July 1st, 2008

Dear Friends,

As I sit and watch the rain through window of the farm office I’m reflecting back on the last two weeks and the seemingly relentless series of downpourswe had just about every day. One of these dropped about 3.5 inches of rain on the farm in just over 24 hours. The saying rings true, “There’s never been a day without weather”. How does this weather affect the farm you might wonder… well we had quite a bit of standing water in just about every field with a few crops actually underwater. We spent more nights than I’d like to remember awake in bed praying for the rain to stop and sleep to set in. It seems like the worst is over (knock on wood) and when we look out there we see the fields brimming with food and only a few minor setbacks.

Probably the single most difficult thing for us when we get that quantity of rain is the waiting game we play until we can get back into the fields to kill weeds or to seed. On an organic farm the single biggest challenge is weed control and for this we depend on regular intervals of baking sun to kill the weeds we uproot with tractors or by hand. Anything short of baking sun and we are only setting the weeds back a bit until they re-root and grow again.

Other than the flourishing weeds the only other notable setback is the loss of about 75% of our second cucumber planting which was at the seedling stage when we got all that rain and sat in standing water for 3 days before eventually croaking. We will replant but most likely will have a gap in the cucumbers between when our first planting stops producing and our second planting starts.

Although it was stressful couple of weeks, we are quite fortunate to not have been hit like they were in the mid-west. I feel for those folks. Seeing how poorly I mentally handled a few inches of rain makes me wonder what I would do if we got a few feet. Without thinking about that for too long let’s talk about something pleasant. We seeded the first of our fall storage roots last week (parsnips and beets) and will seed all of our carrots and a few more beets this week. We’ve seen some pretty sizable green tomatoes on our first tomato planting and the tassels on the corn tell us it will only be a few short weeks until we start picking. Until then enjoy the harvest!!

On behalf of the crew

Your Farmers,

Meghan and Rob

WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK

THE MIX and MATCH SYSTEM. This is the time of year we shift the share over to the mix and match system with the “hard vegetables”. This system works similar to the way we do the greens. We give you a bag size and you pick and choose what it is you’d like to fill up your bag with from what we have available. Additionally there are some vegetables we will still offer by the count. Your share will be structured this way for the rest of the season. It can be a little tricky to get used to but it ultimately offers you more choice.

COMING SOON

Cucumbers both picklers and slicers are about to start cranking prepare for the flood, Fresh Onions we’ll have the cippollini’s for this week and next and then move on to the large fresh onions.

U-PICK (see U-PICK board for amts. and location)

Hours: Mon.-Sun. daylight hours

Look at the U-pick boards for how, when and where to pick.

Strawberries: Unfortunately the strawberries are just about done. Feel free to scout around in there for any remaining berries and look forward to twice as many next season.

Peas: There are 3 varieties of peas out there for picking 2 with edible pods (sugar snap and snow peas) and the shelling peas which you must peel open but boy is it worth it. When picking peas please hold the plant with one hand and pull the pea off this way you avoid damaging the plant and more peas will grow!!

Flowers: It is great to come to the farm prepared with a container of water to bring home your bouquets and an extra pair of scissors for cutting. Cut the flower stems that come off the main plant so they will keep growing. Sunflowers, Poppies, Agrostemma, and Bachelor’s buttons are on their way.

Herbs: Cilantro, Dill, Basil are rocking. We seed these 3 in successions all year so there is a constant fresh supply. Other herbs in the flower section include Parsley (curly and flat), Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, and Lemon Balm.

Check out the website for Summer Squash and Zucchini recipes !!