Lettuce Rejoice!
September 7, 2023
Summer Share Week 14
ON THE FARM
We made it through August and arrived at September.
As proof of the (slightly) more leisurely pace we’ve been looking forward to, us farmers are all taking our first long weekend of the year. Hurrah!
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We planted 800 strawberries yesterday. It feels like a strange time of year to do so but if all works out as planned these plants will produce strawberries next spring instead of taking up to two years. I’m nervous about the decision as fruit is so perishable and hard to distribute, as well as labour intensive to pick, but I’ve got the whole winter to think through the details, and who doesn’t want organically grown fruit? I know I do!
We’ll all been remarking on how nice the salad greens are these days. What a dream to cut! We typically suffer a great deal of aphid damage in our summer lettuce but that hasn’t been the case this season. I’m not sure if it’s our new fertility program, the sweet alyssum flowers we interplanted with the lettuce (a host for beneficial insects), or just a low aphid year, regardless we are all very pleased. Though perhaps, this new little friend Ruby made, a gorgeous praying mantis, is less then thrilled with our success. Praying mantis’s (mantii?) are fierce aphid hunters and this one was probably looking for breakfast when she made Ruby’s acquaintance.
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Life on the farm is good and the food these days is divine.
We hope you enjoy your long weekend! As always, thanks for being part of our farm and happy eating until next time!
Farmer Tamara
