Category Archives: tomatoes

In the Share – Week Two

chickens, lettuce, mulch, tomatoes
French butterhead (see the ladybug?)

LETTUCE (F2/P1) More luscious butterheads and brilliant red leaf lettuces.

NAPA CABBAGE (F) Great in slaws or pickled in a kimchi, aka Chinese cabbage.

RADISH OR ARUGULA (F) Neither fared well through our wintery Spring. We are picking them baby size, while they last.

CHARD OR KALE (F/P) The first pickings off these two reliable vegetables. Partial shares choose between chard, kale, or Napa cabbage.

BROCCOLI (F/P) Much less reliable, but much more popular … alas!

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F/P) If you are new to these, try eating the entire plant raw – top to bottom. 

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) The patch is just starting to produce. If you don’t get any this week, lots more are on their way.

GREEN GARLIC (F/P) The young garlic plants are tender and nice in any dish where you would use garlic.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, garlic chives or dried herbs.

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, green onions, turnips and herbs.

FARM REPORT: The weather has finally warmed and the plants are responding by pumping out new growth. The peas are racing up their trellising after sitting still for so long. Every plant on the farm is intent on sending out their solar collectors to soak up the sun’s energy. Meanwhile the humans try to keep up with all this activity to direct it towards productive forms. Tomatoes are pruned and trellised, weeds are pulled, cucumbers thinned. One of our favorite ways to direct plant growth is mulching. The crops benefit and the weeds lose. On Saturday, we had lots of help from the membership so after the morning’s harvest was complete we tackled the tomato patch.

 tomato mulch

Four big round bales of hay later and the farm crew was reminded of the power of the CSA model.  Thanks everybody for making our job easier!

While we focus on the plants, the chickens carry on merrily in their new location in the lower part of the far field. Their spontaneous cackling reaches across the fields and they are fun to watch as they peck around in the grass. Sometimes all you can see is their backsides pointed to the sky as they search the tall grass for bugs. 
chicken circle

 In addition to whatever they find, we give them organic, non-GMO feed that we purchase by the ton to get the best price. If you come out to the farm we usually have a couple dozen eggs for sale, just ask.  We charge $5/dozen which we are hoping will allow us to break even on the annual costs of the feed. Having chickens on the farm gives us more than just egg money. The fringed benefits are cheep entertainment as mentioned, fertilizer, less bugs perhaps and of course frittatas. See Tom’s post below for tonight’s dinner – chard and leek frittata.  Yumm!

2012—Our Ninth CSA Season

csa, fair share farm, farm apprentice, high tunnel, kansas city, Parker Farms, sugar snap peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes

And so we reach 2012 … and the reminiscing is about to end. It has been instructional and cathartic for Rebecca and me to review what the farm has been through over the last ten years. Every year has been a new set of challenges and unpredicable weather. As an example, the contrast between Spring 2012 and our present weather conditions is striking.

Red bud blooming March 24, 2012

2012 broke all sorts of records, including the hottest January-June on record and third driest year on record. The drought and mind-numbing heat of Summer (the average daily high in July was 98.2 deg F) made work difficult and came close to drying up our irrigation pond.

It was a very strange, if not somewhat bizarre year for the crops, with the early Spring and hot, dry Summer causing many plants to mature up to a month early. Strawberries were ripening on May 1 instead on Jule 1. Garlic was ready by June 5, a month ahead as well. And most of the potatoes quite literally cooked (and rotted) in the ground as the soil temperatures topped 90 degrees.

There were some major successes though. In the Spring the sugar snap peas were dripping off the vines with a new record of 550+ lbs. As mentioned, the tomatoes thrived…9,397 pounds of virtually blemish-free beauties thanks to the dry weather. The sweet potatoes were the most beautiful specimens we had ever grown. We also had good success with carrots, the Fall crops and many other vegetables.


Ryan picking peas (photo by Bill McKelvey)
tons of tomatoes

A good sweet potato plant
Sweet pea very full for the CSA delivery to the Bad Seed

Despite the crazy weather, the farm crew was up to the task. Dani Hurst returned for a second season as an apprentice and even squeezed a May wedding to Derek Brown into the year. Apprentice Ryan Stubby graced us with his hard work, good nature and awesome kale chips. Harvest extras allowed Ryan to hone his skills at food dehydrating, a talent he hopes to use in future ventures.



Ryan and Dani tending to the tomatoes in June

CSA member, Mark Flynn, had some free time that Summer and was a big help during the big tomato harvest and Fall planting push. The lack of rain and extreme heat created the need to put out mulch for the cabbage, broccoli and other July plantings earlier than normal. It was a big effort to complete, as the Summer harvest was also in full swing. Thanks again Mark.

Ryan, Mark, Dani and Rebecca planting cabbages in July

In June we traveled to Richmond, MO for the KC CSA Coalition tour of Parker Farms. As vegetable farmers and meat eaters we appreciate the effort that goes into raising free-range, pasture-fed livestock. Since we started collaborating with the Parker’s in 2006, they have fed us most all of the meat we have eaten in the last 7 years. Tom, Paula and their four daughters hosted a delicious pot-luck and stroll of the farm. They are doing it right.


Pasture-fed and free-range beef ala Parker Farms

The other big task in 2012 was the construction of our new high tunnel. Grading of the site began in January. Two volunteer work days and many other hours of piecing it together were successful in getting things in order by mid-September. The high tunnel crops flourished that fall and allowed us to extend the season for 4 weeks.

Volunteers helping put up the main structure March 10th
Finished high tunnel on November 11th

Our last days of the season were out of the norm that year too. On October 20 the Outstanding in the Field crew and Justus Drugstore again set up at the farm for another fantastic dinner. It was a tough day though, as it was announced by OITF founder Jim Denavan that we were hosting the coldest event they ever held. Crazy for that to happen after the Summer heat wave.

We entered the Winter of 2012 already planning for an expansion of the CSA to 150 members in 2013. But first we are able to take a train ride to the Southwest and relax in New Mexico hot springs for a week. Such a break is always good.

The oft-photographed St. Francis Chuch near Taos, New Mexico

If you have been following this recollection all the way through we thank you, and hope you enjoyed it. We would appreciate your comments and look forward to hearing from our blog readers.

Next up…the 2013 season.

2011—Our Eighth Season

broccoli, community supported agriculture, cover crops, csa, electric tractor, fair share farm, farm aprentice, greenhouse, jonathan justus, justus drugstore, kansas city, outstanding in the field, tomatoes
Impression of Rocky

By 2011 we had experienced eight years of farming in the same spot and seen how the land responds to just about every weather condition.  We continued to work on systems that could keep our farm resilient and sustainable for the future.

We were helped along by a principle promoted by Dr. W. Edwards Deming to “improve constantly and forever”… something I had learned in engineering and Rebecca knew inherently. It is an axiom that is in concert with the idea of sustainablility. We felt that we had a firm foundation to now build for the long-term future of Fair Share Farm.

The first couple months of the year were as busy as ever. We had one last area of the house to gut, insulate, re-wire, re-wall, re-window and re-door. We got it mostly done before things got too hectic and are enjoying the fruits of this labor to this day.

Only a memory now

The previous November, Lucas Knutter joined the farm team, house-sitting the apprentice house for the winter and joining us as a full-time apprentice in March. He had just finished a 27-month stint in the Peace Corp working with farmers in Senegal, and returned ready to start a farm of his own.  He went straight to work in January, joining us to repair some problem spots on the greenhouse.

 

It was a great year for the soil. Our Spring plantings went as smooth as ever after a quick cultivating pass with the G.


 
The Summer cover crop of sudan grass and cow peas grew 7 feet tall and was our best yet. Between the top growth and an extensive root system, the soil was given a feast.
Mowing down the cover crops before turning them under

Weather played its usual good guy/bad guy role, threatening tornados in the Spring, baking us silly in the Summer, and providing for a robust harvest in the Fall.  Kim Conrads joined us for the summer right after high school graduation and spent one of her first hours at the farm in our root cellar with the farm crew of CSA members, workers, farmers, a dog and two cats. Luckily no funnel stopped by.

Safe in the root cellar
August 2, a record high.

Among the standouts that year were our record snap pea (400+ lb), tomato (5,600+ lbs) and sweet potato (2,100+ lb) harvests . Other crops did excellent too, as the almost 2.7 lb head of broccoli pictured below can attest.

The tomato share during Week 11
CSA morning in the packing room

Colorful carrots
Head-sized broccoli
Fall share

July 25 was a unique day for us as we hosted Justus Drugstore and Outstanding in the Field for an al fresco dinner on the farm. It is tough to describe in one paragraph what a wonderful event it was. The food was unique and satisfying, the crowd happy and boisterous, and the presentation professional and artful. The whole story is in our July 26 blog.

The long table on a hot Missouri day

By August, Kim had headed to college and we had a new apprentice in Dani Hurst. She was ready to put the homesteading and farming skills she had learned about as a writer for Natural Home magazine into practice.  Her energy and good nature was appreciated for the next 1-1/2 years she spent with us.

Dani mulching leeks


Another group that has helped out over the years is my family. The road Rebecca and I took to where we are right now was not a normal one. While no doubt skeptical at first, their love and support for us over the years has been true and real. My brother and five sisters have all done a stint or two at the farm, visited during unique events like OITF, and otherwise used their talents to help us out. It has been a fun family affair.

My brother Bill juicing pears with our great-grandfather’s press

Autumn 2011 was warm and the crops thrived into early winter.  The fields were plentiful past the end of our CSA season and for our annual night at the Bad Seed pre-Thanksgiving Market.

October

A rarity for us, the hustle and bustle of running a market table on a busy night is a lot of fun. So is catching up and bartering with all the other vendors, seeing our big city friends and enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Fall bounty

Next up…one year ago and a new high tunnel, more record harvests, the drought, OITF II, and back to the present.

In the Share – Week 11

carrots, cherry tomatoes, dry, hot, tomatoes
the harvest:  carrots, beets and onions

TOMATOES x2 (F/P) Last week CSA members on average received about 10 lbs. of tomatoes and this week it is looking to be about the same. Please don’t get too used to this excess. It is a freak of nature and it will only last a while longer. Last week we literally harvested over a ton.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) That ton also included these beauties. We think we’ll have another round of quarts for everyone this week.

CARROTS (F/P) We dug these a while back and stored them in the cooler. We think they taste even better after a stint in the cold slammer.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F/P) The onions are a bit smaller than other years, but we have almost no culls thanks to the dry weather. Soon we’ll move on the red onions after the sweet Wallas are gone.

BEETS, SUMMER SQUASH OR SALSA PACK (F) This will most likely be the last of the beets until fall. We should have some for the partial shares next week.

PEPPERS: SWEET AND HOT (F) Another small taste of peppers. We are letting most of them stay on the plants to ripen.

EGGPLANT (F/P) The “plant” is rocking right now and will be for the next few weeks. It is so good simply broiled until it is brown and marinated in olive oil and spices. Partial shares get a choice of beets or eggplant.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, summer savory or a dried herb.

FARM REPORT




As CSA farmers we advertise membership in our farm as relationship based on shared risk but also shared bounties. Well, right now we are looking at extremes of both. We’ve got a ridiculously huge bumper crop of tomatoes and a drought of epic proportions. The tomato harvest threatens to consume all of our hours of all of our days.

 The farm crew of four: Tom, me, and our awesome farm apprentices Dani Hurst and Ryan Stubby do little else but harvest, sort, count and weigh tomatoes. Add 2 one-day-a-week volunteers (Thank you, M for Monday crew!!) and we still struggle to find time to plant for fall, tinker with the irrigation system and weed the sweet potatoes.  The CSA members bi-weekly visits keep our heads above water by assisting in the retrieval of the other crops from the field.

Saturday carrot harvest

And then there’s the heat and drought … Tom and I are increasingly concerned about the long-term effect on the crops. So far most everything is staying alive BUT we expect a lull in the harvest a few weeks from now.  Stay tuned for more on that as experience what may be the hottest, driest year on record.  Meanwhile, enjoy the bumper crop and think about putting up a little summer sunshine for later.



In the Share – Week 10

fall planting, mulch, pond, tomato plants, tomatoes
TOMATOES (F/P) Holy tomato, Batman!  The farm is full of tomatoes of all sizes, colors and flavors.  It took us all day plus some to get the harvest in and sorted. We definitely hit a new record at 1,300 + lbs. just today.

MORE TOMATOES (F/P)  Everyone will be getting a double share this week. We are holding back many less ripe ones, for future shares. The cave is keeping them nicely.  We are giving you ripe ones and many that are two or three days away from being ripe.  If you can wait, they are best when they are soft and fleshy.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P)  If Saturday is any indication, we should have plenty for all.

POTATOES (F/P)  It wasn’t an Irish Spring for sure and so we aren’t getting a great potato crop. They are small but very tasty. We will be digging several varieties this week as we clear the highest and driest area first, which includes the French Fingerling, the Bintje and the Kennebec.

CUCUMBERS AND SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) We are handing out small cucumbers this week out of the pickling cucumber patch. They are great for fresh eating too. The summer squash is not producing a lot but we are spreading them out to everyone as best we can.

GARLIC (F/P) Garlic is fully cured and ready for eating.  Offered will be more Musik, a hardneck type.

EGGPLANT (F/P) Today we also harvested a big crop of eggplant. We pick them young when they are at their most tender and mild. No need to soak these babies.

SALSA PACK (F/P) Partial shares get a choice with the eggplant.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Thai basil, thyme, or parsley. Partial shares get a smaller bunch and a smaller garlic.

FARM REPORT

What to say? We are in the thick of summer and barely have time to put this together. The drought continues for us. We missed most of the rain that was all around us on Sunday. For a short while the rain was a very lovely sight.

In the end, one-tenth of an inch is all that fell. We spent some time this weekend to get a close approximation of what water we have. Here I am having a lovely swim to measure the deepest point in the pond.

It reads about 7.5 feet, which from our calculations means about half of the volume of the pond has been used or evaporated. The question then becomes, “Is the pond half-full or half-empty?” We like to stay positive, so are looking ahead to the prospect of possibly pumping water from the old pond that we used in 2003 during our first season on the farm. Hopefully it won’t come to that but we like to have it as an option just the same.

In the midst of all this the planting schedule must be kept and on Monday we transplanted the first of the fall crops.
 

The cabbage looks good under a thick layer of mulch and with plenty of water. We are hoping to plant all of the fall brassica (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage) this way into hay mulch to conserve moisture.

In the share – Week 8

cave, eggplant, tomatoes

first picking of the eggplant

CUCUMBERS (F/P) It is peak week for our first round of cukes and everyone is getting a good amount. We will also have available a crate of “take what you want” ones that the cucumber beetles munched. Look for the crate at the end of the line marked “Cucumber 2nds”.

SUMMER SQUASH (F) Our first planting of the summer squash is winding down, but we have another round of pattypans coming in soon.

NEW POTATOES (F/P) The first of the fresh potatoes – eat soon or store in the fridge. Their skins are not developed enough yet to keep very long, but boy there’s nothing like a new potato.

TOMATOES (F/P) We have a new record for earliest harvest with over 100 lbs today. There’s a nice selection of hybrids and heirlooms. We grow many colors of tomatoes including green, yellow, orange, pink, striped, black (dark red really), and of course, red.  All of the tomatoes that we are giving you this week are ripe or 1-2 days away from being ripe. Not sure if your tomato is ripe? Give it a gentle squeeze – it should feel soft not hard.

 This photo shows only heirloom varieties although this week we have quite a few standard red ones too.  Some of the varieties above are Black Krim, Amana Orange, Aunt Ruby’s German Green and Marianna’s Peace.

GARLIC (F/P) The first offering from the garlic bulb harvest is Musik, a hardneck variety. Hardneck garlic has large cloves that surround a central stalk.   The garlic is cured and should keep on your countertop for a month or more although they are at their prime right  now while they are fresh and juicy.

BASIL (F/P) We are sending in pesto-size bunches this week to go along with the garlic.

PEPPERS AND/OR EGGPLANT (F) The first picking with what looks to be many more to come.

CABBAGE (F) More heads have grown since our last picking, especially the pointy-headed ones.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F) We are hoping to have enough pints for the full shares this week, next week we’ll have some for the partial shares.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS (P) These are sweet onions, perfect for every summer salad. Not cured, so refrigerate.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms CSA shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash. Carrots return. Onions for the full shares.  Salsa packs make their debut.

FARM REPORT

While I made a quick run to Fayette, Missouri for the biennial Rains family reunion on Sunday, Farmer Tom stayed home and got our new storage room ready for the tomato harvest. Just in time too, with our nice harvest today and hot weather in the forecast.  Using a window air-conditioning unit, a gadget called a CoolBot and a lot of insulation we now have a room to keep crops that prefer a cool but not cold storage temperature. It is built in the lowest corner in our barn against two underground walls. We call it the Cave.

Cave was also the last name of my grandmother, Allene. It was her parents, Louie and Cleve, who bought the land that Tom and I now farm. Grandpa Cave had cattle on pasture and grew hay in the field where we currently have carrots, squash and cucumbers growing.

In the Share – Week 7

irrigation, rain, tomatoes

SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) Some of these boys got a big on us, thanks to the heat. See Tom’s post for some yummy recipes for these big boys.

CARROTS (F/P) First of the season, fresh out of the ground with their tops. We like to give you the entire carrot for the first round, but they keep better with their tops off. Leave half an inch of green and store in a plastic bag in your crisper.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F) Fresh, sweet onions are best appreciated raw in your favorite salad.

KOHLRABI (F/P) The last of the spring crops, these are so crisp and juicy they will remind you of a rainy day.

CUCUMBERS (F/P) Talk about crisp and juicy, the cuke is the perfect farmer snack after sweating in the fields.

CHOICE OF KALE OR SWISS CHARD (F) Our crop of greens is hanging in there for now. Enjoy their healthy goodness while they last.

HERB CHOICE (F) Basil, summer savory, parsley or dried herbs.

LETTUCE (P) We managed to grow just enough lettuce for the partial shares to get their turn this week. After that it is curtains for the frilly heads until fall.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) Just a small taste to whet your appetite.

NEXT WEEK: More cucumbers, summer squash and tomatoes. More beets. Garlic and new potatoes.

FARM REPORT

The first day of summer is here, although it has felt like summer for months. This week it feels like a blast furnace actually. I despise these hot, dry, windy days almost over any other weather short of something dangerous like a tornado. At least with a tornado you usually get some rain! We thought we might get some rain on Friday.  The clouds looked promising as we harvested the garlic.

But only a few drops fell.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not wishing for severe weather, but the farm’s plants and people are ready for a break from this desiccating blow torch!

Despite said blow torch, the crops for the most part continue to survive and flourish thanks to a steady stream of irrigation water. The pond has dropped quite a bit since we began drawing from it in April.
Here’s a picture.

That’s about the level it was at the end of last summer, the lowest it’s ever been. So here’s a game we will now play called: How low will the pond go? Will we draw it down until we can draw no more? Or will our dear pond water hold out until the September rains fall?

Thanks to all that water and a thick layer of mulch on almost everything, the farm looks a lot like summer with big bushy tomato plants full of green fruit. Wait a minute …  there’s actually a few red ones out there! We’ve never harvested ripe tomatoes in June until today. There’s the silver lining in our harsh weather reality: early summer fruit! Look for the tray of cherry tomatoes at distribution this week for a first taste of the season.

In the Share – Week 12

fall planting, heat, tomatoes

TOMATOES (F/P) It is “deliously hot” at the farm according to one of our recent guests. Nothing tastes better than a ripe heirloom tomato grown in a hot, dry Midwestern summer.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) We don’t wash any of our tomatoes on the farm. It keeps them tasty and healthy. Wait until you are ready to eat them and give them a quick rinse.

SALSA PACK (F/P) The tomatillos are putting out the fruit right now. Que rica la salsa!

CARROTS (F/P) More big orange ones from the last harvest.

PURSLANE (F/P) What’s that, you say? Isn’t it a weed? Actually purslane is quite tasty and full of Omega 3s. Read Tom’s post for more info.

TROPEA and WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F/P) See Tom’s post for a great onion and tomato sauce recipe. I’m eating it right now and it is divine!

OKRA, SWEET PEPPERS AND EGGPLANT (F) Hopefully soon we’ll have enough sweet peppers for everyone. They are starting to ripen in large quantities. The damaged ones always ripen first, so there will be a crate of “seconds” to take what you want.

HERBS (F) Basil and summer savory

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes, salsa packs, okra and peppers. Potatoes and garlic.

FARM REPORT
Here we are at the mid-season mark. Week 12 of 24 has arrived. Now is a good time to pause for a moment and assess the weeks behind us and look to the weeks ahead. Overall, Tom and I were really pleased with the spring and early summer shares. Despite a shortened strawberry season, the shares were hefty thanks to some big lettuces and spring turnips, among others.

The summer started out pretty good with a nice carrot and beet harvest. The summer squashes, cucumbers and beans started out promising but the later plantings have fizzled in the hot, dry conditions.
Right now we are thrilled, if a bit daunted, by the tomato harvest. Last week alone we picked 1,600 lbs. of heirloom, hybrid, paste, drying and cherry tomatoes. Currently, the overabundance of tomatoes is making up for the lack of many of the other summer fruits that have withered in the heat. As CSA farmers our first priority is to fill the shares by minimizing our risk of crop loss. That’s why one of our big investments on the farm is a reliable irrigation system. The system is working very well right now, but it has it’s limits. We have a lot of field to cover, including full-grown summer crops that need a deep drink and newly planted fall crops that need steady moisture. We have had a difficult time getting some of the fall crops established. When the temperatures are extreme some seeds refuse to sprout and flowers drop without forming fruit.
Not all crops are faring poorly. The heat-loving sweet potatoes and okra are thriving. We also have a good crop of onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots that will keep us in staples for a good while. The winter squash and melons bit the dust early on due to the dry weather. A few winter squash may go in the shares next week. For the fall there are rows upon rows of newly transplanted cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli that will hopefully fill our bellies in October if we can keep them alive until then. But really there’s only one constant when it comes to Missouri weather, it’s bound to change soon. Just last weekend we got a nice break and a little rain shower during the Saturday harvest. We managed to squeeze everyone in the packing room until it stopped.

In the Share – Week 11

tomatoes

summer harvest

TOMATOES (F/P) We thought last week’s harvest was pretty good. This week is monumental. Over 800 lbs. just today. Each share is getting about 5-6 lbs. We will pick the cherry tomatoes tomorrow and likely have lots of them too. Here’s a photo i.d. of some of our heirloom varieties:

clockwise from upper left: Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Pineapple, Cherokee Purple, Amana Orange and Rose.

KENNEBEC POTATOES (F/P) an old-time favorite from Maine. They are great mashed or baked.

HARDNECK GARLIC (F/P) Musik garlic is a porcelain hardneck variety and one of our favorites because of it’s huge cloves that make adding lots of garlic to every dish easy.

SALSA PACK (F/P) The tomatillos are producing well. Pick up some extra on the bulk list and preserve some chile verde for the winter.

CABBAGE (F/P) It is perfect weather for some coleslaw.

EGGPLANT or OKRA (F) We picked the eggplant smaller this week as the blast furnace in our field is taking its toll. A few less fruit to care for will hopefully help the plants hold on a while longer.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P) You don’t have to be a celebrated chef to appreciate Fair Share Farm cherry tomatoes, but when they are served to you in a duck egg pasta with chanterelle mushrooms and rabbit you look at them in a whole new light.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Basil, summer savory, thyme, tarragon or a dried herb.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Bread of Life Bakery shares

NEXT WEEK: More tomatoes and salsa packs. Carrots and onions. Perhaps some ripe sweet peppers.

FARM REPORT
The events of the last week seem like a dream to me. On Sunday Tom and I were sweating in the herb garden pulling weeds. Just a few hours later we sat just a few feet away and dined on seven-courses of local food skillfully done with 150 new friends. Read Tom’s post for all the details on Outstanding in the Field including some photos of ours and more from our neighbors at the table who took lots of great shots.

In the midst of the big event, we were still full-time farmers and this was a big harvest week on the farm. The last of the garlic was dug and hung in the barn and all varieties look pretty good. On Saturday an extraordinary crew of CSA members brought in the bulk of the onion crop, over 1,800 row feet of onions and laid them all out on the screens in the upper barn. This is also peak tomato season and this year the fruit are really coming in. We picked over 1,000 lbs. of tomatoes last week and it looks like we are going to top that this week.

All of this work and more got done despite the blazing heat. We continue to keep to our “tropical” schedule of starting early, breaking at mid-day and doing more in the evenings. The plants would surely love to take a break at mid-day also, but instead we are trying to keep the water flowing all day every day. The water pressure does not allow for all crops to be watered at once, so each section of the field gets a half-day of watering before it’s on to the next one. So far we are managing to keep the plants alive for the most part. A good summer thunderstorm full of a couple inches of rain would be much appreciated however.

In the Share – Week 4

csa harvest, tomatoes, transplanting

Sugarsnap peas ready for picking

LETTUCE (F/P) More lovely ladies from the generous lettuce patch.

STRAWBERRIES (F/P) 2 pints (i.e. 1 quart) for all. You get 1 pint each of our 2 strawberry varieties: Honeoye and Amore. Let us know how they compare.

BROCCOLI (F/P) It is peak broccoli season this week, so enjoy it while you can.

ENDIVE ‘FRISEE’ (F/P) A frilly addition to a salad or darn good on its own with strawberry and honey dressing.

SUGAR SNAP PEAS (F/P) The first picking in the pea patch. These are edible-pod peas. Just snap off the top and whatever string may come with it and enjoy.

HAKUREI TURNIPS OR KOHLRABI (F) The second planting of turnips or the first of the kohlrabi. For those new to the kohlrabi, read more at Tom’s post It is nice just peeled and eaten raw in slices.

GREEN ONIONS (F/P) Yes, we are eating our young as they are so tender.

SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) The first picking is enough for everyone to get just one. We pick our zucchini and other summer squashes at this size because they are more flavorful and don’t have much of a seed cavity. Large squashes will appear in the swap boxes when we invariably miss one or two for those who want some baking-sized specimens.
HERB CHOICE (F/P) dill, fennel, tarragon or garlic scape. Fresh spring herbs ready for every meal.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, snap peas, broccoli, summer squash, kohlrabi and turnips. Baby beets.
FARM REPORT

June is a month full on the farm. Spring crops are coming into harvest and are doing well. The summer crops are growing by leaps and bounds as are the weeds. And it is time to prep and plant for fall. On Monday we put the second string on all the trellised tomatoes.

Me, Kim and Lucas twining through the tomatoes.

Today we planted 800 sweet potato plants. The transplanter made planting a breeze compared to the knee-crunching alternative. Thanks to modern invention we then had time to plant our last row of tomatoes and another 2 rows of melons and hoe the summer squash in addition to the morning harvest of broccoli and strawberries.

Kim and I planting sweet potatoes

And then twice a week the farm gets help from the community. Last Saturday was an especially large crowd. Everyone played their part and we got alot done.

Saturday harvest with 3 teams: spinach, lettuce and others of all ages pulling turnips