Officially halfway this week – that is, halfway through the calendar for the main season. The main event on the farm this week was the whole cycle with the baby calf – born, unable to be fed by mom, taught to drink from a bottle, and sold. For some reason this is a disruptive experience. The Colostrum needed to be tube fed kinda in the middle of farm call on Saturday; and there needed to be a calf nursery put together to do the caregiving. The fun part was one of the members and her family managed to squeeze in a fast visit so the 3 year old crew could hold the bottle, pet the calf, and then play with field rocks. It was pretty amusing:
A significant number of the regularly scheduled farm and CSA tasks did NOT get accomplished, of course. Part of that included replacing the drive shaft for the baler – which finally was completed 8/2. If you ever need to replace the yoke on the drive shaft of your baler feel free to call and ask advice. Chehalis U-Joint is a great resource! It is probable that will not happen, since none of you seem to have a hay baler. But if you do…
The garden manages to get things ripe despite other distractions. The Tomato slicers and cherries are out in force now – and they are pretty awesome to eat. There is a hybrid of Cherokee Purple and Carbon called Cherokee Carbon that sacrificed itself to a hamburger this week – very dark, soft, and the official guest tester said “Creamy.” There are also firmer tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, fluted edge tomatoes – it is not at all clear which will be in your box. The Cherokee Carbon has what are called green shoulders and is extremely dark… and Creamy. The Roma (cooking, also called “Paste”) Tomatoes started showing some color on 8/2. These are a nice size, probably available late in the week. That said, please ask if you want to cook some tomatoes to ensure that you get them. The Roma has quite a few fruit, so if you want a lot, we can get you a small (bonus) box for $5.
There are also a fair number of cucumbers showing up; one or two English, the rest are a 6-8″ called “Manny.” One of the Manny cucumber vines has put out about 5 major shoots with a fair number of young and a smaller number of ripe cukes.
The Summer Squash have been extremely happy with the higher heat this last week. A tiny little Patty Pan just showed up; the hook neck and zuchinni style are lagging. Young white turnips are getting some size – the leaves on the turnips seem to be a favorite treat for flea beetles – those pin holes you see in the leaf are from them.
New Potatoes are getting cleaned out – the red norland are all gone, most of the (disappointing) Yukon Gold as well. Huckleberry, Cal White and Blackberry are still there this week, and there may be a few of the russets sneaking into a box or two. Corn and Beans are growing, which is about all that can be said – oh, and the Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbage are getting some size. There is a whole new planting started of Cabbage for the late fall, if you like cabbage in the late fall…
So – in the box for this week:
| Lettuce | Cegolaine or green mini romaine or Red Iceberg. Cegolaine is awesome this week. Red Iceberg is statuesque, if that makes sense. |
| Brassicas | Be patient, grasshopper. |
| Roots | Radishes: Red Meat, Minowase (the giant white ones), teenage white Turnips with greens, baby White beets with greens |
| Greens | Mustard … probably a few leaves. Tastes great. Chard – Mostly white, some red may sneak out. Arugula – yep. Nice size for salads – trying not to give out too leggy of a plant. A big handfull. see “Roots” above… |
| Herbs | Mint, no Oregano this week, Chives, (Cilantro – not till it cools off), Parsley, Basil, Celery leaves – remember to ask if you want more or less of a herb. LOTS of parsley available, by the way. Celery is getting bigger – outside celery is still smaller than inside celery. Garlic bulbs unless we forget again. ;( |
| Misc | Potatoes – Assortment – smaller Nokatah Russet, Huckleberry, Cal White, Grand Duk Bigger bulb onion and a few green onions. Flower of the week: Cut Flowers. Hope you enjoyed your peach… that was, well, all there are. And Tomatoes Cherries and Slicers. Tomatoes. Ask for Cooking tomatoes. Very possible everyone gets a cuke. Not for sure, but very possible. |
Coming Soon: Summer Squash, starting with Patty pan. Eggplant: saw first few immature fruit 8/2. More celery from outside – keep in mind pretty strong flavor compared to the ‘store stuff!’ Watching for early apples – trees are pretty bare, but there are some. Grapes are still tiny. Blackberries are full of blossoms with a few very green fruit. Very very green.
The adventure continues!
