Category Archives: lettuce

In the Share: Week 24

csa, high tunnel, lettuce

LETTUCE F  This hot weather is kicking the lettuce out of the high tunnel, where it would “normally” be cozy during frosty fall days.  Instead, it is all going out in the next two weeks.

GREENS CHOICE F/P  Kale, gailan, chard or arugula

BROCCOLI, CAULIFLOWER OR SPINACH F

BULB FENNEL F/P  See Tom’s post for a bit more on this ferny bulb.

SWEET POTATOES F2/P1  Full shares get some of each type, partial shares have to choose.

LEEKS F/P  Potato-leek soup is the recipe on Tom’s post.  yum.

RADISHES OR BEETS P

GARLIC F

HERB CHOICE F  cilantro, dill or cutting celery.

NEXT WEEK:  Regular season folks, you are on your own.  Extended seasoners:  lettuce, greens, hakurei turnips, bok choy, sweet potatoes.

FARM REPORT:
We were just lightly nipped by the frost last week and most plants survived.  Then summer came roaring back and sent the crops into a heady growth.  The last couple of morning harvests have started with your farmers frowning at the exuberant green growth in the high tunnel.  What can hold for the extended season and what needs to be picked now is the trouble.  Perhaps this warm weather will have us eating peppers in November.

We began deconstructing the summer crops this past weekend.  There is a long way to go to clean up the fields and prepare them for the winter.  All are welcome any Wednesday or Saturday mornings to join in the work from now until Thanksgiving.

In the Share: Week 22

lettuce, rainbow, wildlife

LETTUCE F2/P1  The last of the lettuce, mainly red leaf.  We have some in the high tunnel for the extended season, but that’s it for the lettuce outdoors.

BONITA SWEET POTATOES F/P  See Tom’s post on these camotes muy bonitas.

SWEET PEPPERS F  More ripe ones thanks to a warm week.

ONIONS OR POTATOES P  Last of both for the season.

TOMATOES F  Dwindling amounts of these.

GREENS CHOICE P  Kale, chard or gailan.

GARLIC F/P  Silverskin softneck

BEANS OR BROCCOLI F  More roma beans or broccoli.

CILANTRO OR THYME F/P

NEXT WEEK:  Leeks, sweet potatoes, eggplant, greens, peppers.

FARM REPORT:
On the same day that our commercial kitchen was approved (See Tom’s post for more on that) we were greeted by a rainbow shining in our fields.  Happy day!

The chicken coop seems to be located at the end of the rainbow.  Perhaps our pot of gold is in the form of golden orange egg yolks from our free-ranging flock.

Another natural beauty visited us at the wash area this week.  This praying mantis hung around for several days on the underside of the drain table and here on our water cooler.

In the Share: Week 20

lettuce, rain

LETTUCE F/P As soon as I said that the lettuce didn’t need another gully washer, guess what happened?!  This photo is after the four inches of rain that fell Tuesday night into Wednesday last week.  More water encouraged the already bolting lettuce all the more.  So far we are keeping up with harvesting the ones that are most threatening to bolt while they are still nice, but expect some emergent stalks in your heads.

TOMATOES F/P  Today sure felt like tomato season with a heat index at 100 deg. F.  What a weird weather year.  The heat and humidity has been unreal and our organic tomato patch has suffered as a result.

GARLIC F/P  From storage.  We are finishing up the artichoke variety and are moving on to the silverskin.

SWEET PEPPERS F  There are lots of peppers on the plants, but fewer are ripening so only the full shares get them this week.  Partial shares get them next week.

POTATOES OR ONIONS F  The last of both for the year.

EGGPLANT OR OKRA P  Both are doing well right now. You’ve got to savor the summer while it lasts!

ROMA BEANS F  It has been a very weird year with the bean crop.  All season long we have not been able to get our bean seed to sprout.  Finally we got half of a planting to come up.  After much cajoling we have a bit of a bean harvest.  See Tom’s blog for more info. on this Italian-type bean.

CUCUMBERS F  Last hurrah of these for the year.

GREENS CHOICE P  Kale, chard or gailan

HERBS OR HOT PEPPERS F/P  Numex (green or red), Hot wax (yellow), and jalapenos (dark green or red) or cutting celery.

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, greens, peppers, eggplant, okra, sweet potatoes

FARM REPORT:

At least this time, the rain actually fit in our rain gauge.  Large rain events have become common enough that we should probably buy a bigger rain gauge.  No joke!   See Tom’s post for a soggy photo.  Crops like the radishes, turnips, and arugula that were already stressed from the last rain are worse now.  After each rain event we have re-planted in the hopes of things turning in our favor, so far no such luck.

At the moment, the shares are full thanks to the summer crops that will be done soon and storage crops that we have pretty much gone through.  Expect lighter shares for the last few weeks of the season.  On a bright note, the sweet potato harvest has begun and it looks fairly respectable.  They will start appearing in the shares next week and for most of the rest of the season.

In the Share: Week 19

harvest dinner, lettuce

LETTUCE F/P  Dainty Forellenschluss heads first from the lettuce patch, which is looking good as long as we don’t get another gully washer.

GREENS CHOICE F The first picking on the fall kale, chard and gailan will be light to start.

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  The peppers don’t want to stop growing.  Expect lots of ripe peppers, and once the frost threatens, lots of green peppers in your future.

YELLOW ONIONS F/P

POTATOES F  More of the Desiree variety with pink skin, yellow flesh.

EGGPLANT F  The plants are making nice fruit now.

CUCUMBERS P  Not many more cucumbers left. A sign of the end of summer.

TOMATOES F/P  A last little flush is slowly ripening.

HERBS F/P  Chives and thyme

NEXT WEEK:  Peppers, sweet potatoes, garlic, eggplant, lettuce

FARM REPORT:
We had a beautiful day for the CSA harvest dinner.  The community came together and put on a great party with lots of fun for the kids, homebrew and good conversation for the adults and no injuries have been reported.

Since we spilled the beans last week (see here if you missed it), Tom and I had to take a few minutes from the festivities to talk about our plans for next year.  Sustainability is sometimes described as a three-legged stool comprised of social, environmental, and economic components.  We think the CSA is rocking the social component with the sliding scale, coordination with food pantries, distribution sites and so much more.  Our environment benefits from the farm’s commitment to organic practices, the purchase of wind power from our electric co-op, and a myriad of other things that are done to conserve resources on the farm.  The economics of the farm are strong thanks to the support of the membership.  With the commercial kitchen almost complete, the farm hopes to complement the CSA income with sales from fermented foods.  We are excited to begin the next chapter of building our farm business with the community and the land. 

In the Share: Week 17

lettuce, peppers, rain, rainbow, row cover

SWEET PEPPERS F/P

CARROTS F/P baby orange ones from the summer harvest.

TOMATOES F/P

SUMMER SQUASH F yellow squash or zucchini

YELLOW ONIONS F/P

EGGPLANT OR OKRA F

CUCUMBERS F/P

HERBS F/P  See Tom’s post for more on our interesting assortment of herbs this week that includes basil, fresh fennel seeds and garlic chive flowers.

NEXT WEEK:  peppers, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, potatoes and garlic.

FARM REPORT:
The farm received nine inches of rain within a span of three days. Most of it fell Friday night when all of the creeks rose and lots of folks found water in their basements.  It was what some folks around here call a real gully washer.  We’ve done the good work of sowing the farm’s gullies down in permanent sod, so instead the soil washed right over our newly-planted lettuce beds.  Once it dries out enough to attempt it, we’ll need a shovel to unearth what lies beneath.

Most of the crops weren’t buried like the lettuce, and not even most of the lettuce got the full treatment, but there’s other damage that is hard to see at first.  When we get a big rain event like we had this week, water pools below ground long after the surface water has receded.  Plant roots swimming in muck leads to root rot.  Root rot leads to leaves wilting and yellowing.  Not every crop is in this situation, but many are.  If we get the weather that is forecasted for the next week, dry and sunny, we should see some recovery.  If instead we get another slew of rain then it might be time to start wishing on rainbows.

In the Share: Week 8

Garlic, lettuce, summer squash

CRISP LETTUCE F/P  It took major “babying” of these summer crispheads under their shade cloth, but they managed to get to a respectable size despite the blazing heat.

ROMAINE LETTUCE F  Meanwhile these little romaines were out in full sun and somehow managed to make nice little romaine hearts.

SUMMER SQUASH F/P  Finally the squash has begun to produce, especially the yellow squash.  There are smaller amounts of zucchini so far.

NEW POTATOES F  I am eating maybe the best potato salad I’ve ever had thanks to farmer Tom. See his post for the recipe.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS F  These yummies are in the potato salad too.

CHARD OR GAILAN P  These plants have a thick layer of mulch around them and are happily giving us their green goodness into the heat of the summer.

KOHLRABI P  It’s the partial shares turn to have fun with the alien vegetables.  Peel it well and eat it raw, it’s so easy.

GARLIC F/P  More hardheck, drier this time but not completely cured.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Basil, summer savory or cutting celery.

TOMATOES AND CUCUMBERS ??  We have small amounts of both and we plan to share them with you however we can.  It’ll be a suprise.

NEXT WEEK:  Squash, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, beets.

FARM REPORT:
We have really lucked out on the weather this year.  It has been at times uncomfortably hot, but more importantly the rain and sunshine has been just right.  Today we were surprised by a mid-morning shower that dropped a nice 1.7 inches of rain.  After a week of dry weather, it was just perfect for keeping the crops happy.

The dry spells in between the rain showers are key to the farm staying on schedule.  During the last dry spell we planted another round of summer squash, cucumbers and beans.  These crops only produce for a while and need to be succession planted so that we can enjoy their tasty fruits all summer long.

On the left are the newly seeded rows, on the right the squash we are picking currently plus a row of mulched okra.  The row cover is protecting the pickling cucumbers from the dreaded cucumber beetles.

One of the big tasks right now is harvesting the garlic.  Once they start to die back in the fields, they need to be pulled while they still have plenty of green leaves.  The leaves extend to the heads where they form the layers that protect the cloves and allow the garlic to keep for months.

So far all of the hardneck is out of the ground and hanging in the old tobacco-drying barn to cure.  We are now working on the softneck varieties.  We love growing our garlic, which involves saving the best 20% of the heads for seed to plant later in the fall.  The hardneck variety, Musik, is a German Porcelain type that we brought with us from Peacework Organic Farm in Western New York, where Tom and I met.  I can’t help feeling sentimental about our garlic that has weathered the ups and downs through the years with us.

In the Share: Week 2x

lettuce, mulching, swiss chard, walking onions

WALKING ONIONS  an early perennial, eat as you would any green onion.

BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE

RED LEAF LETTUCE

ASPARAGUS

RADISHES & TURNIPS

BOK CHOY & TAT SOI

FALL CARROTS  Last of the storage carrots.  Sometime in June we should have the first of the fresh crop.

RED RUSSIAN KALE  From out in the field.  We’ll save the rest for the start of the 24-week season in 2 weeks, but the biggest leaves are perfect for picking now.

HERB MIX Cilantro, dill, chive flowers

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, asparagus, green onions, green garlic, arugula, bok choy, herbs and radishes.

FARM REPORT
With all of the spring crops in, the rains have been appreciated.  You can almost watch the lettuce grow.

Rainy days find us in the greenhouse potting up the summer crops.  The eggplant is ready even if the weather is not quite yet. We will wait as long as we can to make sure that we are past any freezes.

The CSA workers have been a great help in getting in the harvest and tending to the fields.  We like to hay mulch vegetables like the Swiss chard that will stay on in the fields into the summer.

In the Share – Week 29

high tunnel, lettuce, radicchio

RADICCHIO  This is our second year trying these beauties.  They are yummy in a salad.

HEAD LETTUCE  butterheads and red leaf varieties

SALAD MIX  We had some empty space in the high tunnel, so we broadcasted our leftover lettuce seed.  It grew nicely and we have enough to share.

TURNIPS  Hakureis from the high tunnel.

SWEET POTATOES 

BOK CHOY  These got pretty large in the high tunnel.

GARLIC, DILL OR HOT PEPPERS 

SWEET PEPPERS  The cold weather has held off so here is one more round of green and ripe peppers.

SWISS CHARD OR GAI LAN/BROCCOLI  Broccoli leaves are the new “kale” according to some reports.  I think they mean Gai lan or “Chinese broccoli” which grows into a small shrub and has tender leaves.

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, spinach, carrot, herbs, radishes and greens.

FARM REPORT:
We have been enjoying the farm’s post-season during the day and the Royals post-season at night.  What a team!  What a fun time for Kansas City and the surrounding community!  I hope that the good feelings of togetherness and team spirit continue on after today and permeate other part of our lives. 

The weather is the other local story.  It has been unseasonably warm and mild:  perfect weather for parade-watching or garlic planting.  We did the later this afternoon and hope to have it complete in time for the CSA members on Saturday to mulch all 6,000 cloves.

Most of the harvests are coming out of the high tunnel now.  Things look good overall with lots of greens and roots for the extended season.   We don’t grow salad mix very often but it filled in nicely in a space where we wanted lettuce quick.  You might notice a prickly lettuce imposter trying to hide in the salad mix.  He died shortly after this photograph was taken.

 

In the Share: Week 28

lettuce, raised bed
lacewing on the lettuce

LETTUCE  blushed butter oaks.  Lacewings eat aphids which can sometimes be a pest in protected environments like the high tunnel.  It is nice to see our beneficial friends.

ARUGULA  big leaves from the high tunnel.

RADISHES  sweet red ones from the high tunnel

BROCCOLI/GAI LAN  the bunches will include both – stems, leaves, buds are all edible.

SPINACH the first pick from the high tunnel

CILANTRO  big plants are thriving in the high tunnel

TOKYO BEKANA  This is a new one for all of us.  Similar to Napa cabbage but more open.  It grew pretty large, so plan on some stir fry or coleslaw soon in your future. 

BULB FENNEL  from the field.

POTATOES choice of Desiree or Fingerling varieties

NEXT WEEK:  lettuce, carrots, greens, herbs, garlic

FARM REPORT:

Once again post-season baseball for our hometown team, the Kansas City Royals, coincides with our post-season.  The extended season for 53 shares starts this week with greens from the high tunnel, fennel and broccoli from the field and potatoes from storage. 

The farm has been a quiet place these past few days.  The employees and apprentices finished their season on Saturday. Before they left, we built a big raised bed with old stones from the barn.  After the deluge we experienced this summer, raised beds seem like a safe bet. 

Royal blue skies
 

In the Share – Week 10

lettuce, rainbow

 spider guarding the lettuce crop

LETTUCE F/P  Crispheads that are heat-tolerant this week only.

SQUASH OR CUCUMBER F/P  Its been a paltry harvest so far but the second planting is just beginning to fruit, so hopefully more soon.

PURPLE VIKING POTATOES F  These are especially good for mashing or baking.

GARLIC F/P  The 2015 garlic harvest is all in the barn to dry.  Big thanks to all who participated in the mud-slinging!

HERB CHOICE F/P  Basil, lemon basil, or summer savory.  The lemon basil is a new one for us.  It is resistant to the mildew that took out our entire crop last year.  So far all of the basil shows no signs of trouble this season.  Fingers crossed!

CABBAGE, KALE OR CHARD F  The weather has been very Irish up until the last few days and so has the harvest.  Cabbage and potatoes have sustained us through the dreary days.  This is the last of the cabbage until fall.  See Tom’s posts for some thoughts on fermentation.

TOMATO/EGGPLANT OR PEPPERS F/P  The tomatoes are producing a bit more with the heat.  We hope to get them to all of you that we can this week even if it is just one.   The peppers and eggplant are in pretty limited quantities.

NEXT WEEK:  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, herbs, onions.

FARM REPORT:
Summer has finally arrived in all its sweaty glory.  The farm crew had to take the mental leap from cursing the rain to laying irrigation tape.  The air may be steamy, but it doesn’t take long for the ground to dry when it is 100 deg. F.  The irrigation pond has been full and overflowing since September; the solar panels are catching the sun’s energy and the pump is good-to-go, so by Friday we will be irrigating (baring unexpected circumstances, of course).  The plan is to transplant the cabbages and cauliflower and seed the fall roots late this week.   A good omen for the plantings to come was seen on the farm on Monday afternoon.  The rain stayed away but a rainbow appeared.