Spoutwood Farm

CSA Harvest Guide : Week 7

Spoutwood Spotlight : Timing

As you Sunday-drive passed your local roadside produce stand, or peruse the offerings at the farmers market, you find yourself wondering “Now, why do some of these vendors have tomatoes, and we’ve yet to receive any from our fabulous CSA?”  There are many reasons:

Variety:  Many of the earlier, beefsteak-type tomatoes are crosses that are bred to come in earlier.  These definitely have their place.  But we tend to focus more heavily on heirloom varieties, which, in addition to being important as a way to maintain diversity in our food system, are also often more flavorful.

Growing Practices:  Another means of bringing in certain crops – especially the solanaceous (tomato, peppers, eggplant) – is planting directly into black plastic.  It’s also beneficial in terms of the amount of labor dedicated to weed control in a season, as it works to keep them down.  But the plastic’s only good for one season, after which it’s taken up and thrown in the trash.  We always have an eye toward reducing our contributions to the waste stream, and toward that end we’ve opted out of plastic.

Above is a picture of black plastic mulch. Crops are grown through slits or holes in the plastic film. Although it accelerates the growth of certain crops it is thrown out at the end of the season. This is something that should be taken into consideration if you are eyeing tomatoes at the market this early in the season. Pictured below is a shot of our tomatoes and straw mulch. They're on their way!

Growing Practices, Part 2:  Growing in hoop houses (or hothouses) is another method to getting the summer crops in the ground much earlier, and so getting the fruits earlier, too.  They are also a great tool for stretching the season out on the back end, when they protect delicate plants from early, fall frosts.  We support these methods, and are interested in developing season-extension methods here at Spoutwood.

Poor Soil Starter Mix:  As you may recall, a few weeks back we wrote about the setbacks we faced due to a seed starter mix we used that left some of our plants stunted (http://spoutwood.com/csa/harvest-guides/185-csa-harvest-guide-week-2).  Unfortunately, some of the worst affected were the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.  It also affected the varieties we were eventually able to get into the field.  And because the plants were not at their optimum at planting, they’re later than they should have been in producing.

It’s all about timing in farming, and many factors conspire to impact how early or late a particular vegetable comes in.  We’re a little later than we would like.  But do know that the plants are heavy with fruit, and should provide you with weeks and weeks of the good stuff.  And rumor has it that you might find the first of the Sungolds in your bag next week.  MMMMM…….Sungolds.

Todays Harvest

This week your share consists of yellow squash, zucchini, patty pan, carrots, green onions, cucumbers, potatoes, and cilantro. Potatoes are the only new comer this week. I don't feel this veggie needs an introduction - so I am leaving out the description to focus primarily on the 'washing / storing' section.

Upcoming Events : Spoutwood Farm's Teen Iron Chef Summer Program

August 2 - 7 / 2:00 - 5:00 PM

Teen Iron Chef is a six session program that teaches middle and high school teens how to cook using fresh, healthful ingredients. Each session two teams of teens learn culinary skills, nutrition, team work and leadership as they make (and taste) delicious multicultural recipes and present their finished products in the daily "food battles."  The teen chefs learn about the county of origin of the recipes and experience new foods and flavors. Ultimately each team researches and creates a recipe to prepare for their final presentation.  Family and special guests are invited to celebrate with the teams at their final session. Spoutwood’s Teen Iron Chefs will go on to lead food demonstrations at community events and create garden to table cooking demonstrations during the Spoutwood Farm growing season. We are also “cooking up” opportunities for Spoutwood Teen Iron Chefs to host other TIC teams in an invitational “cook off” at the Mother Earth Harvest Fair on October 3, 2010 

RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW!

Register online at www.spoutwood.org. Or contact Liz Leinwand (443) 695-0015 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cost $70.00 per teen.