Late post!

Hello folks, I'm remiss making my regular blog post this week. It's been a busy week for me -- the summer is in full swing which means I'm doing all those things I couldn't do during the rest of the year...and enjoying all the weather I can.

Speaking of weather, Thursday was a sulky day. The sky was pouting all day but it never rained. I don't know if you can officially describe the weather as "sulky", but that's the best adjective I could think of. Of course, on Friday we finally had the cathartic rain.

At the farm stand Thursday, the tomatoes were starting to come in. There were also lots of other things, such as carrots, fennel, green beans, summer spinach, lettuce, squash, peppers, onions, eggplant, and potatoes. Availability may change from Thursday through Saturday based on the whims of nature and the crop harvests. So, please don't be upset with Delaney or Ana if you see something pictured here, but don't see it when you get there. This is all part of the "share" concept -- you share in the surpluses through generous units and free items but also in the sparsity when some crops are not as robust as others.

Fresh from the field

Can someone tell me how to cook this fennel?

People at the Farm

I love this picture of Pete and Delaney:

Father & Daughter

And these kids playing at the swing set made me want to swing!

We should all have fun at the farm!

Herb Garden is Weeded

The herb garden has been weeded and refreshed. Please clip some fresh herbs when you're here. There are clippers at the farm stand. This is included for free for farm card holders and members.

I saw garlic chives, tarragon, thyme, and sage.

Apples

I went to visit the field where the apples are being grown on Wednesday with Robin. They are not yet ready to harvest. Pete said some of them were sunburned so we're not sure what will happen as they ripen.

You might wonder what the film on them is. It is Kaolin clay. Pete told me that it's used to deter apple maggots that try to lay eggs on the apples this time of year. The bugs do not like to put their feet in it, so it's a deterrent rather than a chemical pesticide. It's an approved topical treatment for organic produce. So we're still hopeful for some yummy apples this year.

Crop Damage and Eggplant Update

Robin took me to a different field away from the main farm. There she showed me how the deer were chomping down on the tomatoes and spaghetti squash.

These are on the main farm. These tomatoes look good.

These tomatoes are being eaten by deer!

Smart deer like organic tomatoes!

They just eat the tops right off!

Have you ever seen a deer eat a spaghetti squash??

It looks like the deer were standing in the crops too, damaging them.

The eggplant, which lost their flowers in that week-long heat wave, are starting to produce a few fruits again. We saw these flowers and little eggplants:

See the flower in the center?

This one is starting to look good.

A tiny eggplant baby.

When I was at the farm stand Thursday, I saw the workers bring a container of eggplant directly from the field. So, hopefully there will be even more eggplant this season. I cooked some last night (breaded & pan fried) and it was wonderful.

Ana & Delaney

I have so much fun taking pictures of Ana & Delaney. They are great to oblige me.

See everyone next week. I'll try to write on time! Maybe I'll even get some comments this week (hint hint). The words "no comments" below just mean "no comments yet".