Vegetable Delivery Week 11 2016

July 15, 2016

Week 11

Here are some of the items you may be receiving in your delivery this week:

Spinach, Assorted Summer Squash, Bok Choy, Purple Kale, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Purple and Genovese Basil, Cucumber- either Holland White or Green, Squash Blossoms, Green Onion, Early Tomatoes

This week has been hot! Days on the farm have usually hit 35 degrees Celcius in the shade with temperatures cooling off overnight. Where have the thunderstorms been? C’mon Thor we need the rain! The plants have been put through even more shock this week with the temperature fluctuations. We have been watering as best we can to compensate but the drought continues. It was very disheartening to be pulling green onions and seeing how dry the soil was even after a deep watering the night before. Let’s hope for the predicted showers to come this weekend.

A few additional annoyances to be hitting the farm is the incredible influx of Cucumber beatles that attack any plant in the cucurbit family. This includes all squash, pumpkins, melons and of course cucumbers. I’ve replanted a variety which does not require pollination so I can keep it under row cover but all our other plants have been infiltrated. The little buggers consume the leaves but most unfortunately the pollen out of the blossoms which hinders pollination. Dusting the plants with the organic method of hydrated lime seems to be keeping their numbers in check.

The one which is a surprise and very disappointing is our farm has felt the effects of a decreased been population. We grow many flowers around the farm and have the meadow. Hopefully our refuge will help them.

This week we have a large assortment of veggies as the numbers on each item continue to be low. I’m continuing to be positive and am encouraged to see improvement even with it being extremely slow.

The assorted summer squash includes green zucchini and yellow squash. The boys and I love them sautéed with onions and tomatoes. We are very enthused to see our first tomatoes ripening. Many more are on the horizon as well as squash hence the squash blossoms included this week. They are wonderful stuffed with a soft cheese like ricotta and herbs and then sautéed in a pan with or without being dipped in a batter before frying.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Your Farmer,

Amber