New this Week: Blueberries from Kilgore Farm, Red Onions and Sweet Scallions!
Did you know that one of the great things about Harvie is that you can customize your share to exactly the produce items and quantities you want (based on seasonal availability)? Did you also know that you can change your preferences anytime throughout the season? For example, if you have a backlog of 3 or 4 garlic bulbs, you can go in to the system, rate garlic a 1 and you'll won't get any more until you change your rating again.
To swap items, log in to your Harvie account, or click the "Swap Items" button in the "Time to customize your farm share..." email that you receive from Harvie on Saturdays (for Tuesday & Wednesday pick-ups) or Tuesdays (for Saturday & Sunday pick-ups).
If you are not seeing the items you want available for swapping when you login, check back throughout the customization period. Often items become available as swapping happens or shares are cancelled throughout the week. We typically have extra of most of the main items when we finalize the shares so the end of the customization period may indeed be the best time to swap! Sometimes the best things do come to those who procrastinate...
This Past Week on Our Farm...
Ahhhh...we are so happy for less humidity and cooler temps! This is what summer should be like!
Well, the heirloom tomatoes are definitely here! We are picking hundreds of pounds per week now and you'll continue to see tomatoes and cherry tomatoes as prominent items in your shares for weeks to come. I am predicting a fast and furious tomato season this year. Unfortunately, our plants were hit pretty hard with disease during the last few weeks of heat and humidity. While this affects the foliage primarily and does not impact early fruit quality, it will mean a shorter season overall. I did say us farmers were always complaining about the weather...
In addition to harvesting tomatoes and other veggies, this week we continued to weed the winter squash and pumpkins (again), converted the high tunnel from spring flowers to summer herbs, and planted some late season flowers so we can keep those gorgeous bouquets going well into fall.
Is anyone wondering what is up with those shriveled ends on the cucumbers? Well, when you have extended periods of wet weather, pollinators can't fly around and do their job (insects generally can't fly very well with wet wings). Every one of the seeds inside the cucumber must be individually pollinated by a bee or other flying insect in order for the cucumber to be perfect and fully formed. This requires dozens of insect visits to just a single flower, producing just a single fruit. So, this time instead of complaining about the weather, we just cut off the pointy curled ends and enjoy!
Have a great week ahead everyone!
Jodi, Allie, Katie, and Kitty
The CVO Growing Team
