Lettuce Rejoice! June 29, 2023 - Summer Farm Share Week 4

Lettuce Rejoice!
June 29, 2023
Summer Share Week 4

It’s the fourth week of the Summer Farm Share - thanks so much for joining us!

You are getting this email to let you know it’s time to customize your share, you will have until 9:00 p.m. on Monday to do so.

Here’s a how-to file:
https://harvie.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260802865550-Customizing-Your-Box-

If you run into any issues, please email support@harvie.zendesk.com , you can also reach out to me at firmlyrootedfarm@gmail.com 

Please return your cooler bags and binder clips each week.

Thank you!

What’s in the Box?

Our first cucumbers are ready. 

They are completely delicious BUT aesthetically challenged. 

I couldn't figure out what was going on when I first saw the scarring on them.  I wondered about the wildly shifting weather patterns (cold to hot and back can cause defects), and reached out to some experts.  Everyone was stumped until I went in to pick one for lunch and noticed the earwigs chewing on the infantile fruits.  I always thought earwigs were innocuous but I guess under certain circumstances they are not. All this to say that the cucumbers taste great but they have blemishes.  Please swap them out of your share if this will bother you.  

In the same less-then-perfect vein: some of you may be wondering where the carrots are? 

We planted carrots in October which should have been ready in May, and then again in February which should have been ready in June.  In both cases the carrots were eaten by pests as they emerged, but as carrots emerge very slowly and sporatically it took us some time to catch the issue.  

We planted again in April and those carrots look good (phew) and I estimate will come ready in the next 2-3 weeks.

I'm of the "you win some, you lose some" mindset on these issues, as there is SO MUCH FOOD and I've never grown cabbages that are as beautiful as the ones coming ready this week.  Nor do I usually have as many delightful snap peas as we have this spring.  The vibrant broccoli that is just starting to pop, and the cauliflower that's a few weeks behind it are also pretty darn exciting.  

On the Farm
I've been spending some time contemplating fruit as a crop.  We've decided to plant strawberries for 2024, and I'm researching rasperries.  We have raspberries on the farm but the way we grow them now isn't economically viable to harvest and offer to you (basically they take too long to pick). 

A whole bunch of researchers and growers have focused on this problem and I think it might be solvable. I'll keep you updated. 

I've also been working away at our reapplication for organic certification.  You may recall that our farm was contaminated back in August of 2021.  We are eligable to be certified again in the fall of 2024 but need two inspections ahead of time.  The application itself is pretty involved and I'll be glad to get it off my plate soon.

That's all for now folks,

Happy eating until next time.

Farmer Tamara