Hello Everyone,

We had a great start to the season, with plenty of beautiful greens,
and unusually bountiful shares. As we head into mid-summer greens
generally become more scarce, and in this accelerated season we have
arrived at this point a little sooner than normal.

All of the various mustards have bolted to seed and the kale is
looking quite sad due to the heat and dry weather. At this point only
the Swiss chard remains viable and we have been cutting it quite
heavily during the past 2 weeks. I believe we can harvest sufficient
quantities for distribution this week, but then we will need to let it
rest and regenerate for a bit.   I have been preparing ground to plant
more spinach and mustard greens and I will be seeding these crops as
soon as the weather allows. These greens should become available again
in early September.

Up to this point we have provided you with chiefly “normal” vegetables
with which most members are familiar and know how to use. This week
may be the week that we cause some members to search their cookbooks
and the internet for ways to use some less common vegetables;
specifically radicchio and fennel. Even though I planted over a
thousand radicchio plants many have bolted and quite a few have been
destroyed by the groundhogs.  We may need to offer dandelion greens as
a choice with the radicchio.

This time last year we were swimming in green beans; this season
however both the abundance and quality of the crop has been reduced by
the heat and dryness. The plants are looking better now that they have
gotten some rain and I hope that they will begin to flower again and
produce a second picking.  We also have an heirloom pole bean called
the rattlesnake bean that looks good and should start producing in
about 3 weeks. I am in the process of planting more bush beans for
September harvest.

The tomato crop is looking good so far, and we may have sufficient
quantities to ship out by next week, if not, certainly in 2 weeks.
Eggplant and peppers should also become available in the next couple
of weeks. We will be beginning to harvest potatoes this week, even
though the earliest varieties have not completely died back. This
means that they are “new” potatoes and as such have thin skins that
are easily damaged in harvesting and washing. It will be best to use
them fairly quickly, as they probably won’t keep well.

The share for this week will be Lettuce ( various types), red
potatoes, cauliflower, summer squash, carrots, red torpedo onions,
fennel, radicchio or dandelion greens, Swiss chard, string beans
(either green or wax), and choice of an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John