This Week’s Harvest
Potatoes
Juliet Grape Tomatoes
Green Beans OR Yellow Wax Beans
Sweet Corn
Garlic
Salad Mix
Bell Pepper OR Sweet Italian Pepper
Apple Share: Macintosh (rose and light green, tart eating and cooking apple) and Gala (red and yellow green very sweet apple)
SAVE THE DATE! Mile Creek Farm CSA member potluck is Sunday Oct. 2 from 4 to 7. We ask that members bring a dish to share for this harvest celebration. We will provide beverages and a main dish. Last year we had wonderful weather and a great turn out. We ate lots of delicious food, socialized, and toured the farm. We hope for a big turn out again this year so mark your calendars!
Farm News
These days we are all about getting our potatoes out of the ground they have been in since April and into the coolers for storage. We suspected a good potato year because the plants were properly managed and looked really healthy. Ben weeded with his homemade roller weeder, we released beneficial insects including ladybugs and lacewing larvae to keep leaf hoppers and other pests at bay, plants were hilled (dirt thrown up on them to bury the growing tubers) and fertilized. While that is a long list, Ben was able to do most of it on the tractor, making for quick work. Even planting is relatively fast, just a 2 person job that Ben and I often complete after hours. Turns out the harvesting is the most laborious process. We have 9 of 18 beds dug–over 2,000 lbs of potatoes so far– and are squeezing in the harvest of a bed or two at time whenever we can. Just yesterday we streamlined the process and the crew is very excited that we shaved the harvest time nearly in half. Ben opens up the potatoes beds with a middle buster and we follow behind and collect all the taters that are unearthed. He’ll go back through a second time to pull up any missed potatoes. The potatoes are our best crop yet, and we are thrilled! And, like home grown tomatoes, the flavor can’t be beat!
Recipes
Edamame, Corn and Bok Choi Salad
Summer Squash and Green Bean Saute