CSA Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has lettuce, arugula, cucumbers, green or Walla Walla sweet onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, and the first of the tomatoes and garlic!

Field Notes.  After a few weeks with no rain, Ken is preparing to irrigate the fall crops in the field.  He is in the process of reconfiguring how he does this now the long greenhouse is out there.  He keeps looking at the forecast as these younger crops need rain to fill out for fall harvest.

Ken also has picking and doing maintenance.  I snapped this photo of him as he was trimming the tomatoes in the mobile high tunnel.  We have just started to get tomatoes.  This is later than usual and the reason is the wonderful cool nights have slowed down all the heat loving crops.  But they are coming!

Ken has been irrigating in the garden where he has lettuce, celery, and other crops that need a steady supply of water to grow.  With the organic matter in the field the root and vine crops can tolerate a less even water supply.  Ken read a couple years ago for each percentage of organic matter, the crops can go one week without the optimum one inch of rainfall.

Our customer base dwindles each year as home gardens come in.  If you know of anyone who wants vegetables, please spread the word on the quality and service we provide. They can order conveniently from our website - kepperspottery.com -  Thank you!

From the Kitchen. Garlic is a long season crop - planted in fall for mid summer harvest.   The allium or onion family is very sensitive to length of day, and once the tops start to droop, the bulbs are done filling out, and the harvest begins.  Fresh garlic has great fresh flavor.  I use it everywhere - salads with tomato, minced in sauces on meat, in pasta salads, cucumber salads, in vegetable medleys and stir fry, on braising greens.   I read recently that garlic retains fresh flavor if added near the end of the cooking.

Tomatoes are really a fruit.  The first ones are a great addition to salads.  Usually we eat the first raw, and then start to cook and can.  We will have tomatoes for canning and drying.  Just let us know you want some

'Til next week, Judith