Whew!!! The heat has put a real crimp in field work. I had planned to have new potatoes for you this week, but that may not happen. I do expect to get down to harvesting about 6 a.m., starting with chard, kale, and lettuce (that has been under constant irrigation trying to keep it sweet). Then pull beets. Hopefully I’ll have help and we’ll get the potatoes out. Our next carrots are still small and Fledging Crow just dug a large planting, so I am getting carrots for you from them tomorrow, along with some salad mix.
If you got a melon last week, please let others have one this week. It will probably take several weeks for everyone to get one. We are getting quite a few, but aren’t picking them until really ripe (a learning experience for us), and they don’t last, so we have to eat them in between Thursdays. When we learn to pick less ripe but still good, we can keep them longer and have more for you. In the meantime, we are enjoying them.
I have been wanting to plant lettuce salad mix for you, but every chance I get (area nicely prepped, not harvesting something else, etc), it is too hot. Lettuce and spinach seed go dormant if planted when it is hot, and stay dormant for months. Folks with a plentiful water source can run sprinklers to keep the soil/seed cool, but we don’t have a plentiful source. Having a well drill sounds like a simple decision, but I want it in a convenient location to future infrastructure (which I am not sure of ) and to be on a good vein (know a good water witch?).
We have been harvesting little heads of broccoli for you, and zucchini and squash. Broccoli is another that really doesn’t like the heat. There is some browning, but they are usable. The zucchini and long yellow squashes are decreasing, but the patty pan is coming on strong. If you haven ‘t tried them, please do. The tea cup and larger sizes are good cored and stuffed, and the small ones are good on skewers. They are more dense/less watery than the “regular” yellow squash, with better flavor (I think).
We have harvested all the onions and have them drying. With the heat time crunch, you will probably have to wipe a little soil off them yourselves. Cleaning them will not be a priority. Same with garlic. We started with the smallest garlic bulbs, which were selling for $1/bulb, so you got 3 per point. A non-organic vendor is selling garlic similar in size to what you will get tomorrow for $2/bulb, but I will put them to you at 2 per point.
The tomatoes are coming on strong. The red ones are still selling well at $3/pound and the other colors at $4/lb, so each “point” you take in tomatoes has a $6 to $8 value. I am noticing that my farmers market customers are less picky about cosmetics than some of you are. I think they have been gardeners and learned to not fear little cracks and fresh punctures from stems on other tomatoes in the tray. The little round cracks that circle the tomatoes are because the tomatoes are growing so fast in the heat that the skins can’t keep up. The cracks going out from the stem are because they aren’t getting water fast enough with the heat. Unless there is mold (darkening) in the cracks, I don’t consider them a health hazard. The ones with the cracks coming out from the stem don’t keep well, but are good if used within a couple days. The field tomatoes probably have even better flavor (better soil, more sunshine), but are not nearly as cosmetically pristine as the hoophouse tomatoes are. I will begin tearing the hoophouse tomatoes out soon to make way for fall/winter greens. You should still get great tomatoes, but they won’t be as cosmetically perfect.
I will also start pulling basil plants out of the hoophouse to make space, so if you want extra basil to freeze for the winter, let me know. Last bulk basil price I saw was $10/lb. I try to value your “points” at $3 or more, so around a third of a pound would be a point. I need advance notice to cut extra for you though please.
A fellow vendor at the Lake Placid market sells fruit tarts. He drives up from south of Albany and gets his fruit from neighboring orchards. Last week I asked him to bring me a bushel of Hudson Valley peaches, which he did today. I planned to slice and freeze them, but looking at my workload and the tomatoes I need to can and the heat that may have been overly ambitious. They are good, so I will put them out for you as part of the CSA. I don’t think they are organic – he makes no claims that his wife’s tarts are organic. Just really really good.
Well, I have to put stuff away and get some sleep. As much as I hate room air conditioners, I am very thankful we have one for the bedroom.
See you tomorrow, when it is cooler.
