CSA Harvest - Week #9

Rain drops are falling... which has your farmers letting out a big sigh of relief. The heat has been pounding down on us for weeks now and nothing is more welcome at this very moment then a few days of rain. Wahoo! They're calling for a couple inches of precipitation by the end of the week, which the farm will absolutely LOVE.  Most of the field is weeded, so I'm hoping it rains, we blink and suddenly everything doubles in size. Magic!

Mike worked the former garlic field this week and we're going to try a few successions of head lettuce along with some late Fall brassicas.We seeded the first round of starts a few weeks ago and they're just about ready to go in the ground. 

I'm happy to report that the tomatoes took their sweet time but they're on and harvests should increase over the next couple weeks. I have my solid 5 favorite heirloom varieties that I grow every season, along with a few trials to make sure I'm not missing something amazing. And, I think we have a contender to keep in the rotation this year. It's a variety called Katja that I got from Adaptive Seeds in Oregon. It's an early (first to ripen this season!), beautiful pink slicer with wonderful flavor. Loving it.

Tomato hornworms are gorgeous as ever and abundant this year. They were on the outside tomatoes early and recently I've been finding a lot in the greenhouse, chomping away, which turns every tomato harvest into a tracking mission.

We picked the first green beans and pickling cucumbers on Monday morning and will harvest more today... purple and yellow beans should be shortly behind. Ooo ooo ooo! The slicing cucumbers are always a little bit slower and we should have those in the shares in the next week or so. And, I did a trial planting of peppers outside, mostly because I started a few too many and ran out of space in the greenhouse but also because this is my first season growing food in Mancos and I'm was curious how they would do. And so far, they're doing great. If anything has loved the heat this season has brought, it's the peppers. We harvested the first round of jalapeños this week and they're in your CSA shares. The heat on them seems to vary though, so be cautious if you're not a fan.

The garlic has been hanging in the barn curing for the past few weeks and I think it's almost ready to cut down and sort. Maybe the perfect project for a rainy day... 

Ok, onto the harvest details for CSA Harvest - Week #9:

Kale
Chard or Mustard Greens
Carrots
Beets
Red Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Heirloom Tomato
Cherry Tomatoes
Pepper
Jalapeños
Zucchinis
Cilantro
Dill
Garlic

Have a great day! See you all this afternoon for a rainy CSA pickup.