Week 3

transplanting celeriac into hay mulch

dead raspberry plant

cucumbers in our hoophouse....coming soon!

As we went about our work this past week we noticed that the farm is starting to actually look like a vegetable farm again. Crops are putting on growth quickly now and there is hope that somewhere in the near future we will have more interesting crops to look forward to harvesting.

In the process we also noted two very disappointing things.
First a large swath of our raspberries have been killed by phytophthora root rot this spring. This means that we will have less raspberries available this year (and next). This disease has been especially bad in the raspberries this year as a result of the wet spring.

Second, the husk cherries that we thought we planted in our greenhouse have turned out to be tomatillos. When they are young the plants look very similar and it was only this past week that we noticed the mistake. We don't know if we planted the wrong seed by mistake or if the seed was mis-packed by the seed company. We are currently desperately seeking some husk cherry plants from area farmers, but at this point the outlook is not good. We know that we have quite a few husk cherry fans out there and we will be very disappointed if we are unable to provide them this year.

Despite how slow the vegetables are coming in this year, we are glad to know that our local foodshed is getting stronger all the time, and we appreciate that we are able to tap into some other local people who are working to get good food out there to plump the share up a little.

We are thrilled to be able to distribute and get the word out about our friends' Steve and Michael's new business venture-Culinary Kiosk, www.culinarykiosk.com (some of you may know Steve Kettelle who runs Hendy Hollow Farm near Elmira). This week they were kind enough to allow us to distribute certified organic herbs in the share, we had a nice selection and if you missed them this week, we have a few left that you can get this week, ask at the booth.) If you liked them get more at the website, they also have certified organic coffee and soon sauces.


Another thing that we are excited about is that there are new vendors at all of the farmers market's that we attend!
at the Grove Park market in Elmira, we have last years staple vendors:
The flower lady with organic flower bouquets as well as veggies and tomato plants

Silver Queen farm with fruits and vegetables- get your strawberries now or you pick your own at their farm they are open 8-8 everyday and the picking is great right now and the warmth last week made the season come on fast and may make it shorter, so don't delay, (we went today)! (6O7-387-65O2)

new vendors this year are providing lovely wooden handcrafts, baked goods, plants, meat and eggs:

We have the Ort Family farm who has delicious baked goods including shortcake this week (to go with your strawberries)as well as a wide variety of herb and vegetable plants. They also have free range chicken, duckling, turkey, goose, and eggs. Grass fed beef and lamb, pastured pork, and farm raised rabbit are also available from the Ort family farm.

Heritage Pastures farm name sums it up well, they raise heritage breed animals on pasture and they come to market with fresh chicken, turkey,and pastured pork. Benjamin also makes beautiful wooden items for sale as well. check them out for sure.

At the corning farmers market, a new vendor of note is flour city pasta www.flourcitypasta.com they use local and organic ingredients in their locally produced, organic artisanal pasta and they have a beautiful display of shapes, sizes, and colors of pasta! (the flour in some of their pastas are from the same farm as the flour you can get in your share)

At the Watkins Glen farmers' market we have several new vendors as well. Sheepskin, eggs, plants and more from Wolftree farm. Hilker haven farm has quite a spread of jams for sale including some really unusual varieties (ginger is really gingery, and horseradish is interesting...)

We had been feeling a little down with the raspberry and husk cherry situations but this week we have felt really supported by our community with three different baked goods coming our way in the last few days and we even had a friend come by with dinner in the back of the car, so we got a tailgate dinner on sunday night!

Anyway, to further perk up our spirits, we are having our June CSA event, we will be having a bonfire and dessert potluck on Saturday june 25th. Come on by to see the farm as it shapes up to look like something for the summer. Meet our goats, look at the solar system, and most importantly meet other CSA members as you listen to the frogs trill and watch the lightning bug displays start for the evening. Bring a dessert to share and a chair. Hope to see you here, starts at 7 ends when the embers go out.

Expected vegetables this week:
lettuce
lettuce mix
chard
kale?
baby carrots
garlic scapes
snow peas?

Next week's expected vegetables:
lettuce
lettuce mix
chard
kale
carrots
garlic scapes
new potatoes
summer squash
snow peas?
beans?


have a good week,
liz and matthew