26 August 2010

Basil, Beans, Lettuce, Garlic, Candy onions, Peppers, Numex hot pepper, Red Norland potatoes, Spinach, Tomatoes

Before “I” start the newsletter this week I will let everyone know that this is not Thomas behind these words (though I am sure you would have figured it out quickly). My name is Jan and this is my second season working with Thomas on the Alleged Farm. I have had the opportunity to meet some of you at the farm days we have held and maybe others briefly at a drop site. In any case I get the opportunity to write the newsletter this week. Although I get a little flustered when faced with the task of writing this, I also know that I think, talk, and often dream about the farm, veggies and work that needs to be done here—especially in the middle of august.

I feel like this season has been a little different then last and often find myself looking and comparing how wet last year was to how dry this year has been and then finding myself looking at a wet field all week wishing I could go do some field work. It may not seem immediately funny, but when I think about how absurd it is to look for patterns in one farming season that I somehow can expect to occur again in another season, I often laugh. In my short (compared to many farmers’ farming lives) 7 years of farming I have yet to find one season that mimics itself the next. I guess farming in California seemed the closest to “controlled” organic farming as one can get; seeing as it is hot and dry most of the time, you water when the plants need it, you establish some beneficial insect habitat, find some reliable cover crops, plant a hedge of bee attractive flowers, pick the beautiful produce and head to market…Okay, so that isn’t as easy as it sounds. But the hot, dry and water when the plants need it part is true.

I guess the best thing to do is talk about the veggies you are getting this week and try not to ramble too much about how last year isn’t this year out there in the fields.

“Cucumbers…where are they?” I often ask while walking in the cucurbit patch (you may have been thinking the same thing if you have been part of Thomas’ CSA in past years). Last year the squash and cucumber picking was a full afternoon adventure. This year the squash have proven their abundance and consistence with plenty of squash, as you know, but the cucumbers have not fared so well. They wanted more water when we went through that dry spell so many of the fruits became misshapen and bitter, and the cucumber beetles went in full attack mode…sorry to say because that is one of my favorite summer vegetables. But not to worry, we are hoping the second planting will prove to produce many hours of picking here on the farm (okay maybe I may be the only one willing to pick 3 hours worth of cukes, but they are just so good). In any case, you are sure to find some great squash in your box this week and I hope you haven’t run out of recipes.

On the other hand the peppers you are getting in your boxes are looking greener, fuller and more productive then they did last year. After finally picking most of the weeds out from between the rows so that we can actually see the plants, they look BEAUTIFUL!! No really, that is not because I am bias and think that horrible looking plants look great just because I might have planted them…really you should come check them out. We have even talked about staking them because they are so laden with fruit and for once they are actually turning the color they look in the catalogue. You may get a bell type in your box or an elongated type that is green to red color. which is an Italian variety that is thick skinned and very sweet. Both varieties have proven impressive this year and made me think that great sweet peppers can be grown on the east (I was a little unsure about this east coast growing thing at the beginning). You should also find another pepper that is great for grilling, stuffing or roasting and is mildly hot (used for Chile rellenos), which is a Numex Anaheim pepper.

Beans, beans the magical fruit…okay well the beans you are getting are the fresh green or yellow type and much more crisp then the dried kind. I made sure to test more then a hundred out in the field and they may look big but they were still crunchy and addictive. No matter how hard you try, you can never quite stay on top of all the beans in the field. It will bring out the musical side of any farmer, whether they admit it or not; even if the song that he/she are thinking of stays in his/her head it is hard not to pass the time singing some old tune or telling stories to fellow pickers of times past. I have to say though, I have been having fresh steamed beans everyday for a while now and still find no complaints about the picking…steamed with some salt, cold or hot, in a boat with a goat they are too good to pass up during the summer harvest. As compared to last years crop I would have to say the dry season has held back the slugs, which loved the wet bean field last year, and the deer are some how leaving enough to make the planting worth while.

So you may have noticed that the amount of tomatoes you are getting has increased greatly over the past couple weeks…it’s because the plants are going CRAZY! I thought staying on top of beans was hard, but then I realized you plant a couple hundred tomatoes and look out and see red, green, rainbow, small, big and medium fruits everywhere you look. It is actually great to see healthy plants this year since last year the blight hit early and hard across the country and locally. I hope all of you got a nice variety of red and heirloom tomatoes in your box and that they made it safely to your table…we do like to pick as ripe as we can. I am sure Thomas has told you before but if you ever want to make your way to the farm and pick a few extra cherry tomatoes the invitation is there as long as they are still in the fields, just let us know.

And then of course there is the basil…what else can I say. We try to give a reasonable amount so that your flower vases don’t get to stuffed with herbs (though my friend just used basil in her wedding and it was a perfect addition to the bouquets), but hopefully you are finding ways to incorporate basil as often as possible into your pesto, stir-frys, sauces or salsas. We have three plantings this year and all are looking great; which again last year was hard to say…the wetness challenged the outside basil relentlessly and we relied on the indoor planting more. If you are not getting enough basil to make that batch of pesto to get you through the winter, again, let us know and you are more then welcome to order extra while the summer months are here and the basil is looking good.

Okay, well I see the bottom of the page coming fast so I will bring my ramble to a close. I didn’t give many recipes, but if you look on the website you are sure to find some that are better then I could ever come up with. Thanks for listening to me this week and maybe I will get a chance to meet more of you at the next farm day or pie contest/ pot luck the farm has every year. Hope you find fun and exciting things to do with your box this week, and thanks again to everyone for returning them so we can keep using them, keep costs down, and ideally get you the produce in better condition then the bags offered.