The dry bean field is looking beautiful this year (pictured above). Hopefully it'll be a good crop, as last year we had a crop failure on a couple varieties and the last 2 years have been a bit dicey with the drought. We had to cut off the water and cross our fingers at a certain point to save water for other crops.
The first planting of potatoes this year was delayed by about a month due to the flooding and Spring rains, but looks like it'll be ready to harvest this week. Woohoo! Looking forward to some dilled new potatoes. The raspberries are still looking quite sad. We're not quite sure what is wrong but believe it could still be due to having heavily mulched them last year with wood chips that were a little too hot (not broken down enough). Uncomposted can actually bind nitrogen and nutrients in the soil as it is breaking down making it hard for the plants to access it. Sorry to all of you who have been waiting with baited breath for the first baskets to be available for the CSA. Let's see.. what else is new here on the farm? Well, cherry tomatoes are looking beautiful and we planted more this year based on how popular they were with you CSA members. We harvested some last week and there should be more each week for the next few weeks. The pepper plants are looking very happy and I think we'll have a bumper crop, but still a few more weeks to go before we'll start picking. The melons are coming along, but our flock of crows has abandoned the strawberry field and have now been lurking at the melon field pecking holes in the fruit. They just aren't giving up this year. Another couple weeks and we could be harvesting our first apples and pears. Felimon, our pack out manager, is trying to get the cooler ready and come up with some better systems for tracking inventory, as once the apples start rolling the fruit cooler is packed for months and it's easy to lose track of what we have and hard for find or retrieve the 5 remaining crates of whatever it is amongst the floor to ceiling boxes.
All crop troubles aside, we've finally been getting some sunny days and I think people and plants alike are pretty happy to get a break from the fog for a bit.
MARKEGARD GRASS-FED DELIVERY THIS WEEK.
Your Markegard Family Grass-Fed order will be delivered along with your Fifth Crow CSA box this Thursday. It will not be in your CSA box, but in a cooler next to the boxes. Your name will be on the outside of the cooler and your bags will be inside. Only take the bags that are labeled with your name and leave the cooler. Make sure to take all bags labeled with your name.
If you have specific Markegard order questions you may text Lauren at (804) 908-7722
