Here we are in August and it's just beginning to feel like we have reached the peak of summer. The kids are heading back to school and the days are starting to get slightly shorter. The farmers, myself included, are starting to feel the weight of the season's work, aka the "August Body Syndrome." We are dragging a little bit more in the morning and feeling more tired by the end of the week. Gratefully our farm team is starting to find their groove and soon the weeds will back off a bit as our daily temperatures moderate.
I also know we are at peak of summer because we are close to losing our creek water at our Gunbarrel farm. Our two farms receive water from different ditch companies. Our Gunbarrel our water comes out of Boulder Creek. If you have been near the creek you may have noticed how low the water level is now. With the end of our ditch water looming near, we are taking advantage of all of the water we can get. The image above is our cover crop getting a drink. This cover crop is a combination of Millet and cowpea, aka black-eyed peas. This cover crop will be grown, mowed, and incorporated into the soil. This is a key way to build organic matter in our soil.
We are also using the last of the water coming out of the creek to irrigate all of the amazing peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, melons, and winter squash at our Gunbarrel farm. Gratefully, many of these crops are nearing maturity and can thrive on reduced water from our municipal tap, especially the tomatoes and melons. While summer may be peaking, the summer fruiting crops will be coming ready well into September.
Pick Up Note
We are getting into some larger share sizes especially with the fruit shares. You may be receiving more than one tote on pick-up day. We strive to make are that the totes stay together, but sometimes chaos happens. Please take a look at your label at pick up. If you see that it looks something like the label below, there may be other boxes for you. Please look around the pickup site or ask our staff if there are additional boxes for you. We want to make sure you get all of your food.
Fruit Share - This week we will have more tasty Greengage plums plus GloHaven peaches.
Add Ons - I have had folks ask about tomatoes for saucing. We are getting close to seeing our tomatoes flow. We will be offering 15# flats of tomatoes for members in a few week's time once we are swimming in the 'maters.
This week we have additional fruit, plus cases of GloHaven Peaches if you're ready to do some serious canning. The GloHaven peach is a large fruit that has a flavorful yellow flesh and is excellent for canning because of its fuzzless and non-browning nature.
We are also harvesting a new succession of basil and have 3oz bags of fresh basil for folks ready to make some serious pesto action.
Plus we still have honey, Calendula body butter, Shiitake mushrooms, flowers, and pasta.
Thank you so much for being a member of our farm CSA. When we are fighting through the August body, knowing we are sending food to so many amazing households keeps us going.
Have a great weekend,
Michael, Cayla, Aiden, and all of the farmers.
