Greetings,

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 is your 3rd winter CSA distribution.

The following is the GI-NORMOUS distribution we have planned for your third winter CSA tomorrow. It has been unusually mild and surprisingly, many of our crops have continued maturing and remained in great harvestable form right up to the last heavy frost. The bounty of the field and greenhouses is reflected in your CSA share this week. Eleven of the unexpected total (16) items in your share (yup, that's right , 11), were harvested from one the fields or greenhouses since your last distribution three weeks ago, back in December.

I have never harvested lettuce this late in any season before, along with some of the other items such as kohlrabi, fresh Kale or bunched carrots. I can assure you that you will feel spoiled by the luxury of having these items harvested fresh for your winter distribution.

All I can say is that we are happy to pass this bounty along to our CSA members, and hope you understand that this is not the usual or expected share distribution we have planned in the future, nor had in the past. I have to remind myself of tomorrow's date, January 3rd, 2012, and it is winter. Hoping all of your future surprises are as pleasant as this.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow is your first 2011- 2012 Winter CSA delivery. Attached is the list of the expected items for your share.

This list reflect the items that we expect to pack in your shares tomorrow. Since the past few weeks have been relatively mild, (with only a few scattered frosts), we are able to harvest 100% of these items from the fields at this time. There will be times in the coming weeks that the weather will prevent us from harvesting some of the field items to put in your shares. On those occasions, the shares may be lower in weight and certainly in overall value. At that time, the vegetables may all come from our cold storage. We plan to harvest from either the greenhouses or fields as long as we can, or until they literally 'Freeze Over'.

As with all our CSAs, we try to give great value for the cost of your participation. This first distribution is considerably fuller in items and value than what might be expected in January or later distributions. To the right side of each item is the retail value of that item as we would sell it on the farm stand, or at one of the farmer's markets we attend. Since the weather is on our side as well as the availability right now, we have harvested heavier for this distribution to 'pay it forward' for all our CSA members.

Your participation in our winter CSA is greatly appreciated. We want to wish everyone a healthy and Happy Thanksgiving and hope this first winter CSA distribution helps make it a tasty one too.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

PS. The next distribution is in (3) weeks on December 13, 2011, so please mark your calendars if you haven't done so yet.

Greetings,

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 is your CSA week # 22 delivery. Listed above is the expected harvest items for your shares.

I'm happy to include the list below that has a full compliment of vegetables. Sometimes after a wind and rain event like what we had over the weekend, it can be a bit ' SCARY ' for me to go into the field and look at what used to be a nice crop of lettuce or cabbage. There were times in the past when I did a field inspection following a storm, that I just about ' wet my pants ' after I saw the damages to the crop following a weather event. You've heard the saying, ' Been there, Done that ! ' . Well, I can attest to the truth of being ' Scared ' almost enough to require a change of clothes. Of course I'm not just saying that because it is Halloween or that I'm a ' Whoozzie ' . Thankfully, this past week was not one of those times.

While we were spared the ice and snow on eastern Long Island, we did get our share of rain and wind. In addition to the expected physical damage to the vegetables in the filed, both our farmstand canopy and awning were torn from the wind that accompanied the storm. Both can be repaired or replaced, so we are really, just fine.

As I reflect back over the season, I can say without hesitation, that we've had our share of challenges this season. I feel relief as we near the end of this CSA season, but also and perhaps more importantly, I am grateful that we have you as CSA share holders. Truthfully, the CSA program has made farming for me just a bit less ' SCARY '.

Thank you,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tuesday, October 18th is your CSA week # 20 delivery.

This week we have a specialty variety of Orange colored Cauliflower for both the partial and full share members. It reminds me of a few seasons back at one of our farmer's market, I was asked by a customer, "What is that ???", (as they pointed to the orange Cauliflower, presumably because this particular variety is not widely seen). I told the customer that it was a special variety of Cauliflower called "Cheddar". The customer seemed to be amazed at the appearance and deep in thought when that customer asked me quite seriously, "Does it taste like CHEESE?".

I took one of those slow even breaths and replied, "Actually, it tastes a lot like CAULIFLOWER". I then pointed to the adjacent table where we had some Feta Goat cheese from our neighboring farm, the Catapano dairy, and told the customer that the FETA really tasted a lot like cheese.

Some days, I'm not really sure what to think about a lot of things.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,
Tuesday October 4th is your CSA delivery for week # 18. Here is the list of the expected vegetables for your shares.

A few years back, I made it my personal policy not to whine, about anything, period. I realized back then, that things could always change quickly, and sometimes not in the direction I wanted to see. We'll, I'm rethinking that policy, because this week is the last for the watermelon supplies, ( I'm not exactly doing cartwheels about that ), and we've already covered the shorter day length issues with its affect on some folks moods, ( we're not mentioning which folks ), but have we covered the issue of when it seems to rains every other hour for what seems like a full year ???

I'm sure you don't have the exact same weather as we are having everyday out this way in Peconic, so when the sun came out briefly for a few minutes before the rain here on the farm, you may not have even gotten that little bit of sunshine. I'm sorry that you might have endured more cloudy, wet, dismal, mood dampening weather than we have had here. But if it makes you feel any better, our PFDs, (person flotation devices), are thoroughly soaked, and we're still bailing out the life boats that we use to go in and out of the fields. This may sound like whining, but I can assure you , I am just stating fact, (well almost). Hoping your Fruit of the Looms are staying dry in spite of the rains.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 20th, is your CSA delivery for week # 16. Below is the expected harvest list for the items in your shares.

Just recently at one of the Farmer's Market I was tending, I was asked if we had any Asparagus? I took a deep breath and calmly replied, "Why yes we do........ in the month of MAY and the first part of JUNE."

"Ohhhh......." was the terse response.

I didn't mean my answer to be smart in any way, but rather positive, (that we do have Asparagus), and informative, (when we have it available). I've come to realize that many folks don't have the opportunity to learn about the season's cycles, and the special produce that can be grown locally during the summer and fall months if they don't tend their own gardens, have a rural living experience, or belong to a CSA. What could these folks be thinking when they ask us if we grow Bananas, Pineapples, or Oranges, (which have all been asked for at our farm stand among other things).

I only hope that these folks do not think of us as less than a 'REAL FARM' , because it seems obvious to them, that some 'Other Farm', somewhere, knows how to grow Asparagus in September. It is, after all, available at the local grocery store, (year round no doubt too).

Speaking of our produce through the seasons, I'm happy to tell you that we just started harvesting some of our fall Broccoli. This week we have only enough to give one group of CSA members. As our harvest progresses, we should have enough to give the partial share members next week too.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Here is the list for tomorrow's expected harvest for your CSA Shares, week # 14.

I can't help thinking that we basically dodged the bullet with Hurricane Irene in the sense that we still have most of our crops to harvest. I'm sure you know that many farms north of us, in upstate New York and throughout New England that have been flooded out with all the rainfall resulting in much of their crops being destroyed. At this late in the season, it will be difficult for them to replant to have something to finish out the season with. My heart and thoughts really are with them because it has happened to us in the past, as I know all too well, and how easily it could have happened this past weekend.

I am grateful for what we have yet to harvest and give to our CSA members even if there are some potential shortages or minor blemishes from wind damage on some items. Consider it just a bit of GSR, (guns shot residue), that authenticates those veggies made it through Irene.

The full effect of the storm will manifest itself over the next few weeks as we work with the vegetable plants and see how the yields and quality goes. Let's hope for the best in weather as we head into the fall.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 is your CSA delivery for week number 12. Below is the expected harvest for your shares.
We are just rounding the corner of the halfway mark in our 2011 summer CSA season. Not to count the chickens before they hatch, or the veggies before they are harvested, I am please to say that the season has, so far been a good one. While we have had a few, very wet periods, a couple of hot stretches, and dry spells, the crops have come through one way or another. The absence and shortages of some items, have been made up by others that have done alright.

One of the things that can keep me up at night, (and there are a good number of them), is the formation of a tropical storm in the south Atlantic. The one of concern is Irene, that just achieved Huricane status as a catagory 1 storm just south and east of Cuba. One storm tracking website I frequently visit around this time of year is here: http://bit.ly/qppfRZ. You can click on the link and follow the progress over the next few days. A lot of things can happen during the week, so I will paying particular attention to Irene's progress. I hope we can continue to have favorable winds as this storm makes it approach toward the continental US during the week.

In the mean time, I hope you're enjoying the sweet summer melons as much as we are.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow Tuesday, August 9th, 2011, is your CSA week # 10 delivery. Listed below is the expected harvest for your CSA Shares.

One of the objectives that we have each week is to make sure that every CSA member receives a good value of vegetables each week. By this I mean, that if you take the retail value for all the vegetables we deliver each week for your respective CSA share, you'll see that the dollar amount of what you receive is considerably greater than what you have paid for on a weekly basis.

Your preseason CSA payment was an investment in many of the production costs that go into making the vegetables happen here on the farm. For those of you that have visited the farm during the open house in May or on other occasions, you saw some of what was involved with getting the fields prepared and seedlings started in our greenhouses. We are happy that general weather conditions have been good for the season's progress and much has gone well with our respective yields of each crop.

As long as the yields are good with our vegetables, we will continue to distribute as best we can each week a good value and variety of vegetables for your CSA shares.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

I'm happy to tell you that we still have vegetables to harvest for your CSA week # 8 delivery tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26th, 2011.

With temperatures hovering in the mid 90's, (and higher), for several days last week, our whole staff and field crew were not the only ones wilting from the heat. Irrigation water to keep the vegetables hydrated and alive was one of our primary concerns. With those high temperatures, many of our vegetable varieties can experience stress similar to the stress we experience. All of us were working with little humor on those days.

Speaking of which, on one trip back to the office for a break and water, I sort of ' complained ' to Karen and the farm stand staff, that I was not having a great day. On top of that, I added that another farmer in Southold, got to work with dozens of " HOT CHICKS " , while all I had for company that day were some sweaty men and tired looking women.

Needless to say, nobody even spoke at first, until they realized I was joking with them by referring to my neighboring farmer, Chris Browder who raises organic Chickens. (High temperatures + Chickens = Hot Chicks.) More information about Chris and Holly's farm can be found at this link: www.browdersbirds.com I thought that bit of insight was hilarious, but it could have been the heat that was making me a bit punchy.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tuesday, July 12th is your CSA week # 6 delivery. Listed below is the expected harvest list for your shares.

As some of you may know, Late Blight, a potentially devastating disease for Potatoes and Tomatoes, has been found on several eastern Long Island farms on both the north and south forks this past week. We have two of our fields scouted weekly by a third party, Cornell Cooperative Extension's IPM, (integrated pest management) program, in addition to taking some preventative measures with organically approved copper fungicide sprays. It will be a matter of time before we see how this turns out over the next few weeks as we approach harvest stage on both of these crops. We are taking it one day at a time.

On a lighter note, some one once told me, be careful what you wish for. Last Friday evening, we had a break in the dry spell we had been experiencing over the previous couple of weeks, and received between 3/4" and 1 1/4 " of rain fall, (depending which field the rain gauge was located). It came down slowly through the whole night, and provided a nice soaking rain. ' Absolutely perfect ' can describe the Saturday morning following, with clear skies at the Farmer's markets. It doesn't get much better than that, wishful thinking or not. (The 'Gi-normous' smile on some one's face was only ever so slightly affected (momentarily) by the news of the discovery mentioned above).

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow Tuesday, it is forecasted to be clear once again, thank goodness. Tomorrow is also your CSA week # 4 delivery. Below is the list of expected harvest items for your CSA shares.

We've certainly had our share of the rainfall over the past (7) days. I sort of stopped counting when the rain in the measuring gauge went over 3 inches in two days. I also don't bother to put on my reading glasses to read the gauge in fractions of an inch if I have to bring a rowboat just to get to the rain gauge in one our fields. If you were outside during any of the heavy downpours, you'll fully understand when I say that the fields were just a tad too wet to do any thing during most of the week.

The attached photo is one of our fields after Thursday's rainfall. There were a few days there following, that we weren't having as much fun as we would have liked, if you know what we mean.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow June 21st, is your CSA week # 3 and is also the day of the Summer Solstice, or longest day of the year.

For those with inquiring minds, you'll note that many vegetable plants will not grow properly without at least 10 hours of day light. While we have easily more than 12 hours of daylight now, the plant physiologists among you know that it is actually the period of darkness that regulates plant growth. A bit more on that can be found on the link below:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Assets/pdf/lb_Daylength.pdf

For all of us, the longer days just mean more 'fun in the sun'. It's what keeps me smiling in spite of the challenges that come up with the vegetables in the field. Below is the expected list of veggies we have planned for your CSA boxes.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

I know the summer has officially started because tomorrow is your first CSA delivery! Even though this season marks the start of the third year of our relationship, I still got bugs in my tummy, (aka butterflies in the stomach) as we approached this starting date. It could have been in the middle of March just after we determined the starting schedule and I would have still felt this way thinking about whether the crops would grow properly, in the correct quantities, and be on schedule (even if some of those crops had not even been planted and were still in their respective seed packets on our basement shelves.)

In reality, much of what is coming to you tomorrow was started way before March of 2011. The perennial crops like our Asparagus and Strawberries, were started years ago and our winter/early spring harvested crops of Leeks and Parsnips were started in the middle of last summer. Even our beets and carrots for tomorrow are being harvested out of the greenhouses and were planted in February when the outside temperatures were still below freezing. It has been a long time for some of these crops to be 'in the pipeline' on their way to harvest.

For the newbies in the CSA group, the harvest list below is what we expect to harvest and deliver for your distribution tomorrow. There will be times that the items and quantities may be different. Depending on weather conditions, like rainfall, which can prevent our harvest, to insect or disease issues, there will be instances where we may not be able to harvest or pack some items on the list. Please know that we will do our best for each week to harvest the best veggies that we have available at that time in the course of the season.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

We have an assortment of storage veggies along with a special treat of Briermere Apples planned for your boxes tomorrow. The winter storage supply of veggies has been shrinking rapidly. Accordingly, we have added in a bag of apples as an ' extra item ' to supplement the supply of vegetables this week.

On another note, I've opted to send what we have remaining in sweet potatoes, even though they are not of stellar quality. They may have some soft spots and discoloration on parts of them. They are still fine for eating and they remain one of my favorites for every meal of the day. (Yes, I do add them in my morning steel cut oats because they are just the right amount of sweetness to suit my palate.) Simply trim those spots off before you cook them. Having them sooner is better than later.

As we get further through the winter and approach early spring, all of the storage veggies begin to show some effects of the (3+) months they have spent in storage. Still all nutritious and good tasting, it nevertheless reminds me what our country's settler's faced when they went into their root cellars each day to rustle up some grub for dinner before the days of electricity and mechanical refrigeration.

While the quantity of veggies in this box and the amounts projected for the last distribution in March are somewhat less than the first (4) distributions, we have nevertheless provided much more than what was paid for and are following the expected pattern of our winter availability. Our goal of providing an overall great value for your participation in our winter CSA is on track to being fullfilled.

We hope that you have enjoyed your experience with the winter CSA thus far and we'll see you tomorrow.

For those of you in Brooklyn, you need not wade through the swamp land that was formerly our driveway and barnyard area to get your veggies. With the wamer temperatures of today, the snow melt has pooled in our driveway to create a nice muddy soup. If we are lucky it will freeze tonight and all be good for those local members coming to the farm. If however, it stays warm through the evening and tomorrow, there will be many pairs of CSA member sneakers with less shine to them.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

January 4th, 2011 is your 3rd winter CSA distribution. We will be preparing and packing the last of the items tomorrow morning and have your boxes ready for delivery early afternoon. Listed below is the list of what we expect to have in your share.

Most items will be coming out of our cold storage. Two of the veggies, Leeks and Brussels Sprouts, were actually harvested from the field just the other day. It never ceases to amaze me how great a mild weather day can be for working outside in the winter, even for a short period of time, and how it can give us yet another 'extra item' from the field. The previous week's cold days, registering in the 20's with wind gusts in the 45+ mph range prevented us from getting anything from the outside/field except frost bite and a foul mood. You'll never guess what sort of conversation I had with a close person in my household in which, I was told to "Put Back.... Outside".....something that I had come into the house with. Well, I can't paint the picture any better, and I know you're just the type people with 'inquiring minds', so I'll give you a hint. It wasn't my snow crusted boots. Even if the conversation didn't go exactly that way, you sort of get the picture of how one of my days went.

It certainly makes me appreciate the mild sunshine day we had today just that much more.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow Tuesday, November 23rd, is your first Winter CSA delivery. Listed below is the expected harvest list for your box.

Tomorrow's planned box is heavier with more items than what you might be getting in future weeks in part because of the mild weather we are having now. If the DEER leave us something to continue the outside field harvests and the weather holds, our prospects look positive for continuing good late fall harvests. As always, we will do what we can to give you the best variety of vegetables in the quantity that is available to make your CSA experience tasty, healthy and worthwhile for you.

We wish everyone a Healthy and Happy Thanksgiving. The next delivery for our Winter CSA, week #2 is on December 14th, 2010. Please check your e-mail at least a day before. If inclement weather is expected, we may shift the pickup day forward or backward by a day, but will do our best to stay by the planned schedule. Please expect us to be 'on track' unless you hear from us otherwise.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

PS. Please do not be intimidated by some of the larger Sweet Potatoes in the bins or trays, if you happen to get one, (as you need not worry about being able to fit them into the trunk of your car as long as you turn them sideways first.) We will be making up the distribution by weights, so everyone will have the same amount of sweet potatoes. One cultivar of the sweet potato also has a slightly darker skin color. This darker color does not affect my penchant to eat more than my share at the dinner table, so it shouldn't affect yours either. There is only one thing in the field that I like more than sweet potatoes, dark or light skinned, and we finished harvesting watermelons back in August, so not to worry.

Tomorrow Tuesday, November 8th is your last CSA delivery for the regular 2010 season, week # 23. Below is the expected harvest list.

The weather was most cooperative with today's efforts of harvesting portions of your CSA vegetables for tomorrow. I mention portion because we were not able to complete all the harvests. (There's more time tomorrow before we have to pack your boxes) And yes, I'm being a bit sarcastic by saying that the weather was 'most cooperative'. The wind held a pretty constant 20+ mph clip through most of the day and the temperatures didn't get much above mid 40's F, the last time I looked. Never mind about the rain. It may seem like I am complaining, but rather quite honestly, I am really celebrating the fact that we've made it the end of the season without major mishap.

The 'friendly reminder message' from Mother Nature on days like today, who's really the boss about what goes on in the field or to put it another way, what comes 'out from the field' does not get lost with any of us here at the farm. I frequently think it a small miracle that we are able to harvest what we do under some weather circumstances like what we had today. Thinking of the contrasts of today as compared with those DRY & HOT days in the middle of the summer just a few months ago is amazing to me. Makes me wonder, if I felt more comfortable being cold in a pair of insulated coveralls like today or hot and sweating in shorts and T shirt. The veggies aren't crazy about either extreme either. I know both the crew and the veggies prefer something right down the middle as I know I do.

Thank you again for being a part of our CSA,

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings --

Some sections of our field are beginning to take on the appearance of a grazing pasture with the green cover crops taking hold. The field areas that have a cover crop look like a sod field or expanse of lawn area. But, unlike a sod crop that gradually depletes the topsoil, our cover crops full fill a completely different purpose.

The first and immediate purpose is to protect the precious topsoil from either washing away during a heavy rain or blowing away during the dryer winter months. Without a 'cover' of vegetables or a winter cover crop, (of typically perennial rye grass), to 'anchor' and protect the topsoil, it would actually blow away with the wind. The cold temperatures during the winter months prevent seedlings of any sort from germinating or getting established in open or 'bear' soil areas. Any and all of these exposed soil areas would just turn into a mini 'dust bowl' with a good wind of any sorts.

During the 1930's a combination of drought and farming practices that encouraged erosion created an unprecedented series of 'Dust Storms' that affected millions of acres of farmland and travelled as far as the east coast from the Oklahoma and Great Plains areas. Enormous amounts of topsoil were lost by blowing winds. (Read more about the dust bowl era).

The second important feature of cover crops is to restore some nutrients back into the soil. Some restorative features of cover crops include the addition of; organic matter into the soil from the cover crop's tissues after that cover crop is incorporated into the soil, and Nitrogen from symbiotic Rhizobia of certain legume cover crops.

It is a requirement of our Organic certification to practice proper soil management. One practice of good soil management includes the implementation and use of cover crops. (It's a good thing that we plant cover crops, because it would not be just my hair piece that could blow away in a good wind over the winter months.)

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

This week at one of our Farmer's Markets I was asked for two items that we grow (during the course of the season), but did not have on display for sale. The requests were made by different people perhaps about a half hour apart. I mention this to assure you that they seemed to be unrelated individuals who were asking honestly in a very straight forward manner.

The first request was for asparagus, and the second was for watermelon. While I simply love both those crops and wish I had them for sale, they are well past their harvest windows for us on Long Island now and I do not have 'enough magical powers' to make them appear at this time of year. With both individuals, they seemed perplexed when I told them that both those items were out of season for us.

Even though they didn't say it, I felt from their expressions that they thought me less of a farmer because they had seen those items just the day before at their 'local grocery store'. I suspect they were thinking that since the grocery store had those items, some other farmer grew it for the 'local market' here. What I would surmise is that most people, like those individuals that asked me for those items, do not realize that the average food item, including most of the produce at their local grocery store, travels more than 1,300 miles on the average to get to their local store. You can read more about food miles here.

We really do try our best to grow as many different crops as we can and to put them into the CSA shares as they come into harvest maturity. Accordingly, you will receive greater amounts of fall cruciferous crops like our different varieties of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower etc. in the coming weeks. If you share similar palate preferences to our former President, George W., then I'm thinking these next few weeks may not be your best part of the CSA season.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

This past week, we completed our last field transplanting of Lettuces and some other vegetables. We are now at a seasonal peak with regards to the amount of vegetable crops we have under cultivation at one time. I'm not trying to say that every square inch of field space is taken up with a crop for later harvest, but rather that our inventory of 'plantings' in the field is at a seasonal peak.

From this point going into the late fall/winter, our acreage of vegetables actively being cultivated will decrease each week, with every harvest. There is only one other peak that we experience, and that is the one in the early Summer/late Spring just before the first vegetable crop is harvested from the fields. From the first day in early spring when we are able to begin planting in the fields, our inventory of crops under cultivation builds in size. Since we do successive plantings every few days, (so that we can have continual harvests through out the season), our acreage increases with every planting up to that date. At that first day of harvest in the late Spring, our acreage then levels off and declines slightly as we work through each crop. Needless to say, we have many crops that do well, and some that I don't like to think about. Those are the crops that literally 'bite the dust'. If not on their own from disease or insect infestation, then from my disc harrow. We always plant a little more than what we expect we will need to harvest because we usually experience some 'shrinkage' from critters of all types and sizes.

If you were to look at a graph of our crop acreage over the season, it would look something like the outline of the back of a camel. That would be of course a Bactrian type with two humps on its back. Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind having crops that had the water requirements of a camel. I'd give them a good drink of water once in the beginning of the season then forget about them. Those of you with inquiring minds can follow this link.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

Fred's email will return next week. Enjoy your veggies!

Greetings,

This week's harvest is a biggie for both the partial and full CSA members.

If you haven't watched the weather channel on the web or TV lately, it's okay, I'll give you the short story of Hurricane Earl. Good news is, it's not here yet, and may not affect us here on the eastern seaboard of the US other than a bit of wind and rain. And that's about it, in a nut shell. If......the storm comes inland or closer to the eastern shore than what is currently projected, then the news is not quite as good.

I personally have a HUGE problem with tropical storms. They give me 'Hissy Fits' among other things. One of the reasons why this week's harvest is more than you would normally expect to see in your shares is that the weather has been great, and everything has been coming into maturity rapidly. Another reason is that we would like you to have what ever we can harvest out of the field in light of what might come toward the weekend. Our greens and leafy items can not tolerate the wind and rain associated with a major storm. We'll keep our fingers crossed as we can do little else if the good weather fairies are not with us.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

As we anticipated, we were able to continue the harvest on the sweet cantaloupes this week so that all the partial share members will be able to have a portion.

Thankfully, our tomatoes are doing fine so far with the dry warm weather we've been experiencing this season. (This time period last year, I think I was looking up names in a book, similar to an expectant parent, to designate one of the lakes that had formed in one of our fields from all the rainfall we had received up to that date.) This week we anticipate good harvests of both cherry and slicing types tomatoes. Our wonderful bounty in the field simply means more going to both groups of CSA members. There will be a mix of different varieties and colors for both groups.

A point worth considering is that many of our Heirloom tomatoes may look a bit 'funky' or 'irregular'. Some of these Heirloom tomatoes may have prominent bulges, odd shapes, and some cracks in the surface. As Yoda might say, " Let not these superficial imperfections lead you to believe these tomatoes are from the dark side". On the contrary, some of the best tasting tomatoes may be the ones that were truly the least appealing in appearances. When these Heirloom tomatoes are fully ripe, they are so sensitive, you will be able to bruise them just with a disparaging glance, (well, almost). They will be quite soft, such that they will 'dent' and give slightly in their surface shape as you pick them up to decide if you're going to eat them right then or later when you get them home.

As you might guess, there is a fine line between a fully ripe Heirloom tomato and one 'that has crossed over to the dark side'. Unlike wine, not many of our veggies get better with age, so enjoy them as soon as you can.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

The shares this week include an Asian water spinach called ong choy. It grows under tropical conditions in the greenhouse during July and August. With the extra high temperatures we've had this year, this crop is doing very well. Use it as you would a spinach, either raw or sauteed, and be sure to include the stems. They are hollow and as a result are lightly crunchy, adding a delicious finish to your salad.

You will also find some tomatoes in your box this week. They are another crop enjoying the warmer temperatures. We are about two weeks ahead of schedule in their harvest, so hopefully you can enjoy them longer this year.

Best,

Fred and Karen

Greetings,

Attached is the list of the expected harvest of vegetables for your CSA shares for week # 7.

This week brings a few new items for the full shares. We finally have started our carrot harvest in the field and hope to have a bunch for everyone in the coming weeks. This week, we have enough just for the full shares. In addition, we have Mini/Cippolini Onions, Chinese Water Spinach, Ong Choy, from the greenhouse, and a bunch of Purslane.

I could tell you a long story how I wanted to harvest some of the Baby Bok Choy from our Southold field, how we seeded it in plug trays, transplanted out in the field at 25 days of age, fertilized, and irrigated it for the past 1- 1/2 month, but the Flea Beetles that have been hanging out in that same field, ( those same ones as I mentioned last week that have been getting into mischief with their lack of family planning), had their eyes and mouths into it before I could even think of spraying the crop with something like insecticidal soap.

Consequently, that crop, along with many of the other cabbage related vegetables look like something a wholesale broker once told me to do with my vegetables. He said, "Just take them to church!". Being a humble person of faith, I asked "Why should I do that?" He replied, "Because they are SOOOO... HOLY!"

Needless to say, I have not included that item in either of the CSA boxes this week. We do our best to control the insects as best we can with the materials we have available to us, but there are times that are more challenging than others given the weather and other factors. These past few weeks have been one of those times.

As the saying goes, 'if you're given apples, you make apple juice'. Well, it was a similar situation when I surveyed the field for the possible items to harvest this week. Growing between the rows of Bok Choy was this Purslane. Even though I didn't actually plant it there, it did get irrigated, fertilized, and cultivated along side of our crop. It looks, tastes, and is so good for you, I thought, Why not? Below is a link to a nutritional website having more information on Purslane. We will try to have some for the partial shares next week too. Something this good, I wouldn't think of keeping it just to ourselves.

Purslane Nutritional info: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/purslane.html

Be well,

Fred & Karen

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FRUIT SHARE:
bag of peaches
pint of blueberries

Greetings,

This week's challenge wasn't so much as getting the scheduled plantings into the ground, or to perform any of the other numerous field chores, but to simply keep most of the vegetables alive with irrigation water. On all of our fields, we have a soil texture that is a sandy loam. While it drains well with moderate rainfall, it tends to dry out quickly with 85 to 90+oF temperatures. As you have experienced over the past week, we've had both very warm temperatures and no rainfall. Just as we folks loose moisture through respiration and sweating, plants loose moisture through their leaves in a process called evapo-transpiration. I can tell you that quite frankly that our staff or anyone working in the fields were not the only ones wilting over the past few days.

While I'm not terribly proud of the fact that there were some parts of our field that looked like the vegetable plants were 'sleeping' due to the moisture stress, it was a fact. What I try to avoid in all cases, is the point of no return, which for plants is called the 'permanent wilt point'. It is something we don't mind seeing in any of the weeds that have been pulled from the vegetable rows, but not something we like not to happen to any of the vegetable crops.

I haven't quite gotten into the swing of running under the sprinklers in the middle of the day, but it is definitely an option I am looking into for tomorrow's sunny forecast of 90+oF.

Hope you're staying hydrated. Below is the expected harvest list for your CSA delivery # 5, Tuesday July 6th.

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

OKAY, a big PS: Clark, of Briermere Farms, is planning on bringing us the first week's Fruit share for delivery to you Tomorrow. Yes, it is a week earlier than planned, but the Peaches and fruit, mixed berries, are ready and they ain't waiting for next week to roll around. I just found out, so now, you all just found out. If you have a fruit share, please look for your fruit tomorrow with your vegetable share

Greetings,

Tomorrow is your CSA delivery for week # 3. The expected harvest contents for your boxes tomorrow, Tuesday, June 22nd, is listed below:

This week we continue to have some supplies of Garlic scapes and Squash blossoms in sufficient amounts to give to some of the CSA members. I will try to give both groups different items during the season so that everyone can get to try all the vegetable varieties we have.

The warm weather has merged several plantings of our Bok Choys together so that they are maturing almost all at the same time, (even though they were planted in different fields 7 days apart for each seeding). While I had planned to alternate weeks between the Full and Partial shares, giving each group different types of Bok Choy every other week, it looks like things haven't turned out exactly the way I had planned.

I know some of you folks probably are thinking, "Gosh, what are we going to do with this Bok Choy?" For those of you that are new to our CSA, you might not know that I had Bok Choy almost every day of my life growing up on the farm. So, I'm thinking, "Gosh, they're only going to have one stirfry in the week, because they have only enough Bok Choy for one meal ??" So, who can figure?

Bok Choy being a member of the cabbage family has basically all the vitamins and nutrients that Broccoli and other members of the cruciferous vegetable group have. I know it's a good thing to have in our diet, even if it can give you more than your average share of gaseous bodily sounds, like burps and 'stuff '.

Our former president, George W. had a diet really deficient in Broccoli, and look where our country is now. Now I'm not suggesting that having ample quantities of Bok Choy in your diet are going to improve the Nation's economic condition, but I think it's a good start.

Be well,

Fred & Karen