Farm & Garden Updates
Yesterday we finished harvesting the eclectic and expansive Garlics of the World showcase plot. The diversity covers nearly all the continents.
In the production fields in Dutchess, it’s shaping up to be an excellent garlic harvest too. Plan to pick up your bulk amount in the next week once we begin harvesting this Sunday. Each family can get a couple dozen bulbs per share. Find easy tips to handle the crop on our veggie page about garlic here. You are also invited to be part of the harvest, see below. The conversations in the field are as varied as the folks who join us. Every session has its own unique flair.
Invitation to Garlic and other fun field activities
- Transplanting fall crops: tomorrow/Saturday anytime 9am-1pm
- Garlic Harvest: This Sunday anytime 10am-1pm
- Garlic Harvest: Wednesday, July 26th anytime 9am-1pm
- Garden Morning: Saturday, July 26th, anytime after 9am with noonish potlusk
Many hands make light work!
There’s a lovely crop of babies this year at littleGrasse! Several households bring their young ones to the farm so they can be in green space and experience food being grown. Last week Sean (pictured above), just finished gathering his weekly bouquet and mentioned that he was thrilled by the idea of their son growing up in the fields of littleGrasse. What a touching sentiment, we love this spirit in our shareholders.
We had a blast hosting the Young Scholars Program from Clarkson University. This is a week-long residential camp for high school students, focused on team-based problem solving. Their challenge this year is ‘designing a sustainable food truck’. From sourcing to energy to customer relationships, they are tackling all aspects of the process. In addition to talking about littleGrasse, we wove in threads about growing relationships with farmers, seasonal eating and developing businesses that reflect their interests and strengths. The group included students from the north country, plus New England, California, and even Macedonia!
We are taming a new area this season on the left side of the path walking towards the new barn. We’ve put in a dozen pollinator plants most of them native to NYS including lobelia and beardtongue. We caught up on weeding it this week and are working on sheet mulching it for longer term weed suppression.
99% of the flowers can be found in Front Range and the herb and perennial area. But sometimes, with sunflower and amaranth especially, we tuck them at the ends of beds to add some fun height to the garden and to fill out space when we’ve finished planting vegetables. If you take a walk around right now, you’ll be rewarded with several types of sunflowers, including this short, fuzzy type called teddy bear, which is in the “beyond greenhouse” section.
Tips & Flavor Notes
- Any blooming flowers are available for harvest for all Free Choice shareholders and of course, the You Pick Flower Shares. We still have a couple open slots for You Pick Flower Shares if you know anyone who would be interested in crafting bouquets.
Lots of green beans right now! These are bushy plants seeded in a single row down the center of the bed. Remember to start where the flag is, and thoroughly harvest the largest ones from all over each plant. Methodically harvesting all mature beans from the plant is important because then it triggers the plant to grow more beans which results in more produce over a longer period of time.
Crops Available
This list and availability are subject to change, check the share whiteboard at the start of every visit. If you are unsure about how to harvest: ask us! In person, via text or email.
Cell phone numbers, Flip: 315-854-5399 and Bob 315-854-5395.
*Asterisk marks crops added this week
- Beans*
- Bulb fennel
- Celery stalks
- Chard
- Garlic
- Flowers including Bee Balm, Lilies, Calendula, Celosia, Cleome, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Delphinium, Hollyhock, Orlaya, Red Hot Poker, Salvia, Sunflowers, Zinnias
- Kale- 3 varieties
- Lettuce greens
- Scallions
- Summer Squash*
- Zucchini*
Culinary and Medicinal Herbs
- Anise hyssop
- Bee balm
- Basil
- Bronze leaf fennel
- Calendula*
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Lavender
- Lemon balm
- Lemon verbena
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Tulsi holy basil
This Northern Crescent repeatedly landed on or near Flip for a while during the Garlic of the World harvest yesterday. Aster is its preferred host plant learn more about this butterfly here: https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-butterflies-northern-crescent-phyciodes-cocyta.html
Thunderstorms a comin,
-Flip and Bob