Abbe Hills Farm CSA

Greetings shareholders,

This week, we have red and yellow potatoes, Incredible sweet corn, yellow and white onions, little bit of ugly (but yummy) garlic, the first tomatoes, eggplant, chili peppers, carrots, cilantro, basil, and summer squash. 

We're opening a new patch of "Incredible" sweet corn this week, but the Monday people will also have some Bodacious from last week's patch if they want it.  I had some tonight for dinner, and it is a bit more mature but still quite good.  Please zap me a note if you want to buy corn (in addition to what you'll get in your share) for the freezer.  I believe I'll have extra out of this patch.  I'll let you know what I have as soon as we get all the shareholders accommodated - perhaps mid-week, but more likely the weekend.  It will be $4 per dozen.

This week is the 11th week of the season, and the first week for several new shareholder families.  I'm so so so glad that the temperatures have become more normal and moderate.  It's not that much fun growing or harvesting or cooking vegetables when everything is melting.  We had a nice rain last Monday, .6", but we are ready for more this week.  Vegetables, unlike corn and soybeans, have rather shallow root systems.  Plus, we do a lot of surface tillage that quickly dries out the soil at the top.  I'd be very happy to have about 1" of rain per week, but we can live with less than that if I am careful.  We've planted quite a lot of fall garden and plan to have most of the rest of it in the ground for the rain that's supposed to come on Tuesday night.  We need it soon in order to get the fall crops mature before the frost, which is now only 46 days away.

Here is a link to an article comparing and contrasting the droughts in the US and in East Africa, and explaining how ag and food policy can make farmers and eaters more secure during tough times.  It's from Oxfam, a well-respected international organization that works to alleviate hunger, poverty, and injustice.

We're going to stop picking kale and collards for a couple of weeks.  The heat really beat them up, and they are now suffering from some fungal disease and Japanese beetles.  A little cool weather and some bug treatment should cure all that's wrong with it so we'll have both kale and collards until the end of the season.  All you kale crazies, sorry to cut you off cold turkey, but it's not for long.

You probably noticed carrots on the list.  How can this be????  Laura can't grow carrots!!!!  Well, I don't know what happened or how I did it, but there are carrots.  Enjoy them because this may never happen again.  With renewed confidence in my gardening abilities,  I've planted some "Sweet Baby Jane" carrots in the fall garden.  But really, I have no expectation that they will survive.  So if they do, we'll all be pleased and surprised.

We started picking tomatoes late last week.  You're going to get the first ones this week.  They're not big, and they're not pretty, but they are a taste of what's to come.  I made a big bad mistake this year and planted twice as many tomatoes as I wanted.  This mistake may work out in your favor if they yield well.  They look a little wimpy now, but they made it through the bad heat, and with a little rain and more normal temperatures, we should have gobs of tomatoes within a couple of weeks. 

Last Sunday afternoon was the farm open house and field day.  It was a nice event with about 30 people from as far away as Des Moines and Decorah.  A friend of mine brought grass fed hamburger, then built a grill like they use in New Zealand using cement blocks and a cattle crossing guard, and provided everybody with samples.  It was fantastic.  He'll have beef to sell this fall and as butchering time gets closer, I'll send you more information.  It's expensive, but excellent quality.  Here is a link to some more information about the benefits of grass fed beef. 

The big news last Thursday was the detour.  I never leave home, so I haven't seen it, but I guess the intersection of Mt. Vernon Road and Highway 13 is closed for a while.  If you are coming from Cedar Rapids, there are two other good ways to get here.  You can take Highway 30 east towards Mt. Vernon, then turn left (north) on Irish Lane, which is the last gravel road before Mt. Vernon.  Go north, cross Mt Vernon Road and Abbe Creek, then take a quick right on Museum Road, then right (east) on Abbe Hills. You'll be able to see the farm from the corner.  Or, you can take the Marion Bypass east across Highway 13.  It's yhen called Seacrist Road.  Go east to the end of the road, then right (south) on X20, also called Springville Road.  Go south about 4 (?) miles and you'll see Abbe Hills Road before you get to Mt. Vernon.  Turn right (west) and go about a mile to the farm.  Or, Googlemap me at 825 Abbe Hills Road.  We're not that hard to find.

See you this week,

Laura