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Last week I said the crops looked good despite the ample amounts of rain. This week I am sorry to say things are not looking as good. The first three inches we received caused things to start growing, but the next four inches were too much. This stressor coupled with a week of 85 degree temps has caused some plants to bolt and some to yellow and generally look unhealthy. The rains packed down the soils into hard bricks. It is disheartening. There may be a few more of the spring veggies here and there, but for the most part they are done for the season. Then again we can always be surprised—I like surprises!

We will be moving into the Chinese mustard called Tokyo Bekana (pictured above), lettuce, red romaine, escarole, endive, the first broccoli, and kohlrabi this coming week. There will be some joi choi for spice, red or green kale, and perhaps tatsoi, if they look nice enough to put into the boxes. Use the Vegetable Identification pages on the website if you need more help identifying any of these vegetables! Everything all mixed together still makes for a fantastic, fresh salad.

The kohrabi may be new for some CSA Members. As you can see above the kohlrabi sits on top of the soil. We grow both green and purple varieties. Kohlrabi is a delightful vegetable which looks in the garden like a fleet of ships just arrived from outer space! It can be peeled like an apple, sliced, and eaten raw–or added to a salad or sauteed and served–you will need to sauté these leaves a bit longer than some veggies.

To store kohlrabi, cut off the edible leaves about one inch ABOVE the top because when stored in the refrigerator the leafy greens will draw the moisture from the root greatly reducing the flavor and, eventually, causing the veggie to which they are attached to become rubbery.  Of course, it is much better to eat than to store your CSA veggies! Read more about the unique kohlrabi in the Recipes.  You will need to scroll down past the beets to find it.

Robert planted sweet potatoes this weekend. The starts look very healthy. And the regular potatoes (far right above) are looking good on top–too bad all of the potatoes will have to grow in compacted soil. We are drip irrigating this weekend. I know this sounds crazy after I just told you we had gotten too much rain; but that was a week ago!

Sweet potato starts arrive by UPS. And check out the mud on the tailpipe of the truck!

We have gone through the first two weeks of the CSA. This means that every member has now received their first veggie box from our farm. We trust you are enjoying your first green salads of the season! Our crops look good despite the ample amounts of rain we have been receiving. The really good news is that WNC is officially out of the drought which has plagued the region for the last fourteen months!

We have decided to not harvest any more asparagus. The spears are quite small as many of the plants are in only their third year of growth and the past drought was hard on them. We trust a long, cool drink of water will make them more productive next season.

The potatoes have shown a growth spurt since the rains arrived. It is easy to see if you compare this picture to the one I posted on May 21. The sweet potatoes will go on the far side of the red, white and russet potatoes. The sweet starts have not yet arrived, but there is plenty of time to get them planted.

You can see the irrigation drip tape in the first row. Apparently, the rains began before anything was planted in this row! Still, as of this moment, we are extremely pleased–all things considered. If it can go right, it will.

Today was dry enough to plant summer squash! In the foreground, the bean fence is waiting to be pulled into place. The white poll in the distance is one of many required for the seven foot deer fence which will surround many of the gardens.

In your box this week look for joi choi, ching chang, bok choi, and a bundle of mixed greens containing turnip, collard, and mustard. There will also be a purple mustard green and purple choi. We have a light green, bitter member of the Chinese cabbage family, and red or green baby kale, and tatsoi.  All can be eaten raw in a salad or sauteed, if you choose. Wash, chop, eat–then repeat.

Please remember to bring back your box!

 

We have a time with the critters around here. I have all but given up on my newly planted strawberry patches. I tried pie plates and streamers. I tried netting with bricks placed all along the bottom edges. I tried a fake black snake. The ornery chipmunks managed to get every one of the strawberries.  Those turning red were the first to go. Finally, they even ate the green ones! Today I ripped up the netting and am trying to make a new use of it.

I am not netting the blueberries. We have a good number blueberries and I have given in to sharing blueberries with the wildlife. However, I do not like to see squirrels climbing up and breaking the branches.

I have a pair of very territorial Cardinals. They call to each other all day long making their presence known so no other birds will come into the area. These dominate Cardinals even fight their reflection in the windows—on all sides of the house. I have tried placing cling stickers on windows to keep them from pecking at the windows. This system works for the Tom Turkeys in the early spring when they, too, are defending their territory from THEMSELVES. The turkeys are bad to mess up my front porch stoop with piles of pooh and will bloody the full-glass storm door if I don’t keep cling stickers in place. It does not matter if the stickers celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or Easter—as long as something is on the window.

I thought the stickers would work to keep the Cardinals from pecking at the windows with their strong, little yellow beaks. But no! I decided to “let it go” and “let the Cardinals be” until a couple of mornings ago when they discovered my bedroom window at 6 a.m.! From this moment the war was ON. The stickers did not seem to work for the Cardinals, so today I have taken the next step. I moved the net, in which the ground hog tore a big hole, from the strawberries to the bedroom window. It is currently flapping in the breeze and will hopefully discourage the 6 a.m. “nature sound” wake-up call.

Leaning out the second story window, I was carefully positioning the netting when a wasp flew into the house! The wasps and I have gone around and around for years. It is my opinion they (and the spiders) can have all of the trees, bushes and flowers in the surrounding woods as long as they stay away from the eves of the house. This seems like a fair deal to me! But still, they seem to love to build nests near my doors and windows. I don’t like the smell of and the chemicals in those cans of Raid, but I do like the fact they shoot 35 feet into the air. This season I am trying a new approach. I did a test section of eve by wiping a cloth saturated with lavender oil. It seems to be discouraging them from building in the area. However, in many locations I need to reach 35 feet. I recently purchased a super-soaker water gun which claims to reach 35 feet. I plan on filing it with a water and lavender oil mixture and soaking everywhere I do not want the insects building. More on how this works out in a future Blog.

Don’t get me started on the pack of crows that ate every cherry on the tree before I even realized the cherries were ripening! I was busy in the greenhouse transplanting and one day those blossoms became red cherries without my even noticing. The crows know I did not want them in the tree. When I go out in that direction, they caw-caw at me as if to say, “Go away from our tasty treats.” Crows are smart. They love to eat sweet corn seeds,  in particular. They even distinguish between run-of-the-mill seeds and the organic, specialty seeds. They sit in the trees and watch until when they see Robert and I leave the garden, then they swoop down and eat the seed of their choice. The minute we come back, they fly up into the trees again.

The best crop we ever had of growing sweet corn was devoured in one evening by the raccoons—just hours before we were prepared to harvest it. There must be an app for that called “Sweet Corn Ripe At Cane Creek Asparagus.” After years of trying, this is one fight we KNOW we cannot win. Needless to say, we are no longer growing sweet corn.

Years ago when we started our first orchard, we planted the trees along the creek berm. They were getting a good start assisted by our watering them. One day we discovered the trees missing and gnawed, pointy stakes in their place. If you know anything about beavers, you know why our apple trees disappeared. Robert had to get a boat and go into the creek to tear down the Beaver Lodge. Revenge is sweet! The beavers smartly decided to move on down the creek to a more hospitable location.

Currently, I see a ground hog in my miniature peach tree. It makes a good lookout for him apparently. I would not dare to shoot the critter as there are too many glass windows and rocks which could cause a dangerous ricochet.

Robert has figured out how to install a seven-foot deer fence around the Spring Gardens. It seems the deer are only interested in lettuces and peas and such. Of course, this fence will not keep out the rabbits and squirrels.

Last week we found a snake skin in the front yard about five feet in length. I am pinning my hopes on him. I trust he is hungry and will eat a lot of small varmints this summer on his way to six feet.

We got the CSA started last Tuesday–not too late considering the weather card we have been dealt this season. By now all CSA Members have received their email about when to get their first veggie box! Thank you for being patient. It takes us two full weeks to get the CSA up and running with every-other-week deliveries. After nearly twenty years of CSA planning, planting and harvesting, we have found this system to work well for both our family farm and our members.

The important things to remember now are to bring back your CSA Boxes when you come for your next veggie box and to communicate with us! I will try to give  you some idea of what to expect on this Blog each week. There can always be a last minute change, of course. If you have any questions, please call or email us.

These first CSA Boxes will contain Ching Chang, Tatsoi, and two varieties of Choi. Also a bundle of greens including baby collards, turnip and mustard–up until now they have all been green. By next week there should be red and purple added to the mix! The baby kale will be either green or red, depending on the harvest availability that day. The asparagus will always be a green/purple mix.

Don’t forget to check the recipes on the web site. I have sprinkled hints and tips both there and in the Vegetable ID pages.

If you are unhappy with your CSA experience with Cane Creek Asparagus & Company, we want you to tell us. If you are happy, please tell us, too; but then tell everyone else!

Do you have at least two (2) refrigerator/freezer thermometers in your home? If not, we recommend you purchase one for each of your refrigerators and freezers! A thermometer is your number one food safety tool. This tool can be purchased for $5 – $6. The food safety zone should be clearly marked in red. Place it in a prominent location and KEEP AN EYE ON IT.  This handy gadget will help you to keep your veggies fresh and it will ensure your dairy products and meats are “in the zone” as well. The proper temperature range will be printed on the side of your CSA Box.

We suggest you buy a box of Hefty Jumbo (2.5 gallon) zipper bags. This brand is the largest we have seen. They are easy to open and are big enough to handle anything we will send your way. There are also various “green bags” on the market. The point is you will need some extra-large refrigerator storage bags for the time between receiving and preparing/consuming your veggies.

It can be difficult to distinguish the various greens from one another. If you taste the stem end, you may be able to distinguish the turnip from the mustard from the collards. Don’t stress over the names; but if you want to know them, check out the web site Photo Album entitled “Vegetable Identification” to see photos of some of these first spring vegetables. The veggies are shown in the approximate order of their appearance in your CSA Box—although, of course, this will vary slightly from season to season. I will post on the Blog what is coming any given week so you know what to expect. We do reserve the right to make changes in the harvest as necessary.

All of these first greens can all be used in a raw salad or a quick stir fry mix. I like to wash all of my greens at one time and have them ready to chop for salads or sauté at mealtime. I also keep a big bowl of all these greens chopped and mixed together in the refrigerator. Then I can make a tasty salad in no time. Beyond what I will use in three days, I leave washed and unchopped in a bag. (Strawberries would be lovely here!)

You might look through the recipes on the web site for these first vegetables and stock your pantry with some of the staples you see repeated in the ingredients. See “T” for Tatsoi, “C” for Choi and “L” for Lettuce.  In particular, I would recommend the Joi Choi Salad crunchy topping and dressing! These can be made in advance.

We do have CSA Shares available. Keep your eyes open for your personal Start-Up Email. We are getting close . . . !

Meanwhile, I am trying to keep the rabbits and chipmunks away from my personal, six strawberry plants! The guard dog did not work, the pie plates with streamers did not work, I have moved on to netting. Fingers crossed–I have yet to get a single berry!

Since my last post, thousands of plants have gone from the safety of the greenhouse to the out-of-doors to acclimate with the earlier ones moving on to the garden.

It has been a continual stream of plant movement interrupted with rainfall which has made it too wet to plant on some days. In other words, not our ideal spring. I look wistfully at the outside plants wondering if I could snitch a few leaves for a fresh salad!

The fields are draining properly and despite the mud, thousands of plants are going into the soil–until today, of course! Yes, we are in a serious drought. Yes, we are getting too much rain at the moment. This irony is the life of a farmer.

We will have a late season start in 2017. Meanwhile, the white and pink azaleas are gone and the purple and red are in full bloom–unfortunately, the Sunday-Monday rains are taking their toll, I fear. The landscape is changing. We have empty plant trays as proof!

CSA Farm Shares are available. We will have veggies, just not as early as we had planned. This is the kind of year when our Members are glad that WE assume the financial risk by not insisting upon full payment in advance!

We were able to get into the gardens today for the final tilling! What a difference twelve days can make. Here is our Spring Garden ready to have the fabric laid and the fence installed all around it. You will recall the last time I posted a photo there was a huge puddle of water in it. We do have CSA Shares available for the 2017 Harvest Season!

The potatoes were planted today (see below). They will need fabric laid, too. This helps to keep the weeds down, the moisture in, and enables us to be in the patch on muddy days without excessive tracking of the soil. There are five rows and five different potato varieties this season–not counting the sweet potatoes. This is the only crop we can plant using the tractor. And this is the last time the tractor will be in the gardens except to mow the grass ways from time to time.

The blueberries are loaded with blossoms. Our blueberries are a late variety and U-pick for our CSA Members only. I am delighted the last cold snap did not hurt them this year.

The heirloom apple trees are loaded with flowers, too.  So pretty to see! We missed this sight last year as they had very few blossoms. The local bees are going crazy between our front yard and the fields!

The gardens are still drying out, so no planting this weekend. Instead it was an opportunity to do other chores and maintenance around the place. We did move several more trays of plants out of the greenhouse, however.

I am so ready for spring salad greens! And fresh broccoli and cauliflower and every other vegetable represented in this photo. We do have farm shares available. If you have been waiting to decide now is the time to sign up for the 2017 Harvest Season.

Last year at this time we had seeds and plants in the ground. As a result following the weather reports and gut instincts, we have not yet planted our Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA 2017 gardens. This is what our planned spring garden looked like on Sunday morning! We are thankful we did not waste any seeds or plants! Bullet dodged.

Robert added additional drainage, but we may need to move the spring garden to another location!

The first plants were moved outside of the greenhouse last evening so they can acclimate to the real world environment. Tiny seedlings a month ago–greens for salads in another month, we trust!

We still have thousands of plants in various stages of growth in the greenhouse.  More will be moved outside as they get to the appropriate size.  Now we need to be on guard for various pests like rabbits, deer, groundhogs, stray dogs–anything who poses a threat to our “babies!”

We received a good deal of rain yesterday.  The area springs are running and we have puddles in the gardens (no plants yet, just puddles) for the first time in a long time.  I cannot remember the last time I saw this much water in Cane Creek.  The drought has lasted so long . . . which is not good for asparagus as it is in the lily family.

I am starting to dream about green salads and the first asparagus spears.  In the meantime, here are some ceramic salt and pepper spears!