| The Gardens The gardens are full. We have four and one-half designated gardens. Each one is full of the crops planned for the. One has lettuces, arugula, basil, dill, flowers, and greens beans, and peas plus several permanent rows of strawberries. The second garden has black plastic and all the watermelons, squash, zucchini, sugar cubes and a couple cucumbers. Number three garden has brassicas and root crops. Number four garden has potatoes and Lima beans and the one-half garden has alliums and anything that will not fit in the other gardens. We are harvesting squash and zucchini and cabbage and kohlrobi as well as flowers and peas. We have permanent spots else where on the property for asparagus and rhubarb. The Tunnels We are harvesting the third planting of lettuce and the second planting of beets from the tunnels. We are beginning to pick cherry tomatoes and we even got one big tomato yesterday. The bok choi is all out and the potatoes have all been harvested and now there is the last planting of tomatoes in their spot which should be ready for harvest about the middle of august. The spinach is still going strong. I am picking from the first, second and third planting. I should start on the fourth planting this week. We are trying a new thing in the tunnels this year – gourmet cucumbers. We are stringing them up and clipping them. They are already being harvested and they are deliciously tender with no seeds and no harsh skins. The Greenhouse There is hardly anything in the greenhouse any more. We are beginning to put away some of the trays and carrying flats for sale plants. We took down several of the tables for storage. We just seeded the second planting of kale. We continuously seed lettuce every fifteen days until the fifteen of August. We also seed squash and zucchini and cucumbers every three weeks until the first week of August. July is the lazy month in the greenhouse with not much seeded in there. We erected a tent frame in the greenhouse to put shade clothe on top so the small seedlings do not get burnt by the hot summer sun. We will keep it up until about the middle of August. Fruit and Berries We are picking lots of red raspberries this month. We have begun picking the black raspberries, but they still have a lot on them. The black currants did very well this year. Gregg began to pick gooseberries yesterday. There are not very many this year. We are trying to get all the blueberries before the robins and English sparrows get them. Both of these birds are really causing damage this year. Probably because there were no mulberries on the mulberry trees, since they were in blossom when the cold freeze hit in April. We are seeing a couple of plums that made it to set and there are quite a few Asian pears despite the freeze. The grapes do have a few clusters on them. We had to spray them for the lantern fly nymphs which were here about two weeks ago. There will be no kiwis this year. The elder flowers are turning to berries now. The blackberries are full of small green berries now. We should begin to pick them toward the end on July. Farm Stands and Markets East Columbia Library Farm Stand-Every Thursday from 12 noon – until 6:00 pm Fairfax Community Market-Every Saturday from 8am – until 1pm CSA The CSA is in full progress right now. We are beginning the summer vegetables now with squash, zucchini and beets. We still have lettuce and radishes and salad turnips. We have abundant spinach and cherries. Blueberries are coming and peaches should be available after the fourth of July. If you would like to sign up for the CSA, we can pro-rate for the first session. Let me know if you are interested. May 14- August 15 or August 20 – November 21 You can sign up for 14 weeks for $490 Add $84 for one dozen eggs/week or $48 for one-half dozen eggs/week Check out the website for information. Baking, Grilling, Preserving, Canning, and Outdoor Gardening The flowers are beginning to look better. I have been working on all the beds except the one in the front yard. What a mess! I’m hoping that my daughter, Martha will offer to do it for my birthday present. She does this every year – so hopefully! I am enjoying the hummingbirds, thrushes and particularly the bluebirds. They have taken over a birdhouse that we have with four apartments in it. They like to sit on top of it and sing in the mornings. They are even chasing the mocking birds away. That is surprising to me since the mocking birds are twice their size. I am planting herbs now. I have a lot of pots on my deck and I put lots of herbs in them. It is more convenient to get the herbs if I want to use them from the deck than from the gardens. I am planting bachelor buttons everywhere every two weeks. So now they are all over the place. I planted sunflowers in front of the chicken fence near the road in late May and they are coming up nicely. I planted some four-o’clocks in front of them as well. They should make a nice statement for folks driving down the road. Hopefully it will distract people from looking at the front yard right now. We have been grilling sausages lately. We love linked sausages instead of the usual hot dogs on the grill. I made a strawberry shortcake last week. It was delicious with whipped cream and ice cream. I am sauteing sugar snap peas, onions and yellow squash now with some chopped garlic scapes in it for flavor. It has really been a hit even with my twelve year old grandson who comes three days a week to work for us at Hand-tilled Farming. I always have a crock full of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies sitting on the counter for desserts or snacks in the busy weather. I hope that you are enjoying the summer weather and the outdoors. We love being outside especially when we can take a walk to the back of the property and sit on the swing and look at everything – the jobs that got done and the ones that still need to be done. It is a rewarding experience to make plans and work at the execution of them. Thanks to all who are supporting us through the markets and the CSA. Enjoy the summer! |
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