Farm Week # 3 - June 13, 2016

Peonies are beautiful.

June 13, 2016

FARM NEWS:
Tomatoes  in the "cat" tunnels look great, poultry has been safe, new chicks hatched last night!, we are really close to being done with the main planting (for real), we planted more kinds of greens - Red Garnet mustard, turnip greens, and collards, we are researching Sweet Cicely and rhubarb recipes, we planted some watermelons (cross your fingers for late August melons), tiny carrots are forming, we planted rutabagas and more beets and more kohlrabi and more fennel.  We are still setting out and transplanting flowers, planting late season brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, etc.), setting out winter squash, and lots of odds and ends!  Future new projects will include building the new high tunnel and creating and planting the new herb garden.  The list continues.  

Our system of making more garden space using cardboard and mulch is working well.  Thanks for all the cardboard contributions and tips on where to get more.  We need a lot!  More information here: https://seedsofsolidarity.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/3seasons-of-no-till.pdf

Last week was the first week we had a “choosing shelf” for part of the shares and it went just fine.  We will most likely have that every week.  More flowers coming this week but will not be as plentiful as they will be later in the summer.

FARM SHARE # 3
THIS WEEK'S HARVEST:
Mesclun
Head lettuce - several types if mini romaine lettuces
Cooking greens - kale, baby chard
Bok choy
Broccoli
Rhubarb
Turnips/turnip greens
Radishes
Broccoli - some
Cucumbers - a few
Kohlrabi - a few
Herbs - fennel, parsley, wild peppermint, catnip
Flowers: pyrethrum, peonies, iris, etc.
Plus whatever else we find while we're harvesting for you.

No scallions or scapes yet, probably no alliums this week
Coming soon: carnations, napa cabbage, cabbage, zukes, coriander for green seeds

COOKING IDEAS
Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake: http://mmmisformommy.com/2011/06/rhubarb-buttermilk-cake.html
Roasted Bok Choy: http://lastingimpressionsrecipes.blogspot.com
(I am currently researching ways to use Sweet Cicely and Rhubarb.  There are lots of interesting recipes, including some that use both.  I’ll share more when I know more. - Laura)
Wild peppermint is very strong.  We especially like it in tabouli or dried for herbal tea.

WILDLIFE SITINGS AROUND THE FARM:
Snapping turtle laying eggs, Indigo Buntings, a woodcock digging in the mud, Pileated Woodpecker swooping overhead, a very red bird (Scarlet Tanager?), deer, bunnies in the road, yellow jackets (?) buzzing in a pear tree.  No foxes seen this week.

Robin and Laura
Sweet Morning Farm
910 Greenfield Rd
Leyden, MA 01337
413-773-8325
sweetmorningfarm@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetMorningFarm
CSA info: http://sweet-morning-farm-csa.blogspot.com
Blog: http://sweet-morning-farm.blogspot.com/
Recipe blog:  http://lastingimpressionsrecipes.blogspot.com