Tuesday, June 12, 2012

It's starting to look like a vegetable farm!

I love early June! The crops start to put on a lot of growth, quickly, which makes the farm come alive with new colors and shades of green. It is hard to take a break, let alone a day off, this time of year but when I look around at all the delicious food growing around me I am reminded how much I love this work. It also helps that Matt is also inspired by the vegetables I bring home and cooks them up for delicious, healthy dinners.

The first two weeks of the CSA are behind us as well as the first week of markets. This time of year the harvests are mainly greens with some early roots, until the peas and broccoli mature...which should be very soon! I will happily eat greens every day of the week because I know they give me strength to put in extra hours on the farm. We are working hard to hold back the weeds, which are growing stronger than the crops in some cases. It is best to kill weeds when they have just barely germinated and it is effortless with one of the farm's many long-handled hoes. If we miss this window, we have to spend more time and energy to remove the weeds. But weeding is just another aspect of the farm work that needs to be addressed in order of urgency, and I am constantly making lists and prioritizing and re-prioritizing. Checking and re-checking to make sure everything gets done on that days to-do-list. When something doesn't get done on the day it was intended, there is a very good chance it will not get done that week since each day is planned and has new priorities.
I'll post some more pictures soon, but here are some from the past two weeks:




 Sugarsnap peas are just starting and they are so sweet!


 The first round of carrots-best germination I have ever had!

 Tender head lettuce


Radishes- bunched for CSA shares


Tomatoes are thriving in the warm sunny days.




Tuesday, June 5, 2012

First CSA week

This past Monday was a perfect harvest day for the CSA; misting rain and a cool, cloudy sky. This allows us to take our time harvesting because we know the sun and heat won't reduce the quality of tender greens. We really found our rhythm around the washing tent and the new wash station allowed us to efficiently wash greens and spray bunched roots.
                                                          Hakurei and Scarlet Turnips

                                                                                 Arugula

                                                                               Spring garlic

                                                                  It's a very green box!

                   This cooler weather is great for the peas...which are flowering and developing pods.