Farm Share # 20 - October 22, 2015 (LAST SHARE)

LAST SHARE OF 2015
Celery, leeks, beets, carrots, daikons, radicchio, fennel, garlic, greens (choice of escarole, puntarelle, mustard greens, chard, kale, or collards), herbs (choice of parsley, sorrel, mint, or arugula), microgreens, kohlrabi, chestnuts!, two choosing items (choice of carrots, mesclun, broccoli, kohlrabi, radishes, salad turnips, runner beans, shelling beans, dry beans, microgreens, Brussels sprouts)

Mini Share # 20 - October 15, 2015

We split up the final shares this week, in order to give the garden and ourselves a bit of a rest between harvests.  This was the final week for the Mini Shares and as usual, they got to choose two items that appealed to them.

Choices:
Puntarelle (Italian dandelion)
Green peppers
Kale
Leeks
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Escarole
Radicchio
Chard
Wine cap mushrooms

Farm Share # 19 - October 8, 2015

Escarole

Farm Share #19 - Mint, mesclun, fennel. garlic, leeks, hot peppers, sweet peppers, escarole, greens (puntarelle, kale, or chard), 2 choosing items (leeks, winter squash, summer squash, eggplant, runner beans, tomatillos, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, ground cherries, celery)

Mini Share -winter squash and mesclun

Mini Share - Scarlet runner beans & tomatillos

Mini Share - Puntarelle & radicchio

Farm Share # 18 - October 1, 2015

Ready for CSA pick up

Farm Share # 18:

Herbs - 1 bunch (Parsley, coriander, or apple mint)
Mesclun - 1/4 pound
Onions - 3
Hot peppers - as many as you like
Winter squash - 1
Celery - 1 plant
New Zealand spinach - 1/2 pound
Carrots 18
Tomatoes - 1 pint
Greens - 1 bunch (chard, kale, or collards)
Choosing area - 1 item (celery, winter squash, summer squash, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, shell beans, beets, tomatillos, Baldwin apples, radicchio, broccoli)

Mini Shares - 2 items from the choosing area

Farm Share # 17 - September 24, 2015

Big Share - mesclun, fennel, pears, apples, watermelon, tomatillos, mushrooms, sweet pepper, hot peppers, chicory, carrots, garlic, leeks, parsley, tomatoes

Min Share (two choices) - mushrooms and tomatillos

Farm Share # 16 - September 16, 2015

Each week we try to offer our farm members as much choice as possible.  Usually farm members get to choose which kind of herbs they want and which kind of greens.  We also have a "choosing area" and members choose 1, 2, or 3 items, depending on the harvest.  This week people chose 2 items so if you look at the share pictures below, you can see two variations.  Mini Share folks choose two things from an assortment of veggies.  It's a challenge for us to provide a good range of choices for the minis, even for the folks that need to come later in the day.  I think we manage to do all right with that.  (Sometimes we hold out a couple of things to fill in late in the day.  We don't want anyone to be penalized because they have to work until 5:00.)  

This week we gave all the big shares Brussels sprouts leaves.  We've been trimming our plants so they can focus their energy on growing sprouts.  We've all been enjoying the sprout leaves.  They taste like the sprouts, but have a variety of possible uses from steaming or sauteing like any green, stuffing like cabbage leaves, or making cole slaw.

Big Share - choices are sweet pepper and tomatoes

Big Share - choices are squash and horseradish

Sample Mini Share - Beets and puntarelle

Sample Mini Share - Mesclun and tomatoes

Farm Share # 15 - September 10, 2015

Big Share - mesclun, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, squash, red onion, garlic, leeks, hot peppers, fennel, herbs - basil-parsley, Brussel sprout greens, other greens - New Zealand spinach-chard-kale, two choosing items, flowers

Farm Share # 14 - September 3, 2015

Today's super hot pepper harvest.  We are growing these in a tunnel connected to the chicken coop.  We call it the "hot house".  The birds use the space in the winter for sunbathing, dust bathing, and general scratching about.  The soil is rich and it is really warm and protected in there.  Honestly, the pepper plants are about 5 feet tall and loaded with fruit.  It's amazing.  Next year we'll be planting more sweet peppers and more mild peppers in that kind of space.  It's great!




FARM SHARE # 14
celery
green onions
cucumbers
summer squash
eggplant
tomatoes
sweet peppers
hot peppers
beans
greens (kale, chard, beet greens, or collards)
Brussels sprout tops
herbs (basil, dill, mint)
pears
two choosing items (pickling cukes, eggplant, edible flowers, leeks, fennel, carrots, mushrooms, onions)
flowers

Farm Share # 13 - August 27, 2015

Fresh coriander

Mini Share choices

Herbs, hot peppers, garlic, cukes, beets

Choosing shelf - eggplant, tomatillos, mushrooms, squash, tomatoes, and more!

Flowers are in full swing

Dahlias, calendula, amaranth

Lisianthus

Strawflowers

Glads and lemon mint

Zinnias

Big Share

Super hot peppers

Extra mushrooms!

Farm Share # 12 - August 20, 2015

Gladioli!

Big Share

Our first shiitakes were part of the share!

Farm Share # 11 - August 13, 2015

Big Share

Mini Share

Farm Share # 10 - August 6, 2015

Mini Share

Big Share

Some wacky but tasty Italian tomatoes.  Seeds from our friend John.

Farm Share # 9 - July 30, 2015

Crocosmia!

Ready for pick up

Ready for pick up

Choosing shelf

Flowers

Mini share choices

Farm Share #8 - July 23, 2015

A mix of SMF flowers and some from farm member, Mieke.

Michael's share (He chose squash and eggplant from the choosing shelf.)

A  double share for our friends at Spirit Fire

What's coming this week: Farm Share # 8 - July 23, 2015

Crocosmia - coming soon to SMF

July 20, 2015

Good morning, farm friends,

FARM NEWS
It's been really hot and summery.  The vine crops like winter squash and watermelon are spreading and blooming, the fruiting crops like squash and tomatoes and beans are coming in well, and every day there are things that must be picked so they don’t get too big or damaged by rain.  The world around here is kind of green and jungly and muggy.

At the same time, Robin and I are focused on planting for the fall (spinach, daikon radishes, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, etc.) and learning about growing greens in a high tunnel, something we hope to do this coming winter.

One of the fun parts of farming, is learning and experimenting.  This year Rob and I have tried out a few new techniques to increase our efficiency and productivity and the quality of the crops.  This is an ongoing effort and pleasure.

Recently we planted carrots and planted a few beet seeds in the bed at the same time.  When the beets germinated, Rob used the new flame weeder to burn off any tiny sprouted weeds and weed seed before the carrots actually came up.  Now the carrots are up and so far, they seem weed-free.  That could save us lots of time and help the storage carrots get a strong start.

Another new technique is using heavy-duty plastic to smother weeds and weed seed before planting.  Any time an area is harvested, even if just a few days will go by before it is replanted, the plastic goes down.  At the very least it will weaken the weed plants so the crops can grow better.

This year we have used a lot more light weight “agricultural cloth” to protect certain crops from flea beetles, cabbage worms, and more.  The result includes arugula with no bug holes!  The tricky bit with this technique seems to be remembering to check under the cover often and weed the bed if needed.

I am really glad we keep figuring out and trying new methods, especially when they work so well.


SHARE # 8 - July 23, 2015
This week we will be picking:
Mesclun
Arugula
Endive frisee?  Almost ready...
Punterelle?  This is new to our farm, not sure how long to let it grow.
Greens - kale, chard, chicory
Sweet onions
Cucumbers
Squash
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Eggplant?  A few look very close…
Tomatoes
Carrots
Salad turnips
Dill
Basil
Flowers - zinnia, echinacea, calendula, yarrow, and more.  Crocosmia is in bud.

The PYO garden will have parsley, snap peas, beans, some flowers, and the first of the cherry tomatoes!

That's all for now,
Robin and Laura

Sweet Morning Farm
910 Greenfield Rd
Leyden, MA 01337
413-773-8325
sweetmorningfarm@gmail.com
FACEBOOK PAGE

Farm Share #7 - July 16, 2015

Greens and beans

Nearly ready for pick up

Big Share - choosing item = tomatoes

Big Share - choosing item = red currants

Mini Share

Mini Share