This week the tomatoes finally started to come in enough for everyone to get some. This is just the beginning of the tomatoes, and we expect to have tomatoes in increasing quantities for the next few weeks at least before the cooler weather and shorter days slow things down. This week we also picked our first, earliest winter squash and everyone should have gotten one (farm members I forgot to write winter squash on the board, please take on next week if you didn’t take one this week! ) Please enjoy the squash on your shelf for a week or two before eating – its really not quite ready to eat! The rest of the winter squash crop still needs a few weeks to ripen, its all a bit late, so we are hoping for a few more weeks of frost free weather.
Also new this week is bulb fennel. This delicious vegetable is tasty raw sliced thin in a salad or cooked – in a savory soup. the leaves can be used for a sauce or dressing. or, if you can’t use i right away, dry it and store in a jar. This is the only time we will have this unusual vegetable, so enjoy. Also new this week – red onions, not fully size up, but we knew you wanted them for their fresh onion sweetness.
With only six more weeks to go its time to talk about the final weeks! We took a salad break this week, but a fresh crop or two is coming so we expect another month of salads. We picked the biggest red onions we had, but plenty more, plus more yellow and white onions. All our onions will store for 2-4 weeks, and most that you get later in the season will store for 2-4 months, so if we are giving you more than you can use in a given week, save them up for the post-CSA dry times! The same applies for garlic.
We started picking the new crop of carrots this week and we will have carrots of increasing sizes for the next month. If you get too many, make sure they are clean and top well, then store ina bag in your produce drawer – stored properly they should last 2-3 months. We will also have some more beets which store well. We have a nice crop of leeks that will be ready in 3-4 weeks, and a giant crop of shallots that will be ready for the last few weeks of the season. Also due for the last few weeks – potatoes – several varieties, winter squash, and celery – yes celery! We have plenty of basil if you want to make some pesto, please email or call to special order.
We had artichokes this week, will take a break for a week, then have more for several weeks. we will take a kale/chard break next week for 1-2 weeks, but will have cooking greens again for the last few weeks of the season. I know I’ve been inundating you all with cucumbers, but they are finally starting to diminish, expect a little less as time goes on. We had lots of eggplant this week for farm members, everyone else expect eggplant next week – eggplant and peppers should last for a while, they are under plastic and protected from a freeze.
We have a few more surprises in store for you, but I’m not saying what! We have lots of yummy fruit for fruit members – plums next week, more local peaches and lots of apples and pears for the next six weeks.
Please note that my newsletters will become more sporadic in the next few weeks, i’ll post irregular updates; feel free to email me any questions!
In The Box
Artichokes
Beans
Red Cabbage
Bulb Fennel
Baby Carrots
Red Onions
Romanesco
Broccoli
Eggplant
Artichokes
Cucumbers
Squash – summer
Squash – winter
Chard
Kale
Tomatoes
Peppers
Fruit
Peaches from First Fruits, Paonia – two varieties (mixed in each bag) – very close to ripe, these are dripping juicy sweet delicious. enjoy!
Fall has settled in on the farm and a stead rhythm of harvesting has set in. Its week 10 and that means the long descent into the fall crops has begun.
Over the next few weeks you will see a few new crops that we haven’t at all or much of… The earliest winter squash – delacata, acron and festival are nearly ready. although we can start picking these next week, you will want to hold off for a week or two – or more – before eating the winter squash, to let them develop their full flavor. towards the last few weeks we will have some of the longer storage winter squash as well – hubbards, spaghetti, butternet etc.
We’ve got a nice crop of potatoes to harvest, more onions (including red onions), shallots, leeks, bulb fennel, more cabbage and lots more salad to come. Plus, we finally started picking tomatoes this week (just a few members who didn’t get salad got them this week) and the farm corn has tasseled up and is 2 weeks away from harvest. We also have a nice fall carrot crop, plus some more scallions.
The field in pictures
Click any picture to enlarge
Lots of gladioli coming in, please email or call to order a $10 bundle.
The CSA pickup board, week 10.
The farthest beds – the fall carrot crop, sunflowers
scallions sided by basil, beans beans beans to the left
the beans, and behind them the delectable corn
a nice stand of delectable corn
summer squash, winter squash, cucumbers, pumpkins – all on drip tape
chard, with cabbage and more beyond
celery, shallots
artichokes
shallots
broccoli
more artichokes!
the area was all previously planted – beets, carrots, lettuce, peas, kohlrabi, and more, all long gone!
crazy fractal vegetables!
the large patch of cauliflower, romanesco & cabbage
potatoes!
In The Box
Artichokes
Basil – call or email for perto quantities
Pearl Onions (some members)
Corn – from Austin Family Farms
Cauliflower – lots more – white, orange, green and purple
Cucumber – yum, even more this week Squash, summer – lots this week Baby Salad Mix – still more coming, we may take one week off but then should have salad until the end Beans – purple – last week (still available by special order for canning) Kale & Swiss Chard – we will take a break again soon Onions – big ones, fresh and delicious, red coming soon Broccoli – A bit more, almost done Romanesco – Crazy fractal broco-flowers – more coming Napa Cabbage – the end of the napa
Coming soon
more Eggplant – we are just letting them size up
more Peppers – bells, etc.
potatoes, shallots, bulb fennel, leeks, scallions, carrots , winter squash
Fruit – no fruit for fruit member this week – good thing we had some melons… We are in a gap between Palisade and the north fork valley – The valley’s first peaches are just beginning to come in – around a month later than their reglar timing. We should have delicious First Fruits north fork valley peaches for the next 5 weeks. next week I also hope to get some plums from Austin Family Farms. the first apples (after those pristines) will be the galas, coming in this week or next, several other varieties will follow and apples will last thru the season. we will also have several varieties of pears some time in september. i haven’t heard anything about nectaries, we usually have these for 1-2 weeks, but I haven’t been able to find any yet!
Lots and Lots of produce this week, I hope you can take it all it and do your best to cook and eat it.
New this week is Sweet Corn, from the Olathe fields of Austin Family Farms – I think you will agree its delicious! We will have more corn over the next few weeks.
Also new this week – Artichokes! These are a smaller variety than what you get int he super market. Steam until the the choke falls away if you list it up from a leaf (30-40 min). Most of these have little or no ‘hairs’ in the middle heart area to avoid. Enjoy these rare treats, we should have them again at least once or twice!
Also new this week – parsley and chives; we rotate the herbs each week for you to enjoy all the flavors of the garden – if you cant use something up, remember that drying is usually a good option! we will have more of these herbs again, plus thyme, oregano and some other surprises.
Where are the tomatoes? Thats what everyone wants to know! We have a relatively small tomato crop this year, but once it starts coming in we should have plenty for the CSA boxes – we have started to see a few ripe tomatoes, expect them in your boxes in a few weeks. In the mean time, use all the money you saved on produce by joining a CSA this summer to go down to your local farmers market and buy some local tomatoes!
In The Box
Carrots
Artichokes
Parsley
Chives
Pearl Onions
Corn
Cauliflower
Cucumber – yum Squash, summer – Baby Salad Mix – still more coming Beans – green, yellow, purple Kale & Swiss Chard – we will take a break again soon Onions – big ones, fresh and delicious Broccoli – A bit more Beets – new crop, a bit Eggplant – some members Peppers – several varieties coming in
Fruit this week, the earliest apples – pristine, and the first peaches from the valley – from First Fruits in Paonia.
The Farm in Pictures
Here are some recent shots! Click any image to enlarge. Panoramas below.
The farm has really reached its stride; everything is looking vibrant, and the produce is coming in so fast we can hardly keep up with harvesting it all.
This week we have several crew transitions going on. Maura, our intern who started working with us this spring, is heading back to her teaching job; Sabina and Isabel (my god-daughter and daughter), our crack of dawn teenager team, are heading back to high school. Thanks to them, we’ve grown and picked a lot of produce so far this summer. To make up the shortfall, some of us will add days, and in the cooling days of fall harvest will go later into the early afternoons. Also as other farm tasks like planting, mowing and weeding fall away (we give up!), we are left with harvest as the main task.
In the Field
The cauliflower really started coming in this week, so everyone got some. I gave everyone cabbage again. I realize you probably still have a cabbage from last week, so its time to make some cole slaw or cabbage rolls. See my note below about overflowing fridges. We finished harvesting the 1st of our two early carrot beds this week. Farm members got some FUNKY carrots this week, sorry about that – I mis-calculated the number of bunches and all I had left on friday was the ‘funny’ carrots with all kinds of splits and swirls. These strange shaped carrots are usually caused by nematodes (tiny worms) that attach to roots as they grow. The flavor of the carrot isn’t affected! It looks like we will have one or two more weeks of carrots, then possibly a brief gap or some baby carrots before we begin harvesting our even larger fall planting.
The broccoli tapered off this week after an initial flush, but we should have more in a few weeks as the side-shoot crop develops. We dug a few new potatoes this week because we ALL love potatoes, and the fresh new ones are delicious. We dug up a section of mixed varieties planted from last years leftovers. We may have new potatoes one more time, then a few weeks off, then several varieties and larger quantities for the last few weeks. We have a nice crop of leeks for fall so you make potato leek soup.
The field cucumbers started producing this week, and there will be even more cucumbers over the next few weeks. Please email or call if you would like some picking cukes, we have plenty and pick them at a tiny size. The field summer squash is also coming on so expect more squash over the next few weeks. The beans are finally coming in, so everyone got a bag of green beans, fulls got more, everyone will get beans again for at least two more weeks. we have green, yellow, purple, and a red specked fresh bean and will try to rotate the varieties so you can try them all.
The artichokes are looking great – we started picking a few last week; I hope to have enough for at least some members boxes next week. as these trickle in, a different group of members will get them each week, for example farm members one week, crested butte members one week, etc. The onions have really sized up, you can expect a steady supply for a while.
A Word on Overflowing Fridges
I know that the produce quantities can be a bit overwhelming, so here are some tips… I suggest trying to store as much as you can, but also consider cooking extra and freezing. Many vegetables can be frozen by simply blanching (brief partial cooking) putting in a bag and dropping int he freezer. Beans are a good candidate for freezing! Some veggies don;t need the fridge – onions, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes; also cucumbers, peppers and eggplant store best at around 50 degrees, so find a cool, shady, critter free spot and store them there.
In The Box
Cabbage – red, green, flat and cone shaped. half boxes got smaller sizes Cauliflower – even more to come Cucumber – yum Squash, summer – Carrots – Basil – Baby Salad Mix – still more coming Beans – green, yellow, purple, red speckled Kale & Chard – we will take a break again soon Onions – big ones, fresh and delicious Garlic – all dried and curing, we will have garlic on and off for the rest of the season. Eggplant – some members Peppers – several varieties coming in Potatoes – new potatoes, freshly dug by hand for your eating pleasure.
Fruit
Peaches from the domingez canyon this week; a note to fruit members – I’ve been holding back a little on fruit because the variety has been limited. We should start to see North Fork peaches and early apples (Galas and Akami first) soon.
Coming soon
Tomatoes – starts in next few weeks, just a few ripening so far
Olathe Sweet Organic Sweet Corn – should start next week
Fruit coming soon
North Fork Valley Peaches from First Fruits, Apples
This week lots of new crops are coming in from the field – we started picking tomatoes peppers and eggplants from the hoop house. There isn;t quite enough to go around, so some members will get peppers, some will get eggplant. Plenty more to come in the next few weeks. Lots of cucumbers, and the squash is also picking up this week. We harvested the rest of the garlic from the field this week. We also started processing the garlic we had harvested previously. All of the garlic from the fields was placed in the seed house to dry.
This week the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage started going crazy. We harvested hundreds of pounds of cabbage and broccoli. The cauliflower is just starting, but some escaped notice and went past its prime before we got to picking it. Although these cauliflower heads don’t look perfect, they still taste great– look in your box look for assorted colored cauliflowers starting this week and next. We grow white cauliflower, and also orange “cheddar” cauliflower, and purple cauliflower.
This week we picked the last of the peas. Look for shelling peas in your box this week. The green beans are nearly ready, and we will start picking these for the boxes next week. We have green, yellow and purple beans, several varieties that should last for around a month. New this year is a bush sized plan producing long slender green fillet beans. This week we harvested cucumbers and summer squash mostly from the hoop house, but the field cucumbers are just starting to come in; once everything is coming in you will get several cucumbers every week. If you are interested in doing any pickling, we grow several varieties of cucumbers specifically for making pickles–and we pick these at a smaller size. Please email or call ahead to special order at $1/lb.
We picked the 1st bed of scallions this week (and some perl onions), and are taking a break from the regular onions while they size up. We have another bed coming in later. We also picked basil this week, but there weren;t enough bags for everyone, so some of you will get it next week. If you would like to make pesto and need a larger quantity, please call or email (basil wholesales for $12/lb). We also picked dill and everyone got a bunch this week; if you want dill again, please send me an email and i will throw some in your box, we probably won;t have it in the boxes again, but we will have parsley and other herbs coming up.
Sweet corn is still about two weeks off, and we expect Paonia peaches and early apples around the same time.
In The Box
Cabbage – red, green, flat and cone shaped. half boxes got smaller sizes
Broccoli – LOTS this week
Cauliflower – a bit Scallions – great in soup Cucumber – a bit more, more coming Squash, summer – zucchini, patty pan,yellow straight-neck, etc, more coming Carrots – full sized carrots! Dill – new crop Basil – (some boxes) more coming soon, order for pesto Baby Salad Mix – still more coming Peas – last week, (farm missed this week, you got them 1 week earlier than the rest)- beans start soon. Kale & Chard – more again this week Head Lettuce – This is the last week for head lettuce!
Fruit
Peaches from the Palisade Peach Company – new variety
Coming soon
Carrots – larger sizes
Onions – larger yellow walla wallas & whites
Summer Squash – more coming in next week
Tomatoes – starts in next few weeks
Cabbage – more napa soon;
Cauliflower – more next week
Olathe Sweet Organic Sweet Corn – mid august Fruit coming soon
North Fork Valley Peaches from First Fruits
The Farm in Pictures
Click any picture to enlarge, then navigate with next/back
Daisy the farm dog, Hanging out with the turkeys.
Daisy with the turkeys.
This is our planting of delectable sweetcorn. Olathe sweet corn starts in 2 weeks, our corn is still 4 to 5 weeks off.
Summer squash, cucumbers, winter squash and more.
Osage helping out in the harvest area.
Washing the veggies.
We had lots of help this week.
Bunching, bundling, washing, and bagging.
The 1st artichoke harvest of the season. We should have artichokes for the boxes in a few weeks.
The 1st pepper harvest of the season, from our new hoop house. You should start to see peppers in your box this week.
Just a quick note this week – I’m writing quickly because we are heading off to the Rio Chama for a family float, slipping away between harvests! The field looks just fantastic this year, its really exceptional. Come visit and take a walk thru the field any time!
Lots more coming in from the field – lots of broccoli this week and some larger onions. Three varieties of onions are coming in so far – walla walla, candy and sierra blanca. they are starting to size up. The carrots this week are a bit larger as well… and the napa cabbages a bit denser. Lots more to come… The basil is starting this week, its muddy because its short and getting splattered with dirt. We can’t wash the basil or it will turn black, but you can was it just before using, and pinch the leaves off the tougher stems.
A word on storing and using excess veggies
As the season progresses, you may find yourself unable to keep up with all the produce. Most things will store very well for several weeks in your fridge. many items can be cooked or frozen, and you can also consider giving away extra veggies to neighbors or friends (head lettuce anyone?)… Soon enough you will be missing the bounty of summer, so enjoy it as much as you can!
In The Box
Napa Cabbage – deliciously crunchy – great in stir fry! Check out the stir fry pictured below, Valerie made it with all CSA box veggies – napa, broccoli, peas, carrots, onions, garlic, YUM!
Broccoli – more this week
Onions – small early white and yellow onions
Cucumber – a bit more
Squash, summer – zucchini, patty pan,yellow straight-neck, etc
Carrots – more carrots!
Cilantro – new crop, one more week of this cilantro
Basil – (some boxes) more coming soon Baby Salad Mix Peas – last week, (farm missed this week, you got them 1 week earlier than the rest)- beans start soon. Kale & Chard – back this week, more coming Head Lettuce – even more lettuce! more to come! Garlic – not fully cured, but a little to keep you garlic lovers going!
Fruit
Peaches from the Palisade Peach Company – less qty – in between crops. more next week
Coming soon
Carrots – larger sizes
Onions – larger yellow walla wallas & whites
Scallions and Cipollini flat small onions in a few weeks
Summer Squash – lots of varieties coming in over the next 3 weeks and thru the season
Cucumbers – starts in next few weeks
Broccoli – lots just budding up, we will have a flush starting in 1-2 weeks, but the best crop comes later in the season, in september
more lettuce varieties – next week – more green romain, green butters, and more!
More Kohlrabi
Cabbage – chinese first, then red & green;
Cauliflower – a few weeks off
Olathe Sweet Organic Sweet Corn – mid august Fruit coming soon
Harvest has begun to take over all our time on the farm. This week we started picking the garlic in earnest (pictures below) – we will process and dry this (great!) crop and start putting it in your box in around 2 weeks. For now we have more green garlic. Lots more starting to come in this week – the early squash and cucumbers from the hoop house, the earliest broccoli, and the first cabbages – napa types; a new crop of cilantro and lots more peas; more large beautiful beets (i promise to give you a beet break next week!), and the first baby carrots – we have more carrots coming, but we will wait a 2-3 weeks until they size up before we pick many more of them. The onions this week are the very first of the season and are very small, but I wanted you to have some onion to cook with. We have 2,000 planted (& weeded!), plus shallots, leeks and other late onions – so expect more onions! Only fulls getting kale this week – everyone gets chard and kale again next week.
The Farm in Pictures
click any image to enlarge
across the field
another panorama
from the ditch
picking the garlic!
picked – purple glazer garlic
picked – french rose garlic
purple glazer garlic
another view
the new hoop house
packing the boxes, week 5
week 5
In The Box
Napa Cabbage – deliciously crunchy – great in stir fry!
Broccoli – just a bit, plenty more coming
Onions – small early white and yellow onions – we’ll have these on and off throughout the season, these are still very small but will get larger as the season progresses.
Cucumber – some boxes – just starting
Squash, summer – some boxes – just starting – zucchini, patty pan,yellow straight-neck, etc
Carrots – babies, we’ll take a break, then have lots more carrots
Cilantro – new crop, one more week of this cilantro
Basil – (some boxes) more coming soon
Beets – red, full sized Baby Salad Mix – we should have this all summer -yum Peas – more shelling and sugar snaps this week. also a few snow peas. Kale – full only Head Lettuce – even more lettuce! more to come! Green Garlic – use just like garlic
Fruit
Peaches from the Palisade Peach Company – leave these out for a day or two to ripen, then refrigerate.
Coming soon
Carrots – larger size in 2 weeks
Onions – larger yellow walla wallas & whites
Scallions and Cipollini flat small onions in a few weeks
Summer Squash – lots of varieties coming in over the next 3 weeks and thru the season
Cucumbers – starts in next few weeks
Broccoli – lots just budding up, we will have a flush starting in 1-2 weeks, but the best crop comes later in the season, in september
more lettuce varieties – next week – more green romain, green butters, and more!
More Kohlrabi
Cabbage – chinese first, then red & green;
Cauliflower – a few weeks off
Olathe Sweet Organic Sweet Corn – mid august Fruit coming soon
North Fork Valley Peaches from First Fruits
Please call if you have questions. Please mail your check if you owe the farm money!
All of the rainy, overcast weather we have had over the past few weeks has kept the spring crops growing while we wait for the summer crops to hit.
This week from the field
More head lettuce types coming in this week. I hope you enjoyed the red butter last week, this week we have a green butter crunch, a delicious, watery, crunchy lettuce bordering on iceberg territory, as well as a red summer crisp with good tender flavor. These lettuce are coming from the second planting and are completely free of the pest damage from the earlier lettuces. Eat lots of salad for the next few weeks while we have it, because the head lettuce doesn’t last forever and once its gone the only salad will be our baby salad greens!
Lots or golden beets this week, and a few more of the pablo baby beets. next week we start into full sized scarlet beets.
The lateness of the season continues with crops like shelling peas just starting. We also picked our first summer squash and cucumbers this week. we have fairly large plantings of these crops so expect to see these in your box in the next few weeks in growing quantities.
Our early onion crop got weeded this week and is finally sizing up – we will start picking the largest onions for CSA members next week – just a little bit so you onion lovers have something to cook with – our first type will be walla-walla sweet onions. These can grow to be softball sized (!), but we will start picking them much smaller than that.
I picked a few carrots this week and they just weren’t quite big enough for harvesting. the rainy weather lately has been slowing things down a bit – without the intense, day-long sun everything just slows down! We will have carrots next week.
Beets – lots of goldens and a few more pablo, lots more beets coming Baby Salad Mix – we should have this all summer -yum Peas – shelling and sugar snaps this week. also a few snow peas, but we have a weak snow pea crop this year Kale – Bagged leaves – Chard – Bagged leaves – fulls get 2 Head Lettuce – more lettuce! i hope you like salad Green Garlic – use just like garlic
Fruit
New variety of Apricots from Domingez Canyon
1st of the season Peaches from the Palisade Peach Company – leave these out for a day or two to ripen, then refrigerate.
Coming soon
Cilantro, second wave
Carrots – next week!
Onions – small walla wallas & others
Scallions and Cipollini flat small onions in a few weeks
Summer Squash – lots of varieties coming in over the next 3 weeks and thru the season
Cucumbers – starts in next few weeks
Broccoli – lots just budding up, we will have a flush starting in 1-2 weeks, but the best crop comes later in the season, in september
more lettuce varieties – next week – more green romain, green butters, and more!
More Kohlrabi
Cabbage – chinese first, then red & green;
Cauliflower – a few weeks off
Olathe Sweet Organic Sweet Corn – mid august Fruit coming soon
A panoramic shot of the main field, early July 2011
The State of the Farm Post
Each year around this time I like to give a detailed report of the crops we have this year and what and when you might expect them. An alphabetical list will follow, but first here are some pictures from the main field, showing how far the crops have progressed!
Click any image to enlarge!
In the foreground is a bed of head lettuce. you can make out the many types of lettuce in the beds by their different color and texture. This bed has no insect damage and the heads look beautiful! Beyond the lettuce is cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli and potatoes.Directly ahead is the garlic, you can make out three types of garlic by their maturity time. the ones in the back left are the ripest, very close to ready - they are starting to turn brown on top - these are a pink garlic called 'garden rose'; the front left is 'purple glazier' and not quite ready, the bed on the right is the soft-neck white garlic we grow the most of. We will start picking garlic next week and have dried, cured bulbs in 4-5 weeks.Peas and carrots before getting weeded for the second time. We picked the first peas this week and will have more in the coming weeks. The carrots are just about to get further thinned for baby carrot bunchesArtichokes in the front - this picture was taken a few weeks ago and they are actually getting much bigger now. I'm still hoping for a crop this fall. To the right is another patch of broccoli, then beyond sight second plantings of carrots, cilantro, dill and beets, plus corn, beans, squash, basil and more.Another view across the final section of the field. What looks like brown soil are the smallest seedlings, recently emerged and fiercely competing with the heavy weed load. Our job is to keep them weeded and watered!
What’s in the Box!
Lots of new head lettuce types coming in this week. one bed’s green leaf & green romains have been getting MUNCHED by (i suspect) grasshoppers. Amazingly, the red lettuce remains untouched, and other beds of lettuce further out in the field look just fine. we took some of the smaller romains and stripped the outer leaves – these are bagged up three to a sleeve as ‘baby romain hearts’. The Kohlrabi really sized up this week, and we will have kohlrabi again at least once or twice. We gave you purple and green kohlrabi, peel and cut the bulb/round stem part. Steam, use in a stir fry or soup – the flavor is similar to a sweet broccoli stem.
The beets this week are not only baby sized (around ping pong ball sized or smaller), they are a special variety cultivated for harvest as baby beets. This means they are especially tender and tasty as early baby beets. I was a bit skeptical myself when i read about the variety in the seed catalog, but I have since become convinced! I suggest boiling these up and eating them whole when soft.
Also new this week is dill – if you don’t want to use it this week, just hang the bundle until dry and store in a jar or bag for use later. This week the Kale and Chard have started to become abundant, the bags are much larger and we have extras. For half members you will get one or the other every week. Fulls get one of each.
Extras!
Throughout the season we will have certain items in abundance and are happy to pass them on if you want more! Right now we have extra cooking greens. If you want more cooking greens, you can get more – farm pickup there is usually extra – check the board; Crested Butte pickup – there is extra on the truck, meet the truck sundays between 11 and 11:30 to meet your farmers and take advantage of the extras. Marble/Redstone/Gunnison members please wait until you get your box this week and then email me to tell me if you can use more greens!
In The Box
NEW: Dill – great in soups, salad dressing, marinade… NEW: Beets – amazing pablo baby beets with a few goldens mixed in NEW: Kohlrabi – green and purple bunches (fulls 2)
Baby Salad Mix – we should have this all summer -yum Radishes – a few more still coming in Kale – Bagged leaves – fulls get 2 Chard – Bagged leaves – fulls get 2 Head Lettuce – romaine, red speckled green romaine, romaine hearts; red butter more red oak leaf, some green butter Peas – some members get them, if you don’t get them this week you will get them next week, we are keeping track!
Fruit
Cherries & Apricots from Domingez Canyon
Coming soon
Onions
Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Broccoli
more lettuce varieties
The State of the Farm
Here is a quick run down of the main vegetable crops, how they are doing this year and when to expect them!
All the Crops, A-Z
Here is a word on the status of each major crop (I may leave out a few), how does it look, when will we have it?
Basil – a bit later than usual, we will have basil in mid august until the 1st freeze; pest quantities available
Beans, Green, Yellow, Purple – no early crop, but a good main crop, starts in 3-4 weeks, lasts 3-4 weeks !
Beets – plenty more to come, we will take a break for a few weeks soon, then have some more mid-season. consider canning!
Broccoli – just starting, we have a very good looking crop this year
Cabbage, Napa, Red, Savoy, Green – a good crop, we should have some cabbage every few weeks, napas in 2 weeks, regular red and green cabbages start in 3-4 weeks.
Carrots – starts next week with baby carrots, then goes for a long time, usually 8 weeks, starting with bunched, then topped carrots. a good crop in the field, just a bit later than usual.
Cauliflower – a good crop of purple, white & orange cauliflower – starts in mid august and goes for rest of the season with some breaks.
Celery – a good crop, i’m hilling these up like the potatoes to try to blanch them – we will have for 1-2 weeks in late september/early october
Chard – bagged baby chard now, we will have bunches starting in 1-2 weeks and have nearly every week for the rest of the season – let me know if you like tons!
Chois – we had two bok choi one weeks, that was it!
Corn, Field & Sweet – we will have our own corn at the end of the season. we will have organic olathe sweet corn for the csa boxes for 4-5 weeks once it starts in mid august.
Cucumber – an unbelevievably large crop, prepare your cucumber salad recipes. a bit this week, lots starting in 2-3 weeks and lasting until the freeze. picklers available by pre-order @ $1.50/lb.
Eggplant – starts mid august, a nice solid crop this year in the new hoop house will last into fall
Flowers – a good crop of gladioli, sunflowers, snapdragons and other flowers for sale
Garlic – a great crop – more green garlic the next few weeks, then dried garlic (3 varieties!) that will show up in your box all season long to keep you well supplied with garlic
Kale – bunches start soon, lasts a long time – into fall, multiple plantings look good
Lettuce – head lettuce for a few more weeks, LOTS of varieties 15-20 or more, try them all!
Melons – a nice looking planting in the hoop house that i’m hopeful about. these trickle in so you might find one in your box some week this fall.
Onions – a great crop, including many shallots, lots of sweet walla wallas, red oniond, hard storage onions, small ‘coin’ onions and scallions – we will start in 2-3 weeks with early onions, then onions in the box nearly every week until the end.
Onions, Bunching, Pearl we have one bed of these and should have bunches in 3-4 weeks (we already had one round)
Peas – starting now and will last for 3-4 weeks
Peppers, Hot & Sweet – starts late august, a nice looking crop – in the hoop house will last into fall!
Potatoes – a small but excellent looking planting – we will start with new potatoes by late-august, then pick the main crop at the very end of the season
Pumpkins – a late planting, so we need a late freeze to have a good crop this year!
Salad Mix – plenty more to come, we’ll have this for almost every week of the season
Spinach – one more planting that will last 1-2 weeks still to come
Squash, Summer – lots of variety barely starting next week, then lots starting by mid august – green, yellow, zucchini, crook neck, starburst, round, etc…
Squash, Winter – looks like a solid crop, but its late so longer squash will need a longer season to ripen
Tomatoes – growing very well, especially the hoop house planting just waiting for them to start to ripen! a solid looking crop this year.
We will have a few other crops I didn’t mention (bulb fennel, romanesco!) – there are just too many – did i miss one of your favorites? send me an email!
Fruit
Fruit runs for 15 weeks; no fruit in the 1st & last boxes
Cherries – we will have cherries for a couple more weeks
Peaches – early crop from Palisaide and the rest from the valley, lots of varieties
Pears – mostly red & green bartletts
Plums – still not sure
Raspberries/Blackberries – will have for CSA boxes later in the season
Apples – lots of varieties made it, these start in mid august
This week, I left the farm for a quick trip out to visit my mother in North Carolina. I was gone for a total of 5 nights, and the most striking thing upon returning is the amount everything has grown in less than a week. Its always this way in the end of June – the heat sets in and the crops (and the weeds) begin to explode!
While I was gone, things continued amazingly smoothly at the farm. The crew this year includes several old hands at the farm harvest routine and they harvested, washed and bagged/bunched this weeks delicious veggies for your eating pleasure!
The Lull before the Storm
This week’s box may seem a little small, especially compared to our relatively strong week 1 last week. Several crops just weren’t quite ready, and we had to put of their harvest till next week. We do have a few new items this week, and I promise quantities will really pick up starting next week!
This Week’s Box
This week we have the rest of our spring plantings of spinach, and the second type of bok choi ‘Win Win Choi.’ Both of these crops had some leaf damage so use them first. We have the first of our chard, bagged, and more varieties of kale coming in. by next week we should be able to start bunching these crops. We harvested the first bed of cilantro this week, and we will have dill next week; Cilantro lovers enjoy it while it lasts, the heat makes growing cilantro mid season tough, but we will try to have it again in the fall. The beets and kohlrabi weren’t quite big enough to pick this week, we ill have those crops next week; We picked a little green butter this week, and more varieties of head lettuce will arrive next week – romaine and green leaf. We have green garlic this week, its just garlic thats not bulbed up yet; we will start to pick the bulb garlic next week, but it takes a few weeks to dry.
What’s in the Box!
Here come the summer crops - corn, beans, squash and more.
Cilantro – enjoy it while we have it!
Baby Salad Mix – we should have this all summer -yum Spinach – Bunched, fulls get 2; use first! Radishes – fresh & spicy – Green Garlic– tender garlic flower heads, use like garlic Kale – Bagged ‘baby’ leaves – bunched chard and kale still a few weeks off – fulls get 2 Thyme – overwintered Oregano – also overwintered, use fresh or you can dry! Win Win Choi (type of Bok Choi) – the stems are delicious, crunchy and sweet Head Lettuce – more red oak leaf, some green butter
Remember this is a late season, everything is 2-3 weeks later than usual. LOTS MORE coming next week.
Fruit
The 1st bing cherries from Domingez canyon next week, the first of the season! Supply was limited this week, Half’s get 1.6 lb Fulls get 3.2 lb. everyone will get a bit more next week.
Fruit Cases for Sale
We offer #1 or #2 cases at a great price, just give me a call early in the week and I will confirm your order. Right now we can get #2 cherries at $36/case.
Coming Up
Baby Beet Bunches – the will be big enough next week
Dill
Kohlrabi – green & purple
More lettuce Varieties
More radish varieties
Bunched Chard & Kale
Soon
Napa/Chinese Cabbage
Peas – snow, snap & shelling
Baby Carrots
Early onions, pearl onions, scallions
Garlic Bulbs
Tote Reminder for Marble/RedStone/Crested Butte folks!
We need those totes back each and every week to keep the produce moving! Please remember to get your totes back to the farm! CB folks can leave totes on the porch (please collapse by picnhing corner tabs so they stack). Gunnison members I’ve been using cardboard produce boxes, I can take these back if they are in good shape, just bring them back to mark at the farmers market.
Balance Payments Due Soon
For those of you who gave a deposit and still owe on your membership, I will send you a balance reminder shortly by email. 50% of your balance is due July 15th, the remaining 50% is due August 15th.
This week the tomatoes finally started to come in enough for everyone to get some. This is just the beginning of the tomatoes, and we expect to have tomatoes in increasing quantities for the next few weeks at least before the cooler weather and shorter days slow things down. This week we also picked our first, earliest winter squash and everyone should have gotten one (farm members I forgot to write winter squash on the board, please take on next week if you didn’t take one this week! ) Please enjoy the squash on your shelf for a week or two before eating – its really not quite ready to eat! The rest of the winter squash crop still needs a few weeks to ripen, its all a bit late, so we are hoping for a few more weeks of frost free weather.
You must be logged in to post a comment.