Tag: garden

Mid-August Eggplants

I cannot believe we are already at the middle of August. Obviously, I have not Blogged recently. Quite honestly, it has been simply too depressing to write about not having any veggies for our CSA Members. The rains and the heat together caused most all of the plants to wither and die except for the cucumbers and cantaloupe and eggplant which were in a drier section of the garden. However, the deer got in and ate all of the cucumbers and cantaloupe and then the plants turned yellow. The eggplant remain and we do have beautiful globe eggplants this year! The one bright spot!! We also have potatoes. The okra plants are less than two feet high; thus, there is no need to use a ladder to harvest them this season. LOL You just gotta laugh at the craziness of it all . . . it is as if we live in Florida!

I have posted two new easy eggplant recipes to the website. Both are delicious and freeze well. This is the only vegetable I have to process, so we shall be eating lots of eggplant this winter in our household. Eggplant is naturally bitter; but as long as they are growing quickly, we never remove the skin when we prepare them. Also, we much prefer to roast our eggplant as this method brings out the sweetness. I simply brush the slices with EVOO rather than frying in it.

Eggplants are nutrient-rich, antioxidant-packed fruits that may benefit your heart, blood sugar, weight, and cancer risk. Their hearty texture is a good stand-in for meat. You can roast, bake, steam, or sauté eggplant. When it’s cut up, it makes a good addition to curries and soups or even as a basil substitute for pesto which can be used for dips, pizza, or sandwich spread.

We will offer a limited number of CSA Boxes. If you really love eggplant and potatoes, please send me an email at canecreekcsa@gmail.com and I will prepare a box for you. There may be some offerings over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, we will not be able to resume the entire CSA schedule again as we had planned at the end of June.

Beeturia and Broad-Beans

In the box this week you can expect green cabbage, red beets, a variety of patty pan squash, long summer squash, yellow or green zucchini , orange carrots, some cukes (still regrowing from the deer feast), the last of the broccoli (on Wednesday only), some yellow broad-beans, and perhaps a bit of okra. I will know for sure once I began packing the harvest into boxes!  The okra plants are stunted this season, so the amount will be limited. Then again, that seems to suit most families as many do not like okra.

I love the sweetness of roasted beets! Please remember that beet juice will stain anything it touches!  To remove the pinkish stain from your fingers, try rubbing with salt or lemon juice. Also, ingesting beets will stain bodily fluids of people sometimes. This is called beeturia. The discoloration is due to betalain, a natural pigment found in beets. Not all people experience this; but if you are one of select who does, please do not be alarmed. It might be the time to bring out your “red” dish towel if you have one.

Leaving a bit of stem on the beet prevents excessive “bleeding” while boiling.

Speaking of roasted . . . a friend was telling me how she sliced patty pans and roasted them in EVOO with onions. I think I will give this a try tonight as we have been steaming patty pans recently. A change will be nice. A word on the yellow broad-beans. Robert and I think they are tougher than the green beans; therefore, I steamed a batch last evening for two (2) minutes instead of the one (1) minute setting which I typically use for veggies. We thought they were prefect–with butter, of course!

We do now have a twirling eight-foot fence around the gardens. It rather makes me dizzy to look at it on a windy day. Here’s trusting the Mama deer feels the same way. Robert saw the spotted fawn again last evening. He is about the size of large dog now! He very agilely ran from one tree line to the other when Robert was harvesting squash. I think they surprised one another!!

Seasons Change!

We are moving into kohlrabi (red/green), broccoli, cauliflower this week along with the lettuce, kale (red/green), romaine (red/green), escarole, endive, and the big, tall, light green Tokyo Bicanna. The “red/green” note means it depends on which variety needs to be harvested that particular morning. You can see from this list the chois are missing. Some CSA Members will be happy, perhaps; but, others will be saddened. Seasons change!

Something else missing will be peas. Somehow the peas were planted in one of the gardens not surrounded by the deer fence this year–sorry. Unfortunately, the deer got into the peas two days ago and ate both them and the plants on which they were growing. When I say deer, I do not mean one or two . . . we have a hungry herd! And apparently, a herd with a taste for Seasonal Gourmet Vegetables!!

Broccoli heads and cauliflower heads will vary in size depending on where in the garden they were growing. Our gardens include a variety of different soils. Think of it like a patchwork quilt! It is just the way God made it and there is nothing that can be done to change this fact. If the plants were in a more clay-pack area, they will be smaller. Also, we have different varieties of broccoli planted. Some years one variety does better than another; so this, too, may account for differences.

This little head with the long stalk is a special variety called Artwork.

At some point we will also be taking a new variety of green romaine lettuce which we are trying out. It is fluffier–more round than tall. And leaves have little ridges.

It is hot and dry. We are not excited to hear about the high 80 and 90 degree temperatures heading our way. At least we have our underground, drip irrigation to help keep the plants growing!

The April 30 Garden

So much is going on in our gardens! The second garden to be included in the fence is in the process of being laid out as you can see below. That metal post you see is the hose bib where we attach the drip irrigation which runs through the garden to the drilled well.

Meanwhile, thousands of plants have been moved to the main stage in the first garden where we trust they will flourish and grow to fill our CSA veggies in mid-to-late-May. WHEN we begin harvest all depends on the weather in the next two weeks. The chois, etc. will be smaller in the first two weeks of the CSA, but these crops grow every day and soon one will practically fill the entire box! Please remember this!

If you look closely in the photo below, you can see the seven-foot deer fence which surrounds this first garden and will be extended to surround the second garden as well. The fencing is barely visible to the human eye; but the deer can see it! Over the years we have determined what crops the deer like to eat, so we simply enclose them.

Sprouts are starting to come up through the soil in the potato garden. The fabric has been laid between the rows and the drip irrigation lines are waiting to be set up. Within thirty days, one will not be able to walk between these rows because the potatoes will have grown so large–we trust!

Many other crops have also been planted including carrots, beets, peas and some I am forgetting to be sure! I will send out an email to each and every CSA Member when it is time to arrive at your pick up location for your first box of farm fresh vegetables. It will take us two weeks to get the CSA up and running because we operate on the every-other-week delivery system. These early veggies like cool weather as in traditional spring weather. Cool weather will prevent them from bolting early. Pray for this!

The Days Are Long

Typically on hears the phrase “the days are long, but the years are short” in regard to child rearing; however, it also applies to CSA farming. The greenhouse seedbed and transplanting stage is nearing an end as all of the spring crops are growing nicely and filling their individual peat pots. The nightshade veggies are the last to fill the seedbeds. Today those seeds are starting to break though the soil which means by the end of the week, I shall be transplanting the tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers into their individual peat pots. And then, except for monitoring and watering the plants located there, my daily greenhouse hours will have ended!

The last seedbeds are popping through the soil.

The first and now largest plants have left the greenhouse so they can get acclimated to the real world of direct sunshine, unregulated temperatures, wind, and rain. This means I must be careful when I back out of the garage! Robert put a small fence around this “nursery” to keep wandering animals from walking through and damaging the plants. These plants get watered every day. Once they have adjusted, they will go to the gardens to be transplanted for the final time into our field/garden soil.

This is our driveway “nursery” where plants harden up before going to the gardens.

At the same time, the garden soil must be turned and fluffed. This step is done with our tractors.  The remainder of the season is all really hard, manual labor.  The ground covers between which we plant must be laid down.  The drip irrigation lines must be laid as well.  Only then can we begin putting our plants into the gardens.  Robert is busy today preparing the gardens for the first joi choi, tatsoi, kale, lettuce, romaine, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and cabbage transplants. We trust each plant will mature into a lovely, tasty vegetable to fill our early CSA Boxes.

Robert is hooking up the drip irrigation which runs down each row.

Producing a veggie crop is a long and labor intensive process which begins the first of March. Each year when we start up our CSA Farmshare pick ups in mid-to late-May, we comment, “It will be the 4th of July before you know it!” And then it is!! Then the first of August arrives with its harvest of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Typically, by this time, we have “hit the wall” in terms of our energy levels and need to rest and re-group. This is when we say, “The harvest season is halfway over.” Turn around a few times and the end of September has arrived and our supply of fresh produce is dwindling. Then, if all goes well, by the end of October or mid-November, the gardens will all be cleaned up and put to sleep for the winter months. One fact remains–the days are long and the year is short!

The first spring garden is ready for its seven-foot deer fencing and plants!

Membership Form Submission Errors

Twice in the last week families seeking CSA Membership have emailed me to see if we received their information form. And I had NOT. This rarely happens; however, it has happened twice in the last week! If you filled out and submitted the form on our website (or here) and I have not gotten back to you, please send me a direct email. As a general rule, I will reply within 4 to 24 hours to let you know we are including you in our 2024 CSA Harvest. Not getting a Welcome Email from me means something has gone wrong!

Our greenhouse is full of plants of all sizes. Here are the first seeds which we planted. They will be moving outside into the “real world” after this weekend’s cold snap passes.

Below are some of the smaller plants just recently moved into their individual peat pots (on the bottom) and some in between sizes of plants. There are seedbeds yet to be started as well. Just a reminder that each joi choi, romaine, kohlrabi, and head of broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce, etc. you find in your early CSA Boxes started out as a tiny seed in our greenhouse. It takes time and patience to grow a garden!

My view from the greenhouse has changed from a sea of yellow daffodils to a sea of pink tulips, azaleas, and the majestic Redbud tree. Ever changing, but still beautiful signs of Spring!