WEEK 2~

Picking and picking and picking and packing!  

I believe we have the Most.Awesome.CSA Members.Ever.

Things are easier somehow...still confusing but only because there are so MANY people. But they work well together - and we are getting it done.

The Yellow Beans...

...they need water (as does everything but first things first). Will had used the big sprinkler on the tripod for half of the beans-one side of the garden. But when I went out this morning to continue the drill; move the sprinkler move the sprinkler etc. I was face with a dilemma: i can't put the sprinkler on the beans that are in between two tomato rows...low beans - tall tomatoes - what now? So I decided to thread a flat drip hose through the beans - what a mess. you can hardly walk in there...geez! a week ago, no problem. Now it is a veritable jungle. But I got it done. and moved it down too. Alas - i think Will is pulling out the big guns tomorrow - pump and pond hoses. It was still the right thing to do. By Friday, there will be many a noble soul out there picking yellow beans...

you know - sometimes I'm out there in the morning and faced with something like this - and I'm dragging hose and bending over and trying to stuff the hose underneath the plants and there are tomato runners in my face and I think - 'I just can't do this'...but that's just not a choice. That's ok..I spent an hour weeding my new little permanent herb bed afterwards and that just felt so do-able.

The First Long Weekend

...and Saturday morning very very early...Mike Gennaro and his son Max show up first. Little Max is so very cute - I asked Mike to start cutting and bagging lettuce, and he had Max handing him bags and then I pulled the wheelbarrow around and asked Max to put the bags of lettuce in it - and I could hear Max exclaiming(!) about this and that to his dad back there behind the greenhouse in the lettuce row. and I'll be darned they did the whole thing! Father and Son! Yessir, that's what it is all about!

And the first weekend is over - new members coming by this evening...to take the tour and pick up a basket.
Sometimes we are so very tired...but it is a good tired, if you know what I mean. Tonight, the very first of the yellow beans - because they are there and they need to be picked but who has the wherewithal to pick beans after this weekend? I guess me, I guess in the morning. Right now, dinner. Yellow beans and garlic; yellow squash cooked with bacon and onions, grilled chicken...sliced tomatoes of course!

Friday evening - First Week CSA 2012

Some members come on Friday...some on Saturday
This evening was a little harried but, as always, a beautiful thing.

 Yvonne and Carrissa wash the turnips

 Pam and Will and the Arugula

Elise, who did not want help carrying her veggies to the carport, thank you very much!

It's that time again...

...when vegetables begin to crawl through the yard, come inside and get up on the table (and counters and windowsills)...I have a list of delicious things to cook and have been going through it for a week...I've gotten a lot more versatile over the years with things like squash...not as well-versed in cucumbers as I'd like though. Sliced tomatoes and fresh mozarella and basil tonight...because we'll be whipped. It's the first week of the CSA and Friday evenings are an option for our members. Wish us luck. The yellow squash and zucchini and cucumbers and tomatoes are picked already. Members have to pull and wash and bundle arugula and turnips and pak choi. The basil I'll deal with, and the mint. It should be fun, if a bit confusing (as always!).

Every morning, Will leaves for work before 7, and I head out to the garden, usually with a particular chore in mind....as I did this morning. But after a quick look around, I decided that some things are just more important than others. The turnip, arugula, and pak choi are on rows between the watermelons, which are starting to run. The plan, of course, is to harvest everything else and let the watermelon vines spread out. In the order of things, we usually line the vines up along the tops of the watermelon rows, pull up all the in-between crops, and  Will  makes one more pass with the tiller - tilling down the used-up rows and knocking out weeds one last time before we let the vines take over the entire area. Then we spread the vines back out. Well, this morning I was looking at the situation and imagining all of the CSA members showing up - knowing that before they can harvest the vines had to be moved etc. This is WAY too delicate of a job to leave to chance or to members who have not dealt with melon vines before. There were vines crawling through the pak choi and arugula and beyond! So I spent the morning lining up vines then hand-weeding the tops of the watermelon rows. Now our members can get out there and harvest and not worry about stepping on vines or moving one and accidentally snapping it! As distressing as this would be, a member who mistakenly did this would be doubly mortified! We all care a great deal about every crop in the garden.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone - some for the very first time, and many who are back with us for the second, third, or even fourth year. These are the folks who help the 'newbies' learn how to handle the various tasks every week; and we really count on them to guide the others. Better go take a nap...

The Slow Put Together of the Herb Beds

well, they've just been 'not first' on the list this year...but the herb beds are slowly taking shape.
Here we have; genovese basil, sage. rainbow chard (I know I know it's not an herb but the chard does so well up here in the front - it gets harvested 'one leaf here, one leaf there' and requires constant maintenance.)
Then we have flat leaf parsley, a funny patch of Freckles Lettuce / Dill and THAT'S because the dill flat got tumped over and we replanted it with lettuce and so we got both...then more parsley; and on the back row, many basils; lemon, thai, Ceasar. lime, mammoth. And that's just THIS side of the herb beds. The other side is coming more slowly.
 This morning the oregano was asking to please be put out in the garden...from flat to peat pots, it was finally big enough. Oregano takes a long time from seed to planting stage because it is so very tiny. It's a drill; a planting drill - prepare the bed, set out the pots, get on your knees, remove peat pots from plants, set each one in, water. done. happy happy oregano plants, now consorting with their little herb friends!

And the cats follow me around all morning - mainly because they are being so harassed by the mocking birds. The Pushy Cat is particularly bad, as he has no sense of propriety in the garden. And he is needy. He cries and leans and wants to get right up in your face! Or on your hat! And would you please get off the lemon grass!?

Mother's Day Morning in the Garden

Here is a photo essay of the early morning...just the right amount and kind of rain last night and a little earlier in the week...the sprinkler is idle - but I'm sure that won't last. For now, happy happy plants.

 rainbow chard

 green beans

 bell peppers

 cucumbers

 eggplant

 'flying saucer' squash

 volunteer cosmos

 zucchini