Sunshiney July

Some highlights of our gardening adventures in July

A mid-July harvest of Kale, Collards, Radnips, Carrots, Beans, and Romaine Lettuce.

Happy Smiling Sunflowers.

 

Photo by Andrea Nickerson

Farmer Andrea’s Kales are Trees.

Farmer Andrea’s Companion Planting of Beets and Broccoli is thriving.

The heat of Summer brings on goodies like Tomatoes (variety: Bosche Blue), Eggplant, Summer Squash (Zucchini + Patty Pan), Winter Squash (like this Acorn Squash), and Watermelon.

Farmer Faenin is proud of how large his Onions are, these are early ones.

A Pear Tree planted for baby Lennon 17 years ago has it’s first Red Pear; a lovely Butterfly is sipping sweet juice from rotting fruit.

‘Seal’ Lavender throwing up the largest spears of all our varieties.

First time growing Wild Tobacco, for ceremonial purposes.

View of perennial beds of Sorrel, Onions (for seed), Chamomile, Plantain, Calendula, Horseradish, Chives, Strawberries, Asparagus, and Raspberries, with some Ground Cherries thrown in.

One of only a few successful Cucumbers.

It might be time to stop trying to grow Cucumbers outdoors. Between the insects and the mildew it’s a whole lot of work for nothing most years. We keep on trying because we love the taste of field Cukes in varieties not found in any store.

July is Garlic harvesting, and hanging to dry time. Many thanks to Paul + Andy for getting most of these beauties out of the field.

pretty little garlic all in a row

Farmer Andrea’s mom came to visit and they harvested some monster Kale!

Farmer Andrea also introduced the Veggie-Table. Held outside an art studio she shares with her partner, they are bringing Fresh, Local Veggies + Art to downtown Tilbury.

 

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CSA Week #7

We got a big job done this week – harvesting and hanging up the Garlic – and we’ve begun grading it for seed, sale, and personal use (basically what we can’t sell because it’s damaged or too small).

Garlic Hanging in the Hoophouse alongside Pepper Plants

This week’s pick list includes:

* Melons – Cantaloupes, Honey Dew, Watermelon

Arava Cantaloupe

Golden Watermelon, an early variety, seed from High Mowing

Even the leaves of the Golden Watermelon are Golden!

Baby Watermelon, an early variety grown from seed we saved last year

* A variety of Cherry Tomatoes – Black Cherry, Violet, Isis Candy, Yellow Pear, Peardrop, White, Sweet Millions, Indigo Rose

* A variety of Slicing and Beefsteak Tomatoes (some are unknown) – Japanese Trifele, Bellstar, Black Cherokee, Watermelon Beefsteak, Eva Purple Ball, Calabash, Copia, White, Taxi, Black Plum, Oregon Spring

* A hand-picked variety of Snap Beans

* Cucumbers and Eggplant – Listada di Gandia, Rosa Bianca, Black Beauty, Traviata, Little Finger, Calliope, Kermit, Orient Charm, Orient Express

* Salanova Lettuce – We experimented with all the available varieties and are extremely satisfied with how they turned out and will definitely grow them again. They withstood the heat of summer beautifully, they are beautiful, and save an incredible amount of time.

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CSA Week 3 – Windsor

WEEK 3 PICK LIST (Variations will occur. When there is choice of veggies it’s first come, first serve.)

Kale

Sugar Snap Peas

Salad Mix OR Head Lettuce

Pea Sprouts (for Regular baskets only)

Spring (Green) Onions *

Garlic ** (for Regular and Large baskets only)

Chinese (Napa) Cabbage 

8 Things To Do With Napa Cabbage is as thorough as one could be. Last year we dehydrated some and added it to our soup mixes to use throughout the Winter. Slice thinly for stir fries.

There are recipe options for Chard and Arugula in our previous post.

Not sure what to do with Kale? Try this recipe from a local food and wine blogger (Spoiler: it involves bacon).

* When using the Onions you can use the whole thing – the green and the white parts – and dehydrated onions make a nice snack on their own or as part of a soup mix.

** The Garlic is fresh and uncured. It’s a small amount but this blog post gives info on how to cure it. In short, the bulb needs a cool, dry place to cure for about a month. You can use it fresh but it will be very strong … if you like that sort of thing!

Is Napa Cabbage a new food for you? Have you experimented with new Salad dressings for all the fresh leafy greens? Please share with other members here!

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