Farmer John