Farm Happenings at Flat Tack Farm
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Farm Happenings for May 28, 2020

Posted on May 25th, 2020 by Kelly Peters

We're super excited for the start of CSA memberships (community supported agriculture) this week!!!!  This is always a bit of a crazy time for farmers, making sure we've got enough produce to go around, catching up with field tasks to make sure things are planted for the season and getting into the groove of packing shares and deliveries. We've been preparing by getting caught up with planting, washing our new bins, expanding the wash station, and hiring 2 part time apprentices.  It's been a busy week! 

A few details regarding pick up and deliveries:

Please bring your own bag to pack your share into.  This helps us minimize costs as bags are super hard to find right now!!!  We will have someone at each location to pack your share into your bag, that way we can minimize the spread of germs.  We ask that you please be patient as this is our first time doing shares this way and it may take a moment for us to get it all sorted.  Please maintain social distance while you're waiting. 

If you're picking up at the farm on Friday, your share will be packed in a "market style" setting.  Our plan is to collect your bag from you when you arrive and we will pack your share in it from our produce tables.  That way no-one except your farmers will touch your produce. 

For pick up at our other locations your share will be packed in a white bin and when you arrive we will collect your bag and put your veggies into it for you.

ALSO please make sure your preferences are set.  This is how the system builds your share to suit your likes and dislikes.  For instance, if you have an allergy or just really don't like something, make sure to rate it as a 1, "not for me" and you'll never receive that item.  Likewise, if you love something and rate it "love it" you'll get it often.  For more details go to this page: https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021794754-How-do-preferences-work-

Other happenings on the farm:

We just planted out the peppers and winter squash.  The peppers range from all heat levels to super sweet.  They are definitely one of our favorite crops to grow.  Patrick is a huge pepper lover, he makes hot sauce and we also dry them to make chili salt and seasonings.  Some of our super hot peppers are sold to local hot sauce companies as well.  We're really looking forward to these pepper varieties this year: sweet snacking peppers called lunchbox and lipstick, an Asian medium hot variety called Black Tiger that ripens from dark purple to a beautiful dark red, and super hot varieties Purple Bhutwrecker, Naga Smoky Rainbow, and Sepia Reaper (some of these are hotter than Ghost Peppers- we're also growing those).  We also received 6 different varieties of Shishito peppers from our friends in Corbett, OR.  Some are super sweet and a few have a slight heat, these are excellent for grilling!  We also love our Italian Frying Peppers, Carmen and Escamillo.  They are super sweet and meaty with thin skin and make great stuffing peppers or roasting peppers.

The winter squash is the picture above that looks like ghost plants.  We dip them in a clay solution to mask them from pests.  This Kaolin Clay coats the leaves, keeps them cool, and disguises them from squash bugs and other pests that prey on them.  They were planted into straw and will be watered with drip irrigation.  We will also be doing a dry farm trial with some Delicata Squash this season for an OSU Extension study.  These plants will go in the top bed and will not receive any supplemental water this season.  Winter Squash is a great low-maintenance crop to grow and stores for a long time.  We've got lots of squash varieties going in this year: butternut, delicata, acorn, pumpkins, buttercup, spaghetti, and pumpkins!

 

We're looking forward to meeting everyone this weekend and super excited to get some of these fresh veggies to you!!! 

 

Your Farmers,


Kelly & Patrick