Farm Happenings
We are replenishing the soil where the garlic was grown, with a quick growing cover crop of radish. Radish does a great job of increasing aeration, adding organic matter and suppressing weeds. As you wander the farm, you’ll see the changes as areas are harvested and then followed with soil building efforts such as cover cropping or mulching. Depending on the primary goals, the common cover crops grown at littleGrasse are oats, rye, buckwheat, vetch, field peas, radish and clover. Each has good aspects and when used in combination they can yield multi-faceted improvements. Cover cropping is an essential tool we rely on to build healthy soil to grow vibrant food crops.
The You pick share has three length options: Full season is May through October, while Summer is May through August and Fall is September & October. For the members with Summer only shares, there are two full weeks remaining in your share. Stop by often to enjoy summer peak season! If your household would like to extend your share through the fall, email us at littlegrasse@gmail.com.
Tips for Success
- If you are feeling sick, please don’t visit the farm.
“I love the variety of flowers in the garden,” shareholder Linda.
- Conditioning flowers: These steps will reduce the stress of harvest on your flowers which in turn increases vase life. Bring a bucket, fill with water, harvest stems of any length directly into the container. Wait a few hours to let stems rehydrate, then arrange and cut to finished stem length.
- Have you been romping in the flowers? Tag @littlegrassefoodworks if you are posting to Facebook or Instagram! Thanks for sharing your bouquet Linda.
Crops Available
This list is 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.
* New items this week
- Broccoli side shoots* (harvest several of these 1-3″ mini heads that plants produce after main crown was harvested, the patch is very dense as the plants are large)
- Potatoes* (on share table)
- Rosemary*
- Spinach*
- The cutting flowers! (Currently blooming: aster, bee balm, calendula, celosia, cosmos, drumstick flower, dahlias, echinacea, false sunflower, gomphrena, hyssop, millet, rudbeckia, snapdragons, statice, strawflower, sunflowers, yarrow, zinnias).
- Beans
- Cherry tomatoes
- Chard
- Green peppers (in red cooler)
- Hot peppers
- Kale (3 varieties)
- Mixed lettuce greens
- Onions* (on share table)
- Summer squash and zucchini (in fridge)
- Spicy mixed greens
- Tomatoes (on share table)
Culinary and Medicinal Herbs
- Anise hyssop
- Bee Balm
- Calendula
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Lemon Balm
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Purple basil
- Sage
- Tulsi or Holy basil
- Yarrow
2020 tomato varieties, clockwise from top left: nebraska wedding orange, big beef, chef’s orange, cherokee carbon, juliet, yellow pear, supersweet 100, black cherry, sungold, brad’s atomic grape.