Peaceful greetings Sweetwater Community.
(Please remember the farm will be closed Sunday the 8th for the holiday. Sunday CSA pick-up will take place the day before, on Saturday the 7th from 12:00-4:00.)
The growing season continues with some bounty and some learning experiences. The new Children’s Home field has given us much bounty in its first months of production, but at the same time we are facing challenges that come with growing in a new field. Many challenges come up when growing in a soil which is not yet fertile and balanced in biodiversity. We will achieve this goal after several applications of good organic matter and several incorporations of green cover crops into the soil. One of these challenges is plant viruses which have already devastated our spring tomato and eggplant production. We are already working to resolve this for next season, and this new lesson will only make us better farmers. In the mean time many crops are growing better then expected and we should all enjoy great harvest the remainder of the season. We are almost ready to start harvesting the spring vegetables like cucumber, summer squash, potatoes, basil, peppers and more.
This week we’ll continue with some of the winter crops that will feed us for a little longer this season, like cabbage, carrots and broccoli.
We will have baby Mizuna, this is an Asian green related to Arugula but with less bite. Enjoy in salads, stir-fried or steamed.
The beets have been growing very slow at the new field but are finally ready to harvest. They are delicious and don’t forget to use the greens.
And I can never say enough about Kohlrabi. Never heard of it before I learned to grow it here at Sweetwater but is now one of my favorite farm veggies. Don’t be intimidated, just cut up the bulb and use as raw veggie chips and don’t forget to thinnly slice the leaves and add to your salad for a fresh crunchy texture. Want to get more creative then just “google it” and you will find many recipes, it is a favorite in European cooking. The white and purple varieties have very similar qualities and can be used interchangeably.
I can never thank you all enough for supporting such an environmental, sustainable and community focused form of agriculture. Remember food is medicine and medicine is food.
Happy and healthy eating and living!