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Archive for May, 2019

Final Spring Share-Spring Share #4 May 23rd

Posted in Uncategorized on May 23, 2019| 2 Comments »

A fantastic week of working through the wind and rain and cold. We decided we were just going to get it done and we did. Long rows of beans were seeded in, onions, swiss chard, chinese cabbage and parsley all settled into the garden.

Lots of progress and finally the days are warm and bright. I do not think we have experiences a Spring this wet and cold. Temps are 20+ colder than years past and from past documentation crops are 2-3 weeks behind due to these conditions. So, we are patient and all will happen in time. Ever year is different and offers unique challenges.

The peas are just about ready to grab on to the trellis…

This week is our final Spring Share. Main Summer CSA season will start Thursday June 13th and roll for 20 consecutive weeks. A 2 week break to let the outside crops catch up a bit.

SPRING SHARE #4-FINAL SPRING SHARE

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

Turnips again!!!!, 1st harvest outside Spinach, beta mix (blend of baby beet tops and mini swiss chard), mini head lettuces, basil plant, tokyo bekina (fluffy chinese cabbage), asian greens saute mix (full size pac choi, carlton and vitamin green)

Turnips-this is our favorite Spring crop, and this weather pattern is perfect for growing these beauties. They have the best flavor and texture when grown in cool temps. We only grow these gems in the hoop house. Our best harvest ever. Tops are edible too.

Tackling the turnip harvest.

Spinach-1st harvest from the Spinach trough outside. Thick juicy leaves. 4 varieties.

Spinach crop ready to harvest.

Scott waaaaaaaay down there finishing up the row.

Maeve with the spinach on the air drying tables.

Beta Mix-We love this mix fresh or saute-so pretty. Assorted mini swiss chard and beet tops in this blend. Flavorful and great texture.

Beta Mix after triple rinse.

Head Lettuce trio-We harvested again from the hoop house a collection of these delicious Spring head lettuces.

Harvested head lettuces in the morning.

Basil Plant-A basil plant to take home. A choice-tradition flavor 2 different leaf structures.

Basil ready to go to a new home…

Tokyo Bekina-Flavor similar to fluffy chinese cabbage. Adds great loft to salads and a snappy mild cabbage flavor. Pretty bright green color.

Tokyo bekina in full glory.

Asian green mix-A collection of asian greens to saute or add crunch to your fresh salads or sides. Also fantastic in broth-my favorite. Assorted full sized pac choi, vitamin greens and carlton make up the mix. And…. darn forgot to take a photo.

Thank you for sharing this Spring Season with us. A wonderful start to the 2019 season.

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Spring Share #3 May 16th

Posted in Uncategorized on May 16, 2019| 4 Comments »

A whirlwind of activity around here with few dry days available. We needed to take advantage of them while we could and hustle. More rain expected the next few days…

Scott drove the tractor sunup to sundown getting the garden tilled and plastic mulch and irrigation set. All in. Even a bit of expansion.

As Scott finished up I was right behind him transplanting into the established rows. 1000+ seedlings were transplanted out in 5.5 hours. Assorted cabbage and broccoli varieties filled 2 200 foot rows. And now rain again for several days.

Broccoli seedlings in the row behind and mini cabbage starts going in.

The hoop house is transitioning to summer share rotations. Long rows of leaf lettuce and lettuce mixes seeded in where the radishes were harvested.

The greenhouse is FULL!-even all available floor space. We wait out the chilly wet Spring weather delay. The tomatoes are growing tall and eggplants and pepper plants sizing up too. We need heat and a bit of sunshine. All 1st rotations of cucumbers, watermelon, and summer squash has been seeded in.

The tomato carpet in the greenhouse.

Next week is Spring Share #4-the final Spring Share. We are planning a 2 week break before the launch of Summer Share. We need to give the outside gardens a chance to catch up a bit. June 13th is our projected goal. I’ll keep everyone posted…

SPRING SHARE #3

What is in your share…mini pac choi, head lettuce trio, turnips!, baby arugula, Hot Shot spicy greens mix, mesclun mix, mild mustard mix

Mini pac choi-Cute juicy mini pac choi. Delicious raw but great in a fresh stir fry. Maeve’s favorite snack.

Pac choi at harvest from the hoop house.

Turnips! A Springtime favorite. A huge perfect harvest. We are thrilled. Best raw but a light saute is tasty too. Greens are delicious lightly steamed. More to come next week.

Turnips at harvest.

Beautiful washed turnips in the dunk tank.

And banding for the shares this week.

Baby Arugula-Again! This is a funny error on my part. I seeded in 2 rotations by mistake. I thought I did not get to it 1 evening and did it first thing the next morning. Didn’t realize it until germination. So this is a bonus extra.

Arugula at harvest….

Hot Shot! Spicy mixed greens- This is the only spicy mix we grow. Hotter mustards in this mix. Fresh or saute it’s pretty special. Can be mixed in to a salad to add just a hint of heat.

Maeve bagging up the Hot Shot mix while I do pac choi behind her. We we quite the team this week.

Head lettuce trio-3 different mini heads. Beautiful and sweet juicy heads. You will love this! These varieties grow best in Spring.

Mundling the mini head lettuces for the Shares.

Mesclun Mix-Tasty leaf lettuces, cho, baby kale and more in this salad mix.

Mild Mustard Mix-this is the 2nd and final cutting of this variety. Fresh or saute it has a mild kick of spiciness.

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Best Guess for next week- SPRING SHARE #4 FINAL SPRING SHARE. basil plant turnips, head lettuces, assorted pac choi, 1st harvest of outside Spring Spinach, tokyo bekina and more….

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SPRING SHARE #2 MAY 9TH

Posted in Garden Update on May 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »

A great week of greenhouse and hoop house duties as we sit in a holding pattern with outside garden work. RAIN! and more rain….All the cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon seeded in. Another big rotation of head lettuce started and transplanting seedlings into the hoop house. Scott pulled the last of the fantastic wintered over spinach from the hoop house, prepped the soil and we replanted lettuces and pac choi by the end of the day.

Hoop house spinach being removed after final harvest.

Spinach area all replanted with baby lettuces and pac choi.

A loooooooooooong row of carrots were seeded in this week on our 1 sunny dry day.

Early carrot trough all seeded in.

Outdoor spinach is really taking off and looking strong.

Day we transplanted….

This morning….

We were able to seed in some outdoor radishes again and also transplant out some beets…but we wait for it to dry up before much more can go out into the beds…looking forward to a dry sunny week ahead.

SPRING SHARE #2

Radish medley, 1 pound bag of fantastic spinach again!, snappy baby arugula, sunflower shoots, chives, salad mix (baby leaf lettuce and baby kale), and legume sprouts.

Radish Medley-We harvested 2 varieties and the have great crunch and not too spicy.

Baby arugula-a favorite around here. Snappy peppery flavor. Add to salads or light saute.

Baby arugula at harvest.

Sunflower shoots. A nutty flavor and great texture to add to soups, fresh salads or a garnish. Keep on a sunny window sill and snap as desired-a great snack.

Legume Sprouts-This is our winter “go to” snack at our house and great in the lunch box too. A mix of many different legumes-peas, lentil, garbanzo beans, adzuki and more sprouted and ready to eat. Enjoy the treat.

Chives- Outdoor chives. A bit of fresh onion flavor to fresh or warmed dishes.

Salad mix-a blend of baby kale and baby leaf lettuces-delicious and almost sweet flavored.

3rd rinse in the dunk tank….

Last bag of wintered over spinach from the hoop house. A HUGE! 1 pound bag again….

Last cutting of the gorgeous wintered over spinach crop.

Best guess for next week

2 different salad mixes, baby arugula, mini pac choi, fantastic assorted mini head lettuces and high hopes…..white japanese salad turnips…..+ more.

Salad turnips almost ready!

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Spring Share #1 May 2nd

Posted in Garden Update on May 2, 2019| 6 Comments »

A fantastic start to the 2019 season….!

The 1st CSA Share of the season is always exciting. It’s the kick off to the summer and we are thrilled. The hoophouse is fully stocked and crops look wonderful.

Many nights of covering the crops in the hoop house to protect from the chill and then off again quickly in the mornings….this secured a great harvest of early season greens.

Our heated greenhouse is fully stocked with little seedlings ready to go out in the garden whenever it dries up a bit.

Peek inside the greenhouse….FULL!

Scott even had to add on an additional “wing” as we had run out of available space…this nice addition keeps all cozy until we are assured that the temperatures are warm enough overnight to start transplanting outside.

Heated greenhouse with additional “wing”.

It’s a fun time of year with lots of activity inside the greenhouse, hoop house and outside in the garden. We scurry about and all is weather dependent. It has been a long cold wet spring so the outside garden duties are about 2 weeks behind last year’s inground planting schedule. We planted 1800 feet of peas! A bounty to look forward to in the near future. Sugar snap, shelling and snow are all up and on their way. A long trough of outdoor spinach went in and is thriving.

SPRING SHARE #1

All produce is washed, weighed and carefully packed in cloth totes chilling in our walk in cooler at time of pick up. Please return cloth tote for reuse the following week. A note about packaging….feel free to return all packaging. Hard plastic shells will be sanitized for reuse and any plastic bags or plastic film will be responsible recycled.

What is in your share.

HUGE bag triple rinsed wintered over spinach, pea shoots, gemstone asian greens mix, mesclun leafy greens mix.

Spinach-A wonderful early season treat. This spinach is wintered over and planted last September. Hard to believe it survived the deep freeze of last winter. We are harvesting 5 different varieties and all have different leaf structures and texture. Enjoy!

Beautiful spinach in the hoop house.

We harvest all spinach leaf by leaf by leaf and then triple rinse and spin….

Scott harvesting Spinach.

Spinach from dunk tank #2- #3.

Pea Shoots. Taste just like fresh peas. Snip and add to fresh salads, garnish a pasta dish or a topping to a favorite sandwich. Keep in a bright window sill and water as needed…

Pea Shoots!

Gemstone Greens Mix-A baby leafy greens mix of mild mustards. Can be enjoyed fresh or slightly steamed and wilted. Delicious with a little kick of spiciness.