Farm News – August 2, 2021
Hello Folks, It was another week of good weather for the farm – just enough rain, plenty of sunshine, and reasonable temperatures. If it keeps up like this, I might just decide to keep farming, lol!
We did have some unusually cool nights at the end of the week, which concerns me a bit. We had a quite early frost last year, and I don’t want to see that happen again (ever!). It seems that the temps will be rising again as we move through the week but should stop short of the gnarly nineties (does that count as alliteration?).
We have another bountiful week for your dining pleasure. The tomatoes are ripening prolifically now, and we also are still inundated with squash. We will take a break from the green peppers this week, so that we can leave them on the plant to ripen and change color. We are finding lots of ground cherries (Physalis pruinosa) on the ground under the plants (that is how they got their name). Some groups will receive them this week and others next. For those not familiar with them, they keep well for quite a while unrefrigerated – if you leave them in their husk, which you should remove before eating. They make great snacks for kids; I’ve been told by some members that they never even make it back to the house!
Our cucumber production is waning a bit, so some will get them this week and others next week. We will continue with the starchy vegetable rotation (corn or potatoes) and bless you with basil, in honor of the arrival of tomato season. The melons are just beginning to ripen, so a few groups may get a surprise in the share in the form of a Korean melon. These look like overgrown cucumbers or small spaghetti squash with white stripes, but don’t try to cook them! The flesh is not soft like with other melons – more like a pear and very sweet.
The share for this week will be: Lettuce, eggplant, summer squash, beets, red onions, red cabbage, potatoes or sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, kale, ground cherries or cherry tomatoes, and basil. Premium shares will also include scallions and Swiss chard. There will be tomatillos as an extra.
The fruit share this week will be: nectarines and pluots.
Enjoy! Farmer John
