Season 2: Week 9: July 29: Bins!

I am starting with share distribution this week:

2 fennel

2 summer squash (including "patty pan")

2 cucumbers

2 leeks

2 lbs. of carrots or beets

3 heads of lettuce (red leaf)

4 peppers

tomatoes

Choice of 2: small container of artichokes, plum tomatoes, beans : or eggplant or "monster" squash or 1 lb. of carrots

Upick fields: tomatillos, herbs, cilantro, summer savory, sage, basil, thyme and flowers

The details of distribution share is for one share, so if we do some math, we can see just how much produce is involved: 75 shares = total 150 fennel, 150 squash, 150 cucumbers, 150 leeks, 150 lbs+ carrots, 300 peppers, 225 heads of lettuce.

So how are these vegetables stored and how do they stay fresh? Well there is the cooler measuring about 8 ft by 8 ft by 10 ft high with an air conditioning unit, but the vegetables are harvested in plastic bins. And with double the amount of members this year, twice the number of bins were needed. Bins are brought by carts to the fields, used in the rows and then brought back in, quickly washed and then re-used. Sometimes there is a plastic bin shortage, and we need to find wood crates or plastic bakery bread flats to hold the harvest, anything to get the vegetables stored by bulk into the cooler. Today we recived an estimate of 96 bins. I "quickly" rinsed them, dryed them and stocked them . We should not be running out of plastic bins anytime soon.

I also harvested green pappers, and weeded the corn fields. I also hacked a plastic water drip hose that was underground by the corn. My bad. I think I wrote about this watering system last year. When rains are not abundant, drip hoses are run along side of the 2 or 3 rows of crops hooked up to a mainline plastic pipe running alongside the edge of the fields. These are not sprinklers but simply drip-hoses that are made of cheap plastic (and break easily under the hacking motion of a sharp farming tool in the hands of an over-excited and un-observant farmhand)

Season 2: Week 8: July 22: One Man's weed is another Man's friend

The weather was a little cooler as compared to the previous weeks but it was still a hot day.

We continued to harvest the summer squash. Farmer Erin probably planted many varieties but to my eye there are three; green, yellow striped and yellow ridged. Some of our shift harvested cucumbers. All total we harvested and washed over 500 cucumbers and summer squash. Then we hand-weeded the garlic chives.

We also removed the taller weeds and grasses that were growing intertwined in the carrot and onion beds.

Beth and Erin are quick to identify the weeds (*) by name; Burdock, Quickweed, Thistle weed, Nutsedge, Purslane, Lambs Ear. We wanted to remove all of the mature weeds before they go to seed. This is a delicate process especially if the weed is growing right within the plant roots. Sometimes the vegetable comes out when you pull on the weed, and you have both the weed and the vegetable in your hand. Onions can be placed back with your fingers crossed in hope for a recovery. Carrots, on the other hand, can't be put back, and are eaten or discarded. In my case, I had about 6 early carrots that were casualties of the weeding war which I brought home as treats to our rabbits.

This week's share was very bountiful: Beets (Bunch), Squash (1), Cabbage (large green or small red), Carrots (1 lb),

Tomatoes (2), Eggplant (2), Lettuce (2 heads), Scallions, Onions (early) and Choice of small artichokes, monster summer squash, patty pan squash, kale, or fennel. The U-Pick herbs available were also very abundant: cilantro, summer savory, dill, thyme, basil, and bronze fennel.

(*) Legal disclaimer : the word "weed" used in this blog entry is used in the most common understanding; that is, an unwanted plant which happens to be growing where it shouldn't be. There is no derogatory meaning nor judgement implied that the plant is not useful in some way. I admire people that can identify these plants but I really admire those can know their edible or practical properties. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "a weed is a plant whose virtues we have yet to discover."

Season 2: Week 7: July 15, 2010: Squash and Squish

Our shift picked about 350 summer squash and found a few "monsters" (that is, the size of a little boys plastic bat). I have harvested summer squash at home, but on the farm the leaves are big and the vines prickly.(Sometimes the squash are hidden and missed during harvesting which allow them to grow even bigger)

We also picked eggplants. Much like last year there will be a good eggplant harvest.

We also hoed amd handed weeded a bed of parsley and dill. I preferred standing using a scuffle or stirrup hoe for the spaces in between the rows and walkways. It was a hot day and I didn't feel like getting too close to the dirt.

Then we went on a "search and destroy" mission for the Colorado potato bugs again. I thought I was being smart by using my shirt front to protect my hands as I squished the bugs. I found about 10 on a plant , small to large and started squishing away. My shirt had a red blotch the size of a grapefruit. It was quite a disgusting to have bug guts ground into shirt front. I asked if anyone knew if the red stuff would come out in the wash since it was an irreplaceable shirt ($3 from Goodwill). My colleague asked me if I knew that ground up bugs are used to make dyes. So I guess the red blotch is not coming out, I thought.

Besides a ruined shirt, I also suffered near exhaustion from the heat, nice sunburn around my neck, and skin irriation from the squash leaves (but no bee stings!)

We received 1 tomato (early/greenish), 1 cabbage, 2 squash, Kohlrabi or lettuce head (small), scallions, Kale, 2 Peppers and an Eggplant; herbs available: oregano, cilantro, thyme, basil, summer savory, sage, dill.

I am seeing a lot more tomatoes, peppers, eggplants on their way.

Season 2: Week 6: July 8, 2010: Lettuce Seed

This time only 1/3 of a bed with 2 rows needed to be harvested and with two other workers we finished in a 1 hour or so. We tied the garlic in bunches of ten to be hung for curing. Some of the garlic grown was for another CSA. Mud Creek Farms is also part of a larger food co-operative in Rochester called the Good Food Collective. This week Erin is providing garlic and herbs.

Then we harvested thyme with scissors. Thyme is a bushy plant that smells a lot better than garlic. We sat in the fields in the heat giving the thyme haircuts. We filled about 1½ Rubbermaid type containers of this herb.

Finally we seeded starter containers of lettuce. We picked the summer varieties – the ones that do not bolt (or flower and go to seed quickly) that can tolerate the hot weather. Normally lettuce and other greens are cool weather plants so special varieties needed to be chosen. The plastic seed beds were about 18 inches wide and 24 inches long, and have small 1” containers. There are about 128 spots for seeds. Lettuce seeds are small like caraway seeds. A cardboard paper holder is used to hold the seeds and its folded long opening is gently slanted to let out one seed, and gently pushed in with a paring knife. Sometimes two get into the spot and well two seeds are there for germination, especially if the seed is black and the soil is black. To finish the day we took the sprouted broccoli and kale (about 3 weeks old) and transplanted them in to larger intermediate size plastic beds. Ater this stage they will go directly into the ground.

It was about 95 degrees and I didn’t get any bee stings.

Season 2: Week 5: July 1, 2010: GarlicTime

Today’s shift was devoted to one task : harvesting garlic. The garlic beds consist of 4 beds of 3 rows of plants of about 200 feet long. We harvested 2 full beds (all 3 rows) Using a spading fork we drove the fork into the ground about 5"-6" from the garlic, loosening and lifting the soil around the plant, being careful not to fork the garlic. We gently lift the garlic out, examine for fungus, sort in appropriate pile and move on. Sorting consisted of examining the garlic bottom for yellow brown fungus as well as broken case. One pile was for immediate distribution since these garlic would no cure well, and another pile was for the curing so we would have garlic distruted throughtout the rest of the season. About 4 people rotated through these assorted tasks and according to my estimations we harvested about 1500 heads of garlic. The weather was cooler due to a summer breeze. An official dining place was established under a tarp by the greenhouse.

The share this week was 2 heads of lettuce, 1 summer squash, head of cabbage (green or purple), head of napa cabbage, Bok Choi, Choices of broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, greens, Garlic (uncured), or Kale. The herbs available for picking were oregano, basil, thyme and cilantro.

Season 2: Week 4: June 24, 2010: BeetleJuice and BeeStings

"First thing we’re going to do today is to remove the Colorado potato beetle larvae from the potato plants. When you find them, just squish them in between your fingers but be careful that they don’t pop their guts in your face."

I am not a bug person, so I am not a bug-squishing person neither. I didn't want to admit my squeamishness, so it was time to become an bug person. Deep inside, I was hoping not to find any, and I hoped that if I did, the larvae would be small (like a couscous grain) and not like the size of a elbow pasta. I found a few in between those sizes, and squeezed away. I did not get any bug guts splashed in my face but it still was a icky feeling, squeezing these fat wormy things. My fingers and thumb on my right hand was stained with the blood of these larvae. It was gross.

My next tasks were not very exciting. I gathered from the rocks from the beds to make rock bags and re-adjusted watering hoses tucking them within the edges of the beds and away from the grassy edges. (The small walking fields that separate the growing areas can now be mowed without the plastic irrigation pipes being shredded.)

I went to the far corner near the beehives for these jobs and normally the bees keep to their business and I keep to mine. Well, I was targeted by a small swarm of bees and felt them swirling my head. I was swatting them away with both arms flailing (breaking the first rule of how-to-prevent-bee-stings) and then I felt a pain in my temple. I swatted again, and my glasses went flying. I was too stressed to look for them, lifted my shirt over my head and face, and walked in the direction of the rest area. Luckily it was break-time, and I told my story. I was told that honey was taken from the bees yesterday. Yeah, well, thanks for telling me that now.

I went with Beth who kindly recovered my glasses and then briskly moved away. I got stung again, this time in the chest. It is not fun to be stung. I was given a tablet of Benadryl equivalent and continued making my rock bags, away from the bees, until my shift was over.

Distribution included: Garlic scapes (5), 2 heads of lettuce, kohlrabi, kale or swiss chard, greens (golden frill, aragula), head of napa cabbage, spinach, 1 summer squash, small broccoli, cauliflower, Garlic (uncured).

Season 2: Week 3: June 17, 2010: Tastes like...chicken

I went to California to visit family and missed my work time. I will make it up during the first week of August.

And the white rooster was eaten while I away. Can't say that I miss him.

Season 2: Week 2: June 10, 2010: Weeding

This is a missing week, since I am posting 8 weeks at once. I think it was hot, I weeded some plants, I sweated a lot, and forgot the details.

My guess at the share received was : spinach, greens (mizuna, golden frill aragula, tatsoi); lettuce, turnips, and radishes. Herbs were available for picking.

Season 2: Week 1: June 3, 2010: Hoeing the Garlic

After being given a small orientation on the location of the supplies and equipment, I spent the whole afternoon hoeing the garlic with others helping. This was the garlic that was planted in the fall. We weeded and turned the soil on about 1500 garlic plants: 4 beds of about 200 ft long rows with 3 rows of garlic planted 4 - 6 inches apart in each row. Not exciting but very necessary. A good weeding and solid turning of the soil early in the season will prevent weed growth and foster proper plant health.

Some things are a little different this year. First I am now working on a Thursday afternoon. I am fortunate to have a job where I can take 4 hours per week off and "play outside". Last year I worked alone on Saturday afternoon. This year I am working with a team of 2-3 others and we work well together. There is an farm intern, Beth, who helps with the task direction and training. And I picked my workday to coincide with a pick-up day so we only have to make one trip per week.

The share for first week was : 1 1/4 lbs spinach, 1 1/2 greens (mizuna, golden frill aragula, tatsoi); 3 small heads of lettuce, turnips, and radishes. Oregano and flowers were available for picking.