This week’s share will be similar to last week’s share: potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots (this is the farthest into the summer we have ever harvested carrots…I’m not sure how much longer we will as they are out of the irrigation loop at this point…maybe 2 more weeks), lettuce (the gap apparently will start next week instead), green beans, sweet corn (less as we move up the hill…the higher the soil, the less fertile), okra at least for Sustaining Members this week and likely everyone by next week, squash/zucchini, cucumbers, muskmelon/cantaloupe (hope to have these until watermelons are ready in August), eggplant, green peppers, ripe peppers (still not large quantity), hot peppers, tomatoes!, and a choice of herb.
On the farm, we have almost caught up on transplanting (see picture of greenhouse below…starting to empty out).
There are a few more veggies that could go in this week but with forecasted high temperatures in the mid-90s, we will probably wait until next week. There is a lot of field maintenance work to do because for two weeks straight it was too wet to do weeding and tractor work. We are prioritizing weeding so that plants that can’t out compete weeds (like lettuce and peanuts) and weeds that are close to going to seed are dealt with first. We are also staking later plantings of peppers, tomatoes, and beans. We will also be irrigating a lot this week, something we haven’t had to do most of the season.
Anna Laura and I have continued on seed saving work and evaluations. This week, we are saving seed from Roseland cucumbers, Blue Moro beans, Ozark Pink tomatoes, and “Ozark Sun” tomatoes. We are also evaluating cushaw/argyrosperma squash (several pictured below).
A few of the varieties are close to being ready for harvest. We hope to hand them out to Sustaining Members and have you help us with taste evaluations and possibly storage evaluations. Also, tomorrow, I am sending off our “Cressman” garlic to a new seed steward (see picture below).
We received it from a CSA family several seasons ago and have spent the last four seasons trying to save it and then improve it. We finally have a nice crop to share. It is (I believe after four seasons) a porcelain hardneck variety that is not particularly well-suited to our climate (although it did better in our cooler and wetter 2017 spring). Ken Greene of Hudson Valley Seed Company has agreed to take it under his wing and continue to save it and share it. I felt very satisfied (and a little relieved) when I was packing it up for him. I feel like we did our part, and now it is someone else’s turn. It is a little humorous to me that this garlic is returning to my farming roots (the Hudson Valley).
I hope everyone has a good week! I will be at deliveries this week and next, and then I will likely put myself on maternity leave. If we haven’t had a baby by watermelon season (mid-August), then I may come along for the ride to help identify watermelons. Otherwise, I will likely see you all in October.
