Category Archives: rainbow

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 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 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.