Lots happening on the farm these days. Read all about it below. But first some announcements
We will make a determination by the end of this week as to which week we will start the produce picking season. We know it will be either June 15th or June 22nd. The lettuce looks like it will be ready by the 15th. The peas and broccoli look to be at least another week later. In either case, I will send out an email over the coming weekend with the chosen week and instructions specific to your pick-up location.
Last call for EggShare and FruitShare. Please, if you plan to order these — and I highly recommend them — place your order by the end of the week.
We have the opportunity to offer a new product — JamShare. JamShare consists of a jar of jam picked-up at your chosen pick-up location (it can be delivered in your delivery tote). The jam comes from an Amish farmer group out of Wisconsin. Most of the produce that goes into JamShare is grown by the Amish using organic practices. They also purchase some ingredients for some of the jams (e.g. peach jam). The price hasn’t been settled yet but will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 for five pints (one per month). They also have half and quarter pints as well, which we will priced accordingly. Please let me know asap if you are interested in ordering this product. I need to know by Sunday so that we can make a feasibility determination. Thanks!
As another planning activity I need to know if you want your on-farm share pre-packed by us. For those new to the farm, our on-farm option allows you to select the produce you take home with you. Members in the past have found this to be a wonderful change from the traditional CSA share. However with the COVID-19 pandemic we are offering — free of charge — a pre-packed option for on-farm pick-up. With the pre-packed option we will pack your shares prior to your arrival. When you get here you can pull-up to the pick-up tent and ask the attendant to retrieve your produce. We will then place the produce into your vehicle — including add-on shares — no need to get out. We started offering this after many of you had already purchased your share. So if you would like us to pre-pack your share (on-farm only, delivery already has this as their only option) please let me know ASAP so we can plan accordingly. For those who wish to pick-up in the usual fashion there will be a few changes to reduce the risk of transmission of the corona virus. We will send a separate email sometime next week with our plans.
As always, if you are looking for some fresh air, sunshine, a little vitamin D and exercise, do not hesitate to come out and lend a hand. This is a great way to learn how your food is grown.
Farm News
What a whirlwind of activity this past couple of weeks! So much happening that I didn’t get a chance to tell you all about it last week. This Spring has been fairly good for growing, with the exception of the five nights of freezing temps in late May. But we’ve managed to take advantage of the rest of the good weather to get a lot of work done, especially planting. To be honest I can’t recall everything we planted but here is a pretty good guess: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, hot peppers, okra, broccoli, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, lots of flowers, oregano, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, marjoram, rosemary, lemongrass, thyme, popcorn, summer squash, zucchini, bok choi, sweet corn, ornamental corn, basil, celery, celeriac, tomatillos, winter squash, more sweet corn, more cauliflower, bok choi, beans, cucumbers and all the things I have forgotten. And remember, this was just this past two weeks. We had already planted leeks, carrots, peas, beets, chard, lettuce, escarole, radiccio, indoor tomatoes, green onions, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, garlic, green garlic, chives, garlic chives and potatoes. Still to come are watermelons, more cucumbers, and all the fall brassicas (broccoli, kohlrabi, etc.). How do we manage all this? Spreadsheets and experience and past season notebooks and sweat and achy muscles and probably a few more things I have forgotten.
Other than planting we are also doing a lot of cultivating, hoeing and hand weeding. I’ve been personally involved in battling the gophers. It is pretty much a draw at this point. We’ve seen the emergence of Potato beetles and flea beetles. Being the superstitious sort I won’t mention the pests we have seen yet. No need for them to be reminded we exist. We are also expanding and updating our wash area. We are doubling the capacity so that we can get produce from harvest to the cooler in a much shorter time frame (not that the past time frame was too long but in this case shorter is better). So there is a lot of work going on to say the least.
Plus I occasionally write the newsletter.
As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.