First week of July share

Even organic farmers spray things, they tend to be gentle things and generally don't require gas masks and protective clothes, with chemical resistant gloves and goggles. But never-the-less whenever i am in the field with our little back pack sprayer, i want to put up a "don't panic, its organic" type of sign for passerbyes. The urge isn't nearly so strong here on our quite road, but when we used to live on a busier road, it was quite strong, making me feel like spraying at dawn or dusk to avoid feeling like people would think we were "spraying poisons".

here is our "pest management" shelf. On it can be found ground up fossilized microscopic animal shells (diatomaceous earth) which cause small abrasions on slugs and then allow them to dry out in the sun, kaolin clay- an inert clay that can confuse insects or clog their tiny mouth parts, vegetable oil for drowning some pests when they land in yellow trays thinking they are landing on cucumber blossoms, and a bottle of neem oil that we owned for about 4 years before we ever opened and have sprayed just once in the time we have had it. Neem comes from the african neem tree and is a powerful organic insect killer. Not on the shelf, but often used this year are homemade garlic and hot pepper sprays. Those are most of the tools in our "arsenol".



You may see evidence of the clay on your cucumbers and squash in the form of a white film, it is inert and harmless, if traces remain, wipe it off and enjoy!


cucumber leaves with clay on them


picking our own cherries! Matthew, look down!


eggs have hatched (and by now, fledged)

Items you may see in your share this week:
cabbage
beets
new potatoes!
onions
baby leeks
squash
spinach
peas
cucumbers
broccoli
basil
cilantro
dill
parsley (maybe not till next week?)
lettuce
snow peas
carrots

Here's a nice recipe for carmelized onions and cabbage, from Sarah:

Saute onions until almost translucent
make a bouillon cube up according to recipe and add half the "broth"
and a finely cut up cabbage, cover and cook until "tender crisp"

have a super week!
liz