Dear farm shares, last week we told you about some insects we see on the farm and how we relate to them. You might remember the flea beetles which plague our brassicas by making holes in them.
Here's a bit more about brassicas. Brassicas are excellent crops for cold climates. They work well because they are fairly frost tolerant, cold-hardy, and many of them store well (kohlrabi, cabbage, radish, turnips). It isn't unusual for us to harvest sweet kale in January. And kohlrabi and friends often store for up to 10 months with little depreciation in quality. Some improve in flavour too, much like carrots do.
As mentioned, flea beetles bother most brassicas. So, we ensure our brassica seedlings are strong before we plant them, and hoe around them to break up flea beetle breeding patterns.
Right now we're looking forward to crunchy Pac Choi being ready for stir-frys, and our kids can't wait for juicy crunchy kohlrabi to munch on.
While brassicas are still growing, solonaceous and cucurbit crops are dying off. Some tomato and squash plants have finished fruiting and are being removed to make way for cover crops and bed maintenance. These changes in the season are welcome. Workloads remain approximately the same, but tasklists change to make work more interesting and keep us going.
Once again we're in the kitchen today preparing veggies for the freezer ready to go in Winter shares. One item we're saving which we don't ordinarily is beans. Usually we freeze edamame for Winter shares, but as those plants are not doing too well we're taking advantage of a bumper crop of bush beans to ensure we have your share set aside.
In the broader farm community, Tim is working on plans to improve the year-round home for Memorial Centre Farmers' Market at the Memorial Centre. More on that later. For now it's back to thinning carrots and counting crops for your shares this week.
