August | 2012 | foxlinecityfarm

Archive for August, 2012

Box 13

Posted in Weekly Boxes on August 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

We can feel the season shifting in the garden….cooler nights, heavy dew in the mornings and the days growing shorter. It is fun to go and peek at the winter squash and pumpkins and wonder about the sweet potato harvest that we will be digging soon.

We planted the spinach, several varieties of radishes, 2 types of turnips and baby pac choi last week. All crops that like cooler temperatures and have a shorter growing time. We started a variety of leeks in the greenhouse a few weeks back that are suppose to winter over well and we are going to give this a shot this year. We will transplant these baby starts out into the garden this week and hope for jumbo beauties in the Spring.

We have not included any eggplant in the boxes this week….even though the plants are still producing like crazy. We took the bounty to the farmers’ market to give everyone a break. It is the year of the eggplant for sure. There are a few in the extra box just in case a few of you want some.

A pretty box this week…..enjoy.

WHAT IS IN YOUR BOX

Corn-Another delivery from Scott’s relative this morning.

Lettuce-A head lettuce called Tropicana. This will be the last harvest of this heat loving variety. We have planted cooler lettuces in the garden for the remainder of the season. I am excited for the Romaine to return and it looks like it may be ready next week.

Brussels Sprouts-These are the early little gems. We have 3 varieties planted out in the garden. Delicious roasted or sliced and sautéed.

Curly Parsley-Nice big bunch. Try making a parsley pesto.

Pepper Medley-A wonderful assortment of sweet or mildly hot peppers. Beautiful colors. It is an amazing pepper year for us. The plants are still loaded with fruit.

Jalapeño Peppers-A few called El Jefe to flavor your salsa.

Onions-All the onions have been dug and our drying on racks in the shed. These are short season onions.

Zucchini-The new patch is really starting to produce and the other oddball thing is in 1 evening tons of little slender guys just grew huge! It was pretty amazing. The rain and temperature must have been just perfect.

Cucumbers-I think this really is the end…..a few for everyone.

Cherry Tomatoes-A quart sized box for everyone. Try oven roasting this week. They are wonderful and sweet.

Tomatoes-A great harvest of paste and slice to choose from.

Cinnamon Basil-2 varieties to try out. Really tasty with fruits or pasta dishes.

We have another smaller harvest of watermelon this week and they are in the extra box if anyone would like one….also, a few shiitake mushrooms have started to appear and we put them in the extra box as well.

A few photos of the autumn crops in the garden.

a pretty heirloom pumpkin in the garden

pie pumpkins ripening up.

acorn squash resting on the reflective plastic mulch.

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Box 12

Posted in Weekly Boxes on August 20, 2012| 1 Comment »

Another super box this week….it is the best season ever for us. Enjoy the bounty.

Lettuce-A juicy buttercrunch this week.

Leeks-We have a wonderful leek crop this year. This is the early variety with 2 more harvests to come.

Potatoes-We created a nice medley this week. 6+ pounds for everyone. All 3 varieties suitable for all types of cooking. Bake, fry, steam, mash. Adirondack Blues, Carola (the buttery whites) and Red Norland.

Cucumber-Snackers and Slicers-This may be the last week.

Green Beans-I thought last week was it for this rotation and then we had one more harvest….the plants have been pulled so this will be it until Autumn.

Summer Squash-Patty pans or assorted zucchini.

Celery-Enjoy the wonderful flavor in soups and stir fry. We use the leaves on our sandwiches and salads.

Rosemary-The herb of the week. Seems perfect for all those potatoes.

Eggplant-I know!!!! AGAIN! I am shocked myself. We are sharing this bounty with you all…. Really we have decided that eggplant is the new zucchini around here. When oh when will it end…..

Tomatoes-The usual box of pretty cherries and all the paste and slice you wish.

Jalapeño Peppers-For your weekly fresh salsa.

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Box 11

Posted in Weekly Boxes on August 13, 2012| 1 Comment »

WOW! Every day this past week when we thought about the box it seemed to grow and grow in quantity. So, a super jumbo bounty box this week folks! Lots of watermelon again ready for harvest in the patch and the never ending amazing eggplant is still just chugging away. We were able to get all the Fall plantings in last week-I’m not really sure how that all happened as the week flew by but I am glad and all the little seedling beauties we transplanted have already started to grow in size. We picked the first zucchini out of the new patch and are amazed that the winter squash is coloring up. There are even some pie pumpkins out there too that I think are ready to be harvested. With the shorter days and cooler temperatures we are starting to really notice the turn to Autumn in the garden and our thoughts wander to planting spinach again and wintering over carrots and parsnips.

What is in your box.

Lettuce-A beautiful juicy buttercrunch.

Tomato Assorted-The Wonderful huge bounty that will be the norm for the remainder of the season. A box of cherries, all the paste and slice you would like….our patch is really thriving this year. The trellised vines are now over my head and just loaded with fruit. The Heirloom color variation is quite beautiful.

Eggplant-WOW! is really all I can say here. I am astounded with the bounty. 3 weeks in a row. I LOVE! those little mini guys. Our perfect snack.

Onions-A collection of 3 varieties

Cabbage-The last of the cabbage until Fall. These little tiny guys are the perfect size I think.

Cucumbers-A box of the snackers and a few long slicers too. I did notice that the cucumber patch is starting to slow down a bit in production. Fewer blossoms and the vines do not seem as vigorous to me either. So enjoy them now-next week may be the end.

Collard Greens-A few leaves for everyone to experiment with. I like to use them like a tortilla and make a sandwich or lightly braise and make a stir fry.

Zucchini-A few as we still are on rations….

Peppers-This is my other big surprise this season. The plants are loaded with fruit! There are several varieties out there we have not even started to pick. All sweet or “mildly hot” except for a few little shiny green jalapeño.

Watermelon-Pick a Beauty. Assorted size, shape, and color.

Green Beans-This really REALLY! is the last picking. I was totally surprised we got 1 more picking out of this planting. More to come in the Fall.

Garlic-A beautiful fresh head.

Greek Oregano-A nice big bunch for sauce with all those wonderful tomatoes. Remember you can dry it on the counter and store it in a glass jar once dry.

Basil Plant-This too, I could not help myself….for those tomatoes.

Have a wonderful week. Enjoy the Bounty.

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and then the rain finally came…..(a forgotten post……)

Posted in Garden Update on August 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

relief!

The first rain in over 1 month……

Well, we made it!!!!! The rain came. I actually had to cry a bit as the rain drops fell. I don’t think I realized how much anxiety was held inside without rain for over 1 month. It was a dry windy difficult day and we made the decision to hand water the pumpkins and winter squash as their leaves were flopping like big elephant ears in the hot breeze. The drip line irrigation was doing it’s job but it just was not enough in all the heat and wind. And then the long wonderful rain came at suppertime that day and again the following day too. Relief on so many levels for us, the plants and the land. Everything looks so perky, the grass greened up before our eyes-Really! The watermelons doubled in size and the pepper plants grew tall overnight. All quite amazing. The frogs in the pond sung to one another all night long and the next morning I felt like we stood a few inches taller with straight backs and strong shoulders.

So, with the rain came cooler temperatures and we were able to get many more crops in the garden that were waiting for transplant in the greenhouse. Fennel, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower. I was afraid to transplant in the extreme heat and dry soil. We will get another round of carrots seeds planted today and hopefully beets too. Both these vegetables do not germinate well in high heat. A 5th planting of beans have just poked their noses out of the ground. The new summer squash patch is doing really well and the tomatoes have started to ripen. We have started to dig the potatoes and WOW!!! I think it will be our best crop ever!! All the transplanted lettuce has really responded to the moisture and is growing big and juicy under the row cover. I believe we are on the other side of the carnage in the summer squash patch. 17 plants went down and 7 remain…..no fatalities in a few days. We will be on summer squash rationing until the new patch is up and producing in about a month. All CSA boxes received some sort of squash this week but not in the bounty that we planned. The big surprise for us is the abundance of Eggplant this year and oh so early. What a difference from last year when we had to put row cover up in double thickness and hope to get something before the hard frost.

Now somehow we have to find time to weed!!!! They too have shot up everywhere with the moisture.

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Box 10

Posted in Uncategorized on August 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

What a bounty this week!!!!

It sure seems with the days of August come the gigantic harvests from the garden….

Lettuce-It’s back!! and it is delicious too. This variety is called Tropicana. Lots more in the “extra” area too if you want more for the week.

Cucumber Assortment-A nice sized box again this week and several long skinny slicers too.

Peppers-All sweet again except! a few of those tiny hot jalapeños.

Eggplant-This is the true wonder of the summer for us! The plants are loaded with fruit.

Zucchini-A few again this week as we are still on “rations” due to that terrible vine borer bug that took out so many plants. The new crop looks good and coming on strong.

Cherry Tomato Box-Beautiful Heirloom assortment.

Tomato Slicers/Paste- Take all you wish of these beauties.

Carrots- A 2 pound+ bag of assorted colors.

Watermelon-Tons! to choose from. An amazing harvest….My other big goal of the year we met. This is the crop I have been the most excited about this season.

Sunflower Bouquet-A pretty collection for everyone! Enjoy Cut the stems daily to prolong the life of the bouquet.

The garden is thriving and the last of the Fall crops will be in by the end of the week (hopefully)….except for the radishes, turnips and spinach which we will plant in a few weeks.