This week the farm seemed to explode with progress as we watched our transplants from early May flower and fruit and now ready for picking. I was stunned to see flowers with tiny cucumbers just forming on Monday become full grown slicing cukes by Friday. We’ve been cutting sunflowers since mid-week and zucchini are now ready as well. Perfect and huge heads of lettuce march down rows and small green orbs ornament our first planting of tomatoes.

Friday evening was the perfect chance to invite our summer stands crew out to the farm for a tour and tacos. I was proud to walk with my co-workers during the golden hour and make observations and explain our farm plan. I hoped for them to see the produce we sell at market in the ground and understand how it grows. To give them a sense of connection to the source where our product originates. To understand that zucchini has male and female flowers. The males are the ones we harvest as squash blossoms while the females bare the fruit. To see how blue the tuscan kale is as it stands in the ground nice and tall. To see how the tomatoes are staked and trellised and learn the difference between determinant and indeterminant. We meandered our way through beds and rows of vegetables to the top of the hill where acres of baby buckwheat and field peas form combed little lines. They draw the contours and lay of the land. At the top of the hill you can see the entire symphony of production in beds and rows in their various stages. From the vantage point and the future site of my platform tent for “glamping”, we looked over the entire production and caught a glimpse of a bald eagle, the first I’ve seen at the farm. It’s white head and breast gleamed in the twilight sun as its body blended in against a backdrop of forest and I thought what a beautiful evening. Have a great week everyone and eat well.