Farm Happenings
New arrivals to the farm this week are the Freedom Ranger chicks. Right now we are keeping them warm and dry inside until they develop their feathers. In August, shareholders will be able to visit them outside down beyond the perennial beds.
Our favorite quote of the week was a shareholder in the field exclaiming, “This is a very taco friendly farm!” She stopped by to get ingredients for taco night and left with cabbage, lettuce, cilantro, fresh garlic, scallions, onions, celery stalks from the field, and ground beef from the 8 O’clock Ranch freezer!
The garlic harvest has nearly arrived. For new members, we plant the crop in October and harvest it the following July. Instead of holding onto the thousands of bulbs at the farm and distributing them little by little, we give them out in bulk. Then households can decide what rate and how they want to use their share. Each free choice share will get 25 bulbs to cure at home. Every Homestead share will get 100 bulbs. When we distribute, we’ll give tips about how to clean and cure at home. In our home, our garlic lasted until May, but we heard from two shareholders that they used the remainder of their 2020 garlic last week!
We invite any interested members (or any curious community members!) to be part of the garlic harvest Saturday or Sunday July 24/25th, 8:30am-12:30pm.
Planting the fall broccoli in the dutchess field.
Tips for Success
- Onions & their tops: Pull the whole plant. The tops are edible. If you do not want to bring the tops home, we ask that you do not leave the tops in the field, as we need to weed the areas where the onions have been removed. The tops can be put in the compost area outside by the perennial area or in the food waste bucket in the barn.
- Beets & their tops: The beet greens are edible. If you do not want to bring the greens home, you can cut the tops off and leave right in the bed where they were harvested. Then they will break down and be returned to the soil.
It’s an ideal time to get creative with the three types of basil available. The tulsi holy basil makes a fabulous tea. Try the lime basil minced into a ramen bowl or on poultry. There’s abundant of the classic genovese Italian type, that’s a mainstay of pesto.
Crops Available
Cell phone numbers, Flip: 315-854-5399 and Bob 315-854-5395.
*New this week
- Beets
We hope shareholders have been enjoying the fresh garlic, we’ve used it in fritters, roasted whole, dressings (and just about everything cooked on the farm…).
- Cabbage
- Celery stalks
- Cutting flowers
- Fresh garlic
- Kale, curly or dinosaur
- Lettuce greens
- Mixed salad greens
- Onions*
- Rainbow chard
- Scallions
- Spinach
- Summer squash
- Purple tatsoi
- Zucchini
- Basil
- Bee balm
- Borage (edible flowers)
- Calendula
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Fennel fronds
- Lavender
- Lemon balm
- Lime basil*
- Mint
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Thyme
- Tulsi holy basil
- Winter savory
- Yarrow
Thank you,
Flip & Bob