Hello! A whole lot is going on. I will start by saying the Carolina Farm Stewardship's annual farm tour was a big hit this weekend. I had over 200 people visit the farm this weekend and was able to meet some new members to the CSA program this year which was nice. Next, I will talk about the strawberries since I know most of you are anxious to hear about their growth or potential lack there of. As I mentioned in the renewal notice last fall to returning members, I did lose some plants shortly after planting last fall. That combined with the Easter freeze we had a couple of weeks ago leaves us with about 1/3 of the potential harvest. I know this is a hard fact to swallow, believe me it is hard for me. All the same, they are starting to turn, and we will have some in the shares, just not the abundance we have had in the past. This is a great opportunity for you all to look into some of the local pick your own farms, although unfortunately I don't know of any organic pick you owns locally. I do know of one that is an hour and a half away or so and will try to get you that info next week. The Easter freeze also killed all of the asparagus that was above ground, but as you can see, these warm temperatures are allowing for a strong comeback and we will hopefully have it for a few more weeks.
For those of you who are new to the program, I want to point out that since it is still early in the season the shares are going to be a bit on the light side for a few weeks. We will make up for that later in the year with plenty of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, sweet peas and all the other yummy vegetables we have planted at this time. As for the Easter freeze, it did also set a few things back, but no other losses were sustained. If you remember, it had been a steady 80 degrees up until the late freeze we had a couple of weeks ago. What this did was hurry the first plantings along prematurely, then following the freeze, slowed the second and later plantings down. So, what we have is a bit of a gap that has formed. It will be a couple of weeks until the next planting of lettuce, spinach and boc choi are ready, but we will have other things to fill in with in the meantime hopefully. We have got to work with the weather mother nature provides, always an interesting yet gratifying challenge.
We have been thrown a challenging wrench this year that mother nature didn't provide, and we haven't yet figured out what the exact cause of it has been but we do have an idea. Myself and four other local growers all went in together on an order of potting soil and worm castings for the year. We add the worm castings to the potting soil and seed into this mix in the greenhouse where we start our plants that are to be transplanted out into the field. Unfortunately we have all been experiencing the same problem, widespread and mysterious plant death. We have some expert plant pathologists at NC state working on the problem to identify the source, although we are pretty sure that the Phytopthera that we have found through tests came in from the worm castings. Phytopthera is a pretty serious soil disease. I have lost all of my tomatoes, my first plantings of cucumbers, summer squash, watermelon and canteloupe. Not to worry though, there is no way I would let that stop me. What I have done is buy plants to replace all of these. The only problem here is that this is expensive! I am looking at close to $1,000 worth of unexpected costs due to this problem. Luckily I was able to source some sungold plants just a couple of days ago, since they are hard to find I was worried that we may have to go the season without them which would surely be a shame.
On the flip side, this season is actually going really well for us here at the farm. I have two fabulous full time employees this season working on your produce. Celine Lombardi is my intern for the year and lives on the farm for the season in a small cabin I provide. She has come to us from NY city of all places, having worked at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Cloister's Museum garden, she is well experienced and a hard, hard worker. Eric Gibean has come to us from Florida where he had worked on a farm down there for a season. It has been a blessing to received two such experienced and hard workers for the year and the yeilds will surely reflect this for the season.
Remember you can eat both the turnip and the turnip greens. These turnips have converted many people who once thought they did not like turnips, so give a try. They are great raw in a salad or sautéed. The Boc Choi as well is good raw in a salad or sautéed, and remember to eat the stalk and the leaf because they are both delicious. We didn't have enough of the half share asparagus, and only a little strawberries so we gave either strawberries, asparagus or kale to the half shares (so you should have received at least one of these items. Please let me know if you have any questions. Elise
| Crop | Amount | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Total | $18.50 | |
| Turnips | 1 larger bunch | $3.00 |
| Radishes | 1 larger bunch | $2.50 |
| Baby Boc Choi | three | $3.00 |
| Lettuce | 2 heads | $4.00 |
| Green Garlic | 2 stalks | $2.00 |
| Asparagus | ¾ lb. | $4.00 |
| Crop | Amount | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Total | $12.00 | |
| Turnips | 1 bunch | $2.00 |
| Radishes | 1 bunch | $2.00 |
| Baby Boc Choi | two | $2.00 |
| Lettuce | 1 head | $2.00 |
| Green Garlic | 1 stalks | $1.00 |
| Asparagus | ½ lb. | $3.00 |
Combine thoroughly in a blender or food processor (food processor works better):
The result is a delightfully green and tasty paste to be used on pasta, rice, in salad dressings, as a dip, or spread on bread.
Tonight I spread it on tilapia filets and baked at 350 for 30 minutes-- delicious!
-Member Allison Cable