What do farmers do during rainy weather?

It’s been too wet for field work this week.  We harvest your veggies rain-or-shine, but can’t take tractors in the fields when the ground is too muddy.  Steve spent his time buying more irrigation pipe.  How ironic is that, to work on irrigation during a monsoon?  We will enjoy the new pipe; it will allow us to irrigate five big carrot fields (over 3 acres) at once without moving pipe.  This is a big improvement.  Of course, the carrots are not planted yet because the ground is too wet.

Steve with our new irrigation pipe.

The business end of the pipe although, as Steve says, “it’s really good to have both ends.”

Sprinkler head.

A sunny moment between rain storms.

The elderberry bushes are spectacular this year.

Every bride should carry lacy elderberry blossoms, never mind the funky smell.

Veggie List and Veggie Notes (week #7, green EOW)

We enjoyed the strawberry u-pick on Sunday.  Lots of members came to pick berries and wander the farm.  Fortunately, the u-pick berries ripened during somewhat drier weather.  Sadly, pounding rainstorms on Sunday night and Monday damaged the late berries.  That ends our strawberry season.

We’ve sent a lot of squash and cucumbers because the plants were remarkably productive this week.  Our bees did not visit (or pollinate) our squash plants for a long time because of rainy or windy weather.  Once the plants got pollinated during dry spells, they exploded with rapid squash growth.  Same thing happened with the cucumbers.  Grilled squash and cucumber salad are great 4th of July dishes.  Enjoy!

Snap peas, 1.4 lb
Broccoli, 1 head
Zucchini & summer squash, 3 – 3.5 lb
Cucumbers, 4
Collard greens, 1 bunch
Green leaf lettuce, 1 small
Kohlrabi, 1
Scallions, 1 large bunch
Basil, 1 sprig

Next week’s box will probably contain cabbage, zucchini, fennel, parsley, cucumbers, lettuce, scallions OR Walla Walla onions, and more.

Basil (curly-leaved sprig) –  This is the variety ‘Napoletano.’  The leaves are larger and more frilly than most basils.  We like this variety because the its leaves remain tender and flavorful even as the plants mature.  Basil will blacken if stored in the refrigerator.  It is best stored at room temperature with the cut ends in water, for example in a glass or teacup.  Give the stem a fresh trim.  You will receive one sturdy stem this week.  We snipped these sprigs to shape the plants.  They are a bit tattered from the recent rains but taste (and smell) great.
Green leaf lettuce – The lettuce are quite small.  We harvested them young while they are still good.  It’s a good strategy during wet or hot weather.