It should come as no surprise to you that this is more winter than spring. The consequences for the CSA are all rather distressing – the rate of growth drops, the outside beds are too wet to till, plants that should be set out are lingering in the trays. Perhaps the most annoying is that Putin the Sparrow breaks into the greenhouse to forage on baby plant leaf treats. If the weather guesser is correct this all starts to get much better late in this week. The greenhouse crops are still going strong, so – much as last week was, this week is.
One of the discoveries from the season thus far has been the number of you who are enjoying the Mustard. This is great, because there is an abundance of it. It would be great if a mustard-mania person who is cooking it would post a recipe on the group site – here at the farm it ends up being the green in salad, which while not all that creative, tastes fine. There is a small quantity of Asian mustard as well – it falls in category of “hey, let’s put some in this person’s box… they will like that…” When loading boxes that happens, which is why it is called “Farmer’s Choice.”
A common stress factor here is the using up of a planting while the next planting is still developing. Lettuce is pretty famous for gaps, the transition from greenhouse to outside garden is a great example of this. For this week, however, the lettuces are transitioning from the giant Romaine to a smaller romaine and a butter-crunch style. The Romaines will be back – but the next set will be from outside. The inside lettuce should come very close to ending this week, so… hopefully next week is good to go.
So – there are a LOT of new plants that would really love some sun… such as Garlic!
Now – about this week:
| Lettuce | There is 1 (one) large green romaine left – the rest of the lettuce is either a smaller romaine or a buttercrunch. If you have a strong preference, speak up. |
| Brassicas | Waiting for outside cabbage to head up (2-3 weeks). There may be a few small Kale (green) for those who ask. It literally would of been ready with a bit of sun this last week. |
| Roots | a few Minowase Radish, Beets with small bulbs. Young Carrots (Napoli) – just a couple per box. |
| Greens | Mustard … Lots and lots and lots… If you already voted Mustard off your island you won’t get any… Chard – bigger small early leaves. Spinach. Looking a bit ratty, might need to reseed. Arugula is still coming back – smaller portions are available. |
| Herbs | Mint, Oregano, Chives, Green Onions. Lots of Chives. |
Coming soon… Asparagus, bigger Kale, bigger Chard, Vit. Cilantro and Parsley waiting on some sun.
Not quite soon, maybe a few weeks: Outside peas, Cabbage are on a fast track. New potatoes maybe in mid May.
Broccoli and Cauliflower get set out after 4/15, as well as new crop small bulb onions, more cabbage.
— reminder — there will be some flowers in pots to sell. If you are interested, drop an email reply!
