The Month of Everything

Greetings CSA Family and Friends!

May is the month of Everything. Cool season crops can still be sown. Warm season crops are in the greenhouse and can be seeded at the end of the month. So we still have bed prep. We are weeding. We are seeding and transplanting. We manage the greenhouse. And, yes indeed folks, there is a little food to harvest.

Not a lot though. I want to manage some expectations for a minute. In our climate the ground stays pretty cold until about now. This is because of the cool nights. So it may look and feel like late spring to you, but for the plants they are just now shifting into high gear and we have to be patient and wait for them to become fully mature individuals before we cut them down and chew them into bits. In past seasons Brookside Farm has had the first weekly pick-ups beginning late May and early June. This year is no different.

Tomorrow is your day to pick up produce! We will have the first lettuce of the year, plus chard, leeks and multiplier onions. If you are savvy you might want to check out the strawberry patch too. The rule at the farm is: feel free to forage for fabulous soft fruits. I don’t collect these because they are so delicate. I can see that the raspberries and blackberries are flowering, so keep an eye on those too!

Thrills and Delights at the Farm. I have really been enjoying work this year. I feel like I know enough to be in the groove. I get out to the farm and get into the flow of doing various tasks. I am efficient. The tools are in good shape. The soil is nice. Antonia is working with me too, so I have someone to check in with on strategies and priorities, etc.

However, just when I am giving myself a mental high five for being on top of things and having Mother Nature under control and all, some minor agricultural disaster strikes. Carrot seeds are getting mowed down, during the night it seems. We consult with David Drell and he thinks it may be slugs or cutworms. We throw out diatomaceous earth and Bt-laced wheat bran and begin chanting paganesque prayers to Demeter and Persephone.

Since then no more damage is occurring, and the lettuce and kale transplants aren’t getting touched. So I am both humbled and hopeful that thick beds of carrot seedlings will be seen promptly.

A Cry for Help. The farm had a whole lot of cloth produce bags made, around 80 of them. We are down to about a dozen that I am aware of. I would love to bag your greens for you as this makes sure everybody gets a fair share, but I can’t when we are so low on the produce bags. So do me a favor and check every nook and cranny of your kitchen for cloth bags and bring them tomorrow.

Potluck at Farm. Since the weather is obviously fabuloso and expected to stay that way, I suggest people bring some food to share and stay at the farm for a meal tomorrow evening. Bring your own utensils and drinks (besides water) too!

Happy Eating!

Jason