Now that all the potatoes are out of the ground, and about half of the winter squash has been harvested, we’re doing a lot of cleaning up. We’re ordered all the winter cover crops seed which will be delivered around the middle of September. So in the mean time we’re getting all the fields ready for those seeds to be sown. That means irrigation header lines are disconnected, folded up, labeled and put away; drip lines pulled out, and all the weeds and old crops mowed down and disced in. We’ll periodically re-disc the fields every two weeks or so to help incorporate the crop residues back into the soil and continue to kill newly germinating weeds. By the time the cover crop seeds arrive all the fields should be pretty clean and ready to be sown. While all that is going on we’re also continuing to plant and sow fall greens, turnips, radishes, arugula, broccoli, cabbages, napa cabbage, radicchio, and much more. And we’re preparing yet another field for planting next year’s strawberries, garlic, and over-wintering onions.
This time of year is full of ups and downs. It is a time when many of the summer crops are dying of disease (peppers, summer squash, basil), which is fairly depressing to see. At the same time we just harvested a really good and plentiful sweet corn crop, just ahead of the raccoons. The fall greens are growing and only a week or two away from harvesting again! Green kale! There’s popcorn to look forward to and the making of sorghum molasses in late October. We have another big section to plant in the next week or so (more greens), and then things start to ease up a bit. The relentlessness of the work just eases up a tad each week as we head into the cooler months.
**Worker members, we are ready to put you to work! Please take a moment to look at your calendars to see when you might be able to fulfill your work commitment.******
The boxes we use for the CSA shares are waxed and are not recyclable, but we do reuse them. So PLEASE remember to BRING THEM BACK next week.
Ideas for Cooking
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
Potatoes – which you’ll be seeing a good deal of, and probably have to chance to stockpile for winter, are America’s favorite vegetable. They are native to the South American Andes. Potatoes were introduced to the US from Europe and were being cultivated by 1719 in New Hampshire. As time moved on they moved with the pioneers, ending up in the west, our largest production region.
Here is a recipe for kids to make – with just a bit of help:
BIG BLUEBERRY MUFFINS