The Tuesday pickup will also be in the field by Route 9, same as the Friday pickup. We made it through the storms fine last Friday, but if you are coming on a real stormy day and we are not down there, come up to the house (map). If our Friday pickup this week interferes with your July 4th plans, email me and either come on Tuesday or ask me to put a box of produce together for you to pick up Monday.
Thank you for letting me take photos on day 1. There are still some I need and I forgot to take the camera last Friday. It really helped me to have the photos. I appreciate those who make a point of signing in. It helps us know half way through whether we have portioned things correctly, and we need to wait for someone or can pack up early.
Tony is “harvesting” broilers Monday morning. If you would like us to have any for you this week, let me know by Tuesday evening. It is possible we will sell out Wednesday at Lake Placid.
This week everyone will probably get Napa cabbage. Napa cabbage grows wonderfully and quickly for us, so I have found several ways to enjoy it. The heads are frequently large enough for a couple of meals. I tend to divide it into two parts – the stem end and the leafy end. The stem end generally gets sliced into stir fries. I like to whip up a sweet and sour cole slaw with the leafy end or whole head, and the napa cabbage makes a very light slaw. I generally just use some onion, sugar, and vinegar, and maybe celery seed. Here is a little fancier recipe . There are many permutations on a cabbage and ramen noodle salad. Some use particular ramen noodle seasonings, others just use the noodles. Here is a link to one recipe, but there are many if you search on “cabbage ramen salad recipe”. Folks who love this say they use the whole head for a big salad.
I keep forgetting to pick dill out of the hoophouse. There is not enough for everyone, but I need to harvest it and get it out of the way. So, if you like dill, ask.
Salad mix should be good and the next planting of head lettuce may (or may not) be ready for harvest.
There are some snap peas ready to pick also. I expect them to be “u-pick” items. I have 4 rows of snap peas, so hopefully there will be enough for everyone at one time. If not, those who don’t get them this week should get them next week. I don’t know if the strawberries will hold for this week or not. I only have early season varieties.
The Swiss chard is looking really good. I think it will be another week before we have beet greens, but they are coming right along too.
Garlic scapes have been very popular so they may only last through this week.
If you have heard the news about late blight in the area, yes, I am concerned for the potatoes and tomatoes. This is a fungal disease that we usually dodge in this region because of our relative isolation. To have it brought in on tomato plants that are then planted right around us is very threatening. As an organic grower the only protection I have is a copper spray. The spray must be on the plant before the fungal spores land, so needs to be applied thoroughly and frequently, particular after and before a rain. I plan to get some of the copper spray and treat the tomatoes in the hoophouse. That is a manageable amount where it won’t be rained off. I also am setting up fans to dry the foliage quickly in the morning. That is swimming a little upstream – the greenhouses in western New York have lots of late blight because a hoophouse/greenhouse is a humid environment. I just spent $1100 on trellis stakes for the field tomatoes (the stakes are metal posts so will last many years) so would really like to have tomatoes from the field to pay for the posts this year, but doubt that I can get and keep good coverage on them. I also spent $270 plus travel to Malone and Lake Placid for seed potatoes, which are looking really good, and would like to recoup that in eating potatoes. I walked the potatoes carefully this afternoon and they looked very healthy, with no sign of late blight. I know I can’t get adequate coverage with my little hand sprayer so we’ll just have to wait and see. I did find three spots of Colorado potato beetles that I hand picked and squashed (yuck – they make a yellow stain). I also saw lots of lady beetle larvae, which always lifts my spirits.
The battle with the weeds continues. Drizzly weather really tilts the balance in favor of the weeds. It is very frustrating to try to hoe weeds when the soil is wet and sticky. On tap for my work this week – weed, plant more lettuce and salad mix, “hill” potatoes, thin the chard, trellis and prune tomatoes, etc. I think I may just move the youngest lettuce to a fresh place since it is has lots of weeds germinating. Then I can just till the area rather than hoe around the plants. Oh yea, and try to hit a time between rains to get the Dipel on the broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower to kill those pretty green worms. It needs to be on the plant long enough for the worms to eat it, so in hindsight I should have done it last night. After a very rainy day in Saranac Lake I believed the forecast when it said showers here today, but it was a sunny, dry day. I would actually welcome three drizzly days. I could clean up the hoophouse and finish mulching the tomatoes in there. I could seed lettuce, broccoli, etc to transplant for fall crops. I could put stuff away and finish cleaning/organizing the garage as the vegetable packing area. I could catch up on paperwork and mail. I would like to do a little blog for you all so you can talk back and forth and share recipes. The house could use a couple drizzly days devoted to it. You get the picture.
See you Tuesday or Friday. Please let me know now, as you read this, if you want to change you pickup for this week because of the holiday. Thank you.
