Sunday, July 18, 2010

FARM NEWS 7:18.10

Hi folks,
As a grower of roughly sixty different vegetables, it's challenging to come up with reasonable quantities of good salad mix or head lettuce every week for 22 weeks. Here's why: 1.)The dang deer. I come out to harvest at 5:00 AM on Saturday and I see two adult bucks chowing down three week's worth of Romaine. Should I go chase after them with my 22? Nope, I've got to harvest for the Norfolk farmer's market. My three local hunters have permits to hunt here out of season, but they have not been effective. Basically they try to hunt after work in the early PM, but the deer are here in the early AM. 2.) The dang rain. If it doesn't rain for four weeks, this is two weeks where the salad mix, direct seeded, doesn't germinate. This means we're two weeks behind on mixed greens and all my head lettuce is ruminating in the deer. Who knew head lettuce had brains? 3.) All the rest of stuff to grow anyway. There are whole farms locally who grow exclusively salad mix. This is their art. They grow beautiful mix. Chris Reagan of Sky Farm in Millerton or Ted Dobson's Equinox farm in Sheffield. And they have it down to an art. For us, this is one of 60 crops, so while we do strive for perfection it just isn't always possible. There's fall carrots to weed, there's tomatoes to trellis, there's brussel sprouts to plant, there's a cow giving birth, there's pigs to feed, there's garlic still needing harvest. And so much more...So please forgive imperfections in salad and salad mixes and know that we're doing our best to divide up our time so that you get the best of everything we have to offer. Sometimes it's "primo mix" and sometimes it's lettuces mixed with romaine leaves. Sometimes it's just arugula. What ever shape and size it is pretty tasty, I'd say.

So, that's my salad rant. If the salad's not perfect, enjoy the kale or chard or cabbage or arugula. Enjoy the 56 other veggies and herbs as well, knowing you are benefiting from a real season in Falls Village, CT. And thanks for all your positive feedback and support. This connection with you feeds us and fuels us through our challenging work.

Here's the approximate harvest:

zucchini
chard
kale
savoy cabbage
sweet onions
New Potatoes!!!
carrots
beets
basil
Salad Mix/Arugula
maybe cucumbers, we'll see
maybe eggplant, we'll see

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