Including this coming share, we still have 4 weeks of the CSA to go. The summer season ends October 19-21. If you haven't already signed up for the winter season, you can do that now here: https://www.harvie.farm/farm/where-the-redfearn-grows-natural-farm/signup
We got 1 inch of rainfall yesterday. We need a lot more, but it looks like quite a bit more will come tonight. More rain would be much appreciated! I hope it is enough to cause a large final flush of green beans in the next week or two. We haven't had any beans to harvest the last couple weeks because of the dry conditions and the heat before that.
Greens are HOT from here on out!
Cooler nights and more moderate temps are what the greens really need. That last blast of heat at the end of August delayed the explosion of fall greens a bit, but we're starting to see the good times roll with regards to greens. Salad mix is looking fabulous, lettuce heads are gorgeous, the stir fry mix, arugula, baby bok choy, swiss chard and baby napa are incredible. The kale would be beautiful if it weren't for our losing battle against the dreaded Harlequin beetle.
You may have seen the spotted orange black and white bug crawling on your kale bunches. These beetles are a scourge for long-term brassica crops like the kale. Their sucking action on the stems of the leaves depletes resources to the plants and can eventually kill them outright. A little bit of chemical pesticide would rid us of the problem, but we are committed to organic production of all our crops, so we've resorted to hand-picking. Unfortunately we can't seem to squish them fast enough. 2,000 per day is what we're up to in our battle. We've pretty much given up on the kale patch which should have been able to produce for the remainder of the season. We will still have a little kale as we harvest the small tops of the kale plants with decent leaves. We've planted fresh beds of kale (far away from the bug infestation) but those aren't producing yet and may not produce until the winter CSA begins. Bummer, I know! This is part of the difficulty and cost associated with organic food production.
Help with Sweet Potato Harvest?
This Tuesday Sept 26th from 4:00 to 7:00 we'll be harvesting sweet potatoes. If you'd like to help us gather these amazing tubers from the ground, you are welcome to join us anytime during the harvest window or even a little earlier if you want to help yank the vines out of the way. This is a family friendly event where kids of all ages can join us. This is our first planned harvest of the season. There will be other opportunities as we harvest weekly (though not necessarily the same day and time), weather permitting. The longer they're in the ground the larger they grow and the bigger the overall harvest, but we're doing this early harvest so we can get them cured quickly and get some out to you all before the summer CSA season begins. Our later harvested (and resultantly larger tubers) won't be fully cured and ready until the winter CSA season begins. We never know how big and plentiful they are until we start to harvest, so come join us Tuesday to find out! Bring a water bottle and some garden gloves. If you want to come, just reply to this email and let us know you're planning on attending so we get an idea of how many volunteers we'll have. No pressure, but for many it's a ton of fun to get dirty out on the farm and we love spending time getting dirty alongside you.
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Italian Artisan Loaf
Hemme Brothers Garlic Herb Curds
We are so happy to grow great food for you. Thank you for letting us serve you!
Your very own personal farmers,
Dave and Sheri
