Halfway through with the hottest month on record, means that we are halfway through summer! I love farming and working outside, but these past few weeks have been tough work and I am feeling physically and mentally drained. Our crops have been affected by this summer being all extra extra, but most veggies are looking good!
****If you do not set your preferences, it is possible that Harvie will build a share for you without any vegetables. The past few weeks we have had a few folks with blank shares. If your share is blank, then you can still add and customize from what produce is available.
This Week
This new succession of squash is blowing up right now, so we have a good harvest of yellow squash and patty pans, along with cucumbers (both salad & pickling). We still have three types of root crops. If you have extra daikon and carrots, consider pickling them! For leafy greens we have collards and sunflower shoots, plus there's some fun produce like the red okra, watermelons, cucaloupes, cantaloupe, and jalapenos.
Since our share season is ending in a few weeks, I wanted to extend the opportunity for you to load up on some jarred products from our farm. There's mayhaw jelly and three kinds of pickles available for swaps and add-ons. I am always thankful for a pantry with so many canned items! Don't forget we have dried chanterelle mushrooms!
Farm Update
We had a record breaking chanterelle mushroom season! I think this year was a once in a decade mushroom harvest for our area! Tuna and I have driven up to three hours south to find them in years past. But this season we never had to leave Union Parish. Our grand total was 246 lbs of chanterelle mushrooms! We only sold about 60-70 lbs fresh, and the rest we dehydrated or turned into mushroom stock. I need to order some nice labels, so next season we will have 16 oz packages of chanterelle stock for the shares! The foraging was just a blast. We went every evening last week. I'm worn out, but it was good fun to hit the woods with the Rhodes Boys, Todd Magio (our mushroom mentor), Emi, and several other buddies. This time of year, no one in their right mind is walking around in the woods, so it's peaceful with only the sounds of nature and Tuna trudging through in his sandals to distract me from the mission. The mushrooms flushed in atypical landscapes this year. Usually, we find them in washes along a forest hill, however this year most were found in lowland swamps, within the vicinity of water. The mosquitos were atrocious, but thankfully I didn't have a single tick bite me--and I walked about 25 miles in DEEP woods. I'm just so grateful to have enough that we will have a steady supply for several months, so that we can share our favorite mushrooms with lots of folks!
We are almost done setting up the indoor microgreen grow area! I'm waiting for some items to be shipped. There is a probability we will be able to send out a microgreen mix before the farm shares end for the season! The Fall season will for sure feature some yummy microgreens, which will help us produce more salad greens, even when it's difficult to grow it outdoors.
I wanted to give a big shout out to Chef Lilli Ellen, a farm share member in El Dorado. Chef Lilli recently became the head chef at The Postmasters Grill, which I have heard people say is the best restaurant in south Arkansas! I had a redfish dinner there once that was pretty good! Chef has been sourcing produce from us when we go to the El Dorado Farmers Market, and I just wanted to say how much it means to me when other folks in the food industry support local farms. We only supply two other restaurants, Delta Biscuit Company and Enoch's Irish Pub in Monroe. Those two business have been reliable and consistent for us, so for us to pick up a third one is a big deal! Kaden and I are really looking forward to working with Chef Lilli and her kitchen crew! Thanks again, Chef!
After this week, there are only two more weeks left in this season! I can't believe we have been pumping out farm shares for 18 weeks! It's been a wild season. We have had successes and failures. But overall I am really proud of Kaden and myself, and of you! It's not easy to cook from scratch with whole foods, so give yourself a big pat on the back for going the extra mile, and giving a dang about where and how your food is grown!
