You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead — your next stop, the Cabbage Zone.
Members who were with us a couple years ago know what I’m talking about. We had a year when we had more cabbage than any of us could know what to do with. When good CSA farms go bad. CSA farms gone Wild! We’ve since corrected the cabbage issue but it doesn’t hurt to remind people. As they say, “Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
The problem arose due to not having a lot of success growing cabbage in the past. The year of the cabbage we changed varieties, changed growing practices and probably put in additional irrigation and plants just so we could get some cabbage. Everything seemed to help. The result was an abundance of cabbage. The on-farm pick-up members could just ignore the extra cabbage. Pretend they didn’t see it. Even when it was offered without any choice people still walked past. The drop site members were not so lucky.
I think for the most part people liked the cabbage, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. One cabbage every couple weeks is usually enough. A couple cabbages a week for a few weeks is too many. But I also think that the members weren’t being creative enough. Cabbage isn’t just for coleslaw. Sautéing it with some onions or garlic makes a wonderful side dish. Cabbage is great in soup. How about some sauerkraut? I came up with these three things without even thinking about it.
In any case, be aware that the cabbage is just starting to be ready. We’ve planted far less than in that one season so we shouldn’t be overwhelmed. None the less, this would be a good time to find and forward any good cabbage recipes.
Farm Update
The first planting of sweet corn now has tassels and silks. Tassels are the male part and like most males arrive at the party first. The silks are the female part and show up after the males. They also seem to have nicer hair. The second planting of sweet corn is just starting to get its tassels; no silks yet. The tomato plants continue to grow and we’re seeing more fruits every day. Still many weeks off though. Same with the pepper plants. Potatoes are looking great and we should be starting to harvest them in the next week or two. The green beans are also in great shape and will be producing beans in about two weeks. Hopefully we will no longer be picking peas by then. Both are very time consuming.
We are just finishing up the first planting of broccoli, but that doesn’t mean we are only a third of the way through. We have started to harvest broccoli from the second planting already. The third planting is still a couple weeks away. We are done with the first planting of kohlrabi and yes we are about halfway done with it. The bok choi is coming to an end (that’s not cheering I’m hearing is it?) and there should be a week or so left. Cauliflower still isn’t flowering.
We are losing some of the lettuce to bolting though we still have plenty left. Hopefully it will get cooler for a couple weeks. We still have some radishes that we will harvest over the next week or two. We are parceling out the beets over time. Everything else seems to be doing well.
This week’s produce prediction: snap peas, lettuce, bok choi, broccoli, green/red onions, garlic scapes, kale, kohlrabi, summer squash/zucchini, cucumbers, radishes, basil, some cabbage, some snow peas, some beets and one eggplant – maybe two by next week.
On-Farm Pick-up Members
Feel free to bring your own bags to take home your produce. One year we went through 10,000 plastic bags over the course of the season. Let’s try not set a new record.
FruitShare
We will be picking up nectarines, grapes and maybe another fruit in this week’s FruitShare. For those who ordered fruit be sure to pick it up at your next pick-up.
CheeseShare
We will have cheese delivered here late Wednesday.
CoffeeShare
I believe coffee will be here on Friday.
EggShare
Yes there are eggs again this week. Can never have too many eggs.
FlowerShare
The flower bouquets are for people who ordered FlowerShare. If you aren’t sure if you ordered them please ask and we will check for you.
That pretty much sums it up. As I went out to take the picture of the cabbage seen above I felt that from a toad’s perspective this year might be the equivalent of the year of the cabbage, but of course substituting mosquitoes for cabbage.