Soaker

Wow. What a beautiful week!! Playing catchup in the gardens and feeling giddy. We received a beautiful rain on Thursday afternoon, showers throughout the weekend... and then Monday night brought a soaking rain. The kind of rain I have been dreaming about and wishing for! 

The excitement here this morning was kind of wild... oh what a little rainfall can do. It's like a powder morning, only better.  Mmmmmm. The smell of soggy pine forest was insane. I wish I could trap that scent in a bottle. So amazing. 

Ok ok... enough blabbering about my obsession with rain and the smell of soaked pine trees. 

All kinds of exciting things to report... the melons and winter squash are all weeded and mulched. This is big and has been on my list for a while. Next up... onions, leeks and beans. 

We harvested half of the garlic and have it hanging in the barn to cure. 

Some of the wheat planted early in the Spring is growing amidst the crazy weeds and looking gorgeous! Hmmm... currently scheming how to grow a lot of grain in the fields next season. Next season!? Whoa... lets slow down.

Tomatoes are ripening, sunflowers are blooming, melons are forming and and and... harvest details.

CSA Harvest - Week 9:

Salad Greens

Arugula

Chard

Carrots

Garlic

Onions

Tomatoes!!! oh yeah, it's on! 

Rhubarb

Cucumber or Summer Squash

Sweet Bell Pepper or Padrons

Herbs

Sweet Pea Bouquet

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Plain 

CSA Harvest - Week 8

The heat of summer has arrived. It has been HOT in the gardens the last few days. The early mornings and evenings have been so dreamy and perfect though... mmm. 

I am excited to see a few clouds in the sky this morning. Maybe rain this afternoon? 

Tomatoes and peppers are coming! They're so close... next week?! We will have a few cucumbers, summer squash, pardons and shishito peppers this week. The harvests are about to get really colorful and fun :)

I'm off to harvest the following for this week's CSA Share: 


Salad Greens
Kale or Chard
Arugula
Fava Beans
Carrots
Green Garlic
Onions
Basil
Edible Flowers
Cucumber, Squash or Padron Peppers

Sourdough Flavor of the week: Plain

CSA Harvest - Week 7

Good morning! 

Hopped up on coffee and raindrops here. Mmmm. Fingers crossed more is on the way. 

We flipped a lot of beds this week. Out with the old and in with the new. Salad, spinach and carrots are all germinating. I have a few beds ready for seeding this evening... radishes, turnips, beets and cilantro. More head lettuce, kale and some fall brassicas are all ready to be transplanted as well... soon enough :).


The weeds are getting a little crazy (err really crazy) in the Montrose garden. So we spent several early mornings in the field with the stirrup hoe this week. The melon patch is looking gorgeous and we started tucking the melons in with a thick layer of mulch yesterday...  in hopes of keeping them happy and the field a little less weedy. 

Ooooo! Exciting news, I harvested kale seed yesterday! So much fun. I loved the sweet jingling of seeds in the dry seed pods.  This seed saving project happened by accident really... as most great things do. A section of kale overwintered in the garden and before I had a chance to harvest it this Spring it bolted and started flowering. The honeybees were enjoying the flowering kale... so we let it hang out for a while and now we have freshly harvested seed. Whoop! 

We also harvested chamomile and calendula flowers to start drying for future cups of tea. The scent is heavenly.

Harvest Details for Week 7:

Salad Greens
Kale or Chard
Basil (Italian, Lemon or Thai)
Carrots
Garlic Scapes
Mini Onions
Fava Beans!!
Asian Cabbage or Kohlrabi
Edible Flowers

Herbs (Chives, Oregano or Parsley)

Sourdough Flavor of the Week: Whole Wheat with Flax and Sunflower Seeds

CSA Harvest - Week 6

The past week was filled with a lot of fun, dancing and fireworks! We procrastinated a bit in the garden, spent few days goofing off and even snuck in a hike. Mmmmm wildflowers! 

The recent afternoon cloud cover is amazing! The dramatic temperature drop feels so good. Just when the heat gets to be a bit much the beautiful clouds roll in with a strong breeze and cool everything off. I imagine the plants enjoy this as much as I do. We have had a couple sprinkling rains here but nothing major yet. The suspense is building though... come on downpour! 


A few Sungold cherry tomatoes have been ripening! I squeal with excitement and pop them in my mouth like a kid in a candy store. So... tomato harvests are coming!! Maybe a few weeks out? 



Harvest details for Week 6: 

Salad Greens
Head Lettuce
Kale or Chard
Bok Choy
Basil or Cilantro
Carrots
Turnips
Rhubarb
Garlic Scapes
Edible Flowers

Sourdough Flavor of the week: Seeded (Flax, Sesame, Quinoa, Oats and Sunflower)

YUM!!! 

I look forward to seeing everyone this week. Until then... sending smiles and hugs. 

CSA Harvest - Week 5

July! Here we go. 

The veggies are growing like wild. I think if I sat still long enough I could actually watch the tomatoes grow... I pruned and trellised more yesterday morning. The first planting is setting fruit heavily and the second succession is catching up quick. 

The peppers are looking gorgeous and setting fruit and the eggplant have started flowering.


We spent a couple mornings weeding the gardens this week and finished planting the pickling cucumbers, flowers and seeding the next round of greens. Next up, fall brassicas!

Harvest details:

Salad Greens
Head Lettuce
Chard or Kale
Bok Choy
Chinese Cabbage
Turnips
Carrots!!
Green Coriander
Basil or Cilantro
Green Garlic
Edible Flowers (Violas and Nasturtiums)
Herbs (Lemon Balm, Mint or Chives)

Sourdough flavor of the week: Plain

CSA Harvest - Week 4

Happy Summer!! 

Wonderful and quick week here.

The sweet peas started blooming and are intoxicating. Oh my gosh. Note to self, grow many more of these next season. 

Melons went in on Sunday morning, we pruned and trellised more tomaotes and seeded the next succession of root crops. Grow veggies grow!

Who is getting anxious for the first tomato of the season...? I can feel it coming. Maybe in the next few weeks?! 

OK, here are the harvest details:

Salad Greens
Chard or Kale
Head Lettuce
Turnips or Radishes
Basil
Rhubarb
Garlic Scapes
Bok Choy
Green Coriander
Edible Flowers
Green Garlic?

Sourdough flavor of the week: Rye with Caraway Seeds. Oh yes. 

CSA Harvest - Week 3

 

Good morning.

Mmmm, the sky is calm this morning. It feels so relaxing compared to the wind that has been ripping through for the past couple days. I think it is supposed to get breezy again later... but I am going to enjoy the calmness while it lasts. 

Lovely week here. My little brother is in town so there has been goofiness and laughter filling the days. The to do lists in the garden are endless in June and it's wonderful to have him here to pull me away from the garden. Thanks Jim!

I noticed the honeybees returning to their hive with purple pollen earlier in the week. Purple! I was curious to see where they were collecting it and after a little searching I found tons of bees on the  flowering cilantro. So gorgeous!

We have one last big push of planting this week. Melons, late summer greens, eggplant and... flowers! Sunflowers, zinnias, marigolds, pansies, cosmos. I can see the garden overflowing with color now.

OK, I'm off to harvest. 

CSA Harvest - Week 3:

Salad Greens

Spinach

Kale or Chard

Bok Choy

Broccoli or Garlic Scapes

Basil?

Turnips or Radishes

Scallions

Herbs (Oregano, Mint or Lemon Balm)

Edible Flowers

CSA Harvest - Week 2

It is starting to feel as though all the pieces are coming together. The gardens are almost planted, veggies are growing and the harvests are in full swing.  Completing the first harvest and sharing the Spring bounty with everyone last week was wonderful.  I hope you enjoyed the first dose of greens and are ready for more!

This week included a lot of weeding, seeding the fall brassica trays and bed preparation for hot crops. We seeded dry beans on Sunday and transplanted the winter squash and summer squash yesterday.  Next up, melons, the second round of green beans and a few outside tomatoes and eggplant. 

There are a few hiccups along the way though... for instance yesterday I noticed some bugs on the winter squash,  which I think may be thrips. Eek! We are going to try combatting them with some beneficial insects and a couple tricks I read about last night. Fingers crossed we can get them in check so the winter squash can thrive!

The first planting of tomatoes were getting pretty wild in the greenhouse and are now pruned and trellised. While pruning I discovered quite a few tomatoes already forming. Yum!

CSA Harvest - Week 2
Salad Greens
Spinach
Bok Choy
Kale or Chard
Radishes
Scallions
Edible Flowers
Micro Greens or Baby Kale/Chard
Herbs (Lemon Balm, Oregano or Mint)

Sourdough flavor of the week: Seeded (Quinoa, Oats, Sunflower, Sesame and Flax)

Have a lovely day,
Mindy

Harvest Time

Hey hey. Its June... how did that happen?! CSA Harvests started this morning. Yay!

Greens greens greens. 

The past week was a blur, we accomplished a lot but I am having a hard time remembering the details... I planted a block of peppers in Montrose to keep the fava beans and onions company. We seeded a patch of corn, a lot of beans and the first of many watermelons. Mmmm, the heat and wind yesterday made me so thirsty for watermelon.

The third hoop house is complete and already filled with tomatoes and peppers. 

We took advantage of the beautiful early morning hours  yesterday and seeded arugula and the next succession of salad greens. The second round of bok choy, asian cabbage and kohlrabi are now in the ground as well as the celery. 

Enough rambling... onto the harvest details. 

CSA Harvest - Week 1:

Salad Greens

Spinach

Scallions

Asian Cabbage
Bok Choy

Kale or Chard
Mustard Greens

Edible Flowers

Herbs (Lemon Balm, Oregano or Chives)

Have a beautiful day!

Beautiful

A few nights ago it was overcast, drizzling and quite chilly outside. I was procrastinating about heading outside to close up the garden for the evening. After getting bundled up I opened the door to see... this gorgeous double rainbow!!! I squealed (and maybe jumped) with excitement, then ran around taking pictures with a huge smile on my face. Suddenly I had a huge burst of energy and closing up the garden was delightful. Mmmmmmmmm.

The following morning brought it's own surprise, we woke up to an inch of slushy snow on the ground and it was pouring rain. The day before I was getting organized and grabbed my snow gloves to put away for the season... but something made me hesitate and I set them back down thinking, 'not just yet'. Sure enough, I played in the snow a bit on Sunday morning and was glad to have these gloves handy. Fingers crossed we are done with snow in the garden until Fall? I am loving the Spring moisture though, keep it coming! 

We are busy busy here. Planting, seeding, weeding and... building a third hoop house! The ground is very soggy after this last storm, so we need it to dry up a little before we can build and plant new beds. 

The gardens are really starting to pop. Greens are growing like mad, radishes are starting to fill out and the tomatoes are flowering and beginning to set fruit. 

We have a small patch of kale that overwintered and is now going to seed. The plants are several feet tall and covered with stunning yellow flowers that the honeybees and other beneficials seem to be enjoying.

The first CSA Harvest is right around the corner! I will be sending out an email to CSA Members in the coming days with details. 

Enjoy the sunshine! 

Mindy