Last week was a blessing for the farm as it allowed us to play catch-up on several fronts.
We began by planting all those trays that had been patiently waiting their turn — lettuces, beets, cabbages, turnips, arugula, and more. Next came weed management, which involved mowing all the spaces between rows and, where necessary, weeding within the rows of various vegetables that simply cannot compete with that infamous adversary.
Under varia,
I could highlight the installation of electric fences around the corn plot and also around the leafy greens, as well as the management of the insect netting that had to be removed because the plants underneath were flowering and needed to be pollinated — particularly in our winter squash patch.
Before we knew it,
Thursday morning had arrived
and turning on a dime we switched gears into market mode and began harvesting for the weekend.
There are still new trays to plant and more plots to weed, but the most urgent tasks have been taken care of — and that is what counts.
In this week’s basket, a star item: the blueberry.
The challenge is never-ending because appetites are insatiable and without protection — that is, bird netting — there would be no blueberries at all in your baskets.
We’ve been lucky with good rainfall (neither too much nor too little) because the blueberries are nice and plump this year, unlike the strawberries, which had a rougher time due to the heavy rains in May. Alongside the blueberries, we will be serving up summer squash, fennel, kale and/or Swiss chard, fine herbs and other yet-to-be-determined vegetables.
We look forward to seeing you all again.