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.