It's been a hot week at the farm, and the summer crops are loving it. The tomatoes are ripening, the beans are oh so close to kicking into high gear, and we are leaving the potatoes in the ground another week in the hope that they will size up a bit more. We've been closely watching the onion crop, which really did not like the cold weather we had for June, to see if we will have cured storage onions as usual or if we will be having an abundance of fresh green onions instead (which are delicious, though not quite what we had planned ;) We'll be putting in our final planting of fall Napa cabbage this week, and fingers crossed it will tolerate the heat. It always feel crazy to be planting cool crops in hot weather, but, well, you gotta make hay (err, cabbages) when the sun shines. Or something along those lines. Every year we try to grow more food to feed you well into the winter months, and we are excited to see what sorts of local goodies we can provide for you when December rolls around.
For everyone who comes to our in-person pick ups at A-FRAME and at the Pemby market, you might meet some new faces in the coming weeks as all of our crew members are taking rotating vacation weeks throughout the month of August (except me, Naomi...but I snuck off last weekend to visit family on the island while the crew looked after the farm for a few nights). It is an incredibly busy time of year for folks to take time off, but as a farm we really do prioritize everyone getting some sense of work-life balance as best we all can amidst the summer harvest push. So please give an extra smile to Olivia on Wednesday and to our awesome market helpers this Friday at the barn, and be patient as they adapt to new roles.
Random notes for you...
--> We've opened up a few extra egg shares thanks to an increase in supply from Spray Creek Ranch. You can sign up via Harvie for a weekly share, or keep your eyes peeled in the "extras" section as you make swaps as there may be eggs available for purchase to add to your veggie share depending on availability.
--> Full season veggie shares run until the first week of November (we've had a few folks checking about this, so we thought we'd mention it). We are planning to run a late fall/winter program as well going well into December, and we will keep you in the loop as details are confirmed in the fall.
--> You are awesome!!! Farming can be tough as it is sometimes, and we never imagined we'd be farming during a pandemic. Your support, your appreciation for the veggies, and your willingness to adapt to eating with the seasons based on what our farm can grow this year is so so so appreciated and valued by our entire farm team. So thank you for supporting local agriculture and keeping our small farm growing no matter what the weather.
-Naomi and the Four Beat Farm team.
