Tag: sunflowers

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

By now all CSA Members should have received their End of Season email from me. We did a gradual close down of the CSA much like we did a gradual start up last May. Sometimes, it seems these last five months have flown by! And at other times, Robert and I know we have been planting, tending, and harvesting since early March.

It has been fun getting to know all of you these past few months! Most of you have already indicated you want to continue in our CSA for the 2024 Harvest Season. However, just because life changes, I will be asking everyone again–probably in February 2024.

It seems work on the farm is never completed. Robert will soon begin dismantling the deer fence with its poles, the bean fence, the tomato stakes, and the eggplant and pepper stakes, the rows of fabric and the many, many hundreds of staples which have been holding it in place since March. Every single item of our growing season infrastructure must be removed in other words!

Robert and I think this has been one of the most successful harvest seasons we have enjoyed. And just as we are always excited to begin the planting season, we are also equally excited to end the harvest season. Patience and persistence are necessary traits for any gardener. And some growing seasons are better than others; but, there are always some lessons to be gleaned from a garden!

Our gardens look very sad today . . . but they definitely had their Glory Days in 2023!

Labor Day

Labor Day has come and gone and we are still getting a massive volume of beautiful green beans from our garden. Furthermore, the plants are still blooming! Robert said he was going to harvest every single bean. I think a challenge is coming down from The Heavens to hold him to his declaration! If you want a new way to eat green beans, consider running them through a slicer, sprinkling with EVOO, and roasting them in the oven. This is a great way to prepare them for the freezer, too!

The blueberries did not turn out the way we would have liked. The rains came at the incorrect time which caused the berries to explode. Also, for the first time in thirty years, the bears decided to visit our berry patch. They did a great deal of damage to the bushes in addition to eating everything they could easily reach. You can see from this photo there is no walkway or tunnel between the rows due to the fact they pulled down and broke many plants in an attempt to reach the higher blueberries.

Everyone should have received a cantaloupe over the past couple of weeks. I put this fruit in the same category as avocados when it comes to picking a “ripe” one. I trust you got a tasty one or two! Speaking of tasty, the last potatoes you received in your veggie box are our new favorite! With its smooth skin, creamy texture, and exceptional flavor, we were particularly pleased. We just planted a few as this was a new variety which we wanted to try out, so do not expect any more this season; but you can be sure we will be planting these again next year.

Our sunflowers were glorious this season! In two and one-half weeks, it will be Autumn. We have waves of sweet bell peppers and eggplant and tomatoes to go with the potatoes and green beans and (sometimes) okra. There will be more carrots and cabbage at some point. The peppers are just beginning to turn colors! The heat from the sun is perfect for making bell peppers sweet. The same thing goes for the tomatoes! We trust you agree they were worth the wait!