2nd Summer CSA pick up this week

Farm News: Temps are rising!

This next week it feels like we are starting the swing into summer. Last week it was cooler evening, mild days, and that dang wind. This next week it looks like we are tipping into a day at 90 and lows in the 40s and 50s. The temperature swings at this time of year are pretty crazy, but you know what responds really well to this: VEGETABLES. Thank goodness, because we are nothing but ready to start seeing more things ready to harvest!

The temp swing paired with it only being the first week of June marks a new rhythm on the farm that revolves around checking the weather daily (sometimes more than once a day) and then making a whole series of decisions based on the anticipated low:

  • leave the hoop houses open or closed at night?
  • turn the heaters on or off in the chick house?
  • set your alarm to wake up at 3, 4, and 5 am to see if you need to go out and turn the irrigation on to frost protect the baby plants in the big field

Central Oregon is a place of zero historic frost free days which means that it could freeze any night of the year, every day of the year. Great place to farm, don’t you think . This keeps us on our toes especially at this time of year, but it also makes the bounty we reap that much more rewarding and delicious.

We thrive here with some pretty serious odds stacked against us: water availability in the desert, potential freezing temps all year long, smokey summers and falls (fingers crossed for this year), an industrial agricultural economy 100% not built to support small, local farmers growing food for their community. Your CSA membership is one serious weight placed on the other side of the scale. Your weekly commitment is huge! Don’t you forget that.

Because of your commitment we can farm and feed you. It is circular, just like the nutrient cycle we aspire too. What you put in as memberships comes out in the form of soil filled with biomass to hold the limited water supply longer; the wages we can pay members of our community to plant the crops and open and close the hoops and attend the animals; and a majorly reduced carbon footprint which might not feel like it is doing something but is working towards reducing all that damn forest fire smoke. By sourcing your food from your community instead of a carbon foot print so full of fuel and resources it is impossible to wrap your mind around, you are taking a chink out of the problem. It might not feel like much, but it does add up. The circle wraps back around keeping your bellies full of food you can trust.

Thank you for taking this powerful step with us! We can’t wait to see you this week!

Let us know if you have any questions or need to move your pick up location!

~ Alison & the Farm Crew

Photo Credit: Ray Hansen, Coni Espinoza

Top Pic: The ladies are not showing any signs of slowing down. Order your eggs in the Add-On section below and secure your dozen today! Our hens are fed organic Scratch and Peck and graze on their pasture during all the daylight hours. Come and check them out next time you are at the farm store. They always create quite the ruckus just off the parking lot.

Next Pic: We began transplanting hot peppers last week. These babies take for-ev-er to produce peppers, but they are worth it. Step one was seeding, step two transplanting into 1 gallon pots, step three, transplanting into the hoop houses, step 4, keeping them protected fed and watered for the next 3 months until we get to step 5 in late August/September and start harvesting!

Final Pic: Chives! Chives have the most beautiful purple flower, which you can eat! Use the stalk and then sprinkle the purple flower over whatever you just cooked for a beautiful, seasonal, mildly oniony finishing touch!

Veggie CSA

Every week, we include this section with what we think will be coming out of our fields and hoop houses for the CSA pick up. Keep in mind, that we send this email on Monday just as we start harvesting for the week. That means this is a guess/estimation/extrapolation of what we think we are seeing in the fields. Sometimes we are spot on, but other times we are not.

Our CSA is market style, this means that it isn’t a guarantee that we have of all these things for everyone. Instead, this will be the variety of what we will hopefully (fingers crossed) have for you to choose from this week.)

A note on foundations: SURPRISE! You will learn your foundations and all the details of your CSA for the week when you pick up.

Harvest List will probably include:

Arugula
asian greens
green onions
dinosaur kale
head lettuce
napa cabbage
parsley
rhubarb
radishes
salad mixes
salad turnips

zucchini
spinach
peas
thyme
asparagus
chives
oregano
mint
lemon balm
lovage
bulk potatoes & shallots

Meat CSA

Tune in next week for the Meat CSA.
Don’t forget, Meat CSA picks up every other week. Next meat CSA is 6/12.

The flowers have been a bit slow to arrive this year due to those cooler temps mentioned earlier. That makes each one that much more beautiful! Hopefully next week will mark a turning point in flower land and we will have more to share with you at market!