Full shares:  Carrots, Broccolini, spring onions, Graffiti cauliflower, Beets, Basil, cucumbers, Zucchini, Kale, Summer Squash, and Red Cabbage

Partial Shares:  Carrots, Broccolini, Graffiti Cauliflower,  Summer Squash, Red Cabbage, Sungold Tomatoes, and Basil

Hello CSA Members!

It is officially dry as a bone out there.  With virtually no rain since early May and lots of hot weather, the non-irrigated parts of the farm are turning to dust.  I felt like we were harvesting garlic in the Sahara this afternoon.  Fortunately, the garlic harvest is nine fourteenths of the way done.

This is what 9/14th looks like.

Or if my rough calculations are correct, that’s about nine thousand heads of garlic.  So much has changed on the farm in one month.  In early July, the farm is at maximum capacity, where both spring, summer and fall plants blanket the farm in various greens, blues, and purples.  But within one short month, the farm begins to noticeably shrink.  As crops such as broccoli and cabbage and kale are harvested off, the beds are tilled back in.  Carrot beds disappear at the rate of one bed per week.  Each successive week, there is less plants, and more bare ground.    And I hate to say it, but even the days feel shorter.  And the bees seem to get angry.  Ever been stung on the ear?  I don’t recommend it. My right ear currently feels like a rubber Wacky Wall Walker.

It is still high summer, but I can’t help think that change (rain maybe?) is on the way.  This is the time of year where the cucumbers and the tomatoes start to come into their own, but the lettuce and salad mix suffer in the heat and pest pressure.  The corn is already forming ears, but the peas or senescing in the heat.  And we mowed off the tops of our first potato beds, so you’ll be seeing those next week.  It’s a fun time of year to be a farmer, with all this bounty. Except for that whole bee thing.

This week all shares will be getting a beautiful head of purple cauliflower, one of my personal favorites.  While I don’t typically wax eloquently  about it, the author of this recipe seems to be a big fan as well.  Or for the shotgun approach, here are 17 other recipes to work with.

We’ll see you at CSA distribution!  And don’t make fun of my ear.

Todd and the Two Bear Farm crew