Summer is moving right along. It's hard to believe we're already approaching the second week of August! The summer is speeding by so quickly. Do you remember when we were young, how a year took soooo long to go by while we awaited our next birthday? Well, not anymore! My life just speeds by nowadays.
This week's shares feature a lot more greens than the last couple of weeks. Harmony Grove Farm is back from vacation, and their greens have been growing while they were away. Red onions and Hungarian wax peppers are new this week.
I am still seeing shares that are smaller than they should be. When customizing and you remove items from your share, make sure you replace them until you have used up all of your budget. You can always keep adding more for additional cost, but for those who don't want to spend more you can still maximize your share. The system will alert you and ask your permission if you go over budget.
Farm News
Glacial Till Farm
Early August and it's already shaping up to be the start of some great autumn vegetables and covers.
Humble Bee and Tree Farm
Have you ever seen a baby bee being born? Well, here you go! This little girl was emerging from her cell while I was checking the hives. Watch the video on Facebook.
Grateful Life Farm
We took a lovely long weekend to visit friends in Maine, but our farm work was still waiting for us when we got home! Our chicks were ready to move to the pasture pens, so we cut and raked grass, set up the pens and electric net fences, and finally crated the chicks and took them to their new home. As I was walking, carrying a crate of chicks behind me, I suddenly felt a sensation of heat down the back of my right leg. A chick had scored a direct hit from thigh to ankle. When we finished our work in the pasture, I had to ride back to the house in the bed of the side-by-side, standing up. Shawn was kind enough to hose me down so I could take off my boots and filthy pants outside and get washed up. There may be a lot of chicken poop around this farm, but I will go to great lengths to keep it out of our house!
My flowers have really started blooming in the past couple weeks. As I've been harvesting vegetables I've noticed many different bees and butterflies visiting. The bumblebees seem to really enjoy the cosmos (in the featured photo at the top), while the butterflies are more interested in the zinnias.
Bushel and a Peck Farm
We have been busy with fence and puppies lately. We are expanding our perimeter fence to add more pasture for our sheep and cattle. With rotational grazing, they are moved every two days to a new section of pasture. This way they intensely eat a small section of pasture, and then that section rests and regrows before they are allowed on it again. With new lambs born last spring and the purchase of more cows, our animals need additional pasture.
One of our blue heeler dogs had puppies, and they are now eight weeks old and ready for their new homes. Puppies take a lot of naps, but they also have lots of energy, so that means many trips outside to run and play every day. Our children love playing with the puppies so we all take turns watching them outside. Thankfully, they sleep most of the night as long as the house is dark and quiet. But I will be glad when the puppies all find their forever homes.
If you love your CSA share, be sure to tell others about us! Word of mouth is the best advertisement we have, and you help support your farmers when your friends join the CSA. They can even try it out for a week or two before committing by ordering a one-time share from the Farm Stand.
Oh behalf of your NWPA Growers farmers,
Amy Philson
