I always feel like I’m racing against time in early September. It has been beautiful lately but I typically can count on a September 15 first frost date, so I feel a need to take in as many of those summery veggies as possible. It is like working on the crew of a ship which you know is going to hit a big iceberg…I’m trying to get as many into the lifeboats to safety as possible but I know some will die needlessly. A pretty melodramatic vision, I know.

This week we had to irrigate for the first time this season. It’s getting just like cement out there. Especially for some of these fall crops I have planted like kohlrabi and broccoli, they need some water if they are going to get to size.

In the Box:
A couple Red Onions
Tomatoes
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Cantaloupe
A little salad mix
Celery
Acorn squash: I figure it’s getting to be the time of year when people get in the mood for Delicata winter squash: a sweet potato squash. Winter squash gets sweeter as it’s cured, so leave in a dry sunny place until ready to eat.
Peppers: a sweet Italia pepper, a green pepper, and a semi-hot Anaheim (the small green pointy one)
Rosemary: small bunch of pine-needles
Oregano

Well, here we are in mid-August and the bounty of the season is coming in: tomatoes, melons, sweet corn.  It’s always a nice time on the farm for me.  We hit a rhythm where we catch up on weeds Sunday through Wednesday and harvest Thursday, Friday, Saturday.  Since we started getting cool nights like this past week, those weeds which were like a unrelenting horde of barbarians in June and July slow down in a big way and I can turn the tide of war.  We’ve spent some beautiful evenings this past week uncovering pepper plants or tomatoes stuck in a jungle of junegrass.  We also managed to plant some fall greens this past Sunday: salad mix, head lettuce, spinach, and some Asian greens.

In the box:
Cherokee Purple Tomatoes: The ugly dark purple/green tomatoes.  These are really good for fresh slicing.  I have a plate of slices on our dinner table right now with only some salt on top.
Regular Earlygirl or Celebrity Tomatoes: Use for a sauce or slicing.
Cherry Tomato Mix: We’ve got the entire tomato family covered this week.
Parsley
Sweet Corn: If it’s bi-color, it’s a variety called Seneca Dancer…if it’s white, it’s a variety called Silver King.
A couple green peppers
A mix of carrots
A melon: There is a real mix of melons here just because they are just starting to come in.  You may find a red watermelon, Galia green-fleshed melon, Canary yellow melon, or a traditional canteloupe.
Garlic
A couple shallots

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Well today is the final CSA delivery of the season (although we will continue Sunday deliveries every other week of dairy and fall crops in the off season).

I’ve noticed this season that it takes me longer and longer to harvest the produce for the box on Fridays. I typically wake up early, get out harvesting, and wrap up the boxes by noon. Sometimes when there are a lot of time-intensive crops like peas or beans, it may take a while longer or we get going on Thursday night. That’s why it’s been so frustrating this season to be finishing up at 2 or even 3 pm and dashing off to get deliveries done before 4.

Every year we have a little get together at Lida Farm for the year’s CSA members, so you can check out the farm and meet all those other people who have also been receiving a waxed box periodically in their garage or porch. For the last few years we’ve been having a potluck thing for Sunday dinner, but we thought we’d change it up this year. So we’re going for an after dinner snacks, drinks, and bonfire affair. Casual, no need to make a hotdish or anything, stick around as long as you’d like.