Abbe Hills Farm CSA

Greetings shareholders,

This week, we have sweet corn, onions, beets, green beans, cabbage, chard, kale, tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, squash, and herbs.  The sweet corn will be some combination of Bodacious and/or Serendipity, depending on which is nicer the day we are picking for you.  Again, the ears aren't big and fancy (because of incomplete pollination because of too much weed pressure because of the broken tractor in June when first cultivation should have happened), but are very tasty.  I think you will enjoy either kind.  Serendipity is a white/yellow "bicolor' type; Bodacious has all yellow kernels.

We will finish the Ailsa Craig onions this week.  If you've still got some at home, eat them fast.  They aren't going to last much longer.  We'll be starting on the Super Star onions, another very sweet type that won't store very well.  Beans will be round or flat-podded, either yellow or green.  I think you'll find the flat, or Italian type beans, to be sweet and tender, although you might not guess that by looking at them.  They are my favorite bean now.

The tomatoes are in pretty bad shape from all the cold and wet, especially those in the first planting.  Overall, the sauce types are far more healthy and productive than are the slicer types, so start thinking about recipes that use more "meaty", less juicy tomatoes. This week, we started picking the Juliettes, a small "saladette" type that you can use like a cherry tomato.  The plants in the second planting are still alive and making new fruit, so if we can keep it warm for 3 or 4 more weeks, we might finally get the volume and quality that we expect in late summer in Iowa, except it will be early fall by then.  Until then, we'll keep trickling them out to you!

This might be the last week for summer squash, and I think the cucumbers are finished.  The winter squash look very nice with little disease and few insect pests.  At least right now, it looks like we might have a nice squash harvest in October.

No potatoes yet.  It's still too muddy to dig them.  We have a crew lined up to try again on Tuesday morning (which will be 3 1/2 days since the last rain!!!  Yippee!!!) and are hoping to get a pretty big pile of potatoes dug.  If you want to help, let me know.  After a morning of digging potatoes, you really feel like you've accomplished something.

Rain update:  Sunday, August 16, 1.2" in the morning.  Monday, August 17, .3".  Wed, August 19, 1" in the afternoon.  Thur, August 20, .5" rain overnight, then .1" in the afternoon.  Friday, August 21, drizzle all day, .3" total.  Total for the week:  3.4".  A few dry days in a row:  priceless.

The never ending rain has caused a significant delay in planting the fall crops.  Usually, I get the fields ready the first week of August (usually quite dry), then plant the second week and wait for a little bit of rain to get the seeds growing.  Luckily, I listened to my buddy Schnackenberg and last Saturday I mudded in some lettuce seed in the garden west of the farm driveway.  It's come up nicely, so I'll bet we'll have lots of nice fall lettuce in October.  Spinach planted the same day is having a little trouble germinating, so as soon as I can do some more tillage, I'll be planting lots of spinach and hoping that it hurries itself along so we can have spinach in October, too.  Asian greens and radishes grow more quickly, but they need to be planted pretty soon, too, if we expect to enjoy them in October.  October is the month for the green things!

I can't believe I am saying this, but I need you to bring plastic grocery bags.  I try to keep a VERY FEW bags around here for the rare times that you might forget to bring yours, but with the way we've been using them for sweet corn, I've run out.  Please bring enough for yourself this week, plus 3 or 4 more to leave here for somebody who forgets theirs.  Please DON'T bring any more than that.  I can't keep them on hand because they blow all over the shed and yard when we open the big doors during the day, and worse yet, mice eat them and use them to make nests for their babies if I leave them anywhere for very long.  So, I'm not in the bag business, except for a couple more weeks while we have sweet corn.   After all, you ALWAYS remember to bring your own, so I shouldn't need them!!!

I lose my last two daytime workers this week.  Darn kids keep going back to college.  I'm going to miss them.

Looking forward to seeing you this week,

Laura