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This week we are putting kohlrabi into the CSA Boxes. If you have never tried kohlrabi, I think you are in for a treat. In the field it presents like little alien space ships. We have some purple, but mostly green this year. All must be peeled before eating. Once peeled, both will be white and they will taste the same! The stems are also edible. The stems will need to be cooked like collard greens. I like raw kohlrabi. Robert prefers it sauteed. It also makes good “french” fries if one wants to go to the trouble. When it is peeled like an apple, the kohlrabi will not turn brown as an apple will do. This makes sliced kohlrabi a healthy, nutritious “prepare in advance” snack.

There will also be new potatoes in the box. They will arrive in a BPA free, clear bag, but I suggest putting them into a paper bag. If they are exposed to the sunlight, they will turn green because the skin is so tender! Potatoes which have been exposed to enough sunlight to turn green should never be consumed.

Escarole and a bit of ugly broccoli will be in the box. The escarole is a more bitter salad additive. The broccoli and cauliflower heads are having a particularly rough time with all of the daily rainfall we have been getting. Also, you will find the last of the romaine, lettuce, and joi choi. Some boxes may have Asian Delight instead of joi choi as we are getting to the end of the spring garden contents.

We did get some hail on May 8 which dinged and tore the leaves of our Asian greens. It was pea to marble-sized hail and did not last too long, fortunately. The greens will be chopped for salads so it should not be much of a problem–just not pretty. We were again blessed to not be under the type of clouds which covered the Henderson County apple orchard areas.

We are getting too much rain! The bottom lands, of course, collect all of the water running off the mountain. Too much rain stresses the roots of the plants which stresses the crops we are attempting to grow! The weatherman says sunshine is coming and 80 degree temps. Of course, this is way too hot for Spring Greens, but the sun and heat will help to dry out the soil.

The potatoes are growing. If you look closely, you can see two places where the deer walked through the “potato patch.” We do not fence this garden area as potatoes are one crop the deer do not seem to be interested in. They did step over the plants at least!

Robert and I do what we can! There is still no start date for our CSA. Each CSA Member will get a direct email from me when we are harvesting their first box of veggies. I will ask for a response to the email so we know that you know when to expect veggies. The chois, romaines, etc. start out small and grow rapidly in size under reasonable growing conditions. Whether or not the 2025 Harvest Season will be reasonable remains to be seen. Still, over the last 25 + years we have been blessed with a pretty good track record!

On the last day of April, Robert began transplanting our plants to the gardens! We are a couple of weeks behind, but our “greenhouse babies” have developed strong root systems and will grow quickly. We are pleased to see the cooler temperatures return. We are experiencing seasonal weather when one needs to wear a hooded jacket to transplant into the Spring Garden. Only cool weather crops are transplanted to the gardens now.

From this photo, you can see our 2003 farm truck had to be replaced. Not what was in our plans for 2025, but life happens and we adapt! If you look carefully at the white truck backdrop, you can see the fine, black netting from the deer fence which is already up and in place. Standing in front of the fence, one might walk right into it as this fencing is difficult for humans to see, but deer eyes see it just fine! We need this fence to protect the romaine and other choice deer vittles. Robert did incorporate pieces of white ribbon along three sides of the fence for human eyes to detect!

We are so blessed to be able to offer our CSA to the community in this 2025 Harvest Season. Here’s to a beautiful, green Spring and a bountiful growing season!

The last six months have been taxing for the Soul, but have provided us insight and empathy for others facing natural disasters. I refuse to call Helene an “Act of God.” 

Robert has spent many hours these past months with his little Kubota and front-end loader and a chain moving debris to the edge of Brush Creek Road.  Sometimes a sledge hammer and chain saw were involved, too.  We had resigned ourselves to living with tons of natural debris on our property in the tree lines.  Then, the Army Corps of Engineers arrived to our rescue!!!  They are doing a fantastic job removing the trees and debris Robert was not able to move.  We are feeling much, much better in April–and so are our neighbors and community who passed our fields every day!

Our drip irrigation and wells were repaired at the end of March. Robert has tilled the spring gardens and in our greenhouse, thousands of tiny seeds in our seedbeds are turning into seedlings and then growing into plants which will become heads of broccoli, cauliflower, Asian greens, lettuces, cabbages, kohlrabi, etc. to fill our CSA Boxes. For now they are safe in our climate-controlled greenhouse where they can be protected until mature enough to be transplanted into the “real world.”

“if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move a mountain”

Tuesday the last two really big debris piles of lumber and trash were removed from our fields. Now all that remains is one exceptionally long pipe which weighs over 1,000 pounds. It will take some special equipment and certainly a permit in order to remove and transport it away. There are still downed trees, rocks and sand, of course, but they are organic and not man-made materials washed in by Cane Creek. After many hours of labor, things are finally looking better on our property.

Robert tilled the gardens we plan to utilize for the fourth pass–more times than usual, but the soil needed to be loosened and fluffed.  The wells and irrigation system are repaired. And we have 3,600 baby plants in the greenhouse thus far!  Not nearly as many as in past seasons, but enough for 2025.

The cherry and red bud trees are in full bloom. The daffodils are waning, but the tulips and azaleas are starting to show. And I see buds on the dogwood trees and leaves on the poplars! Life is good. We are Blessed!