FARM WEEK # 7 - June 28, 2012 - MINI SHARE # 4

June 25, 2012

Good morning fellow vegetable eaters,

(Computer is all fine now.  It just needed a new battery.  Hurray for Brown Computer Solutions!)

My news mostly is the same as usual, planting, weeding, transplanting, weeding, etc.

Except for baby chicks!  The chicks hatched out last Thursday and Friday and we now have 8 little Welsummers and Welsummer-Araucana cross chicks.  The mom is doing a great job of protecting them from chipmunks, hens on the other side of the fence and people bearing water and food.  Good work, momma bird!

Weeds are driving me nuts at the moment.  I can hardly walk around the yard because I keep stopping to pull "just a few".  Each place I work on looks so much happier and healthier and makes me want to do more.  My source for straw recently closed down, so I am on the lookout for mulch.

I spend much of my time saying "oh, no" and then "oh, wow" lately.  I'll look at a weedy area or some plant that looks kind of small and wonder how and when to help it out.  Then I look somewhere else and am amazed by the beauty and vigor of the plants.  I guess that's just the nature of a mixed crop garden with an emphasis on succession and variety.  Those tall green corn plants sure make me feel good.

The snap peas are in and hopefully I will have them supported for pick your own by the weekend, but in the mean time I plan on picking for the shares because they need to be picked and the fence they are on has sort of tilted to the side.  Get in touch if you want to come by and pick more on the weekend.  773-8325

The basil loved the hot weather and is now 3 times as big as last week.  Get set for pesto!

FARM PICNIC:  I am changing the date of the farm picnic.  I'll let you know the new date as soon as I figure it out.

MINI SHARES

Mini choices week #4 - Pick two or I will choose for you.

mesclun
garlic scapes - this is probably the last week for scapes
chard
kale
snap peas
Farmer's Choice (I give you 2 items from the garden, from this list or not, based on general preferences you have shared with me and based on the harvest.  Farmer's Choice may include items not on this list like snow peas, favas, kohlrabi or basil.)

PICK UP NOTES
Pick Up is 1:00 - 7:00 unless you arrange otherwise.  I'll send an email when the shares are ready.  I will be setting up on the porch this week as I plan on going out Thursday afternoon.

Please return egg cartons and clean, dry bags, esp. the big freezer bags.  Thanks!

THIS WEEK'S SHARE

garlic scapes

basil
fava beans? They may need another week.
mesclun
head lettuce
chard/kale - one or the other or both
kohlrabi
snow peas?
snap peas

parsley

sorrel
flowers

See you Thursday!
Laura

Laura Timmerman
910 Greenfield Rd
Leyden, MA 01337
413-773-8325
laurat-at-crocker.com

Lots more farm news and pictures at facebook: