TOMATOES: A good mix of heirloom tomatoes this week. Enjoy these during this peak time period. Lots of water and work has gone into these beauties. Green Zebra, a favorite heirloom of ours, is ripe when green.
POTATOES: I can think of nothing better than a fresh potato salad this time of year. Potato, Onion and Cutting Celery, and German Potato Salad are a couple nice options. Any of the herbs in your share this week goes well with potatoes.
GARLIC: The garlic is at its perfect stage, freshly cured, juicy and flavorful.
SWEET PEPPERS: When they are in the house we regularly add our sweet peppers to any tomato or pizza sauce. Cut them thin and they need very little cooking.
BEANS: We've been patiently awaiting the bean harvest. This hot dry weather has created a halting growth pattern with the beans. Thanks to the CSA farm crew for helping with the Saturday harvests.
CUCUMBER: A second planting is giving us an extension of these summer fruits. These are all of the pickling variety.
OKRA/EGGPLANT/CABBAGE CHOICE: Harvest will dictate this mix, but look for a bit of everything.
HERB MIX: You will get a mix of herbs that will include some but not all of the following: parsley, cutting celery, summer savory, chives and marjoram.
FARM REPORT:
What a summer! Phew! The heat and drought continue to dominate. Most of the rain that has fallen in our region over the last month or two has missed us. Here's the latest drought map:
The blue star marks us in the Extreme Drought category. Luckily, the irrigation pond is still fairly full of life-giving water.
In the background, you can also see hay bales from the native grass fields. With dry pastures, our neighboring ranchers are needing hay for their livestock. Native warm-season grasses are still green and lush and so we have had some of the fields baled for hay.
Thanks to the irrigation pond, we have happy plants growing for the fall.
cabbages after a few weeks in the ground
new lettuces planted today
The water from the irrigation pond also provides a refuge for nectar and pollen eating insects of all sorts. While the unirrigated wildflowers dry up, our farm is an oasis of food for our beneficial and wild friends.
bumblebee in the zinnias
honeybee in the buckwheat cover crop
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