The dry weather continues on the farm. Farmer Adam spends all of his weekend, evening and in-between hours irrigating around the clock.
With the hot weather the summer squash and zucchini harvest is hitting strong. Cucumber harvest will likely begin next week. Cucumber and zucchini harvest needs to happen every two days to make sure that the fruits don’t get over-mature. We also harvest broccoli and cauliflower every two days to cut the heads that are fully mature and to make sure they don’t over-mature in the fields. Broccoli and Cauliflower are both stored in the cooler and iced until box packing on Tuesdays.
We were very excited to offer fennel this week and possibly fennel again next week if we get a little rain and moisture to help the next succession size up.
We also spent much of Friday removing the remay from the winter squash plants and weeding as much of the patch as we had time for. This is always a laborious process as the material becomes heavy as we roll it up. It’s always dusty when the weather is this dry and hot. It feels good to have it done though.
We may begin garlic harvest this week which is always a long process. The garlic will be especially difficult to pull this year if we don’t get a little extra moisture to soften the ground. We harvest garlic by pulling them out by hand to avoid mechanical damage to the bulbs which are very fragile and easily damaged at harvest. We mow the tops off the plants so that we don’t bring in too much ‘green’ material which is added moisture that needs to be removed from the plant so they bulbs can begin curing.
The garlic is then taken into our dry storage room down by our cooler where we run a commercial dehumidifier to try to bring the humidity level down as low as possible as quick as possible. Commercial dehumidifiers can remove 20 gallons of water from the air per day which is a LOT of water! For many years we struggled with getting that moisture out of the air in the garlic curing environment before the bulbs started to mold. Running fans galore just wasn’t cutting it and if we got too much rain during harvest the air was already heavy with humidity, we often had problems with the garlic wanting to mold. We feel like we have finally figured out a solution to our problem, but we still need to watch the garlic curing area very closely.
Garlic takes a solid three weeks to cure, but we do like to offer it to CSA “green” and fresh out of the ground. You will find it in your box soon with most of the neck still attached and the roots looking very fresh. It’s interesting to see how thick the normally paper-thin membrane is around each clove. The fresh, thick membrane around each clove looks and feels much differently when it is fresh than when it is cured. If you end up eating that membrane, no worries, it’s all edible, just maybe a little chewier if you notice it at all.
It’s very fun to be moving into the summer crops. We’re expecting sweet corn to be a little behind schedule this year, with the drought the plants were quite delayed. The tomato plants are setting fruits already. The peppers and melons are all looking amazing! The farm looks great, guys!
Red Kale- Gorgeous Looking bunches of Red Kale. It has all the same texture and nutrients that you love in green kale, with a fruitier flavor.
Romaine– We are always thankful to have lettuce this deep into the hot, summer months. Lettuce does not love to grown is this heat. We notice that the texture isn’t quite as tender as it is in the Spring, but we’re just grateful for lettuce in this heat! Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Green Onions– More of those green onions while we wait for full-sized onions to mature and be ready for harvest. Green onions can be used from the whites all the way up to the green tips.
Garlic Scapes- Another week or two of garlic scapes to hold us over until we be are able to offer fresh garlic. The edible part of the scape is from the blunt or cut end up to the nodule. Garlic scapes keep very well in the fridge. Scapes can be used anywhere you would use garlic and they have a milder garlic flavor with less spice and heat.
Kohlrabi- This is probably the final kohlrabi harvest until the cool weather returns in the fall.
Fennel- Huge, beautiful bulbs of fennel for all this week. Fennel is a rare treat that we only offer a few times each season. Make sure to make good use of your fennel and find a recipe that takes full advantage of this rare treat. If you can’t think of anything, remove the woody core by slicing the bulb in half and then making a V cut with your knive, cut out the hard core. You can simply slice your fennel thinly into strips and sceautee like onions and even use it in your cooking anywhere you might use and onion. Much of the licorice flavor fades once cooked.
Curly leaf Parsley- We’re happy to offer a cooking herb each week. Parsley is highly nutritious and alkalizing when eaten raw. Herbs can also be dried if needed. You can un-bunch your parsley and lay it out to dry in a dehydrator or warm oven until it’s dry. Once dried, crumble and remove stems and store in an air-tight ball jar.
Green Cabbage– Quickstart is the variety name of this cabbage. It took a little longer to reach maturity with the dry weather, but here we have it! Quickstart is not a storage variety. It is not as dense as a storage variety and is a little airier and lighter, and crispier than a storage variety. So plan to use this head up as they are not meant for long-term storage.
Broccoli- Two heads gorgeous broccoli per member. Broccoli likes to be kept colds, so plan on picking up your CSA box as soon as possible and getting our broccoli in the fridge to keep it as green and crispy and preserve it’s shelflife as long as possible!
Summer Squash and Zucchini- The summer squashes are hitting very hard right now! 5 Squash per member this week. You may have received a mix of summer squash and zucchini. Remember that summer squashes prefer fifty degree storage temps. The fridge is a little too cold and the counter is usually a little too warm, you’ll have to pick one and plan on using them up quick!
Next Week’s Best Guess: Green cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, zucchini, garlic scapes, green onions, cucumbers, celery, carrots, collards, lettuce, fennel (?)
Recipes
Roasted Broccoli and Fennel Soup Recipe
Unstuffed Cabbage Role Casserole Recipe
Thai Stir Fried Noodles with Veggies
Tex Mex Chicken and Zucchini Reipe
