Bean Harvest 2021 has begun! Pictured above, my daughter Ellie stands on a pile of drying Mitla Black beans awaiting threshing. Everyone is working double time right now trying to get all the beans pulled before they begin to shatter and still keep up with peak harvest of all the other stuff. I have to say we all breathed a huge sigh of relief a few weeks ago when we decided to cut off irrigation on both the dry beans and the winter squash, having decided that they'd reached a point that we could pull off a crop more water or no. Our creek (from which we do all our irrigating) is still flowing enough to water, but nearby streams have all but dried up. Hopefully the water keeps flowing enough for us to get in the Fall planted crops that will feed all of you this Winter.
Product Updates:
Last week we put Bartlett pears your boxes (there are more available for swapping), this week we are putting in Seckel pears. We also still have heaps of super sweet Sarah's Choice Canteloupes, raspberries, some strawberries (but many fewer), and some apples. More apples will be coming in the next few weeks.
Seckel Pears (aka sugar lumps) are susceptible to Pear Scab (a fungal disease spread by rain etc. in the Spring). The fruit is a bit ugly, but the scab doesn't affect anything but the aesthetic of the skin. They're delicious and just perfect for a kid sized lunch snack. My kids don't wait till the fruit ripens, they like eating them crunchy, but they will soften in 3-5 days.
