Pickings - Week of June 20th

With cooperative weather this week the farm has burst forth and our crops have finally become established after a sluggish, cold and soggy spring. Second and third sowings of lettuce planted in May have actually outgrown and surpassed the initial early spring plantings we made in March, which now seems so long ago.  Our initial massive planting effort of several thousand seedlings is behind us and we are actually calculating the days to first frost and scrambling to get a handful of  longer season  plants in the ground.

This week's selections will include lots of greens including our two heirloom lettuce mixes, pak choi, and arugula. You may also see a few  radishes, rhubarb or the last of the strawberries and garlic scapes. We are just beginning  to harvest baby carrots , which is perhaps my favorite crop to grow, and the first of our baby beets. By next week we should be able to include these in all baskets. We're also trying to include a  bunch of mixed herbs in each basket every week - generally parsley, basil, thyme, oregano, mint and lemon balm, as well as the slower growing sage and rosemary on occasion.

By early next week we should also see the first of the broccoli rappi - try this with your garlic scapes, sauteed quickly in olive oil. And although our early spinach and swiss chard crops were disappointing, to put it mildly, due to a malfunctioning seed plate in our planter and poor germination, we hand-sowed a hundred feet or so for our next crop and are starting to see plants poking up from the earth, which should make it to your baskets in a few more weeks.

Truly a miracle in the making to watch a seed sprout and grow before your eyes.

Feel free to knock on the door when you pick up your baskets and we'll be glad to give you a tour of the fields.