foxlinecityfarm

Well, a BIG HUGE!! storm blasted through our area this morning.  Strong front line winds and an inch of rain.  Our power just went back on after a huge oak limb came down from our favorite oak tree on to the power lines.  Our usual Monday post will be delayed due to the power outage.  The newsletter and all garden updates will post tomorrow morning as I do not want to rush it out. We are fine and the garden is fine aside from 10 billion little plastic pots blew out the side of the greenhouse and ALL over the garden and sadly the popcorn crop is flat on the ground.  It was challenging packing the boxes in the dark.  More challenging to do it without our morning espresso but we got it done.  Enjoy the great share this week. A surprise……packed full of wonderful delights.

Tuesday Morning and life returns to normal with cooler working temperatures and the gift of much needed rain.  A day of tidy up around the garden from the storm.

A few hot days in the garden last week.  It has been such an easy summer with cooler temperatures that a few days of it at the end are tolerable. The hoophouse is transitioning again as we are planting the end of season crops and a few winter over experiments.   More spinach, carrots, beets and arugula went in.  A long row of leaf lettuce and Fall head lettuce transplanted.  The cucumber vines are coming down this week and it sure signifies the end of summer to me.  Final planting of kale and swiss chard will go in as we like to have tender new plants for the end of season of both of the Autumn treats.  Scott spent many days on weed control and cleanup throughout the garden and turned the compost piles. We had huge tomato and pepper harvests in the heat wave. Finally!

Planting carrots in crates for a late season harvest. We will move these into the hoophouse when it gets cold and hopefully have fresh carrots in the snow.

We have a visitor in the garden.  A woodchuck has moved in and is enjoying our late season broccoli crop as his personal salad bar.  He chomped down the row of tiny winter share broccoli plants in one evening and we were disappointed but quickly reseeded after the discovery.  Live traps are set but no luck yet.

Our end of season crops look strong and abundant.  A quick check of the winter squash patch looks good.  We started the spaghetti squash harvest and will start the summer carrot harvest this week.  Fall leeks are thickening up and the edamame harvest is also on our harvest list.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

Summer abundance! 784 pounds of food went home with everyone.

1/2 pint Cherry Tomato Mix.

Box of Tomatoes-An assortment for homemade salsa if you wish.

Salsa Mix-jalapeno, cilantro, garlic and Summer onions (the end of this crop for the season)

Romaine Lettuce-Crisp delicious heads.  One of my favorite summer lettuces called Costal Star.  It sure can handle the heat!

Mini Sweet Pepper Snacking Mix-A colorful assortment of sweet beauties.

Sweet Corn-4 ears in each share.

Melon-Our best cantaloupe season ever!  Enjoy the second week of this sweet treat.  Maeve mentioned that she is about “cantalouped” out as we eat it at every meal this time of year.

French Filet Green Beans-Last of this harvest for a few weeks.

Sunflower Bouquet-A favorite summer treat.

Cucumbers-An assortment and end of season good-bye to this summer crop.

End of the cucumber harvest.

FULL SHARE

Full Pint Cherry Tomato Mix.

Box of Tomatoes-An assortment for homemade salsa if you wish.

Salsa Mix-jalapeno, cilantro, garlic and Summer onions (the end of this crop for the season)

Romaine Lettuce-Crisp delicious heads.  One of my favorite summer lettuces called Costal Star.  It sure can handle the heat!

Mini Sweet Pepper Snacking Mix-A colorful assortment of sweet beauties.

Sweet Corn-8 ears in each share.

Maeve sampling the corn harvest. She thinks raw sweet corn is the best.

Finishing up her second ear.

Melon-Our best cantaloupe harvest ever!  Enjoy the second week of this sweet treat.  Maeve mentioned that she is about cantalouped out as we eat it at every meal this time of year.

French Filet Green Beans-Last of this harvest for a few weeks.

Sunflower Bouquet-A favorite summer treat.

Spinach-I just have to say it again….we are thrilled that we are able to offer this tasty delight in the heat of summer.  ENJOY!

Ground Cherries-A snack we look forward to every summer.  Keep on the kitchen counter and they will just get sweeter and sweeter.

Jimmy Nardello Sweet Peppers-Long skinny red guys that taste like candy.

Backyard Honey-Another sweet treat from the garden.

Finishing up the honey pour and Maeve gets to lick the pitcher.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-edamame, spaghetti squash, potatoes, lettuce, corn, tomatoes, maybe a few more melons and more…..

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It is hard  to believe it is week 10. 1/2 way through the season AND!!!! August already.  The days zip by with busy activities.  The garden is in high production mode and the harvest schedule at times seems a bit overwhelming with the volume of goodies we haul out.  Many of the crops need to be visited daily.  Zucchini and cucumbers can quickly get away from us if we don’t  peek in every day.  The beans too must be checked if the weather is warm as nobody wants to eat fat pencils.  Our big project this week was the 1000’s of onions and shallots all came out of the garden.

Sweet onion harvest begins.

The 3 varieties of  shallots are beautiful.  Scott quickly hung them to cure right out of the garden and they should be in the shares in the weeks to come.  The storage onion crop is boutiful and hanging up to dry too. An end of season treat.  Our sweet onion crop will appear in the shares the next few weeks.  These are stored in the cooler.  Maeve was the onion harvest queen and plugged along right next to me singing Peter, Paul and Mary songs to the very end.

Maeve harvesting storage onions.

Onion Harvest Queen!

Onion Queen’s Crown….

A long day of harvest but we were determined to get the whole job completed in one day….We worked until dark but had a lot of fun along the way…..

Almost done and happy about it.

Dark! And near the end.

The bee’s were also visited this week and the honey is out of the hives.  We will do our best to spin it out this week and get it in the shares next week.  A favorite treat of ours to add to our CSA shares.

Scott heading down to visit the bees.

A bumper crop of summer melon is in our future. The patch looks wonderful and we picked a tiny one yesterday.  We are hopeful the melon season starts next week.  The 3rd rotation of beans are about ready and carrots will come out of the ground this coming week too.  Another harvest heavy week for us and an amazing share to look forward to.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

A whopping 553 pounds of vegetables out the door today.  Enjoy dinner tonight.

SNACK PACK

Lettuce-A crunchy head of summer lettuce named Tropicana.

Arugula-A spicy treat!  Add to salads or a delicious topping to pizza.  We love to make a pesto with it and enjoy with pasta.

Celery-a favorite garden crop of mine.  Not at all like grocery store celery. Darker green in color and denser stalks.  Full of flavor and wonderful for soups and stir fry dishes.

Cherry Tomatoes-The colorful assortment.

Slice/Paste Tomatoes-A few for everyone.

Zucchini-An assortment of the summer staple.

Cucumber mini snackers-We are thrilled with the little treat and hope you are too.

Long Skinny European Slicing Cucumber-1 in each share.

Sweet Onion-Store in the refrigerator.

Beans-A bi-color mix this week.

Corn!-Yeah!! The start of the season with more to come.  As in years past we do not grow the corn here. Our  “city garden” does not have enough space to grow the volume of corn needed.   It is conventionally grown corn grown by Scott’s Uncle for us at his farm in Reedsburg. When we poled past members and asked if they wanted conventional corn in their shares grown by family off site “yes” was the overwhelming reply.  We have done it this way for 4 years now and it works for us.   Enjoy!

Full Share

Lettuce-a crunchy head of summer lettuce named Tropicana.

Arugula-A spicy treat!  Add to salads or a delicious topping to pizza.  We love to make a pesto with it and enjoy with pasta.

Celery-A favorite garden crop of mine.  Not at all like grocery store celery. Darker green in color and denser stalks.  Full of flavor and wonderful for soups and stir fry dishes.

Cherry Tomatoes-The colorful assortment.

Slice/Paste Tomatoes-A few for everyone.

Zucchini-An assortment of the summer staple.

Cucumber mini snackers-We are thrilled with the little treat and hope you are too.

Long Skinny European Slicing Cucumber-1-2 in each share.

Sweet Onion-Store in the refrigerator.  A few in each share.

Beans-A bi-color mix this week.

Corn!-Yeah!! The start of the season with more to come.  As in years past we do not grow the corn here. Our 1+ acre “city garden” does not have enough space gto grow the volume of corn needed.   It is conventionally grown corn grown by Scott’s Uncle for us at his farm in Reedsburg. When we poled past members and asked if they wanted conventional corn in their shares grown by family off site “yes” was the overwhelming reply.  We have done it this way for 4 years now and it works for us.   Enjoy!

Pickle Packs-All needed to make a fantastic batch of refrigerator pickles. Pickling cucumbers, onions, dill and assorted peppers.

Bell/Ancho Peppers-A huge pepper harvest this week.  Sweet and crunchy.

Broccoli-The summer broccoli is coming on and a pound for all.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-carrots, corn, cabbage, kale, spinach???, tomato sauce mix (basil, oregano, parsley, onion, paste tomatoes), melons, honey +more……..

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