Notes from Chris
There are three things I've always said threaten the farm, weather wise. While we'll probably never see a tornado, severe thunderstorms with hail and strong winds, and extremely heavy rainfall, are always possible during the growing season. Last year, during the drought, everyone was freaking out on how terrible it was. While the heat was very hard on crops, any good farmer has irrigation and knows how to keep a field at a good moisture level. When it's dry, a farmer can plant, weed, and harvest whenever necessary, but when it's wet, that is not possible.
The weather we experienced last week definitely qualifies for extremely heavy rainfall. While I don't find satisfaction in others' problems, I'm glad that Chicago and northern Illinois got the brunt of the 5-10 inches of rain that fell over our region. We have had some problems and issues with the rain, but better to get the rain before the outdoor fields start getting planted than after. Meanwhile, Robin, our Chicago manager and CSA coordinator, was pumping a couple feet of dirty storm water from her basement in Maywood. At the farm we got more like 3 inches of rain--on top of the 2 inches we had the week before. The ground is super saturated, and we'll have what looks to be the latest first planting date in my 21 years of farming. At this rate we'll be lucky to get crops into the ground before the end of April. This does threaten our onion transplants, which can wait only so long in their small cells before they become too root bound.
The good news is that we're getting very good at growing lots of produce in our hoop houses, all 22 of which are currently planted with lettuce, several other greens, and sweet salad turnips at all stages of growth. As our CSA grows, so does our ability to get better yields and harvest crops at different stages of growth to provide our customers with more options for using produce. As mentioned last week with respect to Asian greens, we're working to provide a good mix of younger and more mature crops that can be eaten fresh or cooked. As you might do in your home garden, we're having fun and experimenting with harvesting crops at a variety of growth stages to learn how we can maximize our yields while also providing more options for eating. We won't always have enough of a particular crop so that everyone gets the same exact box, but we will do the best we can to educate everyone as to what crops are which, how they look, and what can be done with them. Again, in general, smaller greens can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked (like spinach), and larger greens are generally cooked-- by steaming, stir frying, or sautéing.
This week the Asian greens include Yukina Savoy (dark green and ruffled), Vitamin Green (brilliant green and smooth), and Komatsuna (similar to Vita Green but with light green rather than white stems). We still have a nice supply of our sweet and flavorful carrots from last fall. Don't forget that carrots make a great snack! It's very easy to grab a carrot on the run (top notch fast food) or throw one in a lunch box to provide nice crunch and flavor. Of course, they're also a great base for any stock, veggie or not. Finally, we're packing the last of the spinach from last winter's planting. We don't plant spinach in the hoops in spring as the warm weather changes the flavor and texture a lot--not as sweet and the leaves aren't as thick. If it ever dries out, we will plant one batch of spinach in the field before taking a break until next fall, when the cooler temps sweeten things back up.
