Strawberry plants
Sweet potatoes
After this week’s box there are 2 weeks remaining for the regular shares!!!
Well last Thursday didn’t go as planned. It was one of those days that nothing went the way I wanted it to. That’s the way of it sometimes. We have managed to get a lot done in the past couple of days though. We harvested all the popcorn. It is now all shucked and hanging in mesh bags in the greenhouse to dry. The strawberries did arrive last Thursday, and the crew planted them all on Monday afternoon, about 2,000 plants. The crew is out there right now digging sweet potatoes. We’ll get those cured up a bit and into your boxes either next week or the week after. We’re working through our onion supply up in the barn. It looks like there will be enough for everyone to get another load for their last box. Many years we have LOTS of onions, but it seems that the rains in June really put a damper on our crop. But we’re luckier than most farmers around the area, who lost all their onions. There seemed to be a QC issue with this week’s onions which wasn’t found out until all the boxes were packed and put in the cooler. SO some of your onions may not be good. We apologize for any nasty onions.
We’re waiting on some rain to sow all the crop crop seed. The ground is SO dry we done’t want to put them out there when there’s no chance of them germinating. But it looks like we’re in luck, in that rain seems to be a good chance of happening by the end of the week. We’re resorted to putting a hose into the pond to try to get the level back up a bit. The intake hose on the irrigation pump only reaches so far into the pond and we’re in danger of not being able to reach the water without additional inputs. The pond is fed by two springs and an under ground stream catchment. I went up to the main spring and cleaned it up a bit, in the hopes of getting more water flowing into the pond. I think that my efforts did help.
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
“Life is a combination of magic and pasta” Federico Fellini
STORING YOUR POTATOES
Potatoes will last all winter if stored properly. Here at the farm, they have been stored in a dark dry place and should be, what is known as “cured”. If picking your own, you will lay them out on newspaper and let them dry for 2 or 3 weeks. Either way, make sure they are dry before putting up.DO NOT WASH THEM
Potatoes like it cool, 45 to 50F. They also like high humidity, 90% or so. The amount of time your potatoes will last is based on how close you can come to the ideal storing parameters. The further off you are the shorter the time the potatoes will be OK.
Store them in boxes lined with straw or shredded paper.
INSPECT THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS… PICKING OUT THE ONES THAT ARE NOT DOING WELL
Be sure to store the potatoes away from onions, which will rot them if to close.This weeks recipes: