In your share this week:
- Chinese Cabbage
- Salad Mix
- Japanese Turnips
- Radishes
I'm so happy to report that our large produce cooler is functioning again! No more filling assorted containers of water and lugging them in and out of our freezer in the basement. No more hauling around buckets with ice in the delivery coolers. Just in time as the weather starts warming up for summer.
This will be the last of the Purple Plum Radishes for the season. Shain planted a second Chinese radish variety called Shunkyo, but they won't be ready for about a month.
We pulled up an entire row of Japanese Turnips from greenhouse 2 for this week's share. They were more than 50% infested with root maggots. As Shain and I pulled up the row, sorting good turnips from the bad, we discussed how this planting of turnips was worth the time and effort despite the piles of rotten turnips going to the pig pen. First, Japanese Turnips are a favortie treat for many CSA members. It's a crop we look forward to and enjoy even if it's for just a few weeks of the season. Second, the so called "waste" plays a vital role in the cycle of life on our farm. It's important to know that the rotten produce we discard while sorting and cleaning the weekly harvests goes to feed two hungry pigs whose main purpose on the farm is to make compost. In a year from now, the end result of this week's bug infested turnips will be spread in the greenhouses and over our fields which ultimately creates better soil and helps us grow healthy vegetables.
Chinese cabbage is also on the way out for the season. The heat is causing them to bolt so we cut a lot for this week's share. There are still some left, but I'm not sure if they will make it to next week or not.
Greenhouse 7 has gone through some big changes. If you will remember, this is the space where we grew most of the greens for the first harvests of the season: arugula, multiple varieties of salad greens, boc choi, and Chinese cabbage. The cabbage and boc choi have all been harvested and the greens were dug and chopped back into the ground. WIth a little more work from Shain and his BCS walking tractor, the ground was prepped and is now ready for new crops. Greenhouse 7 has proven to be the best place on our farm for growing great green beans and Shain has already planted a few rows of our famous French Fillet Beans here. We also have a row of squash plants growing right down the middle (just left of the white row cover). On both sides of the squash are two remaining rows of Japanese Turnips that we will most likely pull up for next week's share.
A big priority we are working on now is to get caught up on weeding. This is a picture of greenhouse 3 where the onions and leeks are growing (down the center). They look so good now that they are free of quack grass and other weeds. On the left are rows of spinach and salad mix that we've started weeding and hope to finish this week. The spinach will start growing better after we get it weeded. On the right is the Swiss chard, cabbages and kale.
Planted this week: cilantro, radishes, beans, parsley, shell peas, scallions.
Soon to be planted - more salad, butter bib lettuce (which we are trying for the first time and will grow as lettuce heads) and more snap peas.
THERE ARE BLOSSOMS ON THE TOMATO PLANTS!
Have a great week and ENJOY your veggies!
Tara
