Farm Happenings

It’s great to have the garlic harvest complete, thanks to all the shareholders who joined us in making the process smooth and fun.

We saved a cross section of the healthiest garlic bulbs to replant the cloves in October, pictured hanging in the background as GH organizes garlic for the Homestead shares.

We pruned the jungle of cherry tomatoes this week, and when the warmth returns in the coming weeks, the cherry and slicing tomatoes will begin to ripen. One night last week was in the 40s, which is very low for July. August warmth is critical for the ripening of all heat-loving nightshade crops including eggplants and peppers. The hot pepper plants are looking very healthy. The sweet peppers are not looking as healthy, and have struggled with this stretch of cool dampness we’re having.  We will harvest the largest fruits from them this week, and hope they can rebound if the weather returns to seasonable temperatures.

We put up a new fence for the chickens this week, and once this stretch of rain passes, we’ll move them outdoors. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the chickens from OUTSIDE the fence. Kindly do not open the chicken gate or pick them up. Instead of the previous round compost pile, there will be a container to deposit any food scraps you bring from home. We’ll feed these food scraps to the chickens in addition to other surplus greenery produced in the garden.

An article about the littleGrasse & TAUNY collaboration Grow and Tell was printed this week in the Watertown Daily Times. There’s two more public farm tours this season, the next scheduled for Friday September 17th focusing on the homesteading and preservation aspects of our gardens. The last event was such a delight, we look forward to hosting a fresh group next month.

Coming soon: potatoes and new bed of mixed greens

Yellow wax beans are crispy and can be eaten raw or cooked in any dish you would use green beans. To have a successful harvest, look into the center of the bean plant, to uncover all the beans hidden by the dense foliage.

Tips for Success

• Be thorough when harvesting in the bean patch. When picking a section, harvest all the ripe beans on that plant before moving to the next plant. Being systemic helps the plants produce more in the long run. After harvesting in a section, move the flag to the point where you stopped harvesting, so the next shareholder knows where to begin picking.
• Tour the flower gardens with Flip- click video link here.

Crops Available

• Beets
• Cabbage
• Carrots*
• Celery stalks
• Cutting flowers
• Fennel bulb
• Green bell peppers*
• Kale, curly or dinosaur
• Lettuce greens
• Mixed salad greens
• Onions
• Rainbow chard
• Scallions
• Summer squash
• Purple tatsoi
• Yellow wax beans*
• Zucchini

• Basil
• Bee balm
• Borage (edible flowers)
• Calendula
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Fennel fronds
• Lavender
• Lemon balm
• Lemon verbena
• Lime basil
• Mint
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Tulsi holy basil
• Winter savory
• Yarrow

In good health,
-Flip & Bob