The Sunny Side – Week of 6/29/14

In this week’s box you will find:

• Garlic scapes (curly green things)
• Red Bunching Onions
• Red Kale
• Basil
• Lettuce
• Celery
• Radishes
• Napa cabbage (Thursday box)
• Beets (Sunday box)

In the Field

We’re feeling much less soggy this week, now that summer truly has begun! Nice hot days and plenty of sun are good for our warm-weather crops like cucumbers and squash (which will be ready very soon). The tomato plants are also thriving in hot temperatures – they look great, and are ready to be trellised. That will be the big project this week, along with completing a back log of planting and seeding that was delayed by the rain.

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The Sunny Side – Week of 6/15/14

In this week’s box, you will find:

• Swiss Chard
• Hakurei Turnips
• Bok choi
• Head lettuce or bagged lettuce mix
• Green Onions
• Dill
• Black Turtle beans (Thursday shares – from Breslin Farms – organic)
• Strawberries and Rhubarb (Sunday shares – from Mick Klug Farm – he uses sustainable farming practices and integrated pest management in his fields and orchards)

Rhubarb and swiss chard look a lot alike! Here’s how to tell them apart: the rhubarb does not have a leafy part still attached, but the chard does.

In the Field

Cultivation has been the name of the game this week. From the most basic of weed-killing technologies (hand-weeding) to our new and advanced tractor-cultivation system, Nick and the crew have been busy in the field eliminating every plant except those that we will some day eat. Weeding is a crucial step to growing a successful garden, as any home gardener knows. Why? Simply  put, a vegetable plant surrounded by weeds has to compete with those weeds for water, sunlight, and nutrients. Take those weeds away, and the plant commands all the resources in its little neighborhood.

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