Greetings Farm Fans -
We are in the final countdown to Fallon's most celebrated event: The Cantaloupe Festival!!!
If you haven't attended the festival in the past, let me tell you--it is not an event to be missed! There is cantaloupe soft serve, cantaloupe slushies, ice cream served in a cantaloupe, cantaloupe-topped pulled pork, cantaloupe salsa on street tacos, and (the infamous) cantaloupe daiquiris! It is also a great event if cantaloupe isn't your favorite cucurbit! You can check out the farm animals (goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, cows, and donkeys), throw some bags in the cornhole tournament, cheer on the cutest little cowgirls and cowboys, and root for your favorite skateboarder shredding it in northern Nevada's only skateboard competition. Add in live music and a great country fair (I am entering a lego creation, some cross-stitch, and am a judge for the baked goods category) complete with quilts, pickles, baked goods, floral arrangements, and overgrown produce--and you have all of the ingredients for an amazing hometown weekend! Tickets are available HERE! I hope to see you there!
Coffee of the Week
This week's coffee is a custom blend of South and Central American coffees roasted to medium. Telegraph Blend includes coffee sourced from Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil. Flavor notes include notes of summer fruit including peach and honeydew with a syrupy mouthfeel and a crisp blood orange finish!
Fruit Bread of the Week
We are working our way through an absolute glut of summer squash we our tasty fruit breads this week! Enjoy a loaf of zucchini, zucchini nut, or zucchini chocolate chip bread with your morning joe.
Farmer Update
Thanks to the generous donations of our subscribers, and a dollar-for-dollar match from the food hub, we were able to cut a check to Salisha's Delicious for $1000 this week. I know that Salisha is so grateful for the support of all of her customers! We hope that these funds help her push through to planting in her brand new hoop house.
In other news, farming has seemed a little apocalyptic this year. In addition to the ridiculous heat and the terrible air quality thanks to wildfire smoke, this last week a couple of our partner farms were hit with an army worm infestation. They look a little bit like the caterpillars that transform into monarch butterflies crossed with the vehemently hated tomato hornworm. Those little suckers actually marched between two fields at Lattin Farms! Farmer Rick told me that it was the first time in his 74 years that he had witnessed the march of the army worms.
We have declared a cautious victory, eradicating them organically BEFORE they were able to dig into the soil to pupate, but there was an impact on availability of some of our produce varietals. Most significantly impacted were the mixed color bell peppers. On a positive note--lunchbox peppers are here and they are located in a totally different quadrant of the farm!
Local Food Week
This week (August 15th - 22nd) is Reno Local Food Week, sponsored by GrowingNV. GrowingNV is a new network for people like YOU who love to support the local food system!
Visit the website HERE - join, explore, and experience the local food community in Northern Nevada!
As part of Local Food Week, we participated in the creation of a super fun video about our farm share! Check it out HERE - then sign the pledge to share your commitment to local farmers and local food with our network!
Thank you for your support of Nevada Farmers!
Kelli
