In your box this week: A choice from:
Lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, cabbage, onions, cucumber, zucchini, pepper, beets, turnips, celery, beans, scallion, dill, parsley, cilantro, basil.
On the farm this week: The weather keeps on getting better and the broccoli keeps on getting bigger.
I just feel so lucky for the weather we’ve been having, although it also makes me feel a bit nervous because I know next year can only be worse and I might have forgotten what it can really be like by then.
Last year I thought we had some big broccoli weighing in at 2lbs/ head. This week they’re averaging almost 3 lbs/head – I’m guessing the cool weather is helping with that. I’ve had to start harvesting them with an axe and make sure no one is standing on the other side when they fall. I really wish I had a better picture than this, but this is me struggling to hold up two heads of broccoli.
We also got out the potato digger and dug up some potatoes and they’re looking good, so I think we’ll start harvesting them next week for CSA.
We’ve also got a new past time picking beans: reciting poetry. It’s just Sarah and I now doing the main harvest for the time being, so the bean picking kind of drags on……We tried to make it through the Raven, but that poem is longer than the bean patch and we couldn’t remember it all, so if anyone can recite for us ‘the raven’ they’ll get a free pound of beans! (we’ve had no takers when the offer was a free radish, so I thought we’d step it up a bit).
One thing I’ve found interesting is how the eggplants are doing. I planted rye on one side of the eggplants, but not on the other, and the eggplants on the side of the rye are much shorter, are showing signs of nitrogen deficiency and are being eaten by potato beetles while the others are not. The only thing I can think this would be from is competition from the rye. I planted rye because it is such an aggressive competitor with weeds, but it seems it can also too be competitive with nearby plants. When I see the potato beetles choosing the less healthy plants I become more convinced that ‘pests and disease are the result of a crop failure, not the cause.’ – I forget which agronomist said that first.
Finally, Betty Kehler from Plum ridge Farm asked me to let people know that she’ll be doing a hands on workshop this Sunday, Aug 11 at 1 pm on tree grafting. The cost is $10, and please call her at 204-886-3472 for more information.
That’s if for this week. See you soon!
Jonathan, Nicole and Sarah
Your farm photos are incredible! The hard work you do is so appreciated by our family. The benefits of your hard labour are definitely enjoyed by our family!
The Danes