Farm News – July 24, 2014
Hello Folks, things continue to well here on the farm – crops are abundant and quality is good. We dodged a bullet with last week’s storms, receiving only about an inch of rain and no high winds or hail. Only about a mile north of us they got an inch of rain in 20 minutes on Monday afternoon, but that cell fortunately missed our farm. It was unusual but not unwelcome to have such mild temperatures for mid-July.
We have the first few peppers and eggplant for you this week, with larger quantities to follow shortly. We have been harvesting a few tomatoes but not enough to distribute just yet, maybe next week…. Melons, too, are on the horizon. Beans are not yet abundant but we should have enough for a half pound per share this week. Broccoli and cauliflower has nearly ended until the fall but we still have a fair amount in cold storage, so we will try to send one or the other to all groups, depending on how quality is holding up. As we head into mid-summer there will be a lot of cabbage in your future. Cabbage is the only really dependable brassica crop that can be harvested during typical July and August heat. We have some beautiful small heads of green cabbage for this week and red and Savoy to follow in the coming weeks. If you are German or Eastern European or even Irish, you will know what to do with the cabbage. For the rest, keep in mind that it keeps well (literally months) in the fridge. We always try to take a week off in between cabbage deliveries, to give folks a chance to use it up. Think cole slaw or shred a bit to mix into your salads. If you still have beets, cabbage is good in a hardy borscht. We are also sending “Ailsa Craig” sweet onions this week. This is an heirloom variety which can make some very large bulbs and has a mild flavor. It does not keep well so don’t try to save them; you will be getting plenty of onions from here on out. We also have fennel and our multi-colored “rainbow carrots” as newcomers to the shares this week.
The share for this week will be: Lettuce (2 heads again!) green cabbage, fennel, rainbow carrots, sweet onions, green peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash, choice of kale or chard, beans (green, wax or purple), choice of an herb an possible broccoli or cauliflower. We will also be sending mizuna and other mustard greens as an extra.
The fruit share will be blueberries and yellow plums.
Enjoy! Farmer John
