Here we are with the main summer crops in the ground. The tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, melons, winter squash, field corn, sweet corn, popcorn all planted! With all that taken care of, we’ve switched gears and have started to catch up with the weeds. Though never really finished with weeding, we have made some serious progress in the past week. Four beds of onions, leeks & shallots, two beds of flowers, a bed of celery & celeriac, a bed of lettuce, a bed of beets, carrots, cukes, and lettuce mix were all weeded. We finally got around to opening up two new half acre fields. The plan is to use them for our Fall crops, which get planted in July, if you can believe it. We used a plow to open the fields up and then Megan disced the fields on Tuesday afternoon. The next step will be to use a sub-soiler to open up some deeper cracks to allow for better drainage. Then come the spader which will help loosen the soil and allow the microbes to digest any not already digested grasses. So, with a little luck, the ground should be ready for planting all those Fall crops. Some exciting news…there are the first hints of red turning on some of the cherry tomatoes! It looks like we’ll start having some cherry tomatoes as early as next week. There will be summer squash next week as well for you in your boxes. We’ve been holding back a bit with th squash, not wanting to overwhelm you with early summer squash. We should have squash for a few months going.
Nick’s Intern Perspective…
Here at Full Sun Farm we suffered a tragic loss last week. After many years of service our market van met it’s maker. At the writing of last weeks newsletter our beloved van was in the shop in West Asheville where a mechanic broke the news. It was a loss, but not one to be morned. The van had a good run, and served us well. Needless to say we needed something to take our produce to market in and were without a vehicle that would do the job. Thanks to the wonders of the internet we found the newest addition to the farm. There she was, a beautiful white box van, not too big, not to small. Good mileage and in what looked to be great shape. So after lunch, Alex and his dad drove to the Carolina to our south to check her out. That very evening all three of us interns went to close up the greenhouse and there she sat. Talk about excitement. To finally have a van that everything would fit into with a little extra room to spare. No more early morning finagling to get everything just right. Not to mention we’re riding in style.
Just as we have noticed with the van, every death brings about new life. The same is true with our strawberries. I am somewhat saddened to say that they are finished. Strawberry season here at the farm is done. However, I am very pleased to say that our first round of blueberries are to be picked this week. I am amazed at their size (some are as big around as dimes and nickels!). I just think of the blueberry milkshakes, smoothies and pies that those blueberries will eventually become. Ok I’m hungry now.
It’s mid-term election season and a recent pole was taken amongst the interns on their preferences for CSA and other workers coming to help on the farm. It was unanimous 3-0 that we absolutely love for people to come out and work with us. Not only does it help us get things done, for many hands make light work, but also provides a medium for which great conversations and exchanges to take place. We have found that there are wonderful people in Asheville who have extremely interesting lives with many stories to share. If you haven’t had a chance to come out and work, we’d love to see you and if you have already been out, we look forward to seeing you again.