Producing food requires patience and this year more than most. Although we'd love to shortcut straight to the cucumbers and tomatoes, there really is a natural rhythm to life. You can try to push it, but there are limits to what you can do. The cool spring has made us slow down on our plantings and has therefore slowed down the train of production. We are harvesting now what we should have been harvesting in late April.
I sort of think of the farm like a train every year. We wait for the right opportunities to add more cars to the train as we plant more and more beds of crops in their due time as weather permits. Eventually the bulk of the cars are on the train and we slowly get moving. It takes a few months before everything we've planted are in full production but by mid July, the farm is like a freight train producing tons and tons of produce every week!
At this point we have most of the main season crops in the ground. Does that mean we just sit around and wait? Not of course not! We've got boxes to fill for you every week (all be it less variety than we will have in a few weeks!). We also are busy trellising and pruning crops to help them be more productive in the long term and we're remaining vigilant against the weeks cultivating them before they become a problem. And for some crops, we keep planting every week. Wanna know how we have cilantro every week available for you? It's because we plant it every single week! So the planting doesn't actually ever stop, but the mad rush of planting does come to an end in late spring and we're getting close to the end of that mad rush. Last big planting will be sweet potatoes in another week or so.
So, if you are wishing for more variety available each week, hang on for a few more weeks when the train starts hauling down the tracks. Based upon what we've planted, Lord willing, we'll have plenty of tasty cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, etc once they've had a chance to make it to maturity. Things are behind a bit this year, but if you compare to other local farms at the farmer's market, you'll find we have the largest variety of items right now of any farm at the market. So we're doing the best we can with the weather we've had. If you aren't sure how to use so many greens and roots, make sure to check out the private Faeebook group where our members are so great to share their ideas and answer questions to help you have local meal-making success!
Highlights this week
Salad mix from outside is finally producing and boy is it looking great! Don't be shy on doubling or trippling up on bags of salad. Our family usually cranks through two or three bags at one meal! It is gorgeous this time of year! We grow lettuce all summer but quality and quantity declines in the heat of high summer, but those greens really thrive right now, so chard, kale, lettuce, bok choy are all really great right now! So are the radishes and salad turnips! The salad turnips are so popular that we've run out in the past so I may have overreacted this spring! If you don't think you like turnips, you should still give the salad turnips a try. These are sweet and quite different than the run of the mill purple top turnip you grew up eating. Also get spinach while you still can. Spinach is something we can only grow for the cold half of the year. Our climate is too hot to grow it in summer, so once it's gone, we won't see it again until fall.
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Rosemary Olive Oil Artisan Loaf
Hemme Brothers Applewood Smoked Curds
Farm Hand Graduating
Our oldest son, Josiah is graduating from high school this weekend! We're very proud of him and look forward to seeing how God will use him in the future. He'll be continuing his education locally so we aren't really saying goodbye and he'll still be available to help out on the farm.
Have a blessed week!
Dave and Sheri
