Yes we are happy about the rain. Glad at least a few of you are too. Thanks to those who have sent messages of rain empathy! At the farm, we’re starting to think about the fall. At our farm market we do the whole pumpkin thing (i.e. u pick, etc.) so we are bringing in a huge crop of Red Kuri winter squash (beautiful!) and wondering if they’ll get eaten or sold as decorations! Apparently people don’t understand that a squash can be both…. whenever they find out that they’re edible, they make a face and put it back. But don’t worry, the CSA will get it’s share of these for eating (and decoration)

 

Share items for August 25,28:

3 ears corn

 2 red tomatoes

 2 large heirloom tomatoes (great white, Cherokee purple, mortgage lifter, brandywine)

 1 medium heirloom tomato

 2 small garlic

 2 red, yellow, or green peppers

 1 bag mesclun

 1 bag arugula

 1 bunch/plant basil

 

Possible: .5 pint cherry tomatoes. If they are not there it means they’re not in the share

 

Fruit share:  1 Garden of Eve grown organic watermelon, AND 6 peaches white or yellow, AND either 6 nectarines OR 6 pears (depending on location)

 Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, etc.

Just wanted to say that we are really pleased so far with our weekly vegetable and egg share.  Thanks for all the delicious food!

This summer has had two parts for us – a drought in June and July, then 2 weeks of normal rains, and now another drought period. Do you have houseplants? You know what happens when you forget to water them. It’s the same for us – except we have 40 acres of plants, probably over a million plants all growing at the same time. If it doesn’t rain for long enough, no matter how many resources we’ve put into seeding them, transplanting them, and caring for them – they will die. And watering is a LOT of work on a farm.

Watering plants at Garden of Eve farm is done in many different ways based on crop type, potential for disease pressure, transplanted or direct seeded.   We’d like to get rain once a week, equal to one inch of water on the ground. We hope for gentle rains that also waters cover crops which are things like clover, wheat, buckwheat, peas, vetch, and many others.  These crops need water too but we don’t have the time or money to provide the water at the rate they need during dry times. If we don’t get those rains, we have to put down one inch on our crops, using our irrigation.

We use drip irrigation tape under the plant roots that provides water where the plant needs it  and mulches cover the wet zone so weeds have difficulty growing through it.  This is the perfect year for most of these crops.   They like water and heat.   Dry leaves on these plants usually mean less disease.  Drip irrigation is a great match for these crops and that’s why you are receiving large amounts of tomatoes, peppers and melons this year.

Overhead watering is used at Garden of Eve Farm to get water on cooler weather crops like lettuce, beets, carrots, kale, broccoli, and cabbage.  These crops prefer to grow in the cooler spring and fall.  We are planting seed and transplants now for fall harvest.   Growing and starting them requires first that transplants be started in the greenhouse until they are big enough to plant out. In the greenhouse it’s easier for us to provide water and sometimes shade in a wind, insect and disease free environment.

But once they are planted out in the field, keeping these little guys alive is a big challenge. Especially this year due to the hot and dry conditions.  The flea beetle is one of our worst enemies and this year it has been extremely bad.   Smaller than a pin head, this bug thrives in these dry conditions and its favorite food is arugula, cabbage, Kale, broccoli and turnips.   They hop around and then feed on the leaves poking holes until the leaf is completely eaten. That is why arugula, bok choi, and many others in the “brassica” plant family often have holes in the leaves when they come to you. We aren’t happy about this, but we do our best to prevent it and sometimes even that is not good enough. Some people say, the extra air from the holes in the leaves makes them low-calorie greens!

                Keeping the soil and leaves cool and wet helps but there is no organic approved spray that controls or reduces flea beetles’ population.  Covering these crops with fabric sheets called “row cover” provides a barrier if placed immediately after planting.  Finding time to manage these tasks of planting, watering, covering  and then uncovering to weed and cultivate is a challenge during time of tomato harvest.   Watering these plants requires an overhead source in our system.  This is done with aluminum pipe with sprinklers we lay by hand (they are very  heavy!) and then moved (also by hand) to the next location after 2 hours of watering.  

Preparing the fields for planting is also challenging without rain or water.  Since we use cover crops to loosen soil and build organic matter we first need to mow them down and mix it in the soil so it can decay.   If there is no rain, the micro organisms in the soil can’t do their work of breaking down the dead leaves of the cover crops we have tilled under. If the cover crop doesn’t decay, this can delay planting. Even once the field is ready to plant into, we usually try to encourage the weed seeds to germinate before we plant, so we can get rid of them.  This requires water too.  

Of  course, dry conditions are good for a few things. Dryness is good for preventing the fungal diseases that struck down so many crops last year, including the tomato blight. Some weeds grow slower without water… but some don’t!  It’s good for farmers market sales on Saturdays. That’s about it though. The bottom line is, we’re growing living things, and they need water!

 

Share items for August 18, 21:

corn

 

red tomatoes

 

heirloom tomatoes

 

garlic

 

purple, white, or green peppers

 

zucchini OR cucumbers (not sure which yet)

 

bunch/plant basil

 

carrots

 

potatoes

 

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic melon, and 2 lb white peaches and 2 lb nectarines

 

Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, dill, etc.

New this week: note our biodegradable plastic flower sleeves, with handles for ease of carrying! And they are colorfully colored! We hope you like them and that they extend the life of your flowers, and make your life easier.

 

Tour the Farm Sunday Aug 15, 11am-1pm

We’ll walk the fields, visit the chickens to collect eggs, and taste-test the growing veggies as we go! There are lambs, chickens, bunnies, and turkeys to visit, as well as our 50 acres of fast growing veggies. Our livestock guard dogs are back to work, the honeybees active, and the butterflies going crazy. BBQ lunch (organic hot dog and veggie burger, chips and natural soda or juice) will be available for $10, bring a bag lunch if you prefer; we’ll also have sandwiches, snacks and sodas for sale at our Organic Farm Market. Bring lots of water, sun protection and clothes you can get dirty. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members from all locations free, all others $10. farmer@gardenofevefarm.com or 631-722-8777. More info and photos are on our website at www.gardenofevefarm.com .

Share items for August 11, 14:

Note: there was no fennel or peppers in the share last week, for any CSA locations. They were on an early share list, but were not able to be harvested in time to include in the share. The dry weather has pulled much of our resources away from harvesting and planting, to just moving irrigation pipe and trying to water the crops we already have in the ground. It’s been close to another 3 weeks without rain.

On the positive side, the heirloom tomatoes are coming in strong, with (hopefully) no sign of late blight in our area. Now that we are later in the sweet corn season (which started in mid July), the earworms pick up steam and get into a larger percentage of the ears. That is just a fact of life of organic production, as contrasted with conventional farmers who are spraying highly toxic chemicals on their corn every three days or so. We have heard stories of members not taking our organic corn at the CSA distributions because they are afraid of a few small worms – this makes us sad. We work very hard to bring you super sweet corn for you to enjoy, it is  a highlight of our season and we hope it is a highlight of yours. Thanks to those of you who have sent encouraging comments on this subject. We are happy when you are happy. So this week we are going through nearly every corn ear before we distribute it, and are snapping off any affected tips, or shucking the corn entirely to make sure it is clean, and then distribute it in bags. So if you get a slightly shorter ear, or even a worm, this is why.

Also, we have noticed that the sungold tomatoes don’t seem to be lasting as long as they usually do- they seem more fragile this year, crushing more easily. We are not sure why. It may have something to do with the heat. In any case, if you get a mixed container, just wash it out at home and discard anything broken, the good ones will still be fine. Please know we don’t ever intend for you to receive anything damaged obviously, we spend hundreds of man-hours each week going through the produce, culling, and packaging it so it arrives at your CSA in good shape. However sometimes our best efforts are thwarted.

Heirloom tomatoes being harvested this week are Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Great White. These are three of our favorite varieties. Great White in particular is a little-known, low-acid, very delicious tomato. Yes they are delicate!! If you come near the end of distribution, there will be some which are damaged, split, etc. Again we do our best culling but they do get damaged en route (by each other, in the crates), that is why you can NOT buy them ANYWHERE in stores. If you get a damaged tomato cut it up and roast it it will be delicious. I made a pizza from these last week. Also Emeril has a great “roasted tomato and zucchini gallette” in  his new cookbook. With goat cheese and puff pastry! How can you beat that?

 

6 ears corn

.5 pint sungold cherry tomatoes

3 large mostly heirloom tomatoes

3 small red tomatoes

2 purple, white, or green peppers

1 small head savoy cabbage

1 large bunch/plant basil

1 lb mixed zucchini (green and/or yellow)

1 lb Cucumbers, white and/or green

1 bulb fennel

 

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic melon, and 10 peaches

Flower share: zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, lemon basil, dill, etc.

Share items for August 4, 7:

 corn

sungold cherry tomatoes

2 purple peppers

1 head savoy cabbage

1 large bunch/plant basil

mixed zucchini (green and/or yellow)

Cucumbers, white and/or green

new potatoes

1 bulb fennel

 

Fruit share: one large Garden of Eve-grown organic cantaloupe, one organic Garden-of-Eve grown Crenshaw melon, and half-pint organic blackberries

 

Flower share: hydrangeas (wed),  dill flowers, zinnias, larkspur, sunflowers, celosia, etc.

I also agree, a weekly share list in advance would be helpful. Or a current list of our most recent share…what is the name of the celery-like vegetable we received last Saturday? Thanks, e

Happy 4^th of July weekend! On the farm it has been extremely hot and extremely dry. Lettuce is bolting, as well as some of the broccoli we planned to give you over the next few weeks. Upcoming in the next few weeks: beets, radicchio, cherry tomatoes! The garlic will be ready to harvest in a week or two as well, and we’re planting our final winter squashes and cut flowers which will be harvested at the end of the season – can you believe it?

 Share items for June 30 & July 3:

 2 lbs zucchini (green, yellow or Sunburst squash, also known as pattypan)

3 lb Cucumbers

1 head lettuce

1 bu kale or Swiss Chard

1 bu Dill

1 head Broccoli

1 head Napa Cabbage

1 bu sweet salad turnips

 

Fruit share: 3 pints Long Island blueberries, possibly 1 pint cherries

 

Flower share: zinnias, snapdragons, amaranth, cosmos, sweet peas.

“This elegant yet simple salad is lovely as a compliment to a main course or on it’s own.”

 
 
 
Prep Time:
10 MinCook Time:
20 MinReady In:
30 Min
 
 
Recipe Yield 4 servings
 Ingredients
2 cups couscous
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
8 ounces grape tomatoes, halved
6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Black pepper, to taste

Directions
1.Cook couscous according to package instructions. Put aside and allow to cool slightly.
2.Meanwhile, place asparagus in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and cool.
3.Toss the asparagus, tomatoes, and feta with couscous. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper and toss to incorporate.

What is the long, thin, green, curly thing in the box today at Mount Sinai? Thanks!