THIS WEEK’S HARVEST
Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Celery, Heirloom Tomatoes, Metechi Hardneck Garlic, Curly Kale, Kohlrabi, Rainbow Carrots, Eggplant, Summer Squash & Zucchini, Striped Armenian Cucumbers, Olympian Cucumbers, Green & Purple Daikon, Torpedo Onions (Saturday) & Walla Walla Sweet Onions (Tuesday), Sweet Peppers, Arugula & assorted Head Lettuces
U-PICK
Check the u-pick board for updated weekly limits. With the ash settling on produce, we recommend washing all u-pick produce before consumption
Albion Strawberries
Cherry Tomatoes: See week 10’s newsletter for variety descriptions
Frying Peppers: Shishitos, Padróns | See week 5’s newsletter for harvest tips
Jalapeños: Located below the Padróns
Yellow & Red Thai Hot Peppers: Located next to the Jalapeños
Husk Cherries: Located just above the gnome homes in the garden | See Week 9’s Harvest Notes for tips
Herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Tulsi Basil, Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Purple Basil, Oregano, Marjoram, Tarragon, Onion Chives, Garlic Chives, Vietnamese Coriander, Culinary Lavender, Culinary Sage, French Sorrel, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Balm, Perilla & Purple Shiso, Chamomile, Green Coriander
New Flowers: There are two new beds of Cosmos and Zinnias blooming right next to the farm strawberries!
ONION HARVEST THIS WEDNESDAY 10am
We will be harvesting all the rest of our storage onions this Wednesday starting at 10 am! Come experience the wonder of a pulling up a field of onions. We’ll pull onions and lay them out to cure in our curing greenhouse. Please bring a mask / face covering #COVID.
HARVEST DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE
Saturday pick-up runs from 9:00am - 2:00pm
Tuesday pick-up runs from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
U-picking is open 7-days a week, sunrise to sunset. Please close the gates behind you on off days.
TOMATO TEAM 2020
Welcome to peak tomato season everyone! All of our heirloom field tomatoes are now fruiting happily — time we introduced you. We hope you fall in love with one of them this year. Tell us which is your favorite!
Top row, left to right: Cherokee Purple, Striped German, Green Zebra, Big Beef | Middle row, left to right: Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Brandywine, Berkeley Tie-dye | Bottom Row: Goldie, Black Krim, Sunrise Sauce Tomato, Speckled Roman Sauce Tomato, Garden Peach
Cherokee Purple: A classic, super productive heirloom tomato particularly good for BLTs
Striped German: Arguably the prettiest tomato we grow. Smooth, mellow, fruity flavored.
Green Zebra: A delightful, tart and acidic, miniature tomato. Ripe when yellow-green and slightly soft to the touch.
Big Beef: Like jeans and a t-shirt, a classic red beefsteak.
Aunt Ruby’s German Green: Green turning to yellow when ripe, this tomato is our all-time favorite. First introduced by Ruby Arnold who's German immigrant grandfather saved the seeds. You'll know Aunt Ruby's is ripe when it gives just slightly to the touch.
Brandywine: The quintessential pink heirloom, “rich, loud, and distinctively spicy" according to Johnny's Selected Seeds
Berkeley Tie-Dye: Dark pink with green stripes with soft and delicate skin. Was developed by the tomato breeding specialists at Wild Boar Farms in Napa.
Goldie: David’s personal favorite. A good Goldie (dark orange when ripe) will taste like flowers and melons and go down smooth and sweet.
Black Krim: A Russian heirloom often described as having a bold, smoky flavor. Black Krim and Cherokee Purple look quite similar. Black Krim tends to have more pronounced green/brown shoulders.
Sunrise: A dense and sweet yellow sauce tomato we are trialing this year.
Speckled Roman: An exceptionally delicious sauce tomato with a psychedelic dream-coat. Excellent for fresh eating as well.
Garden Peach: A new trial this year. The catalogue said, “Yellow fruits blush pink when ripe and have thin fuzzy skins somewhat like peaches, soft-skinned, juicy and very sweet. Light fruity taste is not what you’d expect in a tomato.” We are still on the fence and interested in your opinion.
Pepper time!
FARMER’S LOG
LET THE HARVESTS BEGIN
Onions… onions… onions… onions… onions…
That’s what I’ve got on my mind now. Down in the field by the creek, next to the sweet peppers and celery root, we have a gorgeous storage onion crop — fully bulbed up and ready for harvest.
We were going to harvest them all this coming Wednesday, but the record breaking heat in the forecast this weekend has us doing a little pivot! This evening, we are cramming in some bulk harvesting, getting the most ready of the onions, the most flopped over and vulnerable to sunburn, into our curing house. When onions are ready to harvest their greens flop over, which means they are essentially done transpiring, which in turn means they can’t cool themselves in extreme heat. It might be overly cautious, this spontaneous harvest, but this onion crop is our precious-beautiful-baby and we want nothing to harm it.
So it begins. The storage onion harvest is the harbinger of the big Fall harvests. If May and June are all about establishment and planting; and July and August are all about tending, tending, tending; then September and October are all about bringing home the bacon and reaping what you’ve sown. First the onions, then winter squash, then potatoes, then corn It’s going to be an avalanche of goodness in the coming months.
In that spirit… back out to the onions.
See you in the fields,
David for Kayta, Anna & Kate
