Another hot week ahead of us. Somehow we keep heading out of the house and down to the fields to do battle. Since last Wednesday we’ve planted much of the Fall greens: all the kales, broccoli, cabbages, the last round of swiss chard, baby bok choi, kohlrabi, lettuces, and sowed turnips, radishes, and arugula. The heat is making life hard on them, but we hope they will pull through. There will be many more sowings in the next month or so of specialty radishes, diakon, and more turnips. So through the mirage created by this blazing heat we can see Fall ahead, and are truly looking forward to it: cool, crisp mornings, golden light, and that first killing frost.
This time of year on the farm we’re all trying to find the motivation and energy to continue for the next three months. We give our interns a week of paid vacation to go away from the farm and regroup and reload their energy reserves. Nick is off this week on his adventures, and Vanessa & Alex and the kids are headed to the beach next week. Megan and Maggie will head out in the following weeks. We’ve been going full tilt since the beginning of April so this vacation week is immensely important to our mental and physical health.
So Vanessa and I will be gone from the farm for a week. Yikes! The interns will be running the show, learning what it takes to make all the decisions and deal with the consequences, solving problems as they arise. We hope that everything goes soothly for them and they gain some valuable experience in running our small farm. If any worker members have any free days next week, your help would be greatly appreciated by Megan, Maggie, & Nick.
There are a few interesting items in your boxes this week. The celery is a little different than the celery you get at the grocery store. Ours is much more flavorful, and not quite as tender, but really very good. If you enjoy celery you should really love this. The other item is the Asian Melon: it’s yellow and white, and looks a little like a fat summer squash. These melons are very sweet and crisp in texture, unlike cantaloupes. Cut them up, scoop out the seeds and eat em up.
Nick’s Corner
Nick is off to Texas for the week. He will be back next week.