Man-oh-man do we love summer! The farm is so full of excitement. The recent heat has put all of the crops in a good mood after almost an inch of rain last week! We were able to to some early season fall planting and even get a few of the beds prepped for winter crops.
Animals and Eggs
The pigs are about to get moved to a new spot. They have grown enough to be moved a new section of pasture. They do such a wonderful job at tilling when they are given a chance. If you want to check them out in a video we did a few weeks ago let us know and we can send you an invite to our new Facebook page.
Fruit
Blackberries will be in the share in the next week if they were not damaged too badly from the rains. They look great and we can’t wait to harvest them for you. Apples should be ready starting in a week or two as well. Strawberries have been our nemesis this summer; we have great looking plants with lots of berries and flowers but we keep getting water on them at the wrong time. We hope to have a harvest next week, again!
Greens
The new lettuce crop will be in the share by September. However, the kale loved the recent hot then cold then hot weather. We harvested a bunch per share today about two weeks before we had planned.
Herbs
Basil looks good this week and is in the share. We have lots of herb pruning to do, with a bunch needing to be cleaned up and cut back. Once that is taken care of, we should be back to oregano and rosemary in the shares.
Vegetables
Squash continues to perform well with a good looking winter squash crop starting to develop. A new crop of green onions is being planted with storage onions staying in the share until those are ready. We may get one more harvest of shallots for the year and are planning a larger crop for next year’s shares. Garlic finally started to make it out of the ground this week, with us harvesting several weeks behind schedule. Cucumbers are in the share with an awesome cucumber gazpacho recipe. If you have never had gazpacho, you have missed out. If you are not a cold soup person, try it anyway; you will probably love this one. And for a refreshing summer drink, try the cucumber cocktail.
Slicing and salad tomatoes are in the share, as well as a nice batch of cherry tomatoes. Peppers and eggplant have been slow to get off the ground this year, as in most years, but we are hoping for a few as we land in mid September.
Take care and see you soon,
Arika and Michael
Braeside Farms
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