CSA week 2; Sunny Days!

Boy, were we ready for the sunshine this week! This spring we had a goal of getting plants in the ground earlier than ever, with an eye towards earlier harvests of “high summer” crops and finishing the big planting push before haying begins. I’m happy to say that we’ve managed to meet our goal despite the rainy weather the past few weeks, and now those baby plants have settled their roots into the soil and are ready to take off with a little extra sun and heat. We’re excited to see the pepper plants stretch their leaves under their protective row cover blanket, the onions green up and shoot for the sky, and the flowers start to form the dense hedge that will turn into a riot of color in the pick your own gardens.

The animals are happy for the sunny, warmer days, too. The pigs have turned their first piece of pasture into a glorious mud wallow and we’ve been lining their houses with hay to give them a soft, dry bed to snuggle into. We’ll be moving them to a fresh patch of grass later this week so they can dig to their hearts delight. Meanwhile, we’ve kept the teenage chickens in the coop a little longer than usual, because the cool wet weather is tough on them before they fully develop their feathers. Quarters are getting a little cramped in the coop, though, so they will be happy for their move out to the field this afternoon. Once there, they will move to fresh grass daily, where they delight in scurrying after every grasshopper in sight and grazing on grass between bites of grain. 
 
And of course, the weeds are equally happy to take advantage of the change in the weather! After several weeks when the soil has been too wet to cultivate by hand or tractor, we’ll be dusting off the full arsenal of hoes and cultivating implements to keep the hand weeding to a minimum. We’ll use the basket weeder between rows of tiny direct seeded crops, the tine weeder over established transplants, the sweeps to cultivate the aisles between beds, and the flame weeder to prepare empty beds for seeding into. And of course, there’s the trusty scuffle hoe for those hard-to-get-to spots. 
 
Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather, too!
Cheers
Norah and the Sweetland Crew

Week 2 Harvest

  • Mesclun Mix
  • Spinach
  • Basil
  • Cilantro
  • Dill
  • Onions
  • Potatoes
  • Broccolini
  • Kohl rabi bunches
  • Beet greens
  • Radishes
  • Scallions
  • Lettuce

What’s Cooking This Week

You can find ingredients for all of these recipes in our farm store! We source meats, dairy, grains, beans, sweets, and more from local and sustainable producers. Don’t forget to use your CSA member discount by entering your account phone number in our POS (member discounts are automatically applied to LocalLine purchases for off-farm delivery).