Abbe Hills Farm CSA

Greetings shareholders,

This week, we'll have cabbage, leeks, kale, zucchinis and summer squash, onions, broccoli, potatoes, green beans, very big kohlrabi, chard, maybe beets, maybe a few cucumbers, a tiny snip of basil, and Asian greens.   The cabbage continues to be beautiful and never-ending.  The leeks are puny; they came that way from the supplier and never really snapped out of it.  Broccoli is still mostly worm-free.  The Giant Kohlrabi Recipe Challenge will go on for one more week, so send me those recipes.  The winner gets a dozen eggs.  Check the website to see the entries so far. 

You've certainly noticed that it's nearly August, yet we've had few of the summer vegetables like sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, chilies, basil, summer squash, cucumbers that we expect this time in the summer.  I promise you, they are out in the garden, but they are maturing oh--so--slowly without our normal hot days and warm nights.  And the rain hasn't helped.  We need about 1" per week to have the perfect conditions for gardening.  Last week, we had 3" on Tuesday, then more than 1" on Friday night.  It's supposed to rain again Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, plus more rain at the end of the week.  It's too much!

Sweet corn looks like it might begin in 10 days to 2 weeks.  YIPPEE.  It's not going to be as fancy as what we usually have.  (Remember the tractor breakdown back in June?  That was the week that the sweet corn had to be cultivated in order to assure nice big ears.  I missed the opportunity, and you'll see the consequences in the corn.)

It's time to plant for fall, but it sure has been tough.  We need about 5 days between rain events to mow down whatever is already there, do the tillage, give the soil a little rest, then plant the next crop of seeds or plants.  Last week we did manage to get the brussels sprouts and some green beans in, just in the nick of time Friday afternoon.  This week, we're shooting for turnips, more beans, and a hayrack full of cabbage and broccoli plants.  The rain also makes it tough to harvest.  This is the week the onions must get pulled or they will start to deteriorate, and we need to keep working on the potatoes.  You may notice that the potatoes this week seem a bit "scabby".  It's not a disease, but a response of mature potatoes that are sitting in damp soil.  It won't hurt you, but looks ugly.  I'm hoping the more long season potatoes are resisting it a bit, but we won't know until we get them dug, which is tough on the workers when there is mud everywhere.

Some of you have asked about bringing back your garbage for composting.  SURE!  That would be great.  The compost pile is the big messy pile on your right when you are walking from the parking area to the shed.  You can put any food waste there, plus yard waste as long as it has no chemicals on it.  Either the chickens or the microbes will eat it.  Either way, it will end up back in the garden.

No more excuses.  Here's a link to 101 summer salad recipes in last week's NY Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=1&em  . Some of them are a little exotic, but I'll bet you can find something in there that you will like.  If you'd rather have a cookbook to hold in your hand, I just got more copies of "Asparagus to Zucchini" that I sell for $18.  It was put together by CSA members in Madison, so the recipes are friendly and easy, and take advantage of the ingredients you are likely to get each week.

I've still got lots of raffle tickets to support the Southeast Linn Community Center.  You can't win if you don't play (same as the Iowa Lotto!).  But in this case, the sales support one of our community's really important assets.

Here is the link to a website that our friends at Local Harvest CSA have set up to share recipes and learn about the vegetables.  http://www.csaharvestrecipes.com/  You can click on the vegetable name and a photo will come up, plus a little description of the vegetable, and some recipes.  Send me any recipes you'd like to contribute and I will zap them to Local Harvest for you.

Our summer open house is next Sunday, August 2, 4:00 until 7:00.  Everyone is welcome.  I'll talk a little about all the things we do here, including the garden.  Then, we'll take a garden/farm tour and end with a light dinner.  It's a good chance to look around and find out more about the farm and what kinds of things happen here.  I'll talk some about what farmers and homeowners can do to improve water quality and decrease runoff from our properties.  We might look at the old fashioned field corn if it's convenient.  You can ask lots of questions about anything that interests you about the farm.   It's also a great time to visit with friends and neighbors.  Please come, and bring a friend.

See you this week,

Laura