foxlinecityfarm

A week of harvest….Daily morning harvests in the zucchini patch, cucumber and beans….we started peeking in on the tomatoes and added an every other day walk through over there too.  We also pulled all the onions in 2 days.  Both summer sweet and storage.  A big job but it feels good that they are all out of the ground and processed.

Morning Cucumber Crawl…

Zip over and grab the Zucchini….

Peek in with the Cherry tomatoes…

….and pulled all the onions out on a very hot day.

Storage onions on the drying rack.

We seeded in the early spinach crop for hoop 2 and planted a “Hail Mary” final  green bean crop…it might make it but it is worth a try….

Early Autumn spinach seeded in….

CSA SUMMER SHARE #9

Full Share.

Snack Pack.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE….HEAD LETTUCE, POTATOES!, CUCUMBERS, ZUCCHINI, GREEN BEANS (SNACK ONLY), KALE, SWEET SUMMER ONIONS, GARLIC, RADISH (SNACK ONLY), SLICE TOMATOES, CHERRY TOMATOES (FULL ONLY), NAPA CABBAGE (FULL ONLY)

Head lettuce-2 varieties harvested this week.  A delicious mini head for all snack packs and a fluffy lime green bicolor for Full Share.  Both summer favorites.

Snack Pack Lettuce.

Full share lettuce taking a chilling dip-variety is called lovelock.

Potatoes-the 1st dig of the season.  Variety is Corolla.  Scott’s favorite.  We hand fork all early season potatoes as the skin is very tender.

Scott forking out the 1st potatoes of the season.

Maeve with the potato bounty.

We are thrilled with the yield!

Cucumbers!-A huge harvest this week!  3 rotations in harvest mode.  Enjoy!  Store in refrigerator with plastic bag slightly opened at top.

Portioning out the Cucumbers for this week’s share.

Zucchini-Another strong week of harvesting this summer staple…the 2nd planting has settled in so we are set for a nice long season.

Zucchini patch #2

Green Beans (snack only)-this is the end of the green bean harvest…up next purple beans!

Scott weighing out the last green bean harvest of this rotation.

Kale-A nice sized bundle of assorted Kale picked small and tender.  Great for salads or oven crisps!

Kale washed and bundled ready for the shares….

Sweet Summer onions-a bounty…we should have these little gems in the shares for a long time.

Garlic-1 in snack pack 2 in full share.  Nothing beats the flavor of fresh garlic.

Garlic all cleaned up and ready for the shares…

Radish-We had a snack pack member request some radishes….so we seeded in a few rows.  Tricky to grow in summer heat and rain but enough for a nice bundle and a little extra too for the radish fan.

Radishes at harvest.

Slice tomatoes-Fingers crossed it looks to be a pretty amazing tomato season…the plants are loaded and we are thrilled that our 1st harvest had enough for everyone..

Slice tomatoes in every share…

Cherry Tomatoes-Enough for Full Share this week….

Maeve is back on Cherry tomato washing duty this year….

Beautiful!

Napa Cabbage-(Full only) My favorite cabbage and makes the BEST coleslaw.  Also, fantastic as a base for a light stirfry.

Napa just harvested in the field.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-HEAD LETTUCE, PAC CHOI, SWEET ONIONS, CUCUMBER, ZUCCHINI, CORN!!!!!!!, CARROTS AND MORE.  SUMMER BOUNTY IS HERE.

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Well, we all survived the HUGE rainfall last week right at pick up time…Crazy and a bit of a challenge but as we say around here attitude is everything.  At least it was not super HOT!   It was surreal at times but we kept a smile on our faces and powered on… 2.5 inches dumped down from the sky in a very short period of time.

WET!

Another fun week.  ALL the garlic is out of the ground and curing.  A great harvest and as soon as we had it all out Scott tilled and created a new bed for our second rotation of zucchini.

Maeve carrying the garlic from the field as we hand pull.

cleaning garlic in the shade.

Headed out to the field to plant 2nd patch of Zucchini.

2 more rotations of beans went in and we are harvesting the sweet summer onions daily.  We transplanted the final rotation of chinese cabbage and leeks.  The watermelon patch was weeded the last time as after this week I do not think we can get in there anymore.  It’s a carpet of vines.  Just beautiful.

Maeve in the watermelon patch.

We are going to try for a heart and square shaped watermelon.  We ordered these molds just for fun over the winter.

Tomato plants are loaded with fruit and we picked our very 1st ripe beauty.  A golden yellow one.

1st tomato from the garden.

Next week we start potato digging….Exciting!

SUMMER SHARE #8

Full

Snack

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-ROMAINE HEAD LETTUCE, KOHLRABI, GREEN BEANS, PURPLE PEARL ONIONS, SWEET SUMMER ONIONS, ZUCCHINI, CUCUMBERS, ASIAN/EUROPEAN CUCUMBERS, MINI CABBAGES

Romaine lettuce-A summer favorite with a great flavor.  And get this it can be grilled!

Romaine ready to harvest in the early morning sun.

Romaine at harvest.

Asian Greens Mix-(Full Only)-A spicy mix to add to fresh salads or eat alone as a zippy fresh salad.  Can also be steamed.

Asian mix in hoop 1 ready to harvest.

Kohlrabi-We harvested 2 varieties a creamy what and a light green.  We love them raw in our salads.

Kohlrabi after washing.

Green beans-Another bounty.  I promise not this much next week!  Again we are harvesting off of two plantings and you can see the differences in bean varieties.  A smaller darker green and a thicker lighter green.

Bean plants are loaded!

Scott putting beans on a tray to chill in the cooler before we tub up.

Green beans all weighed out and ready for the shares.

Purple pearl onions-These are so pretty and perfectly sized for grilling.  Excellent in fresh green salads or a cucumber salad.

Beautiful!

Sweet summer onions-We will have these for a loooooooooong time.  The harvest has just begun and the row is long.  They are deliciously sweet.

Summer onions just pulled.

Zucchini-Great harvest this week of this summer staple.

Morning daily zucchini walk.

Cucumbers-A very nice mix of 6 varieties of snackers.  The 2nd rotation in the field just started producing. We pick every morning.  Cucumbers store best in a plastic bag that is left open at the top.

Asian/European Slicer-1 or 2 small ones in each share.

These are just starting to produce. harvested daily for a small seed cavity.

Mini cabbages-Perfectly sized for a side dish  and wonderful cut in 1/2 and grilled with a bit of olive oil.

Cute pointy guys in the Snack Pack Shares and round and pointy in Full Shares.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-POTATOES!, HEAD LETTUCE, GREEN BEANS, CUCUMBERS, ZUCCHINI, FLAT LEAF PARSLEY, KALE AND MORE….

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We are hot but happy.  Huge harvests from the garden.  We joke that our lives are kinda like the movie Groundhog’s Day.  The same thing over and over and over and over…..45-50 zucchinis harvested every morning, 2+ tubs of cucumbers picked and then 25-40 pounds of beans and watering maniacs in the hoop houses and green house.    We are blown away with the harvests every morning.  Such a great season…and we are keeping up even though we have to change our clothes 3 times a day!

1.25 inches of rain fell and it was wonderful.  Just in time as it was dry.

Dancing in the rain.

We planted our final rotation of green beans, transplanted out a bit more broccoli, seeded in a “surprise” for the Fall and weeded the watermelon patch for the last time as I do not think we will be able to get in there anymore.  It’s just about a full carpet.

Watermelon patch….tons of baby watermelon.

We weeded through hoop 2 again.  Carrots and beets look wonderful and did another big transplant in Hoop 1.

Hoop 1 is now completely dedicated to “leafy greens”.

Peppers are forming and we picked a few early cherry tomatoes.  We love summer…

Cherry tomatoes around the corner.

AND

Potatoes too…we did a quick check this week. Won’t be long now.

SUMMER SHARE #7

Full Share

Snack Pack

Leaf Lettuce, baby arugula, mini asian mix (full only) sweet onions, garlic, dill, sugar snap peas, green beans, shelling peas (full only), zucchini, snacking cucumbers, asian/european cucumber.

Leaf Lettuce-A sweet harvest from the hoop house.  Perfect for light salads.

Leaf Lettuce triple rinsed and ready to be weighed for shares.

Arugula-A snappy favorite.  A spicy peppery flavor. Add to a tossed green salad for a bit of zip or we love it slightly wilted with a bit of vinegar.

Arugula at harvest.

Asian Mix (full only)-A nice mix of asian choi and leafy greens.  Beautiful color and texture.

Asian Greens mix in the morning sun.

Sweet onions-We picked a few early as we have 1000’s out there and I also wanted them with the 1st big cucumber harvest.  The 2 pair up so well.

Scott with the Early Bird Sweet Onion Harvest. Note brussels sprouts growing tall in the background.

Garlic-Green Garlic.  Just picked garlic that has not been dried.  Amazing flavor-mild and almost sweet.  More to come…A great garlic year for us.

Dill-Had to include this with the cucumber bounty…a nice big bunch.  Great with fish too.

Dill in the field ready to harvest.

and headed up to the garage to be bundled.

Sugar snap Peas-This is the end of the sugar snaps….Enjoy.  Raw or grilled they are wonderful.

Final pea harvest-the vines are over my head!

Shelling Peas (full only)-The last of these too for the season.

Green Beans-TONS! were harvested and there is a bounty for the CSA this week.  We planted 2 rotations 3 weeks apart and they are both ready at the exact same time…  We harvest daily so they are small and tender.  We call those big guys pencils and who wants to eat a pencil?

Just finished 1 side of the 1st bean row….HOT!

Zucchini-The patch is just starting to really kick in…biggest 1 day harvest is 63.

Early morning zucchini harvest.

Cucumbers!-we planted 6 yes 6 rotations and this is just the 1st 1 starting…we wanted a nice long window of harvest this season…

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK….HEAD LETTUCE, PURPLE PEARL ONIONS, GREEN BEANS, ZUCCHINI, CUCUMBERS, CABBAGE, KOHLRABI AND MORE….

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Another great week…HOT! but we chugged along. A few super early mornings and super late nights to avoid the afternoon heat but it works…. The plants sure love the hot temperatures!  The cucumbers are kicking in…and summer squash too.  The sweet summer onions are sizing up and all the potatoes are flowering.  It sure feels like summer and it feels good. Beans have arrived!  We have 3 rotations in the fields now so we should have a good long run…full share only this week but a bounty on the way. We transplanted out 300 more broccoli starts, and did a quick second weeding of all the beds in the garden. The big deal focus was peas!  Honesty we have never picked this much in 1 week ever!  Crazy.  If you wondered at all what we were doing this past week and you thought hmmmm, maybe they are picking peas you would have about a 95% chance of being correct.  We picked different areas daily and it seemed like it was never ending.  They are sweet and delicious and so worth it.

Cool morning pea harvest.

Maeve showcasing the very 1st cucumber harvested from the garden this year….

….and the very 1st green bean.

SUMMER SHARE #6

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-GARLIC SCAPES, LETTUCE, FENNEL, SUGAR SNAP PEAS, SHELLING PEAS (LABELED) ONIONS, MINI CABBAGE, ZUCCHINI, CUCUMBER, GREEN BEANS(FULL ONLY)

Full share

Snack pack

Garlic scapes-This is the end of the scapes…use just as you would garlic cloves.  Next week we start the garlic harvest.  This garlic was planted last Fall and the crop looks wonderful.

Head lettuce-We harvested 4 varieties from Hoop 1 this week and we mixed it up and did an assortment in all the shares.

Morning lettuce harvest.

One of my favorite varieties…newham.

Fennel-We are huge fennel fans….it is very tasty shredded in a coleslaw and fantastic grilled.

Fennel in the field at harvest.

All loaded on the fennelmobile….

Chilling in the dunk tank.

Sugar snap peas-HUGE! bags-snack 1.25 full 2.25.  Tons! picked this week…don’t worry they are tapering off.  Try them grilled.  Delicious.

Scott pea picking…

Jennifer on the other side of trellis.

Shelling Peas-(labeled) Maeve wrote pink labels for all bags.  You must remove the outer shell to eat the sweet fresh peas inside.  raw is great…but lightly steamed with salt and butter is heaven.

shelling peas at harvest.

Maeve working at the “pea weighing factory”.

Pearl Onions-1st time we grew these cuties and we love them!  shish kebab on the grill.  Perfect mini size.

Pearl onions in the morning sun.

Mini Cabbage-These cuties too can be cut and 1/2 oiled and grilled.  Sweet!

mini cabbage harvest…pointy guys next week.

Beauties!

1st Zuchinni-Here we go!  Enjoy!  We pick daily and we pick small.  If ever a baseball bat is needed for baking CSA members just need to ask.

Scott with the 1st zucchini harvest of the season.

Cucumber-We pondered long and hard as how to split up the cucumber harvest. We decided we all should have our 1st cucumber together.  SO, 1 or 2 in each share this week.  Nothing better than a just picked cucumber.

Picked just enough for everyone to have their 1st taste.

Green beans-1st pick of the season yesterday and a bit of a surprise. I thought a few days out yet.  Just enough for full share.

1st bean harvest.

Bean surprise!

BEST GUESS NEXT WEEK-GREEN BEANS, CUCUMBER, ZUCCHINI, LEAF LETTUCE DILL, CABBAGE, ARUGULA AND MORE

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Perfect rains just when we were getting a little worried that things were pretty dry…Lots of wet muddy clothes but cool working temperatures.

Coming up for dinner after a big broccoli transplant in the MUD! My boots weighed 10 pounds each!

A great week that zipped right along.  We pulled the broccoli plants and had the beds replanted by evening…same with the chinese cabbage crop.  Harvest/wash/pull plants/replant.

Evening replanting of the chinese cabbage beds.

A great start to the pea harvest.  It is going to be a bounty!

TONS! of peas on the vine….best season yet I think.

Flowers are on the cucumber vines, pepper plants too. Tomatoes are forming and itty bitty beans are there when we peek under the leaf canopy. Big pretty blooms on the spaghetti squash. I bet we will harvest the first zucchini next week.

Zucchini runway in the morning sun.  We are playing that beat the clock game again this year….hopefully the peas are done and we pull the trellis before the zucchini plants get too big!  Fingers crossed.

Evening Potato patch inspection…we are hoping for potatoes on the 4th of July!

It’s sure starting to feel like summer is here!

SUMMER SHARE #5

Full Share

Snack Pack

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-LEAF LETTUCE, SUGAR SNAP PEAS, SCALLIONS, MINI CABBAGE, CHINESE/NAPA CABBAGE, KOHLRABI, CUT BASIL AND BROCCOLI SIDE SHOOTS (FULL ONLY)

Leaf lettuce-A delicious harvest from hoop 1.  The 1st time we grew this mix.  Love it!  The mix includes salad burnet…a slight piney taste.

Salad burnet in the mix…no not a weed…

Leaf lettuce at morning harvest.

Beautiful!

Harvest complete.

Replanted by evening with romaine lettuce.

Sugar snap peas-The bounty begins!  We are harvesting 3 different varieties.  Eat pod and all.  A great start to the pea bonanza.

A variety called cascadia.

Scallions/Green onions-Great to have fresh onion taste for cooking again after using storage onions all winter long.

Scallions at harvest.

Neat image of tops trimmed and ready for the washing station.

Mini Cabbage-1st harvest from the cabbage patch.  We love these mini guys!  Sweet and perfectly sized.  2 varieties this week…round and cone shaped. More to come.

The start of the cabbage harvest.

Napa/Chinese Cabbage-We grew 3 varieties.  Mini, midsized and big.  Medium beauties in the snack pack this week and big ones in Full share.  My favorite cabbage for coleslaw.

Chinese cabbage at harvest.

Ready to wash….

Kohlrabi-A great harvest of these white gems…tender and sweet!

A full harvest of these favorites! and good news another huge row is planted too!

Cut basil-A nice big bundle for a great pesto for a hot or cold dish.  Also, top on your favorite pizza.  Maeve loves it in lemonade.

Basil ready to cut….

Bundling for the shares…

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-HEAD LETTUCE (MY FAVORITE VARIETY), DILL, FENNEL, SCAPES, 1ST TRUE ONIONS!, TONS OF SUGAR SNAP PEAS, BROCCOLI, CABBAGE AND MORE….

We did a quick peek and the 1st onions of the season are ready. beautiful pearls….

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And the beat goes on…..we settled into a fast rhythm in the garden.  Every available planting space has been planted and we are staying in front of the weeds.  The Fall rotations of broccoli and cabbages are started in the greenhouse too.  The big deal focus last week was a fantastic carrot harvest, pulling the remaining beets and WEED!!!! Hoop 2.  We immediately  replanted with more beets and carrots for later this season.  Done.  It looks like a dance hall in there!

Maeve hauling out the last crate of weeds to the compost pile.

Hoop 2 weeded and fully planted with beets and carrots. In the foreground where the Spring spinach and turnip rows grew- we planted a few weeks back…carrots and beets already germinated.

We did an evening check and weed at the potato patch.  Looks fantastic!  We plant our potatoes at Scott’s relatives farm.  Raupp Family Farm.  Beautiful sandy soil for potatoes.  We are grateful and love this family.  I have said it before…..John Raupp is my HERO!!!!  He makes this all happen.  Thank you John for the dream potato patch.

The potato patch!  What a beauty….

The garden is coming on strong with all the warm sunlight and long day length.  Scott tied up the tomato plants earlier this week and yesterday noted they have grown 6 inches!  Cabbage is heading, pepper plants growing tall, cucumber vines crawling up the trellis and the monster rows of peas are going to hit next week I think.  Exciting times and absolutely amazing all rolled up together.  Full harvest mode is right in front of us.

SUMMER SHARE #4

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-HEAD LETTUCE, GARLIC SCAPES, CARROTS, KOHLRABI, SWISS CHARD, BROCCOLI (SNACK ONLY) BABY BEETS (FULL ONLY), AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS (FULL ONLY)

Full Share

Snack Pack

Head lettuce-Beautiful sweet green heads from Hoop 1.

Early morning lettuce harvest.

Archie (Mr. 3 legs) hung out with me during the lettuce harvest. It has been a few weeks since we have seen him and always a treat when he says “hello”.

Garlic Scapes-We made our way down the lush garlic rows and cut the tops off to promote heading.  Our crop planted in Fall looks strong.  Garlic scapes taste just like fresh garlic.  Use as you would garlic cloves.

Garlic Scapes ready to be cut.

Carrots!-We are thrilled to have a second harvest of carrots so early in the season.  We LOVE! our new second hoop house.  These carrots were planted in April.

Carrots from Hoop 2.

Hand pulling the carrots in the early morning sun.