In some ways it was a quiet week, with GH visiting family, yet there were visitors of all ages enjoying the farm in various ways. On Sunday, a farm apprentice from a decade ago came for dinner with her beautiful son, not yet one year old. First thing Monday, a group of Orientation Leaders from St. Lawrence came for a service afternoon and participated in the tomato harvest. Mid week, we hosted a group of youth learning what eating locally in northern New York looks like. And at the close of the week, the porch of the new barn was an impromptu meet and greet for one of the Congressional candidates for our NY 21 district.
Crop Updates: The edamame/green soy crop looks excellent and abundant. They take most of the season to mature and harvest time comes all at once. We planted three varieties with the hope that their maturation will be staggered by a few days. They will be ready in late August and/or early September for Free Choice Shareholders as well as the Stocking Up Shares that want to freeze the bounty for winter meals. The heat of August has been challenging for leafy greens such as salad mixes, spinach and cilantro, which prefer the cooler temperatures of the spring and fall. We have several plantings that will be ready later this month and in September as well. Each year we have two broccoli plantings, for early summer and mid-autumn (this is another crop that does not do well in hot weather). The spring crop was a bust. The fall planting is growing steeadily and our fingers are crossed for a harvest in late September. There’s so many cherry tomatoes. They are a single row in Irene’s field with orange, red and purple varieties. We encourage you to pick as they are abundant and need to be harvested regularly.
Options to plug into the garden:
- Wednesday, Aug 24th, 9am-noon
- Wednesday, August 24th, 5:30-7:30pm
- GARDEN MORNING SATURDAY!, August 27th 9am, with noon potluck
The area beyond the greenhouse is planted to a fall crop of carrots and beets, which is growing well. In this sustained heat, we water young crops such as these regularly.
Have you seen a potato plant before? From a single small potato or piece of a tuber, grows an entire hill with multiple spuds per plant. Here’s a yellow fingerling type we dug up this week.
Congressional candidate Matthew Putorti visiting with Canton-area voters on the porch of the new barn.
A group of Farm Day Campers from Cornell Cooperative Extension, on a field trip with Flip. The day included a visit to the Canton Farmers market to buy ingredients for recipes they were making the following day, visiting the TAUNY Center to see the local food exhibit In Season, and capping it off with harvesting flowers, vegetables and herbs at littleGrasse. The group was part of a 2-week theme camp called Farm to Table Chef Training Camp, and they had the chance to cook in the kitchen with Flip and multiple Extension educators along with guest instructors. From homemade ketchup and oven fries, to veggie and meat burgers, and even fresh mozzarella and fruit leather, the group got a deep dive into using seasonal ingredients in the kitchen.
Tips for Success
- This week the hot peppers will be marked for you pick. In the field there are two beds of hot peppers, with 6 varieties total including ancho poblano, jalapeno, sugar rush peach, habanero, cherry bomb and shishito. Most will still be green or yellow until late August and September, but some are starting to turn their final color.
- Make the most of tomato season! This crop is performing well now and we can celebrate with tomatoes served in many ways.
- Groundcherries -also called husk tomatoes- are now ripe. If it’s your first time harvesting this fruity treat, watch our brief harvest video to learn how to harvest and which are ripe.
Today we harvested the first flush of tomatillos, purple and green. We enjoy roasting them-over the fire or in the oven- and blending with onion, cilantro, lime and hot peppers for a fabulous salsa.
Shishito peppers. It’s our first season growing these and we pan fried some up this week. Fun, simple appetizer: 2 TBSP oil, once hot add peppers, cook around 5 minutes per side, turn with tongs. Before serving, season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lime juice if you please.
Kindly return these flower buckets. The farm runs smoothly when we share the resources for all to use during their visits, but please don’t bring these home. Toss a pile of yogurt or other quart containers in the back of your vehicle and then you’ll always have a spare vessel to keep your farm bouquets hydrated.
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
- Beets
- Cucumbers, green or yellow
- Cutting celery (harvest individual stalks, not entire plant)
- Flowers
- Groundcherries*
- Hot peppers*
- Kale
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Rainbow chard, also called Swiss chard
- Tomatillos*
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
Culinary and Medicinal Herbs
- Anise hyssop
- Basil
- Bee balm
- Bronze leaf fennel
- Cilantro*
- Coriander seed*
- Dill
- Lemon balm
- Lemon verbena*
- Mint
- Nasturtium, edible flower
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Thyme
- Winter Savory