(CSA Newsletter: Main Season Week Eight)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
It was another hot week out here at the farm, with high temperatures consistently rising well above average every day. After a spring-that-wasn’t, this summer weather has been surprisingly pleasant for us.
We’ve noticed lately that we have become much better accustomed to the heat than we were our first summer in Yamhill County (2006 — also the hottest on record). Perhaps our bodies have adjusted some, but I think we’ve also simply learned how to better seek relief during heat waves. We know now that we can’t just work through the afternoon heat. To that end, we visited our swimming spot every day we could this week, luxuriating in the river’s ‘hydro-cooling’ properties.
We’ve also stayed aware of the veggie’s needs for water this week, as much as possible. For the most part, we’ve succeeded, but we definitely feel limited by our slough set-up right now. We can only run three irrigation lines at any one time, and we have 20+ total. So, Casey’s days lately have been ruled by pump management — starting it in the morning, through the day, and before bed.
Most crops are doing fine, but we’re holding our breath in anticipation of achieving a real long-term solution this next week. A well driller is schedule to arrive later this week to work on the well situation. We’re tentatively hopeful about the well. When we think about the results he thinks we might achieve, we find ourselves practically jumping with excitement — but we temper it immediately. We’ve been disappointed so many times before that we’re not ready to commit our emotions until the well is up and running smoothly. We’ll definitely keep you updated.
In addition to irrigating and swimming, we’ve paid more attention this week to maintaining the crops growing in the field: trellising more tomatoes, thinning beets, weeding. We also retreated into the shade on Friday’s hot afternoon and sowed thousands of plants destined for our fall and winter garden: cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and more.
Today (Monday), we’re replanting our cucumbers and melons, most of which were critically damaged during the cold May and early June weather. Unfortunately, both crops will be later than planned, but we’re hoping that we might have a nice long Indian summer that will allow us to enjoy their sweet fruits for many weeks.
The weather page is forecasting a significantly cooler but still warm week, which we’re happy about. Even though we don’t mind the heat as much as we used to, we’re still relieved when it cools down again. We heard from some CSA members that the heat was forcing them out of their kitchen these days, so I’ve included many grilling ideas for this week’s veggies. If the cooler weather allows for inside cooking again, however, I recommend trying the stuffed zucchini and pea recipes.
As always, thanks for joining us in this eating and farming adventure. We hope to have very good news for you by the end of next week. Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
