CSA Newsletter #7
Welp, it's Tuesday and there are thunderstorms once again as I get this newsletter out. At this point, I don't really know what to say. We haven't had a farm season like this in a while. We've had wet and cool. We've had hot and dry but we haven't had hot, humid and stormy in a long time. To say things are challenging at the moment is a bit of an understatement. Prepping beds in the field for fall plantings is rough right now. I tried to sneak in some tractor work during a window last Friday and it definitely didn't go as planned. There were a couple of areas where I almost got the tractor stuck. Needless to say, field planting has been put off until we get a few days straight of no rain. And don't get me started on the weeds. They are certainly flourishing. I guess a positive is that I get to do some quality weed identification with the interns while we're working. When it's not raining, we're battling some impressive hot and humid days. There's a lot of work to be done in the greenhouse and hoophouses these days and when the air is not moving, it's an additional 5-10 degrees warmer than outside.
But the show must go on! The tomatoes are really starting to put on some growth and establish fruit clusters. I picked the first pint of cherry tomatoes that earned me some serious bonus points when I brought them home to my wife. They won't be in the share until there's enough for everyone but it shouldn't be too much longer. We're still working on getting all the string dropped to support the pepper plants but the ones that we have tied up are responding well to the trellis. Lastly, after getting through the eggplant and okra, we were able to finish up weeding the basil and ginger. That hoophouse has had a complete makeover and it's made a huge difference. Lots of water and a little fertilizer and the plants in that house are going to take off.
In this week's CSA share, zucchini and summer squash are returning. There will also be hot peppers, kohlrabi, fresh garlic, potatoes, herbs, beets, radishes and black currants in the choice. Making its debut this week will be a mix of green bell and frying peppers. Additionally, I'm going to have potted rosemary plants available. Rosemary is an extremely slow grower and has notoriously low germination rates. This year, we had amazing germination and we have a lot of plants. They're currently small in 4 inch pots but will continue to fill out and be ready to put in a larger pot soon. I'd be more than happy to chat with you tomorrow around caring for rosemary.
Have a great week,
Farmer Todd