Well, the smoke has mostly cleared and after a pretty inconsequential amount of rainfall, the dry warm weather continues. Lots of crops still in the field, but we are beginning the late Summer project of bringing in storage crops, with the first onions coming out of the field yesterday.
Here's what's in all of this week's shares:
Strawberries! Thank goodness, they are finally back. We have picked a lot of berries over the past week so I think we can finally get them back in the share for the first time in weeks!
Carrots- So many carrots! I thought I was planting less carrots than last year, but it seems like we have more than ever. I don't quite understand how this happened. It's nice to have lots of delicious carrots though!
Fresh beans- It is peak bean season now, and the plants are loaded with them. They take a while to pick, but are otherwise fun and easy to grow. This week you'll get a mix of green and purple beans.
Use this recipe for your carrots, beans, cucumbers, cauliflower...whatever you want...
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quick-pickle-any-vegetable-233882
Garlic- All of our garlic varieties should now be dry and ready to eat, so it's time to start cutting them all down. What better time to put some more garlic in the farm share...
Sweet corn!! Our first planting of sweet corn has a lot of ears that are veeery close, but I think there are enough ripe ones to put two ears in each share. More corn to come! Hoping to have it in the shares pretty regularly over the next month.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/222352/jamies-sweet-and-easy-corn-on-the-cob/
Cucumbers- It feels like the cucumbers have been producing forever, but they will begin to slow down soon. It really isn't a super long season, starting at the end of June or early July, and then petering out through September, so enjoy them while they're still around!
https://www.gardendesign.com/recipes/spicy-cucumber-salad.html
Dill- A bunch of nice fresh dill to go with the fresh beans, cucumbers, or both...it's up to you.
And in large shares:
Tomatoes- After the cooler weekend we actually don't seem to have as many ripe tomatoes as last week, but I'm guessing it's the calm before the storm, as there are tons of green tomatoes on the vines, and I'm hoping that the return of the sun means we should have lots and lots of tomatoes after this short lull.
Cauliflower- This is the last of the Summer cauliflower! Our whole Summer brassica field is slowly emptying out...they are planted way down at the bottom of the property with the onions, which will also be quickly winding down and will soon be brought into the barn, leaving a big empty field with nothing but scallions and leeks! It's time to start planning to put in cover crop for the Fall and Winter already....we will have more Fall brassicas later on that are planted in a different spot.
Sweet onions- These are the onions mentioned above that are the first to be brought out of the lower field. They were planted earlier and so are a bit ahead of our other long storage onions and shallots, which we'll probably be bringing in a few weeks from now.
Sadly, this is the last farm share pick day for our interns, Max and Angela. They are headed back South, first to see the eclipse in Oregon and then Angela will return to school in Los Angelos later this month. They have been a huge help on the farm this year, arriving at the end of May and getting us through our busiest season in June and July.
Many small to medium sized vegetable farms now rely on interns like Max and Ang to provide affordable seasonal labor. The farm gets help with planting, weeding and harvesting during the busy Summer months, and the interns in turn get housing and fresh food, a modest living stipend, and most importantly experience and education on a working farm. This was basically how I started my career in farming back in 2007 at Sauvie Island Organics, a few miles outside of Portland, Oregon.
Many farm interns go on to start their own operations, so this is really a key part of the growth in small organic farm operations all over the U.S. Max and Ang have been hard workers with a great attitude all Summer long....they will be missed!
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