Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time to fill you in on what’s happening on the farm but suffice it to say that for the most part things are progressing as usual, which is to say completely different than any other season. We’ve got some new bugs that are eating our basil; never had a problem growing basil before. The eggplants are starting to produce; this is either good news or bad news depending on your perspective. The recent cooler days have helped the brassicas; the broccoli is looking better than the earlier spring broccoli and the peas are still producing nicely. The corn is silking. The beans are flowering as are the cucumbers. We have small peppers and big tomatoes — both of which are still quite green. The potatoes have been hilled twice. The deer have eaten down the edamame, but we covered it up with plastic mesh yesterday so hopefully it will recover and produce this fall. We could use some rain but not too much at one time. The cabbage worms (caterpillars) are hatching so stay on the lookout for them in the broccoli. We sprayed bt (an organic pesticide which is actually bacteria) the other day when the forecast called for no rain for a week just before it rained so I don’t know how effective it was. We’ll reapply the bt when the forecast no longer calls for rain or no rain since it doesn’t seem to matter what the forecast calls for. I think that is a pretty good synopsis of farm happenings.
What will we have this week? Summer squash/zucchini and plenty of it! Get your zucchini recipes ready. Plus beets! We’ll also have green onions, kohlrabi, some lettuce, the remaining bok choi, kale, some chard, snap peas, snow peas, a few remaining garlic scapes, broccoli, plus a variety of herbs. Cabbage, eggplant and cauliflower should start showing up in increasing quantities over the next several weeks.
Recipe of the week
Summer Squash Salad
A pile of summer squash/zucchini
Olive oil or other oil (but not motor oil)
Feta Cheese
Your favorite Italian salad dressing
Cut squash in half length wise and coat with a small amount of oil. Grill cut side down until soft, about 20 minutes. Cut cooked squash into bite sized pieces and place in serving bowl. Crumble feta cheese over the squash. Pour on dressing to taste. Toss. This is delicious either hot or cold. We frequently make it when we have leftover grilled squash.
FlowerShare starts this week!
MeatShare arrived on Friday.
No other shares this week.
As always, do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, suggestions, etc.