A quick update on our scallion/green onion experiment. I realize many of you have been anxiously awaiting the preliminary results and I have been a bit remiss in providing said results. My apologies. I feel this would be a good time to fill you all in. But first a bit of background. We undertook an experiment this year to devise a new way to grow scallions. In the past we used onion sets to grow scallions. This worked reasonably well but not perfect and in farming if it ain’t perfect, fix it. So this year we are growing scallions from seed. We are using a variety of onion that doesn’t bulb; it should remain scalliony its whole life. We started the plants in the greenhouse and transplanted them into the field sometime in April where they have been growing ever since.
As can be surmised from the bunches of scallions you are getting each week, the experiment seems to be working, And here is the exciting part: It is working so well that you will continue to receive bunches of scallions for the foreseeable future. We have planted three rounds of scallions in the field and have another round growing in flats outside the greenhouse. So far we have used approximately half of the first planting. Now doing the math: half planting used in the first two weeks would mean each planting covers four week. We have four plantings, that means 4 weeks per planting x 4 plantings = 16 weeks of scallions! Woo hoo! The experiment is a success. Of course something can go wrong at any moment and limit the scallions we receive. But if not, we will be flush with scallions for practically the whole season. And if you think you are getting too many and can’t use them all, all I can say is “try harder”. They are not going away anytime soon. So figure out how to use them. They are great in salads, scrambled eggs, pasta sauce, stir-fries, chip dip, salsa, antennae on veggie-man costume, the ideas are limitless. Maybe even scallion pie (I haven’t tried this yet). If you have any great ideas to share please send them in and I will disseminate the info to the rest of the members. So embrace the scallion and add them to every meal.
Unlike the scallions, the lettuce is having difficulty. Of course we already had issues with the deer taking more than their fair share but the lettuce has also had to cope with hot temperatures – something it just doesn’t like – as well as diseases that seem more prevalent this season. Add to it the hard rain and splashing dirt into the head and the result is a mixed bag. Some of the lettuce has been fantastic. Others have not. We try to sort out the good from the bad but it isn’t always obvious. So if you received less than wonderful lettuce I apologize. We will strive to do better in weeding out the bad stuff. However I estimate that this coming week will bring the second planting of lettuce to a close with about half the lettuce left in the field due to the myriad of problems. We have a third planting but it doesn’t seem to be growing very fast. And with the high heat forecasted this week it will continue to struggle. Maybe this season is just not a good year for lettuce.
Everything else seems to be doing pretty well. The corn is just starting to tassel. I would guess we are about three weeks away from sweet corn. The broccoli is ramping up. The cabbage plants are immense! It will be interesting to see how big the cabbages get. Summer squash is also ramping up. There are lots of green tomatoes on the tomato plants. Same with the pepper plants – except they have peppers not tomatoes on them. There are a few small eggplants. Winter squash are flowering. The carrots are almost harvest size. Snap peas continue to produce though the hot weather is going to hit them in a bad way. The bean plants are looking quite nice though they aren’t flowering yet. The cucumbers are starting to flower though I’ve seen primarily male flowers. Same with the watermelons. Everything else seems to be growing quite well. Overall the season is going reasonably well.
What is on tap this week? This week we should have snap peas, snow peas, broccoli, lettuce, beets, kohlrabi, kale, Swiss chard, summer squash, scallions, green garlic, and garlic scapes. There might be some other stuff we find laying around but this what I can think of right now.
FlowerShare starts this week. The stems aren’t very long yet so the bouquets will be short. But there will be flowers! We do have the capacity to add more FlowerShares if anyone would like to add it. Just let me know.
Wednesday, July 4th will be a normal delivery/pick-up day. On-farm members, please let me know if you want to switch to a different day. We are open M, W and F from 3:30 to 6:30 or Th from 9:30 to 11:30. Drop-site members, you are more than welcome to switch to picking up at the farm for that week. Let me know which day you would switch to. Otherwise plan to pick-up your shares at your usual place and time. If you will not be picking up your shares that week let me know and we won’t pack a box for you.
FruitShare this week will be a flat of blueberries! If you ordered blueberries a la carte they will be available at your next pick-up.
We have an opportunity to purchase Rainier cherries for delivery in two weeks. Rainiers are a blush colored cherries that are quite sweet and wonderful. If you would like a box of certified organic Rainier cherries please let me know. The price is $64 for an eight pound box.
This is an odd week for EggShares.
The next MeatShare arrives July 6th.