Farm News – July 25, 2016
Hi Folks, so it was another scorching week, and no rain fell. We just received about a quarter of an inch of the wet stuff along with gale force winds at the time of this writing, with more possible this evening. There are multiple chances for rain from thunderstorms later in the week into next week, so fingers crossed…
Last week we began with several new crops and I explained that I could not be certain if there would be enough for all members. This is often the case and we keep careful track of who has received what and who was shorted and make it up to those shorted the next week. So if you did not get beans or melons last week, you will this week. Crops mature, ripen, size up on their own schedule and we do our best to work around that. We cannot hold on to melons until there is enough for everyone and we prefer to ship most of our crops as quickly as possible to maintain freshness and quality. It some cases that means starting a rotation so that over 2 or 3 weeks all members receive the item. In other cases, during the second week, there is abundance and we have enough for all. In that case we try to make it up to the group that was shorted at the end of the season for that particular crop. In all cases we keep track to be sure that there is equity during the course.
That is where we are at with eggplant, beans, and melons at the moment. If you did not receive these items last week, you will this week. You may also receive smaller quantities as a crop begins. The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen; in a couple of weeks we will be swimming in them. For now, there will be a couple of slicers or a pint of cherries or perhaps a dozen plum tomatoes. We also try to offer certain items as extras when we don’t have sufficient quantities for all, or when a crop is not a common one and may not be popular with everyone such as hot peppers, tomatillos, okra, and fennel.
The share for this week will be: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, rainbow carrots, red torpedo onions, choice of chard or kale, cauliflower, red skin potatoes and basil. There will be beans, eggplant, and melons as availability allows. As extras we have fennel and tomatillos.
Enjoy! Farmer John
