Pennypack Pickings 08/08/09

Pennypack Pickings
Volume 7, Issue 18
August 8, 2009

P
Pennypack Farm & Education Center
685 Mann Road, Horsham, PA 19044
Hosted by the College Settlement of Philadelphia

Quick Picks

Fresh Mozzarella just in time for the tomato season. The Local Foods Market has partnered with Sam's Italian Market on Welsh Road to get wonderful fresh mozzarella in 1 lb balls to sell at $7.99 /lb.

They will come in fresh on Fridays and the shelf life is only 1 week, so we have to order conservatively. We are starting out with 24 pounds this week and will see how it goes. Click here for Caprese Salad recipe.

Sugar Workshop
Monday, August 10 ~ 7:00 -9:00 p.m.
Walk-ins welcome
Presented by Susie Beiler. Are you addicted to sugar? Add sweetness into your life! Learn the harmful effects of refined sugars and artificial sweeteners in your body. Incorporate healthy (chemical-free) natural sweeteners into your lifestyle. Understand your cravings, empower yourself to live an extraordinary life by adding sweetness to your life!
Fee: $12.00/person

Farm Notes ~ August 5
From Farmer Fred

Mark Twain supposedly said that everybody talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. That sentiment is a little out of date in this era of climate change. We hear about triple digit heat last month in Seattle. Farmer Dennis hears from his farmer uncle in Wisconsin that they've had no significant rain since June. And I don't have to tell you about the weather here in southeast Pennsylvania this summer.

Climate confusion might be a good description. This season at Pennypack the soil has been wet to mucky. One result has been big onions. Another is that our new potato digging machine is mired down in a swamp that formed at the east end of our potato field. And another terrible result is the rampant late blight in our tomatoes - like the weather itself a function of human agency as much as nature.

Vegetable crops hail from allover the world. Our ancestors tamed local wild plants (and animals) that evolved in specific climate conditions. Thus we can guess about those places from the vegetables we have today. Onions must have come from some dark, cool, and swampy place. Tomatoes must have come from a place where there was a pronounced dry season; muskmelons (cantaloupes) from a place with hot days and cool nights; potatoes from somewhere dry.

Here in southeast Pennsylvania we can grow most kinds of vegetables, but it's always a challenge to grow those that like it dry. It is easier to add water with irrigation than to take it away. Water is vital to plants, but many plants are susceptible to water borne fungal diseases. Potatoes and carrots rot in wet soil. Heavy dew, a function of humidity, is also a problem. Wet foliage encourages fungal diseases. In addition to tomatoes, all our melon family crops have been hard hit. One has to admire the eastern forest trees that seem so well acclimated to these conditions.

Humans don't mind the 70 degree summer days; farmer Raina keeps asking me whether California is this mild (it is, near the coast); she'd like to live in this kind of climate. It's starting to look like she doesn't have to leave the east coast. In fact, by the time she got to California, she might find the sweltering heat and humidity we should be having.

In This Issue

Notes from Farmer Fred

Loaded with Leeks?

Donate Old Cell Phones

Composting 101 - 8/20

Farmer Andy Hour - 8/27

Native Plants - 9/19

Playful Chef

B'day Parties

Weekly Harvest

lettuce
beets
basil
parsley
onions
leeks
peppers
kale
eggplant
cabbage
cucumber
squash
tomatoes
(limited supply)

upick
beans
cherry tomatoes
berries

Friendly Reminder

CSA Members: Please be mindful that CSA pickups are 2:30pm to 7:30pm. This means that the greeters will be closing up the Harvest House at 7:30 and will lock and leave the farm by 8pm. Please be mindful of this and plan your time accordingly.

Loaded with Leeks?