CSA Newsletter

Garlic plants - weeded!

Greetings from the Garden!  This box has Romaine lettuce, other lettuce, salad and braising greens- pea shoots, kale, brassica tops, beet thins, turnip thins, Chinese cabbage, green onions, asparagus, parsley, thyme, strawberries, and the first celery.

Ken cultivating

Field Notes.  Ken continues planting, cultivating, and weeding.  The high rainfall meant it was too wet to work the soil, but not too wet for the weeds to germinate and grow!  I was out weeding the peas and am happy to see not only pea blossoms, but also tiny peas starting to form - thank you pollinators!  So much of our food requires pollination, so we are happy to see our honey bees, native bees like bumble bees, and butterflies.

Mobile all shut up - early morning

Ken has also been monitoring temperatures in both greenhouses to try to maintain optimum temperatures for the heat loving crops.  We are opening some as soon as we get up, and watching sun and heat to determine how much venting is required.  Both greenhouses have sides that can be rolled up and doors or vents that can be open on the ends.  It means more options and more to experiment with and more to manage.  We are excited each time we figure something out!  The tomatoes and peppers look great - growing and flowering and there are some tiny tomatoes starting to appear - again thank you pollinators!

Pigs - hate the move, but love the new space

Tuesday we moved the pigs - always an adventure.  This will be the last time Ken can pick them up, so next time we move into herding and rodeo mode.  They are happily digging away, and Ken is always happy to see them digging - less tilling for him to do.

Ken and celery plants

From the Kitchen.  Celery!  With the Chinese cabbage and celery we are moving from early greens to what I call solid vegetables.  Celery is a great addition to salads and soups and stir fry dishes.  It is a hydrating vegetable - high in water, and has vitamins A, C, B complex, E and several minerals.  It is often found on the dirty dozen list put out by the Environmental Working Group- one of the higher pesticide residue vegetables, and that is why I am  so excited Ken will take the time and trouble to grow it!

Romaine lettuce is the classic Caesar salad lettuce.  I like to not only make Caesar salad, but also mix it with other greens for its great crunchy texture.  Romaine takes at least one week longer to grow than other lettuce varieties, so enjoy!

Last season's asparagus plants in late summer

And enjoy the asparagus. Soon Ken will stop harvesting and let the plants grow to store energy for next season.  We keep talking about getting the grill out - it is our favorite way to cook asparagus.  Drizzle with olive oil, grill and sprinkle with a little sea salt - voila!

'Til Next Week!
Judith