Obviously taken on a NOT “gloomy” June day — Rusty picking and eating the low hanging fruit from our cherry trees.
Last week, after we came out of a brief but intense first heat wave, I heard many people marveling in astonishment at the arrival of rain! In June!?
Oh, let me tell you. It certainly does rain in the Pacific Northwest in June. It can be hard to remember this fact after two prior years of very early summers (following on the heels of warm and dry springs), but June is a time of unpredictability. In fact, I’d say that is the one thing you can predict about June — that’s you just can’t predict it at all! If I were to plan an outdoor wedding, I wouldn’t plan it in June. Odds are equal that it may be 100° out or that it may be raining.
Old timers know not to expect reliably dry weather in these parts until after the Fourth of July. Historically, even the Fourth itself was not a predictable day! I remember many a wet celebration from my youth (including a very rainy week spent at horse camp in early July back when I was ten or so).
There are even two words to describe the spells of wet, cool weather that may arrive in June: “June gloom” and “June-uary.”
I don’t think that the last week could fall into that latter category. While we have seen more overcast skies, a handful of downpours, and mild temperatures, it certainly still feels like we’re moving toward summer out there. Not like in earlier seasons we remember when it seemed that all growth in the fields paused in June, leaving us farmers completely freaked out as we prepared for the earliest summer CSA harvests. No, that is not at all the case this time around — things are growing and growing, just as we’d hope for June.
Just for fun last week, Casey decided to mark the growth of leaves on one zucchini plant over several days. He drew a spot in the dirt where the first leaves touched on one day and watched in amazement as they grew past that and were replaced by new leaves in just two days!
And, early this morning Casey put poles out for our pole beans. By breakfast, ten plants had already started wrapping their tendrils around the poles to climb, and I’m sure by now the majority have followed suit.
Yes, plants sure can grow this time of year. Gloomy skies or not.
Next Monday is the summer solstice! Already! It’s also a Full Moon, which I’m sure brings all sorts of auspicious energy to the day as we hit that day length peak of the year. I have to admit that the summer solstice brings me joy, but I find I cannot as fully enter into the marking and celebration as I can at the other side of the year. When the winter solstice arrives, I am so ready to turn that corner, and the darkness brings so much time and space for pondering it all. In summer, it’s more like a hit-and-run celebration — “Oh, gee, it’s the solstice! How wonderful!” and then we keep on running by, so occupied by the energy that this season brings with it and all the activities of work and play that fill every single long day. Whew! I feel like a buzzing bee, all humming along, dancing from flower to flower while the sun shines! It’s all loveliness and joy, but I know that come fall, I will be ready for a rest.
In the meantime, June’s gloom brings a little glimmer of rest into the early summer days. When those downpours roll across the valley, I can feel myself relax a little deeper, happy with the knowledge that our irrigation efforts are being aided by nature herself and that for the moment we can pause inside and make some lists and look out the windows. Perhaps those downpours are the equivalent of candlelight in the winter — a little balancing taste of the other side of the year’s wheel.
And, of course, the food is just coming in. Good old Jasper (our long-time employee of yore) visited the farm for dinner on Monday, and he commented on how many fun early crops he’s seen on our CSA lists this year. Yes, indeed! No doubt that we’re eating summer foods, and with great gusto.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Cherries
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes and cucumbers
- Head lettuce
- Fava beans
- Beet greens — These are a fun spring treat. We don’t usually grow beets just for the greens, but we do find that it’s useful (and delicious!) to “thin” our beet plantings at the same stage that their greens are super tender and flavorful. You can eat these fresh as a salad or lightly cook them as you would chard (but they will cook faster).
- Kale — It’s back! Thank you for your patience as we transitioned between the greenhouse spring kale and the field summer kale. We are so happy to see this favorite green back in the line up (and on our plates!).
- Chard
- “Storage” squash
- Potatoes
- Zucchini & summer squash — We have another color and shape now in the zucchini category. Welcome to “Magda,” our all-time favorite summer squash/zucchini. This light green squash is rounder than typical zucchini. You can use it in all the same ways, but for some reason we love it extra lots. We roasted some at lunch. Delicious!
- Torpedo onions
And this week’s extra goodies from the farm:
- Eggs — $6/dozen
- Ham — No nitrates-added artisan-made ham from the last of our hogs! $12/lb
- Ground pork — $8/lb
- Pork organs, fat & bones — $4/lb
- Coming soon ~ Beef and goat!
