Farm time is different from other time – a week either feels like a month or a day. When we are waiting for the first of any vegetable to be ready for harvest it feels as though it will never happen, and yet when weeding the carrots and dill and chard needs to be done, a day can stretch into a month.
It has been a frustrating spring. We are glad for all the rain and yet it does make growing a challenge. Just this morning, following the downpour last night, one whole section of the lettuce row was underwater and the new row into which we were to plant the Brussels sprout seedlings was completely submerged. And the hot weather is really making the tomatoes grow, but the cool season crops we count on at this time of the season are struggling with temps in the upper 80’s.
The sugar snap peas which our interns have been keeping neatly trellised are nearly five feet high and I picked the first few pea pods for our lunch today. The green and yellow beans have just begun to bloom and I saw little tiny broccoli heads on those plants.
We’ve been doing a lot of weeding this week – trying to get the weeds out between the rains which make them grow like crazy. No one really likes weeding – and it’s hard to keep everyone motivated by the 8th 250 foot row of carrots. But all those rows are finished – before the rain – and they look great.
The five new baby pigs – the surprise baby pigs we got last week – are doing very well – already they look a lot bigger. We made them an outside pen – so they can begin their side job as piggerators - digging up old packed and dried animal pens with their snouts. Even as little as they are, those tough snouts of theirs have rooted up a substantial area. The broiler chicks are getting bigger and bigger – the new Broad Breasted bronze turkeys which arrived in the middle of our harvest and packing last week are also doing well. On Monday, we received another call from the Harris post office that more chicks had arrived. We picked up our 10 baby Auracana chicks. They are all pullets (girls) and are the breed that will lay blue and green eggs. They arrived with an additional 15 broiler chicks since the hatchery will not ship less than 25 birds at a time. We didn’t want more than ten layers so we opted to get a few more broilers. We will be offering a few of these broilers for sale to interested shareholders. We will also have turkeys available if all continues to go well. And we have many lamb shares available. Watch the blog for the order forms which will be posted soon.
This week in your share, we hope you enjoy the strawberries. We do have a row of berries at the farm but by the time we feed our farm crew we don’t have enough for all of you. My son, Lucas, has started a new organic strawberry patch east of Pine City called TLC Berry Patch. We will be taking our whole crew up tomorrow morning to pick berries for all of you as a special treat and to support Lucas, Carey and Trent’s new endeavor.
And since we are a little short on early veggies this week – we decided to use this rainy day to bake bread for you too. Some of you may know that early on in our CSA we offered artisan bread shares.
After baking bread all day and into the night, I know one reason why we no longer offer bread to shareholders. But it was fun turning our kitchen into a bakery again to make bread for you. We hope you enjoy this Tassajara, whole grains light yeast bread.
Until next week …………Robin
What’s in Your Share
1 bunch of Pink Beauty Radishes
2 Bok Choy – Mei Quing Choi
1 Container of Strawberries - Sparkle
1 Loaf of Tassahara Light Grain Yeast Bread
FROM THE MARKETING DIRECTOR
Don’t forget to bring your bags. The interns or hosts at your drop site will be there to help you. Stephanie will be at the Acadia. Kristin will be helping folks at the farm. Gretchen will be greeting those of you at the Homestead Picking Parlor. Robin will be at Pilgrims UCC in Maple Grove. Laura will be seeing those of you at Midwest Brewing Supplies in St. Louis Park, under the awning or by the store door depending on the weather. Kathryn will be at the St. Paul drop again, and Dale will be your host at United Theological Seminary this week. Our shareholder Deb handles Vincent each week.
