In the Share: Week 10

SWEET PEPPERS F/P  We love our Italian frying peppers.  When green they are sweet, never bitter.  Another few weeks of hot weather and they should start to ripen.

TOMATOES F/P  Everyone is getting around a pound this week of colorful heirlooms and red and gold hybrid varieties.

CUCUMBERS F/P  It is time for a cucumber salad!

WALLA WALLA ONIONS (F): These onions got as big as the ones from Washington State this year. A benchmark and sweet harvest.

SALSA PACK OR EGGPLANT F  If you are new to the CSA, the salsa pack is everything you need for fresh or roasted salsa.  See Tom's post for the full recipe.

SUMMER SQUASH F  Zucchini or yellow squash.

PURPLE VIKING POTATOES F/P  The last of this purple variety

GARLIC F/P  more hardneck bulbs.

HERB CHOICE F/P  Basil, summer savory or cutting celery.

NEXT WEEK:  Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, squash, eggplant and salsa packs.

FARM REPORT:

On Sunday, we had a great group of organic farmers visit us for our field day.

We always learn as much as we share at these types of events.  I'm showing off the electric tractor before I cultivate out some weeds.  If you want to learn more about our SARE project, check out our 2014 blog post:  2014 SARE post  In 2015 we were unable to complete the project due to the rainy weather.  We'll post something once we have results for 2016.

Some liken what we do for a living to a marathon.  If so, then we have reached the half-way point of the race.  The summer harvest is underway, the weeds are growing, and the critical time for planting the fall crops has arrived.  Yesterday, after doing a double-take at the forecast, we realized a long list needed to be completed before the approaching rain.  The crew pulled the remainder of the Walla Walla onions out of the field and set them up in the barn for curing.  The crop looks great, with very few culls and lots of big bulbs.

In the afternoon and on into the evening, we seeded cover crops and carrots, beets, turnips and beans.  Sure enough, two inches of rain fell early this morning.  Seven inches of rain in the last two weeks is pretty rainy for mid-July.  So far it's not been much of a problem and on the bright side, the irrigation pond is full of water for when it dries out!