Plants, like people, take time to adjust to change. After the extended spring that just ended on Saturday our crops are doing their best to get with the new season. Unlike us they don’t have the option of taking a break in the shade with a cool drink but instead must buck up and make the best of it. Peppers, tomatoes and zucchini are up for the task; lettuce, broccoli and cabbage need to protest a bit by wilting and looking sad for a few days. Eventually everyone is on board but what this means for all of us is that we need to be patient. This is a long winded way of saying we have a good but less diverse harvest for you this week. Thankfully we put many hundreds of pounds of beet in the cooler last fall and will be able to share these with you this week in addition to some greens.
Add-on Shares Start Next Week: There is Still Time to Sign Up!
Egg, Bread, Cheese, Mushroom, Cheese, Yogurt and Flower Bouquet shares will start next week which means there is still time to make your weekly farm produce that much more complete. Here’s the link to look at what we have to offer for add-on’s.
Cows are Back. At Least for a While
In addition to our ever popular piglets we also have 11 heifers (young cows that have not borne calves) who are doing their level best to graze back the pastures along the CSA parking lot. On loan from our friends at Old Crow Ranch they will be with us for the next month or two. Old Crow separates their steers (young males) from the heifers to give the girls a break from the pestering of the boys. These young females thrive on good grass away from the boys for the summer (think all-girls boarding school). Beyond the gender politics we are happy to have them on the farm. Take a stroll on the trail off the CSA parking lot to get a closer look.
Make Hay While the Sun Shines
There is nothing zen about farming. Instead of being where you are at this moment the true art of agriculture is to be thinking many steps and or many days ahead of where you stand. In addition to growing 140+ vegetable varieties we also grow 60 or 70 tons of grass to feed our neighbors’ animals thoughout the winter. Cutting this much hay and making silage (wrapped “wet”hay that is preserved by fermentation) is nothing more than a game of timing and chance. Cutting grass and drying it down from 80% moisture to 15% moisture using only sun and wind is an absurd game that puts inordinate trust in meteorology (it takes 2 days of sun and dry), equipment (we have a 30 year old mower pulled by a 40 year old tractor that also runs our 25 year old baler) and force of will (with 93° heat this past Sunday we forgot we were in Maine). If all these planets align we can bale up 30 thousand pounds of grass in couple days. Thankfully our kids are available to fall into the workflow; wrapping bales or loading them in the barn.
What’s in the Share?
- Lettuce
- Chickories
- Storage Beets
- Brocolli
- Bok Choi
What’s in Upic
- Chives
- Winter Savory
- Mint
- Parsley
- Thyme
- Marjoram
- Oregano