School's back!! ... and not soon enough for us as we struggle to keep up with bounty time. Apples are coming in, the first pears are ready, the raspberries are bumping, the strawberries are still going and we just picked the first melons and tomatoes! Harvest, harvest, harvest time.
Crop updates- our dry farmed early girl tomatoes (dry-farmed means they're grown without being watered) are exceptionally delicious this year, although there's a fair bit of blossom end rot so our yields will likely be lower than usual. Blossom end rot occurs when the plants have trouble uptaking calcium, which happens when they're water stressed. It's a double edged sword. No water= super intense flavor, but higher risk of blossom end rot. Peppers- we're just starting to harvest peppers, but sadly looks like this year we may lose a fair bit to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus which can cause the plants to suddenly wither and leave both tomatoes and peppers with hard white spots that don't ripen. :( We had trouble with this disease 2 years ago, but last year's peppers were beautiful. This particular plant disease is spread by thrips (a tiny insect pest that loves flowers). We're thinking the warmer weather this year likely lead to a higher population of thrips that we didn't notice till too late. If we pick the peppers in the green stage they're fine, the damage usually doesn't show up till when they turn red and orange. So... you'll be getting more green peppers this year.
Fruit Highlight of the week
Ubileen Pears- Ubileen, is the earliest of our pears. The variety is relatively rare in the US and hails originally from the Balkans. It is juicy, buttery, and sweet-everything I love in a pear. But- IT WILL NOT GET SOFT TO THE TOUCH. Eat it 2-3 days after you put them on the counter. If you wait longer you will find that they will begin to deteriorate from the inside out.
Pristine Apples- The first of apples of the season for us, Pristine is crisp, tart, and a lovely glowing yellow with occasional pink blush. It makes a super tasty pie but is also good for eating out of hand. Next week we'll begin to offer William's Pride, Arkansas Charm, and maybe some Sunrise apples.
Quick reminder as many of you return to picking up boxes after long summer absences. Our site hosts are not obligated to hold onto your boxes after the pick up time is over. Given that most people don't have a vermin proof location to keep them, boxes that get left out become a serious problem, attracting raccoons, possums, etc. In the summer heat, they also become a mess of dripping rotting food juices that attract fruit flies etc. If you don't pick up by the cutoff time we encourage our site hosts to re-distribute or donate the contents of your boxes so the food doesn't go to waste.
