What's Happening on the Farm

The peas are just starting to come in, and U-Pick starts next week. For now, we've added a few edible pod peas in your salad mix, along with tender tips. Next week, we'll put small paper bags in the barn along with instructions where to pick. You may also help yourself to some basil and cilantro, which is planted in the first row. It's good to pinch off the flowering tips of the herbs. We want to prevent them from going to seed. It makes the plants bushy and abundant and last long. Peas, string beans and cherry tomatoes for those of you not doing U-Pick will be in the barn along with the rest of the pick up items. Once again, for your convenience, you may do your U-Pick when you come for your share, or any day or time during daylight hours.

The big rain over the weekend drove everyone indoors, but it also gave our gardens a huge drink. Bill and I came home to an explosion of growth, and the empty space in the gardens are really filling in. Everything is growing like crazy!

There are many pests that would like to eat our vegetables that we deal with regularly. We treat with row cover, organic sprays like Neem Oil soap, capsicum, and when needed, Bti, Spinosad, and Pyrethrins. The first two are naturally occurring bacteria that are safe to use and act only on the bugs. Pyrethrins, also known as "Natural PY," is derived from chrysanthemums.

This week we found some aphids feeding on some of the plants, which we treated. In the course of our research, we found some interesting information about a symbiotic relationship between aphids and ants. Did you know that ants are farmers too? Whenever you find aphids, you also find lots of ants. The ants love to eat these sweet juicy bugs. In fact, when you treat the garden, the ants will immediately drag some of the aphids underground to save them from being killed by the spray. That's why it's so hard to get rid of all of the aphids! We learned that you can sprinkle cornmeal around the plants. The ants drag the meal back to the queen, who eats them. This gets her all plugged up until she bursts! Ewwww! But so interesting, don't you think?

A word about the bags your lettuce and greens come in. We attended a conference in March and one of the tradeshow vendors was selling these polypropylene bags which he told us would keep the greens fresh longer. We've been using them, and we're finding they really work! Fresh greens are definitely lasting longer in the fridge. They're a little more expensive than baggies, so we're hoping the cost is worth it. You can rinse out and reuse them to store your greens in. Let us know what you think.

Please try to remember to bring your own bags! We do supply recycled grocery bags, in case you forgot.