foxlinecityfarm

Some morning we walk out in the gardens and think-“This is pure magic!” We are often amazed at how quickly plants size up. Kohlrabi bulks up over night and the cabbage too. We are watching the broccoli head up now and it will be in the shares next week. Beans are sizing up and the potatoes are flowering. We got the second zucchini patch in, seeded in beets, transplanted tons of lettuce, a late bed of radishes in hoop 2 for potato salad in a few weeks, and Alice we got those sunflowers in!-Plus Scott found a place for a few more rows of sunflowers next to the new zucchini patch. And we weed! Rows are clear and we are addressing our walkways. Oh, we see tomatoes forming too and the plants are HUGE! Sure feels like a great season. Happy Almost July!

CSA #3

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-Head lettuce, kale, fennel, cabbage, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi, sunflower shoots, and a sunflower plant to plant for happiness and cheer at your home.

Head lettuce-We harvested 2 varieties this week. A fluffy green beauty and a mini dark head. All shares received 1 or the other or a combo of both.

Kale-We have great kale this season and it seems it always gets overlooked at share time. So, we are tucking it in the shares early in the season. We grew several varieties and bundled a nice mix for everyone. Chop and add raw to your fresh salads, wilt and enjoy as a warm side, or we love it with wheat berries or other grain for a fun mixed salad with carrots cabbage and garlic scapes.

Cabbage-These sure sized up this week and surprised us. Heads are the perfect size. Slice and grill, raw slaw with the fennel this week or add some crunch to your salads. It’s sweet and delicious.

Chinese Cabbage (full share only)-Another surprise- We grabbed a few of these early birds as they were ready to roll and adding to full share only this week. More to come.

Peas!-The sugar snaps have arrived. Variety is an early variety called Sugar Ann. Eat pod and all!

Kohlrabi-1st kohlrabi out of the field. Perfect!

Fennel-We love the flavor added to a cabbage salad. Grate it or chop it fine, fantastic on homemade pizza, and sliced and grilled is a treat! Fun to try a new flavor if you never have tasted it.

Sunflower shoots-Snip the shoots and add to salads for a nutty taste. Great on sandwiches too.

Sunflower plant-A bit of cheer to add to your yard. Plant by your front door or outside where you can see it from the window. We all need a bit of hope and brightness right now in our world.

Zucchini-(full share)-The patch has just started producing….enough for 1 in full share only this week.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-BROCCOLI, CABBAGE, LEAF LETTUCE, ZUCCHINI, BEANS????, AND MORE…..

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A HOT! week but a productive week too. We worked early in the morning and sometimes through the heat and then back out after dinner. The watermelon and cantaloupe patches went in. We start the plants in larger containers in the greenhouse-babysit them and transplant out later when the plants are big and strong. Weeding is our top priority these days and we are still on top of it! We made our way down all the potato rows and sweet potatoes too and they look fantastic. We are whispering it may be a “best ever” year for these 2 crops. We don’t want to say it too loud and jinx it.

We see tomatoes starting on the cherry tomato plants and the beans are in full flower. Broccoli is finally heading up and the cucumber plants are vining up the trellises….It feels like summer.

We are excited that peas and zucchini are going to be in the shares next week and we are moving into harvest mode around here.

CSA Summer Share #2

What is in your share-Head lettuce, baby kale mix, garlic scapes, carrots, pac choi and basil plant.

Head Lettuce-We harvest the leafy green crops at first light on these hot days to insure they are crisp and not bitter. We zip them up to the cooler and then triple rinse and then spun dry in Scott’s new invention. He created a leafy green spinner out of a tread mill motor, huge fan guards and red fiberglass left over from a valentine heart project years ago. It works great and what a time saver.

After the lettuce is harvested we try to follow the 24 hour rule. The space is replanted within 24 hours with another rotation….

Baby Kale Mix-Fresh in salads it’s great. I love it sauted with the garlic scapes and eat with scrambled eggs.

Garlic Scapes-Delicious! These are the forming flowers off the top of the garlic plants. We cut them off so the plant puts all it’s energy into forming a big bulb. Tastes just like garlic. Use as you would garlic. Makes a great pesto too.

Carrots!-These crunchy delights were planted in hoop 1 in March. Maeve calls them “real carrots” because of the flavor. We plant the carrots in rows and then between the rows we planted baby head lettuce and in between the lettuce we planted fennel. First the lettuces came out for Spring Share and now the carrots-next week the fennel. We are able to harvest 3 crops out of 1 section of the greenhouse when space is tight in the early season.

Pac Choi-A favorite around here. I roughly chop and saute and then eat a whole one with rice. It is great in fresh salads for a good crunch and charred on the grill is amazing.

Basil Plant-A genovese variety. Cut and enjoy…or transplant to a larger container or your garden to snip all summer long.

Best Guess for next week-peas, head lettuce, fennel, zucchini sun flower shoots and more….

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What a great time we are having in the gardens. Crops are strong and well watered thanks to all this rain. The plants love the high temps and growing like crazy. It’s fun to watch. The 1st rotation of beans is just about to flower and 2nd rotation germinated this week. We have hoop 2 fully planted in carrots and beets AND! fully weeded. We are thrilled with our new sweet potato supplier and even more thrilled that our shipment was delivered all the way from North Carolina by a wonderful amish man who we met at the Portage Petro a full month earlier then we have ever received our slips in the past. We planted immediately and more good news….we planted 500 slips more then we have ever planted. Fingers crossed for a best ever sweet potato year for us.

The broccoli is about to head, cabbage too. We started cutting the tops of the garlic as the plants are forming scapes, and the peas are flowering. Tomato plants are thriving and Scott has them well trellised. Weeding is a priority now. We need to get the walkways covered this week. Bring on Summer is the feeling around here.

We are grateful the terrible storms have not caused us any grief and skirted around us. It’s wet but be are just rolling along…..in the mud.

SUMMER SHARE #1

leaf lettuce, asian mix salad blend, green onions, radishes, kohlrabi, tokyo bekana, butter head lettuce (full only)

Leaf lettuce-A delicious leaf lettuce blend that we cut VERY early in the morning and wash and chill quickly so it is perfectly sweet and delicious.

Asian leafy salad mix-A great combo of textures with a bit of spice! Can be enjoyed raw in salads or quickly wilted as a warm side. We love it with a dash of soy sauce.

Green Onions-Planted in March in Hoop 1. Harvested and bundled by Jeanie our wonderful helper this summer. Delicious and they have a bite to them.

Radishes-2 snappy varieties in this mix. Enjoy!

Kohlrabi-We planted these in hoop 2 late in March. Great texture and a family favorite. A nice crunch to salads.

Tokyo Bekana-I love it raw added to salad. I love the texture and the color too. It’s perfect and a perfect early season treat as it does not like to grow in heat. We did a quick early morning harvest before the heat wave blasted in and it is delicious and crisp.

Butter head lettuce (full only)-A beautiful lettuce that only grows well in Spring. We planted it between the carrots.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-Carrots!!!!, head lettuce, pac choi, garlic scapes, arugula and more…..

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We had another fantastic week of getting big jobs done. We have wonderful help this year! Al and Scott got all the trellis up on a very long work day and Jeannie and I followed behind and planted 484 tomato plants. We are grateful for these absolutely amazing people in our lives. Cucumber transplants went out and then we direct seeded more down the trellis rows to extend our harvest season. Hoop 2 is cleared out of all the Spring planted spinach and kohlrabi and beets and carrots have taken their place. We seeded in another round of cabbages, kohlrabi, zucchini and broccoli in the greenhouses now that we have some room in there. AND we returned to the Baraboo Farmers’ Market on Saturday and had a super fun day selling our tomato plants. It’s a fast pace this time of year, full days and we sleep well at night but the gardens look wonderful and we love it!

Spring Share #4

Turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, micro greens, basil plant, head lettuce and spinach.

Turnips!-The last of these buttery wonders from the hoop house. A Spring Favorite for sure.

Radishes-Beautiful and crunchy red “gum balls” for your salad. We planted these in hoop 2 24 days ago. Blows me away how quickly radishes develop.

Kohlrabi-Another great spring crop of a crunchy treat. We love it as a coleslaw, and also shredded in our salads. Big salted slices are also a go to around here.

Head lettuce-The variety is Cherokee. Delicious and Beautiful!

Green Spinach-Jeannie and I harvested the last of it on a very early cool morning and then pulled it all. Spinach will return in the Fall.

Basil Plant-Genovese Type. Perfect for Summer Pesto. Transplant to a larger container if you want it to grow large.

Micro greens-We planted up 2 different varieties. Choose the one you think is the prettiest. Place on a bright windowsill and water as needed. Snip and add as garnish to salads, sandwiches or side dishes. We love it tossed on soup. It is a 1 and done. After you cut all-compost soil.

Green onions-Harvested from hoop 1 and these little guys have a bite to them.

1st Summer Share Thursday June 16th. Same routine. Pick up time is 3-6.

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