All posts by Farmer Rebecca

In the Share – Week 10

cabbage, soil

Tendersweet cabbage

SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) A few pattypan and round zucchini are in the mix this week. The big ones are great stuffed or sliced and grilled.
CUCUMBERS (F/P) Still lots of cucumbers. Order those pickle packs now, they won’t be around too much longer.
TOMATOES (F/P) Just a couple this week, but there will be more.
COLORFUL CARROTS (F/P) They are purple, yellow and, of course, good ole orange.
GARLIC (F) 2 more heads of the Musik, a hardneck variety
CABBAGE OR KALE (F/P) That’s the Tendersweet cabbage above, a new find of ours.
EGGPLANT AND PEPPER (F) Just barely enough for the fulls to get one of each. Partial shares are next in line.
GREEN BEANS (F) Should be a good harvest tomorrow, only the second picking.
SALSA PACK OR PESTO BUNCH (F/P) Salsa is lovely, but so is pesto. That’s a hard choice.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: More beans, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. Potatoes and onions.

We have had many foggy mornings lately. All of those air-borne water droplets make for a pretty picture. Here’s the view from the newly renovated strawberry patch.

I can no longer enjoy a foggy morning without thinking of the Irish Potato Famine. Last year for fun I read Galway Bay , a historical novel that tells the story of the author’s ancestors who struggled to survive starvation and eventually make their way to America. In the years of 845 -1850, most of Ireland’s potatoes rotted due to Late blight, Phytophtora infestans, which came to their hillsides with the fog. Other factors included that there was only one variety of potato grown and that the British forcibly shipped all of the other food out for themselves, but I digress. Late blight is still around, however, killing off most of the tomato crop last season in the Northeastern US.

Lucky for us, there are no signs of such tragedy in our fields. But, our humid climate does provide a nuturing environment for many fungal diseases. As organic growers we do not use fungicides, which ‘sterilize’ the soil – killing the good with the bad. A teaspoon of soil has as much as a billion microorganisms that support the plant’s growth in many ways. So, instead of killing all those good guys, we rely on crop rotation, mulching, compost and crop diversity. We also tolerate a manageable level of disease in the fields. So if you find a small spot on your tomatoes this week, we hope you take it as a sign that we are doing something right.

In the Share – Week 9

cucumbers, strawberries

cucumber harvest

TOMATOES (F/P) One for each of you or a partial pint of cherry tomatoes
NEW POTATOES (F/P) Not cured, so keep these in the fridge.
CHOICE: BROCCOLI, KOHLRABI OR SALSA PACK (F) Grill the kohlrabi with your summer squash for a real treat. Salsa packs make their debut: chop up contents, add a little vinegar and tomato and you’ve got America’s favorite condiment.
SUMMER LETTUCE (F/P) Small crispheads that can stand the summer heat
WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F/P) They’re the sweet ones.
CABBAGE (F) Time for some coleslaw.
CUCUMBERS (F/P) We’re proud of the crop this week – long and lean.
SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) Can’t believe it took us 8 years of farming to make the Grilled Pasta Primavera in Tom’s blog. Thanks, Farmer Tom for our new favorite.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, Parsley, Summer Savory or a dried herb
ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Carrots and garlic.

What a beautiful week it has been on the farm. The weather has been lovely for the work, not too hot, low humidity. 1.3 inches of rain fell over the last 2 days, a nice slow soaking rain that was just what was needed. We finally got a break from irrigating which had been continuous for the past 2 weeks.

Summer is really here, you can almost watch the crops grow. The cucumbers are coming on strong and the beans are growing their first fruits. The tomatoes are a bit slow to ripen which is in keeping with the 1 week setback that has occured amongst those crops that were in the field during the cold, wet weeks in early May. We should have more tomatoes by next week with the peak of the harvest usually occuring at the end of July into early August.
The strawberry patch received it’s annual post-harvest haircut thanks to farm apprentice, Emily Lecuyer.
Mowing down the patch appears extreme but is recommended by the horticultural experts for reducing disease and pests. The second stage of what they call “renovation” includes tilling up the paths to make room for harvest and feeding the plants with organic fertilizer. With a little rain and sunshine the patch will grow back better than ever by fall.

Finally, an administrative reminder. July is here and the end of the month deadline for CSA payments is approaching. Contact me (farmer rebecca) if you need help remembering how much you owe. Thank you all for your suppport.

In the Share – Week 8

Garlic

pea wash

LETTUCE (F) The first of the summer lettuce, ‘crisp’ types that can take the heat.
CARROTS (F/P)
SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) The summer squash grew quick on us this week! Full shares get 2 nice ones, partial shares one.
FRESH GARLIC (F/P) The garlic harvest is in full swing. These are freshly dug, not cured, so keep them in the fridge until you use them.
CUCUMBERS OR PEPPERS/BROCCOLI (F/P) The cucumbers are being shy so far. Full shares get a choice with the first sweet green peppers, partial shares with the last of the spring broccoli.
FRESH ONIONS (F/P) Keep these in the fridge too.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Summer savory, parsley, basil or a dried herb.
SUGARSNAP PEAS OR KOHLRABI (F) The last of the sugarsnaps and kohlrabi.
SWISS CHARD OR KALE (F) Add either to your standard pasta sauce and enjoy.
ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms meat and egg share delivery
NEXT WEEK: More squash, cucumbers and lettuce. The delayed new potato harvest.
The crops continue to be about a week behind their regular schedule due to the cold temps in the springtime (it’s hard to remember now, but, yes, it was cold not too long ago!). We are hopeful that the cucumbers, tomatoes and beans will be coming on soon. There are tons of flowers and green fruit. The summer squash is the notable exception. Squash has a reputation for bountiful crops and we are happy to have them right now while we wait for everything else to catch up. Enjoy the big beauties this week as we will be harvesting them at a smaller stage from now on.
The last two days have been filled with the garlic harvest. Garlic is a crop that holds a special place in the heart of the farmer. While most of our crop seed is purchased from the seed companies every year, we save our own garlic seed. The garlic grown at Fair Share Farm then, is unique to our farm, it’s soil, climate and the abilities of the farmers that tend it. The heads of garlic we are harvesting now began as individual cloves planted last fall. These cloves came from our best heads that were harvested a year ago. Thus the garlic crop continues from year to year, from clove to head and back again. As we harvest, we set aside the largest heads for ‘seed’. About a tenth of the crop each year is not sold, but saved for seed.
one-third of the crop
This year’s crop is a good one. The heads are not enormous, but there are plenty of good-sized ones for the shares and large ones for seed. We have almost no rot this year which has been a problem in the past. The dry weather that we have had leading up to the harvest was ideal. Once harvested, the garlic is sorted, strung up and hung in the barn. In a few week’s time they will be fully cured and good for long-term keeping. We like to hand out garlic every other week for the rest of the season.

In the Share – Week 7

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flowers from the u-pick patch
SUGARSNAP PEAS (F/P) The peas are more plentiful this week. We are hoping for at least a half pound per share if the heat doesn’t kill them first.
SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) The first flush off of our first planting.
CABBAGE (F/P) The petite spring versions. Just enough for a nice bowl of slaw.
KOMATSUNA (F/P) The last of the spring stir-fry greens. We talked about it last week. Suprisingly crisp.
HAKUREI TURNIPS (F) The last of these big boys until fall.
BROCCOLI OR CUCUMBERS (F) The last crazy heads of spring broccoli accompanying the first of the cucumbers. These cukes are the pickling variety (they happen to be ripening first), but they’re great fresh also.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, Summer Savory or Parsley
ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery delivery
NEXT WEEK: More summer squash, cucumbers and peas. Beets and Carrots. Summer lettuce.

Summer is officially here and it sure feels like it. We welcome the long-awaited heat that our plants have been craving. Our first plantings of summer squash, cucumbers and tomatoes were all struggling for the past month shivering under their row covers. While the heat has finally arrived those crops will never be the same. The plants are smaller than they should be and the cucumbers especially are very slow to make fruit. Due to this the shares may be lighter for a few weeks until our second plantings come on.
transplanting
The heat has also allowed the soil to dry enough for us to plant. Today we caught up on some planting that had been delayed due to the wet weather of the last few weeks. For the occasion we took out our fancy new transplanter and got busy. In a few hours we had planted all of the sweet potatoes (600 feet) and 400 feet of melons. It was pretty darn pleasant for a 95 degree afternoon. Most of the jobs required one to sit. The plants had it pretty easy too, each one received a nice drink of water from the tank.
The u-pick flower garden is officially open starting this week. The perennial flowers, yarrow, phlox, echinacea, are in full bloom. The annual flowers are just beginning, but there’s enough snapdragons and bachelor buttons to make nice bouquets. All members are encouraged to pick from the flower patch when they visit the farm. The more it is picked, the more it will flower, so don’t be shy.

In the Share – Week 6

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Cherry tomatoes reaching for the sky (look, they’re already taller than our silo!)

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) Last week of these beauties – 1 pint for everyone
CARROTS(F/P) First week for these. We keep their tops on for looks, but you should cut the tops off them when you get them home for best keeping.
LETTUCE (F) Just enough for the full shares this week. The last of the spring varieties until a few crunchier summer heads make their appearance.
HAKUREI TURNIPS (F) The best turnips ever just keep giving. The second spring planting is kicking in right now – order extra off the bulk list if you can’t get enough of them.
KOHLRABI OR BEETS (F/P) Partial shares get a choice that includes the Hakureis.
GREEN ONIONS (F/P) The onions are still green and growing, but we like to pull a few while they are still green and fresh.
CHOICE OF STIRFRY GREEN: (F/P) Bok Choi, Tat Soi, or Komatsuna. The komatsuna is a crunchier version of the asian green variety. Chop up the stems in a salad and they remind you of celery. Also good in stirfry like it’s cousins, bok and tat.
SUGAR SNAP PEAS (F) The peas are slowly ripening. This week we think there’s only enough for the full shares, but it’s hard to say until we pick them tomorrow.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Fennel, tarragon or summer savory.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms delivery

NEXT WEEK: More peas, turnips and komatsuna. A return of the kale/chard choice. New will be cabbage and summer squash.

The last days of spring find the farm crew busy juggling the many jobs that the season brings. On Friday we turned our attention to the compost pile.


Emily turns the pile while Matt screens the finished compost

All of the trimmings and discarded vegetable matter from the washing area along with leftover plants from the greenhouse and the farmer’s household kitchen scraps goes into the three-bin system. The first bin takes the fresh stuff, layered with a generous amount of leaves. Once the first bin is full it is forked into the second bin, that action adding the oxygen it needs to get cooking. By the time we fork it into the third bin it is close to done. Given a little time and a final screening it is ready to grow new plants in the fall greenhouse.

Yes, it is time for the fall greenhouse. This is the time of year when all three seasons: spring, summer and fall are calling for our attention. Do we weed the onions today? Or should we tie up the tomatoes? Or plant the fall broccoli? We’ve managed to do all three this week, although there are still alot of onions to weed! We’ll be getting to them with whatever time we have with the membership this week after the harvesting is done.

In the Share – Week 5

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FORELLENSCHLUSS LETTUCE (F/P) The ‘Troutback’ is a prettily-speckled and melt-in-your-mouth tender romaine.

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) As the patch ages, the berries don’t keep as well. Devour these soon after receiving.
SUGARSNAP PEAS (F/P) The first peas from the half of the patch that survived the spring.
BROCCOLI (F) The broccoli is going quick. This is it’s last performance until it’s grand encore in the fall.
TURNIPS, BEETS OR KOHLRABI (F) Partial shares will get this choice next week.
GREENS CHOICE: (F/P) Swiss Chard, Kale, Bok choi or Tatsoi. Full shares get a choice of two, partial shares one.
SCALLIONS OR ARUGULA (F/P) The only arugula of the season is here now and not again til fall.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Parsley, Dill, Summer savory or a dried herb. New dried herb packages this week will have bay or chili peppers. Read on Farmer Tom’s post for more info.
ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery shares
The weather continues to give us lots of opportunities for work. Today we focused our attentions on the spring field. Emily and I tied up cherry tomatoes while Matt mowed and Farmer Tom … took photos (!?!)
The spring field is full and growing fast. We all pitched in to add more hay mulch to the no-till potatoes. Here’s farm apprentice, Matt Maes, showing good form.
So far we continue to find much to do even with ‘Grandpa’ the Tractor still out on service. Farmer Tom will fill you in on that one. Luckily, I suppose, much of our work requires us to walk the fields and tend the crops by hand. In the case of our no-till beds, a bit of stoop labor at the start of the season eliminates weeding time later on. Many crops, like potatoes, prefer the environment that the hay mulch provides and yield much better than in the open ground.

In the Share – Week 4

irrigation, solar power, strawberries

morning harvest

BROCCOLI (F/P) Spring broccoli is never a shoe-in, but this week at least it shines.
LETTUCE (F/P) The heat is getting to our some of our lovelies, but most varieties are staying cool under pressure.
STRAWBERRIES (F/P) from the patch that just keeps on giving.
GARLIC SCAPES (F/P) the flower bud from the hardneck garlic patch. Scapes are incredibly tender and delicate – perfect for Farmer Tom’s Garlic Scape and Strawberry Dressing.
RADISHES (F) The last of the spring crop.
ENDIVE (F/P) Something we are starting to experiment growing more of. A pleasingly bitter salad green. Tom paired it with above dressing – yum. Let us know if we should be growing more of it.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) dill, mint, oregano or dried herb

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms delivery

NEXT WEEK: maybe the first sugarsnap peas, more broccoli, lettuce and strawberries.

This has been a good week for farming. Plenty of sunshine and the return of the warm air has brought lots of plant growth. The cherry tomatoes have begun developing their first green fruit. While the planting continues, we have caught up on the backlog of plants and seeds that had been delayed by the cool, wet weather of the past 2 weeks.
peppers and tomatoes newly planted
A sign of the change is that we fired up the irrigation system. The submersible pump left it’s winter vacation in the greenhouse for it’s summer job floating in the pond. Some minor repair of the floats was necessary due to our pesky muskrat pond-dwellers, but after short work we floated her out, plugged her into the solar panels and flipped the switch. With water now pumping heartily to the fields all that was left to do was roll out the tape along each row. The farm crew has made short work of that so that now all of our summer crops have had a deep watering and are handling the transplant with grace.
water pumping thanks to the sun

In the Share – Week 3

Garlic, Parker Farms
green garlic harvest
This week I will be brief. We are expending all of our energy on planting the crops and very little is left for the blogging. Finally the gods have given us a break from the wet and our fields are prime for planting. So far this week the winter squash, pickling cucumbers, melons and tomatoes are in. This adds to our earlier plantings of summer squash, cucumbers and tomatoes that have been sitting with cold feet. If we’re lucky once the shares are harvested tomorrow, we’ll get the peppers, eggplant and basil planted. Still on deck are pole beans, more squash, cukes and melons.
And there’s the strawberries. The crop is starting nicely. We harvest the patch every morning. Everyone gets a pint this week. By next week we may be up to a quart per share. Also, the lettuce is much, much improved over last week’s offerings. I apologize for the sad state of the lettuce last week. It was a muddy mess out there, I tell you. But this week, we’ve got some beauties and lots of them. So, the full shares are getting 3 heads, the partials 2. Here’s the list:
LETTUCE (F/P)
STRAWBERRIES (F/P)
GREEN ONIONS (F/P)
RADISHES OR HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P)
TAT SOI (F)
HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, tarragon or mint
EXTRA: Shallot tops – 1 bunch for all if you who want them. They are the chive-like tops off the shallots. We have heard that trimming the shallots gives a boost to their root development, so we might as well eat them.
While the ground was still soggy we headed over to the Parker Farms picnic on Saturday. Their farm, as always, was beautiful. The animals seemed to be enjoying the spring. Here’s the hen house where our eggs come from.
the lovely ladies

In the Share – Week 2

tractor, wet and cold

The first strawberry of the season, spotted by FSF apprentice Matt Maes
No strawberries in the shares yet, but not too long now!

LETTUCE (F/P) More of our pretty ladies from the lettuce patch
HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P) Not your grandma’s turnip, these are best raw ‘eaten like an apple’ or lightly stir-fried as in Farmer Tom’s recipe.
TAT SOI/YUKINA SAVOY (F/P) Mildly mustardy spinachs that grows reliably for us. Good fresh in a salad or in Tom’s stir fry.
BOK CHOI (F) The rest of the patch goes to the full shares this week. Our variety ‘Mei Qing Choi’ is a green baby type that withstands our crazy springs staying tender and sweet.
ASPARAGUS (P) We are just eeking out enough for the partial shares this week due to the cool temperatures. Hopefully when the heat returns we’ll get one last burst of spears before the season is over.
GREEN GARLIC (F/P) the last of this version of garlic for the season.
GREEN ONIONS (F) the first of these springtime treats.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) More cilantro this week than last along with garlic chives, dill and mint.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms delivery

NEXT WEEK: More lettuces, asparagus, turnips, green onions and greens. Perhaps the first radishes.

FARM REPORT:
This damp weather makes for a frustrated springtime farmer. May should be the busiest month of year for us. When conditions are right, we wear ourselves thin planting the last of the spring and all of the summer crop. When conditions are as they are now, we struggle to keep busy doing whatever we can.

Thankfully, there is a long list of rainy-day projects. Lately we’ve focused our attentions on the wash area.

before

after

We also found time to finally solve the mystery with ‘Grandpa’, the Graff family tractor. My grandpa Graff bought the International Farmall 504 a few years after it was new in the late 1960s. He farmed with it until the day he died in the mid-1980s. The tractor passed down from him, to my dad, to us. ‘Grandpa’ has served us well, shifting from field crops to vegetable production without skipping a beat.

Grandpa

Until recently that is, when he started spewing steam after an hour or so of labor. We learn as we go on the mechanical front, so we are very lucky to have a gem of a guy in the CSA, Keith Stubblefield. Keith is a modern Renaissance man – beekeeper, computer wiz and motorcyle and airplane mechanic. He’s been helping us trouble-shoot for the past few months. Oil and gaskets have been replaced, carbuerators rebuilt and, after he called in a favor from a friend, the compression tested. Turns out only 3 of Grandpa’s 4 cylinders are firing. So, now we begin the process of finding parts and a mechanic to take on the project of either a valve replacement or possibly an entire engine rebuild. If we find the right parts and the right mechanic perhaps it can be done within a week or so.

photos this week thanks to Emily LeCuyer, FSF apprentice.

In the Share: Week 1

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LETTUCE (F/P) Folks, prepare your salad spinners. The lettuces are at their most succulent and juicy.

LEEKS (F/P) The winter was a cold one but the leeks we over-wintered weathered it nicely. About a pound per share. We won’t have them again until the fall, so savor these hardy treats while you can.

ASPARAGUS (F) Cool temperatures are giving it a slow start. Partial shares will have to wait until next week for theirs. The full shares are getting enough to make Tom’s Asparagus Fritatta.

GREEN GARLIC (F/P) For those of you new to the CSA, green garlic is like a green onion conceptually, but sweetly garlic in flavor.

BOK CHOI (F/P) A baby-type, tender and crunchy.

FLOWERING CHIVES OR SORREL (F/P) The green shoots from these two perennials are the earliest signs of spring. By mid-May they are in mid-flower, tasty and pretty.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, mint and/or lovage

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery share delivery

NEXT WEEK: More lovely lettuces, herbs, asparagus and greens.

Well, here we go again! Welcome to the seventh season of the Fair Share Farm CSA. Every week, I (rebecca) will cover what is in the share for that week and also report to you all on how the crops are doing and any other goings-on at the farm. Tom in his own post covers how to use your share each week. He offers recipes and much more with special emphasis on the more unusual vegetables that we offer.

FARM REPORT

Generally speaking, the crops appear to be in good shape. The weather has been cool and relatively wet, although it is Springtime afterall. We haven’t had any deluges or rogue frosts as in some year’s past, for which we are grateful. The weather pattern of the past two years seems to continue with it’s cool and wet theme, with no hint of the dry, hot years that characterized our first few seasons. Most of the crops seem to be doing just fine. The no-till areas are faring the worst as the soil stays cold and saturated under all of the hay.
The farm crew has been playing the old game of dodge the rain showers as we sprint to prepare the soil, plant and cultivate while the soil is dry. Wet weather allows time for seeding in the greenhouse, sorting irrigation tape and row cover and cleaning out the barn in preparation for the harvest. This year we managed to start the long process of painting the barn in it’s original red color. So far we’ve painted just around the wash area but it looks great.

Here’s a shot of a nice patch of cabbage and broccoli that should appear in your shares in June. We recently uncovered them after the final frost seems to be behind us.

The greenhouse is full of hot-loving plants waiting for the heat to be planted outdoors. Here you see eggplant in the foreground, peppers in the back.
The coldframe holds the last of the tomatoes to be planted. So far five rows are in, with 4 more to go.