As we write this week’s newsletter we are having a nice cloudy day with a gentle saturating rain. We desperately needed this.  On the other hand, the tomatoes are exploding again. You may see some “split” tomatoes in your shares this week.   

The theme this week has been transition as we gradually switch to new crops. Last week was the last distribution of the Yukon Gold and All Blue Potatoes.  We also saw the last of the mature carrots. This week’s shares will have the last distribution of garlic, we need to pull the remainder to cure and then replant in October/November for next year’s season.  However, we are seeing the return of beets and radishes.  Tomorrow we will assess the growth of the cool weather greens such as mizuna and kale to see if we have enough to start including in the shares. This rain should give them a good boost. The rain will also help the new carrot seedlings, but they still may not mature in time for distribution. One thing in our favor-the growth rate of cool weather crops in the summer is astounding compared to their spring growth rate. Carrots that can take up to 21 days to geminate in the spring sprouted within 3 days. Compare their growth just since the last newsletter:

Carrots previously

Carrots today



Previous radishes

 

And today

Sadly, out of the 72 romaine lettuce seedlings planted in early July (so they would be mature now), only the 7 pictured survived the summer heat and drought. So there will not be large romaine lettuce heads for the final session. But we just planted other leaf lettuce. We’ll see if those will mature in time for distribution.

That’s it folks! This area should have been overflowing with lettuce!

 

Tomatoes, peppers, leeks, and weeds are all still going strong.

Lots of peppers

 

We have come to the conclusion that the potato box/bean/eggplant area was not a good idea (You didn’t know that we were growing eggplants, did you? That’s because they haven’t done anything until now). Every crop that we have grown there, with the exception of the lettuce in the spring, has done poorly. Potatoes? Rotted. Beans? Demolished by bean beetles. Eggplants? Growing well, but only setting one fruit each plant.

This is a member of the tomato/pepper family; it should be overrun with fruit!

We hope that the (single) eggplants will be ready to go in the following week’s shares. We may have to split them up, so if you don’t get an eggplant this week you will get it next week.   Then we will have to reevaluate our plans to make this our eventual greenhouse area.

Well, the sun is now poking out and the rain has stopped. Know what that means? Yup, more weeding. In the mud. We live for it.

Until next time,

Jeff and Sandra

 



Is it fall session already? Where has this year gone? As we mentioned earlier, we can't put a name on the sessions, in this "fall" session the tomatoes and peppers are now in full swing! Next year we will simply call them Session I, II, and III.

 Speaking of next year, it is time to start planning for the 2013 season now.  We'd like some input so that our next season will be even better. What crops were your favorites? What crops were you surprised you liked? What would you like to see new next year?  Are the newsletters helpful? We've set up a Survey Monkey and will be emailing the link in a few days. Please give your feedback. We'll also post the questions on the webpage at www.jsminifarm.blogspot.com. 

 This year has not been kind to the bean crop(s). After our first planting was wiped out by the combination of hail, wind, heat, and no rain; the succession planting has been wiped out by bean beetles.

The chickens won’t even eat these nasty yellow larvae. When a crop is this badly infested all we can do is pull it up and destroy the plants. The Romano and Dragon Tongue beans were the worst affected, they have already been yanked. The Royal Burgundy is holding its own and has some baby beans. We may get a crop out of them. Our remaining hopes are pinned on the pole beans, which are just now flowering.

Good thing nothing stops the asparagus beans!

This week’s baskets will include a new type of sweet pepper. Meet Jimmy Nardello:

 This is an heirloom Italian frying/grilling pepper, but it is just as good raw. I often slice it and put it on pizza along with a few leaves of fresh basil. Don’t let its shape fool you-it is one of the sweetest peppers around.  Although it is good green, the flavor is superb when fully ripe and red. You’ll be glad we waited.

 And the tomatoes just keep growing, and growing……….

Here they are trying to stealthily creep on the ground. Where do they think they’re going?

LOTS more cherries!

On to the state of the cool weather crops, most are now in the ground.

Mizuna and kale.

And now that we have gotten some rain (Yay!) we have planted radish and carrot seeds.

Sprouting radishes

Sprouting carrots

It will be a race to see if they will mature in time, but there was no sense planting seed any earlier while we were so dry. Such is life without rain.

Now it’s time to hand pick off all the worms that have discovered the cool weather crops. At least the chickens like them!

 Jeff and Sandra

All,

WOW, this year is flying right along! We are now in the last week of summer session and getting ready to transition to fall. One thing we have learned, we can’t put labels on seasons. The beginning of fall will be more of summer. After the weeks of tomato anticipation they are now coming in like crazy:

This is after all the shares have been filled.  Good thing we really like tomatoes! I see salsa in our future! (See the recipe below.)

Planning ahead for the fall, the cold weather seedlings (it really feels weird saying that phrase while it’s over 95 F out there!) are all sprouted and we have started planting them in the vacated areas in the gardens.

Waiting for the sun to rise enough to hit the seedlings. In the spring, this area is sunny all day. This is something that gardeners have to take into account when positioning gardens and greenhouses.

Remember the kale, mizuna, bok choy, kohlrabi, lettuce, and Chinese cabbage from spring? They are all going in the ground now, along with fresh sowings of radishes, beets and carrots.  As we count our “days to maturity” they should be ready towards the end of this fall session.

Speaking of carrots, what do you get when a carrot hits a rock? A challah carrot!

Cosmetically….interesting! It still tasted good, just took a little ingenuity to clean.

Next week we will send out a survey asking for your feedback. Please think about what you liked best, and perhaps what you didn’t care for, about ALL aspects of the 2012 CSA session. This will help make next year even better!

Well, the wind is picking up, the temperature is dropping, and there are clouds on the horizon. Maybe it will rain? Like all good farmers, we will rush outside and try to get some more seedlings in the ground! 

Until next time,

Jeff and Sandra

Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

1 onion

Sweet peppers

Hot pepper (I used 1 of the Ho Chi Minh cayenne; this salsa will knock your socks off. For not so hot only use ½, or even ¼.)

1 can crushed pineapple

Lime juice to taste

Chop up some tomatoes (I halved a mixture of yellow and red cherry tomatoes)

Chop up an onion

Chop up some sweet peppers

Chop up a hot pepper-be careful and/or wear gloves!

About this much

Put the tomato, pepper, onion mix in a pot. Add one can crushed pineapple and lime juice to taste, roughly 2-3 tablespoons.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes. The idea is to soften the veggies, but not cook completely.

The finished product. Refrigerate .

NOTE:  The salsa is not canned, only stored in the refrigerator in mason jars. THIS IS NOT A SAFE CANNING RECIPE! Only use tested recipes for canning.