Everything at the farm keeps on trucking along.  Right now it’s a nice balance of daily picking, cleaning up the spent beds, as well as planting and seeding.  The first half of this week was sunny and mild and the perfect weather for getting lost in the rows of cherry tomatoes which are the best I’ve ever tasted.  We are picking our quota of tomatoes (beefsteak, heirloom, and cherry), peppers, squash and eggplant.  We have begun a new patch of cucumbers as well.  We have a great selection of zucchini and a nice summer squash called Zephyr noted for its great nutty flavor.  Sweet peppers, bull horn and bell, are exploding with brilliant and fiery colors of red and yellow, and are so crunchy and sweet. We diced them up in an Israeli salad with cucumber, onion, and tomato, a bit of olive oil and salt.  Wala…that’s summer eating.  We are direct seeding arugula and a stir fry mix of mustards, tatsoi, mizuna, and kale each week.  We are also planting cool crops such as bok choi and heads of lettuce.    Other beds we have begun to seed with cover crops which help us replenish nutrients, control erosion, and suppress weeds.  Today we received some 17,500 strawberry plants which we will be planting over the next few days. We tested our soil and calculated our nutrient requirements before planting.  The soil analysis helped us figure out exactly how much lime we needed to correct the soil PH as well. Strawberries should be ready to pick next May/June.
This has been quite a season.  I can’t believe we are nearly in the final stretch.  Although we are still working like dogs it is kind of nice to be at this point.  The transition from potential to kinetic.  Now it’s just putting in the hours and not so worried about what could go wrong.  This was our first year at the new farm.  I remember feeling overwhelmed with the anticipation of how this season would play out.  So many unknowns and endless possibilities for rookie mistakes and unforeseen circumstances. Not knowing the outcome and how we were going to make it through.  I have to say we are all pretty pleased with how things have gone.  Although I have discovered new shades of tired, I am also excited to take what we have learned and begin planning the next season.  I hope everyone is enjoying this one and continues along for the ride.