For over 15 weeks now we’ve been pretty lucky on Thursday afternoons, there has been some rain but nothing we couldn’t work through.Well, this past week, we had some showers. And the ground was extremely muddy from the rainstorms in the morning. When the weather cleared up, we harvested mizuna and red mustard, and then harvested broccoli.
As I come off the fields, I am asked farming questions from those that are picking up their share (It must be my muddy appearance that attracts these people). "Where is the okra?" "I have never seen tomatoes like this? How do you do grow these so well?" "Can you pick me out a good watermelon" and so on...my God, I am such a poser.
So, there was a sample of ground cherries with sign indicating we have ground cherries available for pick-up in the filld,. A woman, new to the farm who was picking up for her friend, took branches and stems with the ground cheeries attached, ans asked me "did I pick them right?" Now I had just found out no less than five minutes earlier that ground cheeries are only ready when they fall off the stem onto the ground, (hence the name). I had told her that I have been working here 4 months and just today found that ground cheeries are picked of the ground. I also suggested we try a few so I reached into her bag and took out the small fruit, peeled off the brown paper-like wrapper, and popped a greenish pebble into my mouth. It was hard and sour. The one she tried was bigger but sour also. So I told her that we both know now why we should wait until they fall off the stem.
Share was : 2 lbs of carrots (orange purple or yellow); 1 broccoli; 4 red peppers; 1 summer squash; 2 lbs. Aronidack blue potatoes; Choice of 2 (1 eggplant, 1 green squash); 3 lbs. of tomatoes, (red, yellow, plum); 1 ¾ lbs of onions (yellow or red); ¾ lb. of greens (mizuna, red mustard, arugula, golden frill, tatsoi); up to 4 watermelons (size of volleyball) : Upick of herbs tomatillos,okra and groundcherries.
