Farm News – June 11, 2018
Hello Everyone, I am happy to report that the weather has been uncharacteristically cooperative this past week. The temperatures have been moderate and we have had several nice gentle overnight rains. I think that there are few people other than farmers who can find such joy in a nice rain; perhaps an Englishman away from home and missing his native climate.
Despite a late and difficult beginning to the season things are coming along well here at the farm. We have mostly caught up with our planting and almost all of the crops are growing nicely. The first planting of peas came up poorly and did not grow well after that; a consequence of the cool, wet conditions. Conventional farmers plant with fungicide treated seed, but the second and third sowings have fared better. We began picking peas today, and we will have enough for some but not all groups this week. We will begin a rotation over the next week or two until everyone has had some. After that I expect there will peas all around (my wish for the world) after that for a few weeks.
The beans are up and growing and should be ready to take over in the legume slot when the peas peter out. We normally have garlic scapes for the first delivery but even they are running behind schedule; just another of those things we have no control over! Next week! So it’s mostly greens and herbs to get started with for this week. The lettuce is beautiful, the spinach is nice and the arugula is as fiery as a hot pepper. You can chop up a little and mix into salad if you’re brave enough, but I recommend braising or sautéing it to mitigate the heat a bit. There are radishes as well, which can also have their spiciness tempered by cooking (perhaps in a stir fry with the bok choy you will receive).
The share for this week will be: lettuce, radishes, spinach, bok choy, possibly peas and choice of herbs (garlic chives, oregano, parsley, chervil, and mint). Premium members will also receive arugula and escarole or endive (frissée).
Enjoy! Farmer John
