Agropraxis Farm

Yesterday turned into an abbreviated work day. Rains returned in the afternoon. Not a light shower to work through but a wind driven downpour with falling temperatures. The type of weather change that the birds get all in a dither about as it nears. They race around and call out to one another before hastily finding a sheltered spot. And, I followed to a sheltered spot.

The field work has been going well. Our light sandy soil lets us get back to work after rains fairly quickly. All of the early crops are in, with successions planted for many. We work with a Frost Free Date (FFD) of May 20^th. The Experts in the area all talk about May 11^th—ha, ha, ha!!! Following expert advice would have meant crops losses in three of the last five years. I think the experts work for the greenhouses. With the FFD approaching, another round of transplanting and seeding will be done. Most of yesterdays’ work before the rains was prep work for the upcoming planting. I’m nearly ready…

In the kitchen we have new crops being added to our stored harvest of last season. Greens, spring onions, rhubarb and asparagus, yum! Good thing as the stored foods dwindle. In the back of the freezer I found some roasted eggplant. I flipped through a few cookbooks looking for ideas besides baba ghanouj (eggplant/tahini dip) and decided to try an Italian croquette. They reminded me of making a fritter. The family questioned the appearance but they passed the taste test and are now on the favorites list. The key may have been the fruity flavor of the eggplant balanced and accented with a bit of Basil pesto. If interested leave me a comment and I’ll send the recipe.

Farmers Market begins this Friday. It’s early and the table will not be loaded just yet. I look forward to the vendor friends and customers that make market enjoyable. CSA begins the following week. I’m ready and excited as the season begins …

Farmer Pete