This week on the farm has been hot! A breezy hot so far. A humid hot. A hot that makes it feel like Summer. As Summer is officially here now, she is making her presence known with the 90 degree temps! As long as there is a breeze, we can usually make it through okay! Frequent water breaks and splashy washing work to be done in the cool packing shed help the body stay feeling cool and strong. With all of the heat this week we’re already hoping for the chances of rain later this week to materialize or we may have to start thinking about irrigating.
For a crop update, we are noticing that many of our summer crops are a little behind this year. Because of the long, cool, wet spring many of our crops went out a little later than usual or because we couldn’t get in the fields because it was too wet. We also had an issue with our soil mix this Spring that we get from a soil mix company called Cowsmo that didn’t have as consistent of a product this year than what we have received in previous years. Our transplants didn’t go out looking as healthy as in years past so took a little longer to snap out of their ‘transplant shock’ and recover from their stunted beginning.
Many of our Spring crops have loved the cool temperatures and moist soil and have been made all the sweeter and crispier because of it. The wetness has made cultivation and weeding difficult at times to get into the fields to weed when we have crews here to do the work. But, some how we manage to stay on top of it all.
If you could fly a drone over the farm right now, you would see that the crops are looking fantastic overall though! The rows are all recently cultivated, the plants are all young and healthy.
We will start picking Strawberries on the farm this week. Even our Strawberries are a little behind this year because of being mulched a little to heavy last Fall. We cover Strawberry plants with mulch so that they overwinter okay and the roots survive the freeze and winter wind effects. We like to be generous with the mulch because it adds organic matter to the soil, preserves soil moisture and helps suppress the weeds. So they were a little late to bloom this year, but they come at a perfect time!
We are also excited to start picking broccoli this week which is always a favorite. Soon our summer squashes and zucchini plants will start producing as well. Usually cucumbers aren’t too far behind at that point!
We are excited to be sharing rhubarb this week. Rhubarb is a plant we have tried to grow in the past, but haven’t had enough success in our rhubarb patch to have established enough plants that we could actually harvest off of them. This year the Rhubarb looks amazing and we’re going for it! We’re hoping for increased production in future seasons as the plants look very healthy and strong at this point.
Potatoes– 2.25lbs per member. These are overwintered Potatoes from last season that kept wonderfully in our cooler. They won’t keep long at room temperature. Plan to store them in your fridge or use them up soon so they don’t sprout at room temp. You may have received russet, gold or red potatoes.
Hakurai Salad Turnips- These are the delicious, white turnips in your box with green tops. These turnips are different from storage turnips. Hakurai salad turnips are meant to be used fresh on salads. My children love to snack on these! They’re wonderful sliced onto salads or just chopped up and sprinkled with a little salt for a snack. They can also be added to stir fry, eaten with a dip or put into spring rolls or whatever you can dream up!
Lacinato Kale- This is the dark green bunch of greens in your box. Lacinato is the most popular variety of kale these days. It’s smooth texture, dark green color, and mild flavor make it a wonderful addition to any soup, egg dish or salad.
Red Oakleaf Lettuce- We really love these red oakleaf varieties that can only be grown in the early Summer and Spring months. Enjoy these funky varieties of lettuce before it gets too hot and they go out of season!
Green Oakleaf Lettuce- Another fun lettuce variety that can only be grown in the early summer and cooler season. These are a rare find and so tender and smooth!
Green Onions- The green onions were still a little small this week, but we wanted to start sharing them with you
Kohlrabi- 1 kohlrabi per member. You may have received either a purple or green kohlrabi. They are the same flavor and color on the inside. Remember that your kohlrabi leaves can be used like kale.
Cilantro- A nice bunch of cilantro per member.
Rhubarb- .4lbs We were excited to share rhubarb. This is our first year of having plants big enough that we could harvest off of. We were careful not to take too much off of the plants so they continue to grow big and strong for future years. There are still lots of smaller plants out there that we didn’t harvest from. We’re excited about nurturing our rhubarb patch to be big and healthy and strong! Perennials are so much fun!
Next Week’s Best Guess: Broccoli, Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Sugar Snap Peas, Bunching Onion, Turnips?, Swiss Chard, Dill, Strawberries, Garlic Scapes?
Hakurai Turnip and Apple Salad
Kid Approved Classic Green Monster Smoothie with Kale
Layerd Lettuce Salad (This is really good with peas even though we don’t have them yet! Use whatever veggies you have!)
Caldo Verde (Portuguese Kale-Potato-Sausage-Soup Caldo Verde (Portuguese Kale-Potato-Sausage-Soup
