Trumpeter Swan Farm CSA News - Summer, Week 12, Aug 16
---- Tomatoes Arrive ----
We have been picking cherry tomatoes for 2 weeks - the yellow Sun Sugar are very sweet, while the pink Sun Peach have more wonderful tomato taste. Now the slicer tomatoes (Big Beef) and paste (Roma) tomatoes are starting to ripen. This has been a great tomato summer so far - they like dry and hot - which is what we've had a lot of. No sign of any blights or bacterial spot yet, so that is good as well.
---- Garlic ----
Garlic crop has done well. All of it is harvested, some is still "curing". We grow the "hardneck" garlic, which is more winter hardy. They send up a seed stalk, that we harvested as "garlic scapes". The stalk then hardens into a stem in the middle of the bulb - hence their name. Hardneck garlic also have nice big cloves, with maybe 4-8 per bulb. The common store bought garlic is "softneck", with no seed stalk, and with smaller cloves, like 8-20 cloves per bulb.
---- Peak Harvest ----
We are now in the "peak harvest" period, with lots of quantity and choices. Harvie splits up the harvest into member's boxes. You may find it difficult to use everything you get. But remember, there is no law that you have to take everything Harvie gives you. Feel free to remove items from your box that you do not think you can eat this week. They do not go to waste, they go into the pool for other members to pick and choose from. Also, swap in other items you might like to try like herbs, honey or eggs, or some odd vegetable.
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Thanks,
Phil.
