It's getting HOT, HOT, HOT!
We're coping alright with the numerous record highs we've been experiencing this last week/weekend. We've been watering like crazy to keep the plant babies alive. We use mostly drip irrigation to conserve water, however in heat like this drip just isn't enough. We've been using sprinklers all around the field to try to cool things down and keep smaller plants alive. The chickens have gotten ice water and frozen fruit, however with this extreme heat they don't cope well. It's been a sad and hard day. This evening, we lost a few chickens to the heat. The ducks are splashing around in the kiddie pool to cool down- and well, so are we! Not in the duck pool though-yuck! We were gifted our own pool from a friend and have been jumping into it in between watering sessions.
There are definitely some crop losses. Some of the lettuce has "bolted" or started to grow tall in an effort to flower and re-produce. The Napa Cabbage is not liking this heat- some have bolted, some just stayed small and haven't grown much at all and some are ready to harvest! We will be harvesting them this week and salvaging all we can from the bed, so you may get quite a variety of sizes from small to large. The broccoli is also not very happy with the heat- we've noticed some discoloration to the florets, as they try to adapt to extremes. But the squash and cucumbers are absolutely loving it right now!!! We just harvest about 60 lbs of squash this morning and many more to come.
Summer Squash is so versatile! In this hot weather zoodle salad is a must! You can pick up spiralizers at pretty much any grocery store now and make healthy carb-free noodle salads. I also love stir frying them with a little onion, avocado oil, and Italian seasoning for an easy and quick side dish. For the larger sized squash, slice them in half long ways and make a "Squash Boat!" You can fill it with numerous fixings and bake with cheese on top. Taco boats are one of our favorites. Or try quinoa and mushroom stuffed squash for a vegetarian treat. Traditional fried zucchini is always a favorite. Many of the varieties we grow are different from the traditional green zucchini. We have a gold zucchini and a light green zucchini - as well as Patty Pan- which looks like a little flower or UFO. Those are wonderful for stuffing. Or if it's too hot inside, just throw them whole on the grill until they're tender and slice up after. What is your favorite way to eat summer squash???
Meet your Farmer:
Kelly is one of the two owners/founders of Flat Tack Farm. Kelly started gardening in 2010 with a small home garden to try to increase her access to organically grown veggies. She has been studying agriculture since 2014, since that time she & Patrick worked/volunteered on many farms throughout Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States. Kelly worked for Full Cellar Farm in Oregon for 2 years while starting Flat Tack Farm to increase her knowledge of commercial farming and also pay the rent ;-)
In a previous life Kelly worked for the SkyWest Airlines for 7 years in customer service and ground service. She also volunteered in AmeriCorps NCCC as a team leader in 2013 serving on projects around the west coast. After that she worked in renewable energy sales for a couple of years until she and Patrick decided to travel and study Permaculture (Permanent Agriculture), Self Sustainability, and Homesteading. In her free time, Kelly plays guitar for a band in Portland. When she has time she also loves to make her own body products (soap, lip balm, body butter, etc) make arts/crafts and sew.
Some of Kelly's favorite crops to grow are garlic and potatoes. She loves seeing the many colors and shapes of the potatoes as well as all of the flavors that you can't find in the store! Digging potatoes is also fun- they are hand dug and it's like finding gold. Garlic is so enjoyable to grow, hard-neck garlic (that makes the scapes that you've been getting in your shares this last few weeks) is one of her favorite spring time treats. She also loves to braid the soft neck garlic into beautiful and tasty home decor.
Local Partner Spotlight:
Flat Tack Farm and Buckman Brines have been collaborating for the past couple of years to make farm fresh fermented food products. Buckman Brines makes live cultured and unpasteurized products from locally grown produce. For the next couple of weeks we will have Kim Choi (a Bok Choi version of Kim Chi) available to add on to your shares. The Bok Choi was harvested from our early season crop in early May. This will be available online to add into your share- and you can also grab it from our Farmers market stand on Saturday downtown or at the farm on Friday (and save 10% off online price!). You can meet Chef Thubten on Saturday at our Farmers Market Booth if you'd like to talk ferments or hear more about Buckman Brines.
Stay safe and stay cool! See you all Friday/Saturday.
Your farmers,
Kelly (& the rest of the Flat Tack Farm/Sprout & Blossom Farm team)
