Hello everyone this is the farmers daughter, Aliza. This week I will be writing the newsletter for mom. In all the 21 years that we have had the farm mom has written the newsletter every week, so we thought it would be a good change for one of us to write it. Anyway this week I will be writing about the farm from my prospective. Mom also thought this would be a good homeschool project for me.
I love growing up on a vegetable farm because I get to eat fresh vegetables. I love to eat all the different vegetables in the different seasons. Right now I love all the Melon seconds. I also love harvesting the melons because we get to play catch in the field. I also like harvesting carrots and eating them right there in the field. A few more vegetables that I like harvesting are kohlrabi, spinach, peppers, pumpkins, Brussels sprouts, turnips and kale. I also like cleaning and clipping the onions and garlic after they have been harvested.
Another thing I love about living on a farm is the animals. even though its a vegetable farm we still have lots of animals including 3 cows, 1 horse, 3 cats, a lot of chickens, 3 rabbits, 7 ducks, 2 turkeys 7 sheep and our one Labrador retriever whose name is Leche.🦮 My siblings and I all have different chores on the farm to take care of all the animals. I feed the chickens and the ducks, and we have a LOT of chickens! Each day I give them food and water and collect the eggs. I also have to move the chicken tractors to fresh grass every couple days. Sometimes when I’m pulling them up a hill I get stuck and my brother has to help me with his riding lawn mower. My older sister feeds the rabbits and the cats and milks the sheep in the evenings. My eight-year-old brother feeds the turkeys and in the winter he takes hay to the sheep.
This season is one of the first seasons that me and my sister have been helping on the farm working with the crew. Right now I am helping on Monday morning for harvest from 8-12 and on Tuesday afternoons for packing the CSA boxes. I like helping on the farm when the weather is nice and sunny. Sometimes we have had to work in the pouring rain and that’s not very fun but it is always nice to come into the warm, dry house for lunch afterwords. On Monday morning some of my friends help on the crew and it’s fun to work with them. I like being part of the crew because it makes me feel like I’m part of something bigger and the interesting conversations that go on.
I really like being homeschooled because I get more time to be creative and make things with my hands. I like to make little animals and people out of wood in my free time. I like to ride my horse when I get the chance, ride my bike and draw pictures with pencils. Being homeschooled means I get to be with my family and my siblings a lot more. I love all the fruits and vegetables that I get to eat on the farm. I love taking care of the animals and watching them grow. I know that I’m very lucky living on a farm.
And Lots of Tomato Sauce Canning happening in the Varney kitchen this time of year
What’s in the Box?
Tomatoes– 7.5-8 lb bags of tomatoes again this week! Tomato Production is waning a little. I believe it has peaked, but we will still be picking up until we get frost, but shhhh, let’s not talk about that just yet. We pick anything wit a ‘blush’ because we would have no way to get your tomatoes to you without them being crushed in the CSA boxes. They are still considered ‘vine ripened’ tomatoes this way. If you receive a tomato that is still not quite ripe, just leave it on your countertop or windowsill for a few days until it ripens soft to the touch. Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator unless they are so ripe they are going to spoil and you need to buy yourself more time. Refrigerators suck the flavor out of tomatoes. Melons- 1 Melon per member. You may have received either a yellow canary melon or a canteloupe. The canary melons have the yellow rind with the flesh that is crispy like a cucumber. Peppers- 4-5 Sweet peppers per box. You may have received a red, yellow or orange pepper. We generally pick peppers that have turned about 75% color. They will ripen slightly off the vine. Cucumbers- 2-3 Cukes per member. Cucumber production is finally waning for the year. We may get one more week of cucumber picking if we’re lucky! Green Beans- 1.4 lbs of beans per member. This week some dragon tongue beans were mixed in with the green beans. We picked green beans after a rain again this week. We did our best to keep the dirt and mud out of the beans, but you might need to rinse your beans before you cook them. we did have to wash some of the beans. They generally don’t like to be put away wet, so hopefully you get to eat your up soon! Cherry Tomatoes- .94 lbs per member. These are the little guys that ripen orange instead of red. Sweet Corn- 6-7 ears per member. Next Week’s Best Guess: Garlic, Green Beans, Cucumbers?, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, red cabbage?, Brussels Sprouts Tops, Potatoes, Melons?
