Sweet peas!
It seems like we’re about to get some rain, but it has been really dry for the past week. We’ve irrigated twice since my last email. Most crops like to receive about an inch of rain a week, so that’s what we try to simulate. We’ve caught up with all the planting that needed to be done, so now we’re just trying to get them settled into the ground and growing. It’s stressful to see plants that you’ve planted a day or two ago struggling to retain their moisture. Droopy plants aren’t necessarily happy plants, so we get the irrigation going. Everything seems to be settled in though and growing away, including all the field tomatoes, the second rounds of summer squash and cucumbers, basil, and many, many flowers.
The potatoes have really grown in the past two weeks. Alex hilled them up on Monday, covering up their stems in order for the plants to make more little spuds. Potatoes generally are ready to harvest by the middle of July, so we all can look forward to that time for some really tasty new potatoes. The crew sowed all the winter squash on Monday, as well as did quite a bit of weeding. Vanessa picked up a bunch of summer cover crop seed yesterday, so now we can sow those in the fields that are fallow for the summer. We’ll sow these plants; buckwheat, sunflowers, millet, sudan grass, and cow peas to keep the ground covered and eventually plow the biomass back into the soil to feed the soil organisms. This helps keep our soils healthy and fertile.
The other big news is that our third intern has arrived, Julia made the long journey from Chicago to join us for the remainder of the season. We’re super happy to have her along.
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
Click this link for: FATHIYYAN MUSTAFA’S CREAMY GRITS AND CHARD
Things you can put in your salad – Tomato slices when is season, parsley or chives, olives, cooked beets, carrots, cucumber slices, onions, kohlrabi, summer squash, green and red peppers. Of course, there is nothing wrong adding anything you like to your salad. It’s your salad after all. As the veggies appear in your box, they’ll be nice in salads as well as prepared as main or side dishes.
SALAD DRESSING FOR THIS WEEK
LEMON OIL DRESSING – 6 servings maybe 8
This is a nice light salad.
4 cups greens
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons of sparkling water or club sodaDrizzle on lemon juice, olive oil and sparkling water, season with salt and pepper to taste.
This is from low country chef Marvin Woods. He adds shrimp to this salad.