Farm News – August 6, 2018
Hi Folks, Another week and another 6” of rain! All I can say is if I wanted to live somewhere it rained all the time I would have moved to Seattle! Hopefully we are coming to the end of this wacky weather pattern and the jet stream will move back up into Canada where it belongs. The tomatoes are starting to show signs of decline but we will fight the blight and try to keep them alive. We are set back on our planting and for a few crops it’s too late for this season (like that last planting of sweet corn I had planned). We do have lots of corn planted and the first of it began to mature late last week – the sweet treat I alluded to in my last update. We hope to have enough for everyone this week, but if you don’t receive any you will for sure next week.
Beans have slowed down for the moment as we wait for the next planting to start producing and the first planting to make a comeback and produce a second crop. Melons are starting to ripen more prolifically so we hope to ship some to everyone. Tomatoes are becoming abundant and you will receive larger quantities week by week as the summer progresses. Greens are scarce at the moment and will be for a few weeks, although we will have some tatsoi next week.
Beets will be distributed sans greens as their tops have succumbed to the same blights as the chard and are of low quality. We will be beginning to send you ground cherries in rotation over the next 2 weeks. For the neophytes these sweet cousins of the tomatillo are also known as husk tomatoes or cape gooseberries; botanically they are Physalis Pruinosa. Slip them from their paper husk and eat them out of hand or add them to a salad.
The share for this week will be: Lettuce, cukes, summer squash, peppers, eggplant possibly beans, probably sweet corn, beets, melons, basil, tomatoes, red onions and maybe ground cherries. Premium shares will include celery and there will be tomatillos as an extra.
The fruit share for this week will be: Peaches and Vampire plums.
Enjoy! Farmer John
