The heat was on this morning, with the harvest starting at 5 a.m. Lucky for us, the little bit of mountain breeze we were getting kept up for much of the early morning.
Animals and Eggs
The chickens have been laying just fine but not spectacularly for the last couple of weeks while we have been above normal temperatures. So, we will continue to provide 6 eggs to keep pace with their production.
Fruit
Strawberries made it back into the share again this week with a pint per member. We could not get enough water on the plants the last couple of week to get the yield we needed. We hope to do a better job at that as the summer continues. In the meantime, we recommend making strawberry crepes with strawberry mimosas to start your morning off right. Blackberries have formed fruit, but are still about 3 weeks off for harvesting. We have already noticed some berries being harvested at lower elevations near Portland and in the valley.
Greens
Salad mix should be in the harvest within the next 2 weeks. We have a good crop of various baby greens, but they just went in a couple of weeks ago.
Herbs
Basil is in the share this week and if the temperatures can cool down for a bit, it will stay in the share. The heat has been stressing some of the crop right about the time we are ready to pick it. Other herbs, like thyme, rosemary and bay, will be coming back soon.
Vegetables
Potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, squash, and broccoli are all in the share this week. We’ve provided a nice cold potato and leek soup recipe using the first few ingredients. Carrots will be in the share for about 2 more weeks and then we will be out of stock until later in to the fall.
The squashes are a patty pan variety. They are delicate and tender. We had a few larger ones in the share which seem huge compared to the typical minis we get from these plants. But the big ones have not gotten tough yet, so we included them in the share. We love these squashes raw, but simply sauteing them in olive oil or butter and seasoning with salt and pepper is fantastic.
As for the broccoli, we may be able to eek out another harvest of before the fall but the plants are rapidly going to seed.
Take care,
Arika and Michael
Braeside Farms
