Hello Everyone! Remember to grab your produce box at your pick up location this week. We'll have lots of kohlrabi at the market tomorrow, BUT forgetting to put it into the Harvest Estimate so you guys could choose or swap for it in your shares was the error of the week...oops! We are getting better at accurately estimating and using the Harvie system. Maybe those of you who like to 'tinker' with your shares have improved as well? One thing that you may find interesting is that though you may actually LOVE almost all vegetables, your preferences actually aren't all that meaningful if everything is rated the same. You can change your preferences as often as you'd like if you find that you're getting too much of an item or would really like to highlight something above all others.
We had a pretty productive week despite the rain. We got a number of beds flipped on Monday, so they are covered with plastic tarps where the worms and microbes that we hired for cheap continue to work on them. Hopefully when we pull the tarps off in a couple of weeks to replant, any crop debris and roots will be mostly gone, and many weed seeds will have germinated and died.
There was a lot of harvesting this week (as with pretty much all weeks!) as the peas are in their prime, and that means a lot of picking for a couple of weeks. Peas are a favorite crop, but they're also very labor and time intensive to harvest. We're looking forward to the end of pea picking, because that's about when bean picking will start. But we're also ready to see the end of the peas in our tunnel because they are right next to the tomatoes and it's quite a jungle in there! It does seem that though the tomatoes could use more space and light, they are mostly thriving in such close proximity with the peas. Peas along with other legumes are 'nitrogen fixers', which means that with the help of bacteria in the soil, they accumulate nitrogen along their roots. The nitrogen is readily available to plants that need it...you're welcome tomatoes.
Look forward to seeing you all at pick up. Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend and Happy Independence Day!
Cheers, Bonnie & Rudy
PS. Reminder - CSA members and Farm Stand folks who are picking up can grab your box at the dedicated pick up tent, and also ask for any additional items from the market there - Rudy will run and grab them, no need to stand in line!
