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First Light Farm CSA

CSA Week 8 , take 2

7/31/2012

2 Comments

 
Hmm,  my prediction  of this week's Share Items was way off. We ended up putting eggplant in instead of the daikon and potatoes because the eggplant matured earlier. Classic seasonal eating.  

 Things change quickly on the farm.  Rain, heat, bugs, disease--- you really just never know what's gonna happen.  

For example, the vigorous cucumber vines we had  just 1 week ago are now yellow and crunchy, crawling with insects.  
 (Fortunately, our next planting of cucumbers is doing really well….)

So my share item listing will generally be about 80% accurate.  We are farmers, not  vendors, not middlemen.   Farmers  operate within a biological system, one that we don’t always have control of.   It would be very easy (and probably more profitable) to go to a commercial produce warehouse and buy all the crops that i said would be in your share.

 Sure, eating with the seasons comes with some uncertainty. The occasional inconveniences and crop failures are usually  offset by another crop that does great.  We think that the privilege of growing, of sharing, and of eating fresh local food is well worth it.  


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when the lighting is right, you can see the little golden hairs all over their leaves and stems.
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a lady bug before it gets it's shiny red wings. it is eating aphids (the little brown bugs in the upper left corner)
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a very dead tomatoe hornworm
2 Comments

Week 8 CSA Fruit Share begins this week

7/29/2012

5 Comments

 
This week’s share consists of potatoes, onions,
cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, daikon radish (looks like a smooth white
carrot),   fresh parsley,  and mixed baby lettuces (in the bag). 

Coming soon – basil, peppers 
 
Fruit Share starts this week! --- Blueberries and Peaches.   The fruit share will continue each week  until the summers CSA ends in late October.  The types of fruit will vary from  week to week, according to the seasonal harvest. (for example, apples come
later….)

5 Comments

CSA Week 7, July23-27 Pickle Week

7/25/2012

5 Comments

 
 This week's share consists of arugula, beets, kale, onions, zucchini, summer squash, potatoes, fresh dill, and Lots of Cucumbers.

It seems to happen every year---  we wait and wait for a certain crop,  then it finally comes in,  and there is suddenly way too much of it.  

We had a lot insect and disease pressure on our first cucumber planting back in May,  so we planted a whole bunch more just in case.  But obviously,  they all bounced back and we are  rolling in them right now.  Growing veggies is fairly manic;  supply can swing from famine, to feast, to famine, to.....

It is definitely a pain to have to pick all these cucumbers, when there are so many other things to do.  But we think it is worth it.  By sharing, bartering,and/or preserving the harvest, these random surpluses give everyone in the CSA a chance to get more involved in our local food system.  Spread the food, spread the word, spread the love. 

On that note,  email me if you know of a shelter or food pantry which could use cucumbers and/or if you want to buy some in bulk, $1/lb.  You could even buy them from me and then donate them yourself! 

Make Pickles or relish!  What i like to do is to give the cucumbers to a friend.  They turn them into pickles and give some back to me....

We hope you are enjoying this season's harvest so far.
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aggresive cucumber vines!
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floating row covers adding heat and excluding bugs from our cucumbers back in may
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its so dry we need to water the fields even Before we plant
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CSA pickup site at Salem Farmers Market
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5 Comments

Week 6 July 16-20

7/17/2012

2 Comments

 
The heat has brought on the crops almost faster than we can pick them; especially since we are spending so much time irrigating,pruning tomatoes, weeding, and planting for the fall harvest. 

This week's share consists of mesclun lettuce (its in the bag), arugula (the light green bunch), salad  turnips, carrots, beets, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, red  cabbage, basil, and scallions.  It is hard to fit in the box!   
This is the season to 'share' vegetables with your family and friends... enjoy!
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our hoophouse is a tomato timebomb. They're coming early august.
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preparing field for the fall broccoli,cabbage, and cauliflower crop
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2 Comments

Week 5 CSA

7/10/2012

2 Comments

 
This week’s share consists of beets, carrots, kale, scallions,
white salad turnips, savoy cabbage, zucchini, and a colorful assortment of  summer squash--use as us would zucchini.    

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2 Comments

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First Light Farm--A North Shore CSA