foxlinecityfarm

A hot and happy week in the gardens. We had about an inch of rain and grateful. Irrigation still going but the pressure has eased a bit. We seeded in another row of late green beans and more lettuce in hoop 2. We transplanted kohlrabi in the field and spent a lot of time weeding!

When we left the patch we decided to pull a plant and take a peek….We have to wait a few more weeks.

Our days are changing to harvest mode. Early morning walks through the zucchini and then the cabbage and broccoli harvesting what is ready. Green beans are around the corner and cucumbers too. It sure is starting to feel like summer.

Summer CSA #4

What is in your share…..head Lettuce, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, fennel, onions, kohlrabi

Head lettuce-We are loving the lettuce so far this season. We grow several varieties and each unique in flavor and texture. This weeks variety-Newham has thick leaves and a sweet juicy flavor.

Zucchini-Here we go! A sure sign of summer. Enjoy!

Cabbage-Sweet mini heads that make a wonderful slaw or crunch in a salad. It is delicious cut in half and grilled with a bit of olive oil and salt.

Broccoli-The big deal of the week. A fantastic harvest every morning. Our best broccoli harvest ever! AND it is delicious.

Fennel-Unique flavor. Great addition to cabbage coleslaw. Add the wispy fronds to fresh salads, or grill the bulb as charring brings out the flavor.

Onions-The last of the early mini cocktail onions….Robust flavor.

Kohlrabi-We harvested both green and fancy white heads this week. Sweet flavor. A family favorite.

BEST GUESS NEXT WEEK-Cucumbers?, broccoli, head lettuce, chinese cabbage, zucchini, beans, sweet onions and more.

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Weeding and watering was our week. Irrigation runs all day long somewhere in the gardens….a constant these days. We are keeping up and life around here looks good. This heat makes for early morning work and then an evening return to the gardens to finish up. Both hoop houses are fully planted with carrots-(colored ones too!), beets and assorted leafy greens. The field crops look fantastic and all are strong except for the peas which I am not even going to mention again. We will get what we get from the 2nd pea rotation and move on. The vines are struggling in this heat and no matter how much water we dump on them it is just too hot. Not a pea year that’s for sure.

The mini head cabbages are sizing up and the cucumber vines are flowering and the eggplant too. Green beans are around the corner! The 2 rotations of chinese cabbage headed up earlier than expected and the mini variety in the shares this week. The potatoes at the farm are growing tall and getting ready to flower. We ordered 2 new varieties this year just for fun and 1 is pink-fleshed! Potatoes are a favorite.

We picked the 1st summer squash this morning and it is on the extra table….I’m sure by next week there will be enough for the shares….Zucchini harvests signal the start of summer to me….and here we go!

CSA #3

garlic scapes, turnips, head lettuce, beets, kohlrabi, broccolini (full only), onions, chinese cabbage, swiss chard.

Garlic Scapes-Nice thick stalks with great garlic flavor. Use as you would garlic.

Turnips-This is the last of the springtime turnip harvest. Best turnip harvest ever for us.

Head Lettuce-A delicious lettuce harvest again this week. Enjoy the harvest from Hoop 1 with extras available too if anyone would like more from the extra table.

Beets-These beauties were started early in our greenhouse in individual cells and transplanted out into hoop 2 for an early harvest. Delicious. Sweet flavor as they grew slow and in cooler temperatures.

Kohlrabi-This is from our 1st outside planting. 2 varieties white and light green. A great raw addition to fresh salads.

Broccolini (full only)-We are enjoying this early treat. Taste just like broccoli. Love it on the grill or panfried with the garlic scapes.

Onions-The surprise rockstars of the week. I was walking by the onion area and decided to take a peek. Shocked they were ready. These are the early cocktail onions-variety is Eclipse. More to come next week too.

Swiss Chard-We had a great harvest of these tender stems. Scrambled eggs and chard are a breakfast treat. Also a quick saute with garlic scapes and onions and a splash of soy sauce is a perfect summertime side dish.

Chinese cabbage-Another surprise this week….it jumped up a few weeks in harvest date. Enjoy in fresh salads, stir fry or we love it in broth.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-head lettuce, micro greens, broccoli?, summer squash, broccoli, onions and more

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This crazy weather! After that blasting heat-this oddball cold. We got down to 37 the other night and actually worried about frost!

It’s dry. Irrigation is the daily theme around here and it runs all day in some area of the garden. We are keeping up but we sure hope for some rain. This past May was the 4th driest May on record and we seem to be down almost 4 inches from normal rainfall. With irrigation the garden is strong. Cabbage is heading up and tomatoes growing tall. We are crawling down the rows and securing the vines to the trellis.

The garden loved the heat-except those peas which I have mentioned before. We harvested those ankle high pea vines from our 1st planting….and filled a small bucket. Disappointing. Our 2nd planting looks a bit better but not a good pea year due to the heat and drought.

The onions are sizing up and the 2nd planting of edamame has germinated. Our 1st green bean planting is starting to flower. And we are happy to see zucchini forming. A sure sign of summer arriving.

The garlic scapes are forming and we will cut next week for the CSA Shares.

We replanted Hoop 2 with 2 sections of carrots and 1 of beets. Hoop 1 we replanted with leafy lettuce and another rotation of arugula where the radishes were. The greenhouse has a whole new round of garden delights. Late kohlrabi, more cabbage, lettuces and broccoli. And another round of basil that should hit right when the tomatoes are at their peak.

We are focused on weeding-everyday we make our way down some row with a good audio book. Next week we will hit the potato patch (which looks fantastic!) and through the brussels sprouts and then we will be fully weeded out-for now.

Summer CSA #2

What is in your share-head lettuce, baby kale mix, pac choi, turnips, carrots, pea shoots, pink spinach, radishes, scallions (full only), broccolini (snack only)

Head lettuce-We love this lettuce. Big beautiful leaves and a robust flavor.

Baby Kale Mix-A nice addition to a fresh green salad. Also, delicious slightly wilted in a grain salad with added veggies and feta.

Pac choi-This is the last of the pac choi until Fall. Asian greens do not like to grow in heat. Fresh or in a stir fry they have a great crunch.

Turnips-Best turnip harvest ever! The creamy texture and sweet taste is a early season treat.

Carrots!-The flavor!!!! Spring carrots grown cold and slow are delicious. These seeds were planted in March. Enjoy.

Pink Spinach-The end of spinach until Fall. Remember to chop up the pretty stems in salad or warmed up sides. The stems have the best flavor.

Pea Shoots-Delicious pea flavor. Keep on a bright windowsill, water as needed. Snip and add to your fresh salads, add to sandwiches or as garnish. This is a 1 and done after snipping it does not regrow.

Radishes-A huge radish harvest out of Hoop 1 this week. Big bags of these garden gems for everyone.

Best Guess for next week-Beets, head lettuce, garlic scapes, micro greens, swish chard, kohlrabi, maybe chinese cabbage….and more!

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We had a very busy 1 week break between Spring and Summer Share pick-up. AND we are thrilled to say as of last night-every single crop we wanted to have in the ground or seeded in is in! Even some extra wish list treats are out too. We had a few full days but it sure feels good to have the really big jobs behind us. Around 300 tomato plants went in on a not too hot day. A long row of cherry tomatoes, 2 rows of red slicers and a split row of heirlooms and paste.

Over 2000 sweet potato slips went in at the farm. Our fantastic helper Jeannie and Jennifer blasted down the rows and we had it all done in a bit over 4 hours.

We weeded all the broccoli and onions and leeks and cabbage on a very hot day and the garden looks very spiffy.

The watermelon patch went in and the cantaloupe patch too….2 very long rows of cucumbers were transplanted and 2 long rows of 2nd rotation cabbage. More carrots were seeded in Hoop 2 where we pulled the spinach. A woodchuck decided to chomp down 3/4 of our 2 rows of edamame just as it was coming up. A BIG bummer but we had the space so we quickly reseeded in another area of the garden. We will just have to wait an extra week or 2 to eat edamame later this summer. Leaf lettuce was seeded in hoop 1 and more lettuce was transplanted in the hoop too. Hard to believe but I seeded in Fall broccoli in the greenhouse this week and more dill for itty bitty fronds for our cucumber salads later this summer. We are on a roll and final feel over the Spring planting hump. The plants sure grew in that heat wave and look robust….all except the early peas. They did not like the heat at all! They decided to flower and it seems too early as the vines are small. The earliest planting is already forming peas and I joked with Scott we will be picking peas on ankle-high vines! We are not going to have the pea bounty of past years due to that heat wave but we will have peas for sure right around the corner.

Summer Share #1

What is in your share-Basil Plant, head lettuce 2 in snack,3 in full, turnips, spinach, kohlrabi, arugula, tokyo bekena, pac choi, broccolini (full only)

Basil Plant-A nice Genovese variety to take home and transplant out into the garden or a larger pot.

Head lettuce-A great harvest this week of 3 different varieties….2 heads in each Snack Pack Share, 3 in each Full Share

Turnips-We have had our best harvest ever of the turnips! We planted tons VERY early in the hoop houses and had a great yield. Enjoy this springtime treat. The smooth texture and sweet flavor are wonderful. Delicious raw.

Spinach-This is the last of the Spring planted Spinach. We harvested and pulled the plants as they do NOT like the heat at all. We will replant again for Fall.

Kohlrabi-This is the kohlrabi we planted in hoop 2 in early spring. A crunchy addition to your salads.

Arugula-We planted a nice long bed in hoop 1 for this spicy treat. Enjoy as a snappy addition to a fresh salad or lightly wilt as a warm side.

Tokyo bekena-I’m a huge fan of this early season green. It’s got a great flavor and texture. Taste like fluffy Chinese Cabbage.

Pac Choi-We love this charred on the grill or in the oven and then add a shake of soy sauce. And it is fantastic raw in salads.

Broccolini-New for us this year after a failed attempt many years ago. It seemed this winter every time we went out to eat broccolini was on the menu. We decided to give it another shot-2 varieties and it is delicious! A quick toss in the frying pan with a bit of olive oil and garlic. Taste just like broccoli. Full Share only this week but more to come.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-HEAD LETTUCE, TURNIPS, BEETS!, PAC CHOI, PINK SPINACH, RADISHES, BROCCOLINI AND MORE….

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