Just a reminder that we take back the pint size clam shell containers to use for our cherry tomatoes. Feel free to bring them to your pick-up location and leave them in your pick-up tote (drop-site) or on the sign-in table (on-farm)
What will we have this week?
The cucumbers seem to be producing well all of a sudden. Well, it is the second planting that is producing but nonetheless it is good to see some cukes! The tomatoes are starting to ripen. I’m not sure how productive they’ll be but it is a start! We’ll also have sweet onions, some garlic, some zucchini, some eggplant, some okra, some cherry tomatoes, some cabbage, a few cauliflower, more potatoes, a few tomatillos, and maybe some other things as well.
FruitShare this week is green grapes, red grapes, red plums, lemons, white nectarines, blueberries and strawberries from the farm we got them from the first two weeks. EggShare is chicken eggs. FlowerShare is an assortment of flowers.
Farm News
I typically do a walkabout around the farm every day if possible just to check out how things are going. This season it has been a source of great frustration. So many problems. This past Saturday I did my walkabout and by the time I got back to the house I was not happy. So I started venting to Susan. “The deer are eating the winter squash now. Is there nothing they won’t eat?” “The leeks seem to be getting thrips. We’ve never had thrips. All the literature says outbreaks generally occur during hot dry spells. We’ve not had any hot dry spells.” “Why isn’t the corn growing taller like normal?” “We let the weed grow in the beans to hide them from the deer. Now something else has eaten all of them from below the weeds!” “Our second try at getting our fall carrots failed. Why aren’t the carrots germinating? Or are they germinating and dying?” I went on for awhile then ended it with, “Why is farming this year so frustrating?”
Susan sat there calmly listening — or at least looking like she was listening since I went on for awhile — and then replied, “Farmer Chris, (I can’t believe she still calls me Farmer Chris after all these years) farming is frustrating every season. You should know this. You’ve done it for more than 20 years!” (That exclamation point seems counter to her calm demeanor). I guess I should know how frustrating farming can be but this year it seems it is every calamity all turned up to 11.
And then, of course, as I am writing this newsletter, the power goes out — for 12 hours. It is just one thing after another. I’m sure if I say something like “at least the tractors are operating normally” suddenly they will start acting up so I’m not going to say that.
Anyway, we are producing some veggies but it seems we are feeding the deer an ever increasing percentage of the farm’s output. The past many years there was little rain so the weeds were easier to manage and the diseases were slower to get established and cause problems. I’ve never seen so many rabbits; maybe the weeds are giving them good cover or the crows are pestering the hawks so they aren’t keeping the rabbits in check.
On the positive side, even though the potatoes are dying earlier than typical during the drier years they seem to be producing as well as past seasons. The cabbages seem to love this season’s weather. The eggplants seem to finally be producing. The beans and beets we planted in our hoop house to save them from the deer seem to be doing well. So I guess though we won’t be giving out as much produce this season as we have in the recent past seasons maybe some of you will find this to be a blessing. Though unfortunately the amount of work to produce the lesser amount of produce isn’t any less.
Recipe of the Week
Here is a recipe in the old recipe format. It is a great way to use eggplant!
Here is another old recipe using eggplant!
Joke of the Week
What do you call a potato in earth’s orbit?
Spud-nik
If you don’t get it you are probably much younger than me. As, always, do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, jokes, etc.