News, 6-13-10

*Summer Shares start June 23 and June 26

*Summer Solstice potluck: June 19, 3 PM

Dear Friends,

We are approaching the Solstice, and the garden is in good shape—thanks to many helping hands, timely rains, and 16½ hours of daylight.  After a long week for both of us, it was wonderful to be reunited with Courtney Friday night, cutting flowers and catching up.  One week down, six to go.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you here next weekend for our potluck!

Crop Update

It had been a couple years, so it was especially delicious to have a nice crop of strawberries this Spring.  If the rains keep up, we should have a few more through the Summer.  We have picked a few handfuls of raspberries.  The plants are vigorously growing now, so next year’s crop is looking good.

We believe wholeheartedly in garlic, and this crop is shaping up nicely.  We purchased the seed in 2006 and have been saving our own since.  The two varieties are “German Stiffneck,” which has 5 or 6 larger cloves and “Spanish Roja,” which has more numerous (and slightly more pungent) and smaller cloves.  The weakest plants are thinned out in early Spring as green garlic, and the seedhead and stalk—the scape—pops up a month or so before the bulb is ready.  No one ever eats the best garlic we grow, because it is saved for seed and replanted in October.  We still have quite a bit of garlic powder for sale. 

As the heat gets cranked up, the Spring peas and greens quickly head for the hills, except for Swiss Chard, which reigns over the Summer months.  Rushing to fill the void of the cool-weather garden are the squashes, cucumbers, beans and tomatoes of the world.  Beets, green onions and carrots are sizing up, while parsley and basil are starting to hit their stride.

Eggs are bountiful right now.  Give us a couple days notice, and we will have a dozen waiting for you with your share.  They are $4.

Thanks Again

With all the changes taking place and on the horizon, we are very grateful for all of your well wishes and encouragement.  You are a nourishing community to which we belong.  We know for certain we have reached the end of an era, and many things are unclear about the future.  But our love and commitment to this place, these people, this process is not unclear.  It is rewarding to share the fruits of our efforts with you, and we are thankful for all the people who share our pains and triumphs through the cycles and variations of the seasons.