Elysian Fields Farm
Wednesday April 28th, 2004 |
| Strawberries | |||
| Lettuce | |||
| Turnips | |||
| Baby Bok Choi | |||
| Napa Cabbage | |||
| Chard/Kale |
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| Cilantro | |||
| Dill | |||
| Leeks | |||
Hello again everyone, hope you all enjoyed the first delivery. I am very excited about the start of the strawberry season. Thanks to all the great sunshine we have been receiving thus far this year, the berries are plentiful and sweet.
The annual CFSA Piedmont Farm Tour is this weekend. Elysian Fields is one of the 29 farms open for tours Saturday and Sunday between 1-5pm. I hope all or any members can make it out to see where and how their food is growing.
I want to summerize the Administrative reminders once again, since there are a couple I forgot last week. I just want to make sure we are all on the same page with how the CSA operates. -Please return your box each week to your pick up point. They break down really easily. It would be great if you could also return pint containers too.
Okay, that covers the inner workings of the program. I wanted to talk asparagus. If you have been reading your group emails that I put out this winter and spring, you would know that I planted a quarter acre of Asparagus with the help of a handful of great member volunteers. I wanted to thank these members once again, I had a great time working with you all and meeting those I had not already met. The asparagus update is that they are shooting up spears! This is very exciting and relieving to me since there was a little scare with the crowns after they were planted. I wanted to wait to tell members until I knew for sure whether they were going to make it or not (which they are!). So, here is what happened. The crowns became infested with a pest called 'Seedcorn Maggots' (gross maggots!). The fly lays its eggs in the spring in soil that is cool, moist and that has organic matter residue in it. The eggs hatch, and form the larvae or maggot stage. They infested the crowns by eating out the eyes, or, the part of the crown that produces the spears. Once infested, there are no organic controls. I wasn't sure how the asparagus would respond, if the eyes would recover and send out new shoots or not. It seems as though they have, now that the maggots have turned into flies and flown away. Lets hope this won't affect the yield or strength of the future crop. Remember though that asparagus takes about two years to establish prior to harvest. We won't be seeing any spears in boxes until spring of 2006!
The leeks you received are actually the last of the over-wintered experimental batch I did last fall. There are more in the ground that I planted this spring that we will enjoy this summer. I had never over-wintered leeks before, and wasn't sure how the variety I planted would hold up. Turns out they did great, and next fall I will plant a lot more so that we can have a plenty full harvest in the spring. The Broccoli Rabe I panted this spring was also an experiment, I had never grown it before and was not sure what to expect. Turns out I need to do succession plantings, and will do more next spring. For now though, looks like we won't have any more this spring. Don't forget to check you cook books and the website for recipes for this weeks veggies!
What to look forward to...
We have a bunch of good stuff on the way to be excited about. The sweet peas (which I have a lot of as I promised folks last fall) are starting to form and we may have some of those next week. The broccoli and cauliflower are looking good and may form their heads sooner rather than later especially with that warm weather we received last week. I have a nice bed of scallions that will be in shares for a few weeks maybe starting next week. The beets and carrots look great too. The beets are a variety called Chiogga this year, and we should see them in one to two weeks. Strawberries will continue to produce for about four weeks so we should see a good bit of them as well. Once again, if members have any thoughts or questions please let me know via email, I love to hear from you guys!!!! Elise.
Elysian Fields Farm: Community Supported Agriculture
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