Enrollment is now open for both spring and summer CSA sessions. We have a few spots still open for spring so, if you're interested in participating, please let me know soon. That session will begin mid-March and end the last week in May. Summer will begin the first week of June and run through the end of September. For more info., please check out the page titled CSA Info.
We previously had a website that I was maintaining through a program called NVu. It has become too much to maintain both the blog and web site so I decided to post all info. here instead. If you are missing something that used to be available there, please let me know and I'll add it to blogger.
We continue to sell through the Saline Farmer's Market. Today I took collards, kale, chard, eggs, green onions, radishes, turnips, carrots, salad mix, baby choi, mustard, arugula, rosemary, potatoes, kamatsuna summerfest & garlic. I nearly sold out. If you haven't stopped by yet, we'd love to see you there. We're open from 9 - 12 every Sat. through April.
Seeding of additional spring crops and early summer crops will begin next week with a big push toward the end of the month to mid-Feb. Not long after that, planting of tomatoes, peppers & eggplant will begin. I guess I'd better get the seed order together!
Take care and let me know (if you haven't already) if you're planning to participate in either spring or summer.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saline Winter Farmer's Market & Local Tree Farm & Other News
Just in case you haven't heard, there's an indoor market in Saline. It's at Liberty School on Saturday's between 9 - 12. You can park within 20' of the door, walk INSIDE, and shop for your veggies, breads, sweets, gifts and other items, all within a very welcoming environment. I have to say that I am really happy to be part of the vendor team at this market. All are really friendly and are hoping the market does well as a whole.
http://annarbor.com/news/saline/new-saline-indoor-farmers-market-will-offer-produce-throughout-the-winter/
Nathan and I have gone for 3 weeks now and traffic is OK but could be better. So spread the word and come on out.
This past week I took black radishes, watermelon radishes, red turnips (with samples of all three), spinach, napa cabbage, carrots, kale, potatoes, aji peppers, some tomatoes, garlic, french breakfast radishes, cherry belle radishes, cilantro, broccoli and eggs.
Next Saturday I plan to offer chard, lacinato kale, radishes, American Purple Top turnips, rutabaga, potatoes, garlic, dill, parsley, eggs, beets, broccoli, spinach or lettuce, carrots, maybe some tomatoes if they're any good, maybe some peppers and maybe something else.
If you plan to be there and have a request, please let me know. I think I have some sweet peppers that are still good. I have lots of habeneros and aji peppers. Peppers haven't been big sellers but maybe they'll catch on.
Other news: You may have noticed the rain. It's a bit much, again. Maybe 2011 will go down as a year in history - I'm hoping 2012 isn't a repeat of this year. So far, the west field is relatively flooded - we may lose some parsnips, salsify and winter savory but other than that, all is out of the field and cover-cropped. The front garden seems fine. We harvested the remaining turnips, most of the daikon and rutabaga on Friday and they seem fine. Some might have frozen but most appear to have weathered down to 17 degree nights over the past few weeks. On Friday, Nick and I harvested a bunch of broccoli from between the hoops. They were still covered in snow but they weren't damaged. Most are side shoots which are just as tasty as the main head. We also harvested a few brussels sprouts stalks which I cooked up last night. They were small but oh so tasty. There are still quite a few (maybe 50) stalks out there along with a lot of broccoli, arugula, beets, carrots (which have been mulched), some daikon, leeks, radishes, etc. The herbs are also chugging along. I think there might even be some calendula still in bloom. It really is amazing how cold-tolerant the plants can be.
Oh yeah - we have 2 baby goats. Finally. Dixie gave birth last Tuesday to 3 beautiful babies. Unfortunately one developed a septic infection and didn't make it. Another was rejected for whatever reason and is now in the house. In doggie diapers. Eating every 5 hours by bottle. But she's super-sweet and likes to follow us around and isn't too loud. So that's that. The third is a boy and he's in the barn with Dixie, drinking all of her wonderful milk and getting fat - which is good. We also kept 4 turkeys this year - one tom and 3 hens. I hope that at least one of the hens will sit on eggs next spring and hatch out about 20 turkeys. Probably won't happen but that would be nice.
Hope you're staying dry and warm and are enjoying the pre-Christmas festivities.
One plug for a local farm - we have been buying our tree for the past few years from Urquhart Tree Farm: /http://www.urquharttreefarms.com/. They're on Jerusalem Road, just west of Parker, on the north side. You can choose from one that they have cut or go out and cut one yourself. It is a lot of fun. Susan has also sold me hay for mulch over the years. I went out one June to pick up the mulch and they were hard at work pruning and planting and irrigating. It takes a lot of work to make a tree grow in the shape most of us seek.
Until next time, take care and enjoy making snow angels (or at least watching the children do it).
http://annarbor.com/news/saline/new-saline-indoor-farmers-market-will-offer-produce-throughout-the-winter/
Nathan and I have gone for 3 weeks now and traffic is OK but could be better. So spread the word and come on out.
This past week I took black radishes, watermelon radishes, red turnips (with samples of all three), spinach, napa cabbage, carrots, kale, potatoes, aji peppers, some tomatoes, garlic, french breakfast radishes, cherry belle radishes, cilantro, broccoli and eggs.
Next Saturday I plan to offer chard, lacinato kale, radishes, American Purple Top turnips, rutabaga, potatoes, garlic, dill, parsley, eggs, beets, broccoli, spinach or lettuce, carrots, maybe some tomatoes if they're any good, maybe some peppers and maybe something else.
If you plan to be there and have a request, please let me know. I think I have some sweet peppers that are still good. I have lots of habeneros and aji peppers. Peppers haven't been big sellers but maybe they'll catch on.
Other news: You may have noticed the rain. It's a bit much, again. Maybe 2011 will go down as a year in history - I'm hoping 2012 isn't a repeat of this year. So far, the west field is relatively flooded - we may lose some parsnips, salsify and winter savory but other than that, all is out of the field and cover-cropped. The front garden seems fine. We harvested the remaining turnips, most of the daikon and rutabaga on Friday and they seem fine. Some might have frozen but most appear to have weathered down to 17 degree nights over the past few weeks. On Friday, Nick and I harvested a bunch of broccoli from between the hoops. They were still covered in snow but they weren't damaged. Most are side shoots which are just as tasty as the main head. We also harvested a few brussels sprouts stalks which I cooked up last night. They were small but oh so tasty. There are still quite a few (maybe 50) stalks out there along with a lot of broccoli, arugula, beets, carrots (which have been mulched), some daikon, leeks, radishes, etc. The herbs are also chugging along. I think there might even be some calendula still in bloom. It really is amazing how cold-tolerant the plants can be.
Oh yeah - we have 2 baby goats. Finally. Dixie gave birth last Tuesday to 3 beautiful babies. Unfortunately one developed a septic infection and didn't make it. Another was rejected for whatever reason and is now in the house. In doggie diapers. Eating every 5 hours by bottle. But she's super-sweet and likes to follow us around and isn't too loud. So that's that. The third is a boy and he's in the barn with Dixie, drinking all of her wonderful milk and getting fat - which is good. We also kept 4 turkeys this year - one tom and 3 hens. I hope that at least one of the hens will sit on eggs next spring and hatch out about 20 turkeys. Probably won't happen but that would be nice.
Hope you're staying dry and warm and are enjoying the pre-Christmas festivities.
One plug for a local farm - we have been buying our tree for the past few years from Urquhart Tree Farm: /http://www.urquharttreefarms.com/. They're on Jerusalem Road, just west of Parker, on the north side. You can choose from one that they have cut or go out and cut one yourself. It is a lot of fun. Susan has also sold me hay for mulch over the years. I went out one June to pick up the mulch and they were hard at work pruning and planting and irrigating. It takes a lot of work to make a tree grow in the shape most of us seek.
Until next time, take care and enjoy making snow angels (or at least watching the children do it).
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The Saline Winter Farmer's Market & pricing
The Saline Winter Market is now in full swing. Opening day was 2 weeks ago, last week we had a break for a craft show, and the Grand Opening was yesterday. There are a lot of vendors that attend this market - everything from veggies to bread to eggs & chicken to beautiful baskets to goat milk soap and cheese to alpaca yarns and socks to jams to syrups. It's a really nice market. Parking is in a school lot and you just have to walk into the school to shop. So you don't have to fight the elements and if you buy a ton of stuff, it's not far to get back to your car. Nathan will even help you carry things if you buy too much.
I posted a bit last night about pricing, etc. In general, I'm currently going through the costs of various crops and trying to figure out whether to continue to grow as much as we do. For example, I sold parsnips yesterday for $2/lb. That can be quite a few parsnips if you select the smaller ones but two really large ones also = a pound. Those babies have been in the ground since April 6th (ish). They take 30 days to germinate. As you're waiting for them to sprout, the other weeds germinate first. So you weed. Then they sprout and you weed again. And again. Then we mulched to help keep the weeds down. Then we weeded. I would say the beds were weeded at least 4 times x 3.5 people x 2 hours. So right there you're looking at $280 in labor. Then there's the harvest cost - they take a lot of work to dig and wash so that people can see them. We planted 6 rows and a lot of them did well but some were flooded out. Some are small and gnarly. So, I'm estimating about 65% of the crop is prime and marketable. So that's a net of 253' of parsnips @ $2/lb @ 1 lb/ft. An overall estimate of $500 for that crop which took up 390 linear feet of garden space. And that's if they sell. Hopefully they will. Compare that to salad greens which can yield up to $10/lb. and turn over every 45 - 60 days. A 2' bed will yield about a pound, depending on how densely it's planted. I could have planted about 195 linear feet of salad greens in the same space that I had planted the parsnips. That would have resulted in roughly $975 in sales. But the harvest cost would be a bit higher than parsnips (because there are more harvests).
Anyway, these are the types of calculations I'll need to go through this winter. Of course there's the benefit of having variety, etc. which must all be taken into account as well.
In the mean time, we'll keep loading up our boxes and taking them to market. Hope to see you there!
I posted a bit last night about pricing, etc. In general, I'm currently going through the costs of various crops and trying to figure out whether to continue to grow as much as we do. For example, I sold parsnips yesterday for $2/lb. That can be quite a few parsnips if you select the smaller ones but two really large ones also = a pound. Those babies have been in the ground since April 6th (ish). They take 30 days to germinate. As you're waiting for them to sprout, the other weeds germinate first. So you weed. Then they sprout and you weed again. And again. Then we mulched to help keep the weeds down. Then we weeded. I would say the beds were weeded at least 4 times x 3.5 people x 2 hours. So right there you're looking at $280 in labor. Then there's the harvest cost - they take a lot of work to dig and wash so that people can see them. We planted 6 rows and a lot of them did well but some were flooded out. Some are small and gnarly. So, I'm estimating about 65% of the crop is prime and marketable. So that's a net of 253' of parsnips @ $2/lb @ 1 lb/ft. An overall estimate of $500 for that crop which took up 390 linear feet of garden space. And that's if they sell. Hopefully they will. Compare that to salad greens which can yield up to $10/lb. and turn over every 45 - 60 days. A 2' bed will yield about a pound, depending on how densely it's planted. I could have planted about 195 linear feet of salad greens in the same space that I had planted the parsnips. That would have resulted in roughly $975 in sales. But the harvest cost would be a bit higher than parsnips (because there are more harvests).
Anyway, these are the types of calculations I'll need to go through this winter. Of course there's the benefit of having variety, etc. which must all be taken into account as well.
In the mean time, we'll keep loading up our boxes and taking them to market. Hope to see you there!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Garlic Planting Time is Upon Us
We began planting garlic yesterday. We have planted about 50 pounds of garlic thus far and hope to get in another 20 pounds on Monday. If you would like to buy seed garlic, please let me know - you need to plant soon. $8/lb and supplies are limited. 2 years ago we planted the following: German Red (7.5#), Polish White (8 #), Italian Purple (9.75#), and Metechi (5#). Last year we saved the largest heads. This year we did the same. So we now have a mix of the original stock and I cannot tell you which variety is which but they are all tasty.
If you'd like to purchase garlic in bulk, it is still available at $5/lb. Seed garlic is larger per head than the general garlic.
Other than that, we're working hard to get all of the fall clean-up tasks done. We're pulling the drip tape from the field and tilling and sowing winter rye when we can. Where the potatoes once grew, winter rye is now growing. The peppers have been picked from the field and the tender crops (dill & tarragon) have been covered with row cover. We're working on buttoning up the hoop houses for winter. The tomatoes have now been pulled from the middle hoop and it was planted last Monday with winter greens. They won't produce much until mid-Feb. but they're in the ground and ready to go. The newest hoop is now rocking and we're harvesting spinach, baby brassicas, collards, kale and soon, lettuce from there. Carrots and turnips are not far behind.
The day length is currently at a 10h 38m day with every day 2 min. 33 sec shorter until Dec. 21. The seeds that don't germinate soon will wait for a couple of months or more until they feel like stretching their roots, stems and leaves. Those that do germinate will huddle together between alternating days of pure sunshine and gray skies and patiently wait until we return to this period of 10 h 38 m of day length. Then they will once again jump up and shout out - pick me, pick me!
If you'd like to purchase garlic in bulk, it is still available at $5/lb. Seed garlic is larger per head than the general garlic.
Other than that, we're working hard to get all of the fall clean-up tasks done. We're pulling the drip tape from the field and tilling and sowing winter rye when we can. Where the potatoes once grew, winter rye is now growing. The peppers have been picked from the field and the tender crops (dill & tarragon) have been covered with row cover. We're working on buttoning up the hoop houses for winter. The tomatoes have now been pulled from the middle hoop and it was planted last Monday with winter greens. They won't produce much until mid-Feb. but they're in the ground and ready to go. The newest hoop is now rocking and we're harvesting spinach, baby brassicas, collards, kale and soon, lettuce from there. Carrots and turnips are not far behind.
The day length is currently at a 10h 38m day with every day 2 min. 33 sec shorter until Dec. 21. The seeds that don't germinate soon will wait for a couple of months or more until they feel like stretching their roots, stems and leaves. Those that do germinate will huddle together between alternating days of pure sunshine and gray skies and patiently wait until we return to this period of 10 h 38 m of day length. Then they will once again jump up and shout out - pick me, pick me!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Wrapping up the Season
The time has come to finally let go of summer. We are still enjoying this warm spell but I know that winter is coming. The days are within 75 days of the shortest day of the year. This is a time when I struggle with pulling the summer crops to make way for the winter ones. There are still tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in the hoops. The experimental summer squash is doing well in there as well - it's taking up far too much room and we have to hand-pollinate the fruits because the sides of the hoop have been down which keeps the pollinators out. No pollination = no squash. So it's been interesting to get to know the reproductive parts of the squash plant. How it is evident when the female fruit is ready to accept the pollen from the male blossom or not.
So, very soon we will pass the turning point on planting. After the end of October, the day length will be too short to stimulate germination. Once the day length reaches 10 hours or less, growth will all but stop and the plants will go into a holding pattern. They won't die (as long as you're planting the right crops) but growth will be so slow that they it's difficult to see. So, if the plants are not at the maturity stage (or close to it) before this point, you have to wait really until early to mid-Feb. before planting begins again. Anyway - we're getting close to this point. To maximize profits, all tomatoes should now be out of the hoops. All peppers should be compost. All eggplant and basil a memory. Soon. It's hard for us and for our members to say goodbye to the fruits of summer. But soon, very soon, I will have to pull the tomatoes and plant the beds in the hoop house.
We hope you have enjoyed the extended tomato and pepper season. This is only possible due to season extension through the hoop houses.
A reflection on the season:
This is our third year of CSA. Every year I learn something new. What stands out now is that the closer the relationship between farmer/member, the better the relationship. Of course this is nothing new in any working relationship. The more we understand of each other, the better. This relationship takes a huge commitment. We know that you take a great deal of time picking up and storing your veggies. And we understand that satisfied members are very patient with us and know that the veggies are not going to be perfectly shaped or sized or clean. They appreciate small carrots in June or July - because small carrots are better than no carrots. They understand that we put members before ourselves in serving new crops. They understand that tomatoes are generally only available at a premium during the months of July, early-Aug. and late Sept./Oct. They understand that sometimes we intentionally don't wash crops because they can deteriorate faster if sitting wet in a bag than if wilting in a bag, later to be rejuvenated with a cold soaking. And they appreciate that we grow varieties here that are not readily available in many stores or even at the markets.
Re. distributions: This year was an especially-tough year to grow veggies. The beginning of the season was terrible. The cold, wet weather really put a hold on working the ground and planting. Then we had very cold weather which all but halted growth. So June distributions were light. Thanks for being patient with us. We hope that the bounty of beans, tomatoes and greens helped to make up for the early season. Mid-season brought on floods and tremendous mosquito pressure. It was VERY difficult to go out on a daily basis and work for 8 - 10+ hours amidst those buggers. Many of you could hardly even pick up your box. We pumped out the water but still lost crops. Thanks for your understanding, again, with these challenges.
In summary: Someone asked how I felt the year has gone. I responded, as I often do, off the cuff. It's been good. Really, it's been better than I had expected, given the circumstances. Of course, if I had provided all of the caveats as herein listed, the person might have understood what I meant. We have distributed probably tons of veggies. (we tracked the poundage this year and still need to input it but it was a lot) Some crops have been bumper crops (beans, tomatoes). Some have been slim (melons, squash). Some have been consistent (greens, as they generally do well). Some have been close-to-hoped (lettuce & carrots). But overall we're very fortunate to have harvested a good amount this year.
Thank you for your interest in the crops and in how it's going. I must give a huge thanks to our consistent workers, Sheryl and Nick. Without their help, we truly would not have been able to serve you weekly. They showed up on time. They covered in my absence. They did a GREAT job. I hope to have such consistent and fun help next year.
And, as always, we thank you, our members. You keep local farming possible. Thanks for your commitment and understanding during the early season and we hope you enjoyed the relative bumper crops of mid and late season. This is what Community Supported Agriculture is all about.
Jennifer & Crew
So, very soon we will pass the turning point on planting. After the end of October, the day length will be too short to stimulate germination. Once the day length reaches 10 hours or less, growth will all but stop and the plants will go into a holding pattern. They won't die (as long as you're planting the right crops) but growth will be so slow that they it's difficult to see. So, if the plants are not at the maturity stage (or close to it) before this point, you have to wait really until early to mid-Feb. before planting begins again. Anyway - we're getting close to this point. To maximize profits, all tomatoes should now be out of the hoops. All peppers should be compost. All eggplant and basil a memory. Soon. It's hard for us and for our members to say goodbye to the fruits of summer. But soon, very soon, I will have to pull the tomatoes and plant the beds in the hoop house.
We hope you have enjoyed the extended tomato and pepper season. This is only possible due to season extension through the hoop houses.
A reflection on the season:
This is our third year of CSA. Every year I learn something new. What stands out now is that the closer the relationship between farmer/member, the better the relationship. Of course this is nothing new in any working relationship. The more we understand of each other, the better. This relationship takes a huge commitment. We know that you take a great deal of time picking up and storing your veggies. And we understand that satisfied members are very patient with us and know that the veggies are not going to be perfectly shaped or sized or clean. They appreciate small carrots in June or July - because small carrots are better than no carrots. They understand that we put members before ourselves in serving new crops. They understand that tomatoes are generally only available at a premium during the months of July, early-Aug. and late Sept./Oct. They understand that sometimes we intentionally don't wash crops because they can deteriorate faster if sitting wet in a bag than if wilting in a bag, later to be rejuvenated with a cold soaking. And they appreciate that we grow varieties here that are not readily available in many stores or even at the markets.
Re. distributions: This year was an especially-tough year to grow veggies. The beginning of the season was terrible. The cold, wet weather really put a hold on working the ground and planting. Then we had very cold weather which all but halted growth. So June distributions were light. Thanks for being patient with us. We hope that the bounty of beans, tomatoes and greens helped to make up for the early season. Mid-season brought on floods and tremendous mosquito pressure. It was VERY difficult to go out on a daily basis and work for 8 - 10+ hours amidst those buggers. Many of you could hardly even pick up your box. We pumped out the water but still lost crops. Thanks for your understanding, again, with these challenges.
In summary: Someone asked how I felt the year has gone. I responded, as I often do, off the cuff. It's been good. Really, it's been better than I had expected, given the circumstances. Of course, if I had provided all of the caveats as herein listed, the person might have understood what I meant. We have distributed probably tons of veggies. (we tracked the poundage this year and still need to input it but it was a lot) Some crops have been bumper crops (beans, tomatoes). Some have been slim (melons, squash). Some have been consistent (greens, as they generally do well). Some have been close-to-hoped (lettuce & carrots). But overall we're very fortunate to have harvested a good amount this year.
Thank you for your interest in the crops and in how it's going. I must give a huge thanks to our consistent workers, Sheryl and Nick. Without their help, we truly would not have been able to serve you weekly. They showed up on time. They covered in my absence. They did a GREAT job. I hope to have such consistent and fun help next year.
And, as always, we thank you, our members. You keep local farming possible. Thanks for your commitment and understanding during the early season and we hope you enjoyed the relative bumper crops of mid and late season. This is what Community Supported Agriculture is all about.
Jennifer & Crew
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Inspired by soup stock
Wednesday was similar. That night I pulled a stewing hen (actually just a leg/thigh) out of the freezer and started a broth. I added ginger, garlic, onions, bay leaves, and thyme. Some salt, pepper, maybe something else, can't remember. I cooked it overnight on a very slow simmer. It provided a nice pick-me-up on Friday. The meat was nicely cooked - very tender for a stewing hen.
Tonight I finished the day to find a thawed beef roast on the counter. Dave was still out working with the animals so I thought I'd get things going. There were also 3 packages of pork blade steaks in the sink. So, I decided to prepare the beef for tomorrow night, following a slow-cook recipe from The River Cottage Meat Book. I was left with the bone and fatty pieces so I pulled some soup bones out of the freezer, added the pork bones to the mix and am now making stock.
This brings me to the point. To make this stock, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recommends certain ingredients. I ran around the yard collecting everything - a few bay leaves, some onions & carrots, parsley, thyme, celery, maybe a leek and whatever else you want to add to accentuate your stock. So I now have the idea about adding a "soup stock bag" to the holiday box. A mix of all of these items that you can throw into a pot and add (or not) some meat to cook down and prepare your own stock or soup. You can use it immediately or jar it up in pint jars to use throughout the year (I process with a pressure cooker). Let me know if this is of interest to you.
Until later. Stay warm & dry and feed yourselves well.
Friday, August 5, 2011
August 3 - Too wet for words
Last Wednesday afternoon it finally started to rain. The fields were dry. Anything that wasn't irrigated was small. Even the purslane was wilting. It was a nice, steady rain. And it continued. And continued. Around 3 a.m. it was a torrent. In the morning we awoke to a front garden that was 3/4 under water, a rain gauge that tops out at 5.5" which was overflowing, an east garden with some flooding and a west garden with a stream running from the back of the property to the front. I hooked up the sump pumps and was able to drain the front garden within the day but the west garden contains a low spot which collects water from all around. So the water level didn't go down. Thursday night I was hopeful that the rain would hold off but it started raining around 11 and continued. We received another 1 7/8". I am sure that we had over 8" of total rain. The front garden flooded again and the west garden level rose.
So, I bought a gigantic pump. It took 2 days to pump out that water to the front ditch. Fellow farmers who grew up on this land say they've never seen anything like it. I don't know what the future holds but now we're looking at creating some sort of retention pond with an overflow to help keep this from happening again.
Most of the crops will be OK but we did lose a few rows of melons which is disappointing, along with over 200' of fall beets, New Zealand spinach, many of my winter brassica starts and some lettuce, basil and savory. Also some parsnips and other root veggies. Needless to say it is hard to have a loss.
We had seeded a lot of crops in the east garden on 7/23. I re-seeded this past week, just in case they were washed out.
The good news is that the hoop houses are OK and it appears that most of the crops in the fields will be OK too. I'm still unsure because some plants are showing evidence of root rot but we're hoping that almost everything makes it.
I went through the melon patch yesterday and see that there are over 100 melons on the vines now. Hopefully there will be more but at least everyone will receive a water or musk melon or honey dew. We might not all have a melon in the same week but over two to three weeks, all should have at least one, and probably 2. So I'll probably put melons on the honor system (i.e. take one if you haven't had one yet kind of thing).
In the mean time, we have cabbage and a lot of it. I was considering selling the excess but will probably distribute this instead to CSA members over the next few weeks. Since some of the lettuce was washed out, I'm anticipating a shortfall in salad makings in 20 days or so. Maybe we'll have baby brassicas to sub in. If not, keep your cabbage. Wrap it up tightly in a couple of layers of saran wrap and put it in your fridge. It will keep for months this way. Or, you can make sauer kraut or kim chi.
Think sunny thoughts with an occasional rain shower for the rest of the season.
Many of you have let us know how much you're enjoying the veggies and have let me know how they appreciate knowing what's going on around here. If you have any comments on quantities (like you'd like larger bunches or smaller bunches or more onions/week, or whatever) please let me know.
Thanks!
So, I bought a gigantic pump. It took 2 days to pump out that water to the front ditch. Fellow farmers who grew up on this land say they've never seen anything like it. I don't know what the future holds but now we're looking at creating some sort of retention pond with an overflow to help keep this from happening again.
Most of the crops will be OK but we did lose a few rows of melons which is disappointing, along with over 200' of fall beets, New Zealand spinach, many of my winter brassica starts and some lettuce, basil and savory. Also some parsnips and other root veggies. Needless to say it is hard to have a loss.
We had seeded a lot of crops in the east garden on 7/23. I re-seeded this past week, just in case they were washed out.
The good news is that the hoop houses are OK and it appears that most of the crops in the fields will be OK too. I'm still unsure because some plants are showing evidence of root rot but we're hoping that almost everything makes it.
I went through the melon patch yesterday and see that there are over 100 melons on the vines now. Hopefully there will be more but at least everyone will receive a water or musk melon or honey dew. We might not all have a melon in the same week but over two to three weeks, all should have at least one, and probably 2. So I'll probably put melons on the honor system (i.e. take one if you haven't had one yet kind of thing).
In the mean time, we have cabbage and a lot of it. I was considering selling the excess but will probably distribute this instead to CSA members over the next few weeks. Since some of the lettuce was washed out, I'm anticipating a shortfall in salad makings in 20 days or so. Maybe we'll have baby brassicas to sub in. If not, keep your cabbage. Wrap it up tightly in a couple of layers of saran wrap and put it in your fridge. It will keep for months this way. Or, you can make sauer kraut or kim chi.
Think sunny thoughts with an occasional rain shower for the rest of the season.
Many of you have let us know how much you're enjoying the veggies and have let me know how they appreciate knowing what's going on around here. If you have any comments on quantities (like you'd like larger bunches or smaller bunches or more onions/week, or whatever) please let me know.
Thanks!
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