On The Farm

The heat kicked in this week and the tomatoes are responding. both the hoop house and the field tomatoes are in full production & ripening well. One large section has a disease that is causing poor quality fruit (nearly all the tomatoes in this section are ‘seconds’), these can still be used for sauce but don’t work well for eating. The other tomatoes look great and have minimal damage. you will see some ripe tomatoes in your box, but mostly we try to pick most of the tomatoes at the pink stage when they are still firm enough to take some handling. Avoid refrigerating these pink fruit, just let them sit out until they ripen.

It was the apex, now its the long decline. You will see some decrease in the box content variety and quantities as the season wanes. Don’t be surprised or disappointed, its all part of the natural progression of the year! We do have lots of yummy winter squash and potatoes still to come.

In The Box

Tomatoes – everyone gets at least one nice slicer, fulls get two, plus look for lots of #2 quality tomatoes in your box or in the pickup area – cut off the bad parts and make a sauce with what you have left. look for extras at delivery locations.
Scallions – delicious, tender, mild
Flavored Basils – Lime, Cinnamon & Thai Basil (you get one)
Olathe Sweet Organic – new crop, tender ears – possibly the last corn this season!
Salad Mix – an especially flavorful (and a little spicy) mix this week.
Yellow Fresh Beans -half – 1 bag (1/2lb.)/ 2 bags for full – second bag green beans
Squash – still a few more weeks of squash… 2/4lb. email me if you want a stuffing sized squash!
Beets – half  1lb, full 2lb.
Eggplant or Peppers – look for some hot Jalapenos coming in, plus very dark green sweet Ancho chilies, and lots more of the hungarian hot yellow peppers (not really that hot). i have to rotate these crops around.

Cucumbers – an over-abundance this week – please make some cucumber salad – 3lb. half/ 6 lb. full – look for extras in the pickup area
Chard – bunched & colorful – 1bu half/ 2 bu full – blanch and freeze if its too much!
Kale – bunched, multiple types- 1bu / 2bu – lots of dino kale this week – blanch and freeze if its too much!
Carrots – bunched – 1bu / 2bu – bigger sizes

Fruit

First Fruits – the best  Paonia peaches continue.

This week we have Red Globes – expect greatness!  I don’t think the nectarines will be ready until next week.
Early apples and hopefully plums coming soon.

The Box Value

Half – $34. Full – $61.50.

Most of the time is filled with harvest, but in the other time available a few things are getting done. I planted what I think will be the last salad mix last week. The last patch always lasts a few weeks as the cooler days of late september slow the growth down. We are also tackling some final weeding projects – the salad beds, and the giant pigweed! Soon we will shift into fall cleanup and projects – cleaning up the leftover planting trays from the greenhouse, mowing & weeding the berries & orchard & setting up the berry trellising.

What’s Coming Up

As we head into the last 7 weeks of the season, I wanted to let you know what the expect!

Many of the crops we have now IN ABUNDANCE will continue for several or many more weeks: salad, carrots, beets, kale, chard, onions, squash, cucumbers & broccoli. Leeks a few more times, plus some scallions soon. Tomatoes are ripening very slowly in this cool summer, I will have some for you in the next few weeks, but  the supply will be limited. Eggplant look great, I will have more, plus more peppers.

Potatoes look good and we will start digging some next week. We will have more green cabbage, plus red cabbage and crinkly leafed ‘savoy’ cabbage (i think), plus white, orange and purple cauliflower. Beans are almost done, but winter squash is almost ready – delacata comes in first, there will be plenty, then acorn squash and small blue hubbards. the rest of the larger squash – spaghetti, butternut, buttercup come in at the very end of the season, usually at the end of september or the beginning of october. We also have a fall beet crop, and we should be able to get sweet corn one or two more times.

Fruit is limited this year, but early apples and nectarines are in so we will have those next week, then plums, pears and fall apples – we will have more peaches, several different varieties over the next month.

A Winter Box

It looks like we will have an abundant enough harvest to offer a winter box to members, full of onions, garlic & a variety of winter squash – you get all these things during the season, but the winter box will be a stockpile to store and use over the winter. It will cost a little more but still represent a great deal for what you will get. More details in an upcoming newsletter.

In The Box

Leeks – delicious, tender, mild
Onions – more of the early crop, half 1/full 2
Salad Mix – more to come
Green Beans -half – 1 bag (1/2lb.)/ 2 bags for full – french filet beans, slightly oversized but yummy!
Cabbage – 1 head
Beets – .75lb half / 1.5lb full

Squash – more and more… 2/4lb. email me if you want a stuffing sized squash!
Cucumbers – lots, 3lb. half/ 6 lb. full
Chard – bunched & colorful – 1bu half/ 2 bu full
Kale – bunched, multiple types- 1bu / 2bu – lots of dino kale this week
Parsley  (some of ou got peppers) – use fresh or hang and dry for later.

Carrots – bunched – 1bu / 2bu – big ones in 2-3 weeks
Broccoli – 1.5lb half/3lb. full – lots coming in now!

Fruit

First Fruits – the best  Paonia peaches continue. new varieties of peaches soon.
Early apples and nectarines coming soon.

The Box Value

Half – $31. Full – $52.50.

On The Farm

Still no ripe tomatoes to speak of, but we are getting some more heat in the last few days, so hopefully that will change.

New boxes: we are introducing a new box for half sizes this week – the boxes were a little crammed, please let me know if everything transfered intact.  please be a little careful when opening these boxes, they are still brand new and the edges are a little sharp.also, please remember to return all your totes and these new boxes to the delivery point each week. thanks!

In The Box

Olathe Sweet Corn – Certified Organic – more yummy, local, organic corn – half/full -5 ears/10 ears
Onions – more of the early crop, half 1/full 2
Salad Mix – its back for another run (limited to fill boxes)
Romaine heads – last head lettuce of the season

Green Beans -half – 1 bag (1/2lb.)/ 2 bags for full
Squash – more and more… 2/4lb. email me if you want a stuffing sized squash!
Cucumbers – lots, 2lb. hals/ 4 lb. full
Chard – bunched & colorful – 1bu
Kale – bunched, multiple types- 1bu / 2bu – lots of dino kale this week
Italian Herbs – Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram in mixed bundles – perfect for sauce or dressings – use fresh or hang and dry for later.

Carrots – bunched – 1bu / 2bu – big ones in 2-3 weeks
Broccoli – 1.5lb half/3lb. full – lots coming in now!

Peppers/Eggplant 1lb/2lb.

Fruit

New this week – Paonia peaches from First Fruits, delicious picked very close to ripe.
Early apples coming soon.

Veggies Coming Soon

There are still a few things we haven’t started picking, and lots more of what we have had. The green and red cabbages look great, the greens will be first in a week or two. the cauliflower crop looks good, but is still a few weeks off. the melons are setting fruit but who knows if many will ripen, it all depends on the weather! lots of eggplant and peppers coming in soon, also the potato crop is looking good – we hope to pick a little bit for the csa in the next week or two.

Not in the Box (but available for special order, call or email)

Basil – special order at $12/lb. for pesto – plenty available now
#2 peaches for canning
Gladioli – stunning beauty for your home – $10 for 5 – email to request

The Box Value

Half  $30.00. Full $54.00.

Click image to enlarge and see if you can make out the turkey in the grass! When I took this picture there were a group of twenty wild turkeys winding their way thru the grass.

On The Farm

Big shifts at the farm as we enter the thick of the harvest season. Our crew has changed – Leonie returned to France, Jeane returned to Denver and Charlie crashed on his bike and is missing in action (but recovering). The crops are shifting as we pick the last of the head lettuce, and peas and shift to beans, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplant. Also the sweet corn is coming in and the Paonia peaches are almost ready.

It must be summer!

In The Box

Olathe Sweet Corn – Certified Organic – yummy, local, organic – half/full -6 ears/12 ears
Leeks – early crop, many more to come
Salad Mix – its back for another run, romaine heads next week will be the last of the season’s head lettuce
Peas – last of the shelling peas, yum, eat them and remember spring -half – 1 bag (1/2lb.)/ 2 bags for full
Squash – lots of varieties coming in, more and more over the next few weeks. 2/4lb. email me if you want a stuffing sized squash!
Cucumbers – lots more coming in, still more to arrive soon. limited this week, 1-3lb. each
Chard – bunched & colorful – 1bu / 2bu – plenty!
Kale – bunched, multiple types- 1bu / 2bu – more and more…
Carrots – bunched – 1bu / 2bu – big ones coming soon.
Beets – bulk 1lb/2lb. – we are topping these now, i figure you have enough greens!
Broccoli or Eggplant 1lb/2lb. not enough of both to go around so you will get one or the other this week, hopefully the opposite of last week!

Fruit

Redhaven early peaches from Domingez Canyon – these are a little firm and need to be left out for a day or two until soft, then eaten or refrigerated.

Not in the Box (but available for special order, call or email)

Basil – special order at $12/lb. for pesto
#2 peaches for canning
Gladioli – stunning beauty for your home – $10 for 5 – email to request

The Box Value

Half  $34.60. Full $58.20.

Harvest season is in full force at the farm and everything is coming in! Some beds still need weeding, and I still have a couple more salad plantings to go, but really harvest has taken over our free time. We are starting to pick squash, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and more. Here is a slide show that tells the story in pictures:

All the Crops, A-Z

In The Box

Basil – Farm boxes get these this week, we didn’t get them in the cooler last week.

Beets – Lots more coming in, this is the last week of bunched beets, we will switch to topped beets next week, fulls 2 bunches

Broccoli – starting to come in this week, everybody gets a little bit, lots more to come

Chard – last week of bagged chard, fulls get 2 bags

Cilantro – still tender, this is the end for Cilantro!

Kale, fulls get 2 bags

Lettuce, head – no salad mix this week, but lots of yummy head lettuce – green & red butter, red romaine, green leaf & more

Garlic – almost fully cured now, this is our standard ‘early while’ soft-neck garlic

Cucumbers – Just starting, we will have TONS of cucumbers this year, pickling cukes available, please order ahead.

Summer Squash – Just starting, we have a nice looking crop and will have lots by next week.

Peas – shelling peas this week, one more week as we transition to BEANS!

Spinach – full shares got the last of what we picked last week – use 1st!

Fruit

Apricots – last of the season

Cherries, Rainier – just a bit, all I could get from Paonia

It was a bad cherry season, but I will make it up in Peaches – starting next week with Early Glohavens from the Palisaide Peach Company (Certified Organic)

The Box Value

Full Box – $53, Half Box $30

On The Farm

Lots more coming in this week on the farm. The summer squash are starting to fruit and we picked a handful this week, we’ll have squash for the boxes in 1-2 weeks. We also picked a few early eggplant and peppers, these will show up soon too. The main weeding is now complete, and all thats left is a little more weeding on long season crops like carrots and onions, plus a little more salad planting, and a LOT of harvesting. Harvest is a busy, slightly chaotic activity on the farm.  Everything has to get out of the heat and the field by around 10am, then everything needs to be washed, bunched and bagged, orders and CSA boxes need to be packed etc. Its always a bit crazy in the harvest area, but we make it enjoyable with a team spirit. As I like to say, “many hands make light work”.

Delivery Notes

A Word on #2 Fruit

Last week included some #2 cherries in the boxes. I usually pack only  the best #1 fruit, but in this case I thought this might be my only chance to get Rainier cherries for the year. This week, plus more apricots from Domingez Canyon, a new, larger type called ‘Supreme’

Special Orders

We have a few items available for special order, this week we have #1 and #2 cherries or apricots by the box, please call for pricing and availability. We will have shelling peas available in bulk for freezing in the next few weeks, and basil for pesto later in the season.

In the Box

Chard & Kale –Half 1, Full 2
Parsley, 1 bunch
Lettuce –  speckled romaine, red crisp, red butter, green butter,  – halfs 1 head, fulls 2 heads
Peas – shelling, snow & sugar snap, some shelling (new) – 1 bag (1/3 lb.) Full, add 1 1/2lb bag snow peas
Salad – 1 bag – new crop
Radishes –  1 bunch
Beets – continuing to size up – half 1 bunch, full 2 bunches
Bok Choi – full box
Scallions – full box
basil, bagged -= lime, cimmaron or thai basil

Friut

Half/Full amount
Apricots 2lb/4lb.

Coming Soon

Green Beans
Cucumbers
Summer Squash
Broccoli
Carrots, baby
Soft Neck Garlic
Organic Olathe Sweet Corn

The Box Value

Half – $21.50, Full  $36.75 – fruit is usually right at the cost: this week half $6.00, full $12.00

The salad requires constant weeding to remain pickable!

This week it really feels like summer on the farm. We are in full-on harvest mode, with planting, weeding and other farm tasks falling to minimal levels. Harvest starts early in the day – I’m usually in the field by 6am on harvest days, picking my favorite crops and setting out the tasks for the day. Ideally, everything is out of the field by 10 am when the heat really sets in. Salad mix is one of the first crops picked for the day, and 20lb. is a typical amount. Once the salad is out of the field, the washing begins – someone leaves the field at this point to start processing the salad, which we triple rinse with 5 min soaks and then drip, then spin dry. As more crops come in from the field, we begin falling back to the harvest shed where everything gets washed, cleaned of bad parts, bunched or bagged, then stored in the cooler. In addition to preparing portions for the CSA we are busy packing wholesale orders – its a bit chaotic, but after 18 years we have systems in place to keep the work flowing!

Come Visit the Farm!

Please feel free to visit the farm, just let us know when you plan to come and we will give you a tour of the fields. Farm pickup customers, feel free to walk out into the fields when you pick up your produce.

Special Orders

Winter squash in the orchard...

We have a few items available for special order, this week we have #1 and #2 cherries or apricots by the box, please call for pricing and availability. We will have shelling peas available in bulk for freezing in the next few weeks, and basil for pesto later in the season.

Oh the Fruit!

This week we have more Cherries – Bings & some Rainiers from Domingez Canyon, the Reiniers are yellow and more watery than the bings. These are #2s with some bruises – eat them quickly! Also we have Apricots from the same organic orchards – this is a rare treat, many years there are none –  these will last two weeks, then we’ll have the first Paonia cherries.

In the Box

NEW: Hardneck Garlic – bunches of hardneck garlic, these have scapes (flowers) on them, try adding those to a dish for a more mild green garlic flavor)  Half &  Full 1 bu.
Chard & Kale – in short supply, don’t worry, we’ll have these for the rest of the season!
Spinach - new crop baby plants, yum
note: halfs get 1 bag spinach, kale or chard; fulls get 2 bags
Lettuce –   green romaine, red crisp, red butter, green butter, and some showey leaf lettuces like red speckled romaine – halfs 1 head, fulls 2 heads
Peas – snow & sugar snap, some shelling (new) – 1 bag (1/3 lb.)
Salad – 1 bag – still more coming!
Radishes – 1 bunch – last week?
Beets – continuing to size up – half 1 bunch, full 2 bunches

Remember, we sometimes substitute one item for another – but if you think you missed something please email or call – we can usually make it up the following week.

Friut

Half/Full amount

Bing Cherries 1.5lb/3lb
Apricots 1.5lb/3lb.
Rainier Cherries .5lb, 1lb.

Coming Soon

Shelling Peas
Napa Cabbage
Green Beans
Cucumbers
Summer Squash
Broccoli
Carrots, baby
Soft Neck Garlic
Organic Olathe Sweet Corn

The Box Value

Half – $22.50, Full  $35.25 – fruit is usually right at the cost: this week half $7.00, full $14.00

Recently weeded lettuce, chard, kale and broccoli. Click to enlarge.

So much happens all at once in June, that once July arrives everything at the farm is going full tilt. I’ve got a few more plantings of salad and fall crops, but for the most part we are done planting for the year. Weeding still needs attention for a few more weeks, but the initial push is over and nearly everything looks great! Mostly its just harvest time!

Someone is eating the Shelling Peas!

A sad sight awaited me when we went to harvest the shelling peas this week – for the entire length of the row (250′) on both shelling pea varieties, the peas had been eaten out of the pods! At first I blamed the rabbits, which love to much on lettuce, carrots and beets in the garden, but when I came down to chase the rabbits away that evening I discovered it was birds! A small group of Robins (?) were making their way down the row, eating all the peas!

Whats a farmer to do? I think not much! Partially its too late to do much – with the peas removed and the pods still on the plants, the plants will mostly just stop producing. we may try picking off these pods and possibly covering the row with a row cover, but I’m worried that doing that will just push the birds to the next row, the snow & sugar snap peas which they have so far left un-touched. So, I may just have to let the birds have these first rows of peas, while we focus of the much larger patch of shelling peas that are about to come in the main field (shhh… don’t tell the birds). This type of damage is to be expected in our fields, and those of you who have visited know that the farm is teeming with wildlife – turkeys, rabbits, snakes, frogs, insects, foxes and an occasional mountain lion or bear, to say nothing of the hundreds of deer and elk that move through in the winter. If we lose just a few peas, we are lucky!

Holes in the leaves!

Some of you may notice the bok choi leaves this week have tiny holes in them. This is caused by an early season pest – the flea beetle. I do my best to keep them off the soft crops they love, but some usually manage to do some damage anyway. You will see some similar holes in the salad mix spicy components like arugula and red kale, and in soft leafy crops like napa cabbage – the damage will go away later in the season. Son’t worry about these holes! Just rinse the leaves thoroughly, chop & cook – the holes disappear with cooking!

In The Box

NEW: Garlic – early purple – very spicy, still curing Half 1/4lb. Full 1/2 lb.
NEW: Bok Choi – tender, crunchy stems, mustardy leaves – yum! this is the ONLY time we will have bok choi this summer, enjoy! everyone gets a bundle.
Chard – still picking baby leaves – demand is high so the leaves haven’t had a chance to get to bunching size.
Kale – more baby leaves.
Spinach - new crop baby leaves
note: halfs get 1 bag spinach, kale or chard; fulls get 2 bags
Lettuce – more green romaine, plus red crisp, red butter, green butter, and some showey leaf lettuces like red speckled romaine – halfs 1 head, fulls 2 heads
Peas – snow & sugar snap – 1 bag
Salad – 1 bag
NEW: Parsley – 1 bunch
Radishes – 1 bunch
Beets – continuing to size up – i hope you LOVE beets because we will have them for several more weeks, we haven’t even finished harvesting the 1st bed ad several more beds await picking – half 1 bunch, full 2 bunches

Fruit:

First cherries of the season, certified organic from Domingez Canyon half 2.4 lb, full 4.8 lb. Paonia cherries soon.

Coming Soon:

Squash, cucumbers, beans, carrots, shelling peas, broccoli, napa cabbage & more….

The Box Value

Farm Prices: Spinach #3.50, Salad $3.50, Radishes $1.25, Beets $3, Parsley $1.5, Peas $4, Chard/Kale $3.50, Lettuce $2.25, Garlic $10/lb., Bok Choi, $3. Half Box Value: $24.50, Full Box Value: $37.25!

Final planting and irrigation setup

This week we planted nearly all of the last transplants from the greenhouse out into the field. Compared to previous years, I have far fewer plants left over that aren’t going into the ground. I always plant a little extra in case certain transplants fail, but this year I stuck to a careful plan and everything went out, and nearly everything made it (so far)! The only planting I have left is the regular salad mix planting that continues all summer.

Along with the new planting comes the need for water. Water, water everywhere… irrigation is a full time job in the heat of summer. Established beds get lines of drop tape, other beds – recently seeded – get water every day. Salad greens and head lettuce like water several times a day to keep them cool. Other areas need to get try for hoeing or remain dry to let weeding take effect.

The Weeding Continues

This time of year, the weeding becomes a huge, pressing priority. Its hard work, and we are fortunate to have a solid crew able to put in the long hours required to clean up the beds. We often have people visit the farm to work for a bag of produce, and CSA members are always welcome to come visit the farm!

Harvest in full swing!

Harvest Going Strong, but We Still Need More Members!

Harvest has begun and the vegetables are flying in! I also have plenty of orders and demand to sell every bit of produce we can pick, but I still want more CSA members, especially for our Crested Butte and Marble/Redstone/Carbondale runs.

We need a certain minimum number (around 15) in each area in order to have the delivery fee we charge cover the cost of driving the truck and paying. Right now we have just 10 on the Marble/Redstone/Carbondale run and 14 on the Crested Butte run. Please help spread the word and if you are getting this email and considering signing up, please call to get on next week’s delivery.

Read about Big Box CSAs

I thought this article was fascinating about the newish phenomena of ‘Big Box’ CSAs serving hundreds or even thousands of customers. This one caught my interest especially because it covers Grant Family Farms, a Colorado CSA with over 2,000 members that serves much of Colorado, including the Roaring Fork Valley. http://www.localharvest.org/newsletter/20100622/1/big-box-csa.html?r=nl

Where is the Fruit?

This week saw the very first cherries being picked, but we haven’t gotten ahold of any organic local cherries yet – we expect to have them for fruit members next week. The first organic peaches are only a couple of weeks away as well. Once we start with fruit, we should have something different every week.

Questions about the Produce?!

Why are there holes in the bok choi leaves? why didn’t I get peas this week? when will the tomatoes be ready? you have questions – i have answers! email me your questions and i will try to address them in this regular post.

Whats In the Box?

NEW: Head lettuce – romaine and red crisp – full 2 heads, half 1 head
NEW: Baby Beets – 1 bunch – three kinds of beets in this weeks bunches ~ red ace round red beets, golden beets and cylindrical ‘forno’ beets. these early thinning pickings are the sweetest beets of the ear, just boil them whole! the greens are also good for cooking, visit the recipe page, or  try searching epicurious.com
NEW: Peas – sugar snaps – Just starting this week, full box only for some areas – more next week!
NEW: Chard & Kale -  Full – 2 bags / Half – 1 bags - tender baby cooking greens

Spinach ~ -1 bag
Salad Mix – 1 bag
Radishes – 1 bunch
Dill / Cilantro ~ Full – 2 bunches / Half 1 bunch
4″ potted herbs ~ Full 4 plants / Half 2 plants – your pick from a large variety,

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Head Lettuce – More varieties
Bok Choi (with some holes in the leaves…)
Bunched Chard
Bunched Kale
Bunched Spinach
Shelling Peas

What is the Box Worth?

This weeks value: spinach $3.50, salad $3.50, chard/kale – 3.5, lettuce $1.50, radishes $1.25, peas $4, dill/cilantro $1.50, potted herbs $3.50, beets, $3: Total value ~ Half – $24.50 / Full – $38.50. thats what you would pay to buy the same bag of produce (& plants) at the farm!

The spinach, recently weeded, ready to pick, but slightly hail damaged

There isn’t a huge amount of variety, but the Salad and Spinach is abundant! We also picked some early green garlic this week, plus cilantro and dill and radishes. Box details below.

Hailstorms in June

Last week we experienced a very unusual storm that brought around a minute of pea sized hail to our mesa: we were fortunate, some growers in Paonia reported dime size hail that lasted several minutes. Our crops were mostly spared, the only real damage was some torn up spinach leaves, you will notice this in your boxes this week – fortunately the flavor is still great! Spinach only does well in the early or late part of the season here, so enjoy it while we have it.

Planting Nearly Complete

Outside the greenhouse, a few plants left are ready to go in the ground!

The last push for planting is now happening –  the photo at left shows how little is left to transplant from the greenhouse to the field – just a few more winter squash and the last wave of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and chard for fall.

Bring on the Fruit

Fruit will start a little late this year. The earliest organic cherries (from Domingez Canyon) will be ready in around two weeks, the first peaches (from Palisade) will arrive a few weeks later. Please don’t worry if you have a fruit membership, the fruit will start soon and we will have plenty of variety to make up for lost time. The overall selection will be limited this year due to winter freeze damage (several nights around -10) and the recent hail. Still, I am confident there will be enough variety to fill your fruit memberships!

Culinary herbs - this section contains thyme, oregano, marjoram, scented basils (like lime, cinnamon & thai basil), parsley, lemongrass and more!

In the Field – Weeding, Watering

Everything is growing like crazy these days out in the field – including the weeds. A once weeded bed seems to sprout a new crop of weeds the moment you turn your back. We tackle the weeds with a few strategies: a few beds are covered with ground fabric that brocks out 95% of the weeds, but most of the beds are open and must be weeded. I use a small tractor (an Allis Chalmers Model G) we call the ‘G’ to cultivate (carefully!) between the rows.

Lots of greens in this recently weeded section: red and green lettuces, orange chard, chinese cabbage and kale (green, 'dino' and red)

The larger tractor takes care of the ‘pathways’  with large blades, then a bit later, a crew of weeders comes through with hoes to go closely along the rows of most of the crops and even between plants. Finally, a few crops get additional hand weeding (onions for example) or tractor cultivation (potatoes, corn) later in the season.

The other big task this time of year in the field is watering. With many newly seeded or planted hours, the water has to be applied regularly. Drip tape is getting laid out on some sections.  Other sections have to be dried out for hoeing, and left dry after hoeing to let the weeds dry out.

Whats In the Box?

This year everything is a little bit late, and our early boxes are always a little light compared to the mid and late season boxes, so please be patient as the season progresses! There isn’t much variety yet, but there will be plenty more to come!

Spinach ~ Full – 2 bags / Half – 1 bags – very tender and yummy this time of year, but a little torn up from the hale
Salad Mix ~ Full – 2 bags / Half – 1 bags – we try to have salad most of the season
Radishes ~ Full 2 bunches / Half – 1 bunch – a bit spicy, try them thinly sliced on a salad
Garlic, green ~ 1 bunch – mild garlic, still a few weeks from maturing, no paper yet inside the heads, clean and peel, chop up the whole thing, including the green top!
Dill / Cilantro ~ Full – 2 bunches / Half 1 bunch – just starting to come in, cilantro only lasts a few weeks
4″ potted herbs ~ Full 3 plants / Half 2 plants – your pick from a large variety, we will have more next week as well. We have lime, cinnamon and thai basil as well as sweet basil, oregano, thyme, parsley and more. These can be planted in a garden, or in a planter so please plan ahead and be ready – these plants will arrive well watered, but need to be transplanted within a few days of delivery. If you keep these plants picked you will have the herbs you choose any time you want all summer long!
Leeks ~ Full members only (don’t worry half members, we will have plenty of leeks this year, we planted a huge crop)!

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Baby Chard & Kale
Peas – Sugar Snaps & Snow Peas
Baby Beets – tender, young beets, golden & red!

What is the Box Worth?

As a new feature of this newsletter, I am going to estimate the approximate farm price of the of the box. Our farm prices are typically a little lower than local retail and much lower than the prices we would charge at a remote market (this accounts for the delivery charge). Based on 18 weeks of boxes, the average price members pay for their box is  Half – $16.66 (400/18), Full – $28.77 (500/18). This weeks value: spinach $3.50, salad $3.50, radishes $1.25, garlic $3.00, dill/cilantro $1.50, herbs, $3.50, leeks, $2.50: Total value ~ Half – $19.75 / Full – $35.50