We’ll have choices form the following veggies this week for CSA:
lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, broccoli, bok choi, celery, leeks, peppers, tomato, squash, potato, carrot, onion, beet, bok choi, cill, cilantro, scallion, parsley,
On the farm this week;
As we approach the winter season, the weather keeps getting hotter and hotter! The last few days have been scorchers. But with the frost last week we are nonetheless moving to our fall vegetables. Our fall broccoli is starting to mature. It has been covered for the last couple weeks while second generation of flea beetles and cabbage moths ravages everything uncovered, but they finished their lifecycle just in time for us to uncover the broccoli again. The bunny has not been spotted in this broccoli, in fact I have not seem him for a couple weeks. Here’s Sandra holding up some brocccoli.
We also pulled out all our high tunnel tomato plants so that we can plant greens for the winter before the days get too short. We picked all the green ones of the plant first and they are ripening off the vine. Not only did we pick all the high tunnel tomatoes all our other tomatoes have peaked now also; so we have picked a LOT of tomatoes this week. Here’s Morgan with the Tomateos she picked today.
This week I also made one of the most regrettable decisions of my career. The high tunnel has high levels of soluble salts. In the spring I attempted to flush them out with mega irrigation; which worked, but we had iron toxicity in the tomatoes in the spring which I believe because it was overly anaerobic. So, I thought I’d install drain tile and try again before we replant. The problem is the trencher did not dig through wet clay but did create a horrific mess and compacted the beds. After 2 days I should have cut my losses, but instead I installed the drain tile at half the depth I should have and it’s time to see what happens now. I owe an especially big thank you to Shola today. Shola literally shovelled for 8 hours straight today = and didn’t even stop for lunch! Shola who told me back in Nigeria where he’s from they dig wells by hand! He’s wishing he kept his mouth shut because that’s what landed him the job of helping me finish the drain tile. Because it was so hot in the tunnel to make sure he didn’t have heat stroke I asked him to hold up 3 fingers. I figured 2 was close enough.
That’s it for this week.
See you soon!
Jonathan, Sarah, Sandra, Morgan, Alyssa, Shola and Barb,