Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Tierra Garden Organics CSA Week #7 Water and Agriculture

If the topic of water and agriculture has not crossed your mind this summer, it should. We are in a very precarious situation in our part of the world. This summer is only a training exercise for the future. Water is a very real part of our existence on the farm. Without it, we would spend our days in a knapweed infested field rather than harvesting a bounty of crops. Our summer weather patterns are not conducive to growing non-irrigated ag. The mid-west, where I grew up, relies almost exclusively on rainfall to supply enough water for summer sown crops. Truly, that is not the case in our region. Although you may not have personally felt it, our state is taking a hard hit this summer. If you are a regular visitor to farmers markets you have noticed that some crops are in short supply. I have talked to a number of fruit growers who struggled to make a crop happen this season....it is just too hot. Cherries are turning rubbery, all varieties are stacking up on top of each other for peaches, berries are being attacked by numerous insect species in search of water, tomatoes and peppers are aborting their fruits after pollination. A small number of household wells have begun to go dry or partially dry. Irrigation districts are reducing their supplies to customers by up to a 1/3. Sockeye return to Lake Wenatchee is pitifully low due to high water temperatures. And thank God that our fire season has been blissfully quiet so far.
Willy and I have been farming at Tierra for 9 years now. In human terms, that is what you would call the makings of a 'career'. In geologic time, it is a blip. Certainly it has been the year that has most made us consider the long term ability to farm in our small valley. To date, water is still available for us to continue farming. I consider this a great gift; maybe the greatest. We are suffering far less than many of our agricultural neighbors. That being said, we are months away from the end of our traditional farming season and additional precipitation looks unlikely for some time.
Many of our crops are on the verge of finishing, many more just went in the ground. How this season will play out is anyone's guess. Please be thankful for water. Be thankful and care for this resource in any way you can. It is what makes it possible for us to comfortably live here. I am thankful every day. I feel blessed beyond words that we are able to continue to grow food and have been given the gift of water. Enjoy the produce; it is a gift as well.

In Your Share This Week:
Tomato?!, Cucumber, Eggplant, Zucchini/Patipans, Basil, Beans!!, Pak Choi, Golden Beets, Kale/Collards/Chard, Garlic, Sweet Onion and probably a surprise or two....

Recipes:
Ratatouille 
Baba Ganoush 

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Tierra Garden Organics CSA Week #6 Welcome to the Jungle

Remote Medical International teaches several Wilderness EMT courses at Tierra each summer. They left a month ago and after 5 weeks of weddings up at the retreat center, they are back. The first thing Courtney (their chef) said to me was 'Wow, the garden looks like a jungle! What a difference a month makes!' I personally couldn't agree more. The weeds (particularly the amaranth) are growing as quickly as the produce...what was a little tiny weed seedling is now a towering giant threatening to burst forth in a shower of a thousand seeds. It can be hard to keep up on the weeding in July...there is just too much harvesting and planting and not enough hours in the day. But, we all do what we can. And the only bed that got lost so far this season was a bed of parsnips...not too shabby. I love parsnips, don't get me wrong. I love them terribly. Fall nights are sweeter and warmer when they are around. However, if the worst event of the summer is the loss of a bed of parsnips, then we are going to consider ourselves fortunate. And, I should also mention, the only reason that we lost a full bed of parsnips is because they take about 18 days to germinate. They are incredibly slow to pop out of the ground. If they are planted in very early spring, they may make it out of the ground before the weeds take over. That was not the case this season. Laura and Willy gave it a good team effort, but there was no chance of resurrecting this bed from the weeds....the weeds won.

We are still way ahead of schedule. It was a crummy pea year but it is has been great for the beans. This week you are receiving at least a pound of them in your boxes. Last season, we were lucky to include the beans once. This is one of my personal 'least favorite' crops to harvest. It is back breaking work (like strawberries). I do love to have beans in the freezer for winter though and this year there may even be enough to try and make some pickled dilly beans. If you are looking to special order any additional beans for freezing or canning, please let me know and we can set some aside for you.

The first ripe tomato appeared in the high tunnel this week. It will still be a while before they appear in the boxes but it is always fun to see them start to redden on the vine. That is very positive news. The outside cucumbers have started to fruit as well. Cucumbers will be a part of the boxes from now until they freeze in the fall.....

Have a great week!


In Your Share This Week:
Cucumbers, Beans, Basil, Chard/Kale/Collards, Pak Choi, Garlic, Beets/Carrots, Eggplant, Arugula? and probably a surprise or two....

Recipes:
Easy Eggplant Recipes

Cucumber Recipes



Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Tierra Garden Organics 2015 CSA Week #5 Goodbye Peas, Hello Beans

Morning everyone.
Sort of a quiet week, so I will keep this brief. It has been hot, sweaty work at the farm. The shell peas decided that they have had enough. So, we got one good picking out of them and that will be it. Willy tried to keep them well watered but peas just hate the heat. Usually, we send you home with bags and bags of shellers....not this season. Sorry guys. It is what it is.
 BUT....you get beans this week too and that is just plain crazy. Also, all of the garlic is off of the field and is curing. Again, going along with the theme for the summer....unprecedentedly early.
There should be cucumbers soon....Don't be surprised if they start making their way into boxes over the next 2 weeks.
Enjoy this chaotic summer. It is really messing with our minds.

There is still hay available. This is the 'clean up' cutting as we try and get the hay fields back into shape again so the bales are on the light side and there are some minor amounts of weeds. The bales are also very cheap and so far, goats and cows aren't turning up their noses too much to the taste. The pond is still re-charging with water so we are going to keep irrigating the hay field until it is no longer feasible. The next cutting should be a good one.

In Your Share This Week:
Shelling Peas, Beans, Garlic, Arugula, Zucchini, Basil, Beets, and a surprise or two...

Recipes:
English Peas With Mint http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/english-peas-with-mint-232121
Garlic Green or Yellow Beans http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/07/garlic-green-or-yellow-beans.html
9 Arugula Recipes http://www.thekitchn.com/crazy-for-arugula-9-recipes-to-118826