Week 9: Hi everyone!

Volume XIII, JOURNAL 5,6,7,8,9
August 13, 2018
So what’s happening on the farm this week?

Week 9: Hi everyone!

Sorry we have not written more this summer. It is hard balance trying to be farmer in the field, farmer on the computer, farmer on social media, farmer with kids. I can post thinks on instagram a lot quicker because I can take a picture, say a blurb, and post – in between milking cows or waiting for the salad spinner to spin. But to sit down in actually type a journal out, it seems quite daunting this summer. Anyways, here goes..

We harvested some new red potatoes this morning for you all. They are called “new” potatoes because they were dug while the plant was still alive and growing and the potatoes’ skins have not hardened over. So when you get them in your share, the skins will be a bit peely (is that a word?) and unwashed. Potatoes keep better if not washed if the skins are in the new stage. We are excited to have these this week, we might wait another week or two after this to get more growth and more potatoes.  We will be watering a sidedressing them with a compost based fertilizer this week.

Last Wednesday,  we got 1.25″ inches of rain and then Thursday .5″ of rain.  I have never watched rain as carefully or compared numbers with other farmers as I have this summer. This has been one of the hottest and maybe the driest summer we have had in a long time. These little rain storms dump water vs a nice soaking rain. Adam has been in charge of watering all the veggies and he has been busy. he waters everyday.  I’ll take whatever water comes but preference goes to those long soaking rains that gets through past the first 1/4 inch of soil. While I was picking lettuce today, I noticed how dry the soil is already, and adam watered yesterday.  There was a slight break in the humidity
on Friday morning and it felt like it was that mid August switch. That switch that welcomes fall and says good bye to the intenseness of July.  I feel like month of July is RARARA GROW RRRARARA DIE RARARARA GROW – things either live tremendously or die tremendously. This type of growing wears on the farmer and their families. You feel as if you are running from one thing to another and another. I am not sure if there is a vegetable farmer who truly loves the intenseness of July.

This July with the temps well up over 90 everyday and not getting under 70 at night made our tomatoes grow like crazy but killed the first blooms from the  end of June/beginning of July. These blooms would have been the tomatoes of end of july /beginning of August. Tomatoes do not fruit above air temps of 90 and temps above 70 at night. The flowers will come on and then abort. This is where are tomato crop is.  We have a TON of green tomatoes right now, the second flowering of our tomatoes just waiting to ripen.  We have been picking a pint or two of cherry tomatoes every other day – and we have a whole big hoophouse full of them. I picked our first heirloom big one today.  The tomatoes in the cherry, heriloom and sauce house are looking really wonderful and they are all wonderfully trellised and pruned just waiting for ripening.  We have been watering regularly to prevent blossom end rot and uneven tomato development. We do have those crazy horn worms – but we have been going into the house every other day scouting and picking them off (ewww).

The peppers are starting to come in – the shishitos are starting to come in.  The green beans were a bit too small for picking today but we will have them next week for you. The carrots need a bit more water and we should have them next week. And we will hopefully tomatoes starting to come in. The eggplants are looking great too.  The pepper and eggplant flowers were also affected their blossoms.  You may wonder how come other farmers have their tomatoes, peppers, eggplants now – their plants flowered before ours and were able to set fruit before the crazy high heat temperatures. When I first read about this phenomenon, I thought it was umm..not true. Then I dug a little deeper and read and read and spoke with other farmers and they have had the same problem this year. Constantly learning something new and constantly trying to make our little farm more resilient.

The cucumbers have been amazing this year! So much better than last year. Thanks to all the water Adam has been putting to them. Hopefully you have been able to make some pickles;) Also, thanks to all our generous CSA Members, we were able to give 108 full size cucumbers to Food for thought last week:)

We should also have cilantro and dill next week – those herbs came to a standstill during the heat- it’s a running joke at the islands farmers markets as each farmer sends customers to the next farmer because everyone’s cilantro is in a standstill until it gets a little cooler. Fall melons, leeks, chard are looking great.

We are very thankful to our Monday morning volunteer Diantha for showing up and helping us evey monday. To the Sheila, Tom and their family for all the their volunteering time. We would also like to wish Madeline Good Luck as she venture off to college this week to Ohio. Big thank you to Ben, who heads back to the Yukon after volunteering with us all summer – thank you, thank you, thank you.

We are always looking for extra help on Monday mornings, just email is or text Christine at 617-276-4728.

Enjoy the sunshine 🙂 And do a little rain dance.

We look forward to farming with you this season.

Peace, your farmers, Christine, Adam, Sadie, Delia and Molly
 
What’s in the share this week:
This  list is what is in a  full share this week.  Things may change between Monday and Thursday
and Individual and Salad share will get differing amounts and may not get everything on the list. Slicing cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, summer squash, zuchinni, patty pan, lettuce mix, garlic, new red potatoes, basil, maybe peppers(Thursday shares might get green beans this week – they were not ready for the Monday pickup so Monday folks will get them next week along with carrots)
Eggs for sale
We have the prepy girls’ eggs for sale – these are free-range, certified organic chicken eggs that are brown eggs– with the brightest yellow/orange yolks you ever seen.  The eggs are $6.00 a dozen.  $3.00 half dozen
**CERTIFIED ORGANIC whole CHICKEN AVAILABLE


Recipes:

Baked Parmesan Zucchini Sticks

Baked Parmesan Zucchini Sticks


Baked Parmesan Zucchini Sticks – delicious zucchini sticks breaded with Panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

3 medium zucchini cut in sticks

1 cup breadcrumbs, I used Panko

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 tsp pepper or to taste

Ranch dressing optional

Instructions

1.    Preheat oven to 425 F degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.    I used 3 medium zucchini which i cut in half, then cut each half in half lengthwise,then each quarter in half again, so you end up with 8 sticks from one zucchini.

3.    Beat the egg in a shallow plate. Season the egg with salt and pepper. In another shallow plate mix the Panko breadcrumbs together with the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

4.    Dip each zucchini stick in the egg wash, then roll through the breadcrumb mixture, making sure each stick is fully covered with the breadcrumbs.

5.    Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

6.    Serve with Ranch dressing or Marinara sauce.

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