Rainy day blues

15 Jul Rainy day blues

Tuesday pick-up at the farm, and like clockwork another crazy downpour. The skies opened up and we got an inch of rain in less than an hour, and another inch and a half early Wednesday morning. Well, it’s not Texas and our farm isn’t completely flooding away (yet), so I guess we will try not to dwell on it too much. Instead, how about those Japanese beetles. Holy smokes! We haven’t seen them in these quantities in years, if at all in the 10 years we’ve farmed here. They are devouring the foliage of our eggplants and basil. Wonder why they showed up this year? Nature certainly works in mysterious ways.

Flooding has become a common occurrence.

We are super excited to have ripe tomatoes in the share this week- this variety is called early girl and they are particularly sweet and tasty- as well as sweet white onions, carrots, creamy golden potatoes and pick-your-own yellow wax beans. The cherry tomatoes are just starting to ripen, so we should see them in the share in the next week or two (the medium boxed shares got a preview this week). The cabbage is on the small side, so two it is.

7/14/15, CSA on-farm week #7

We’ll be harvesting our field of garlic in the next few days, after things dry out a bit. We are thrilled with the size of the bulbs this year. Our hope is to get them out of the fields before they suffer damage from any more rain. We are worried about all the root crops- potatoes, carrots, onions- it’s a lot of water for them to handle. We give huge thanks for our farm crew for their enthusiasm, and for putting in the extra effort and long days when we do have dry moments. Go squad!

Craig harvesting carrots.

Just a reminder that we are partnering with Otolith Sustainable Seafood again this season. The Otolith CSS (Community Supported Seafood) offers a variety of different options including halibut, rockfish, sablefish, Pacific cod, Dungeness crab, and wild salmon. All of the fish is sushi-grade, long-line caught in Alaska by small boats, blast frozen and packaged into conveniently sized pieces, and delivered direct to the farm during its appropriate season.

CSS enrollment is available online directly through Otolith. Visit communitysupportedseafood.com to register as a CSS member, select your fish and pay online. Your CSS shares will be delivered to Blooming Glen Farm on Tuesdays by 1pm. There will be a Signature Sheet to sign upon receipt of your CSS. CSS distribution is provided by Otolith Sustainable Seafood and will begin once your CSS fish has been harvested and arrived into Philadelphia. Notifications will be emailed to CSS members directly from Otolith.

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is entering its 10th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community. Tricia is passionate about food, art and nature and the intersection and expression of all three.