We're guessing that some of you had some real evidence of just how fresh your shares are after last week's pick up...we harvested the big basil bunches right before packing boxes. We wouldn't be surprised if a couple of you ended up with a previous resident (caterpillar, spider, ladybug...) in your box as well. We didn't really consider that harvesting something so mature and large might need a bit of time for it's any dwellers to evacuate...next time - eviction notices! The basil is back in smaller amounts this week in your boxes, but is available in bunches as the market and will likely be available in bunches again next week in your boxes. Sorry about that if anyone had a scare!
The beautiful photo above is a close up of one of our gladiolus flowers. We plant our 'glads' with a friend who also plants his on the farm. Some (like the salmon colored one pictured) are actually very old - they are descendants of glads planted and saved by his grandmother - and the Glad Man is no spring chicken himself! When a gladiolus corm is planted, it grows a flower up above and also a new corm down below. It's these new corms that we dig up in the Fall and store over the winter to be planted again next Spring. Often, there will also be little 'cormels' along with the new corm. These cormels can be stored and planted out as well, but they will take 2-3 years to produce a flower. We have a lot of glads available RIGHT NOW, but they will be diminishing over the next couple of weeks as the majority will have already flowered. Luckily, it looks like our dahlias will be ready to take over with blooms and colors to beautify the farm.
We look forward to seeing you at pick up!
Cheers, Bonnie & Rudy
