2024 CSA Newsletter #7
As we hit the cusp of August, it's starting to settle in for the students that their summer semester is almost over. I can't be more proud for how far they have come along these past 8 weeks. I think after this week's CSA pickup, you will have met them all at least once. Taylor, Austin, Jules and Joe have grown so much. This is the first time that any of them have grown vegetables at this scale and they have experienced a lot since they started with me at the start of the spring semester. I recently asked some of them what has surprised them the most about the farm season so far and the resounding response has been about the unpredictability of the season.
Even though we spend a good chunk of the beginning of the season planning, there is so much that we don't really have control of. Two things that have stood out is the heat and pests. They have been surprised how much the heat has impacted some crops, both positively and negatively. After a little late of a start planting, the crops being grown in our tunnels have really taken off and are beginning to thrive. The tomatoes have been in the ground less than 8 weeks and we are seeing the beginning stages of ripening across all the types. The cucumber plants are champs right now, the peppers are starting to take off and the eggplant isn't too far behind. Even the ginger and turmeric, which was recently planted, has really taken off. On the negative side of things, I think that they have been taken a little aback by how the heat has stressed some of our plantings causing crops to bolt sooner than expected. This is impacted our lettuce in particular. Lettuce can be challenging to grow in the heat and we look for heat tolerant varieties, but I think the early heat in June hurt us. We recently planted more, so there will be more coming in a few weeks. As for pests, we spend a lot of time learning about crop specific pests, especially the insects and various bugs that can impact a crop. In the beginning of the summer, most we being kept at bay, but actually due to the heat, some insects have become more prevalent. Flea beetles have really made their presence known in the last couple of weeks. If you are unfamiliar with these little buggers, they are tiny little black beetles that fly short distances, hence the name. They go after crops in the brassica family and have done some damage. It is all cosmetic, but annoying nonetheless. You will notice their damage on the kale this week. We usually protect these crops with row covers, but after some of the hail we have gotten, the covers have been slightly compromised. Two other pests that have surprised the students even more is happening in a couple of our hoophouses. Both tomato and pepper hoophouses have been impacted by rabbits and voles, respectively. We have tried deterrents and traps and replanted as long as we could. We probably replaced close to 100 plants and have moved on to filling the gaps with cucumbers, hoping that they will grow fast enough to out compete any remaining culprits.
In addition to getting our weekly task of pruning the tomato plants, we also got a little more transplanting done, as well as harvesting the remaining garlic. After harvesting the garlic we need to prepare it for the curing process. The first thing we do is sort it by variety (we have 3 this season). After each variety is separated, we bunch the bulbs in groups of 10, sorting out the seconds and then we get ready to cure. Farms cure their garlic in lots of different ways. At the TC3 Farm, we cure our garlic by hanging it in the rafters upstairs in the barn. If you look up above through the opening above the bathrooms when you pick up the CSA share you can see it hanging. We ended up with more than 600 bulbs of "firsts". Some of that will be sorted to replant for next year, but most will be headed to the CSA.
The CSA share this week is featuring one new item, green tomatoes. We harvest green tomatoes in the beginning of the season because we want to help speed up the ripening process for our plants. Since a tomato plant has a limited amount of energy for root, fruit and foliage production, we manipulate the plants a little by thinning the early fruit clusters to three. You can let these tomatoes ripen on the counter, make fried green tomatoes or try one of my potluck go-tos this time of the year, green tomato chutney. If you give it a try, you don't need to can it. It can just be stored in your fridge. The hot peppers popped in the last week. It will mostly be jalapeno and cayenne peppers this week, with a few other varieties. There will also be frying and bell peppers, basil, garlic, cucumbers, garlic scapes, black currants, rainbow chard and kale. There will also be some potted herbs available as a bonus. The students were interested in some medicinal and other herbs this year, so we ordered some different types and have them potted up to share with our CSA members. There will be chamomile, feverfew, ashwagandha, spilanthes, moldovian dragonhead, lemongrass, catmint, as well as sage and thyme available, if you are inclined to take some.
Have a great week!
-Farmer Todd