STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS
For the week preceding Saturday, August 1st, 2009
General news & info
Hello all!
Produce: Either new or back on the list this week are:
Greens: Rainbow chard.
Vegetables: bi-color corn, Italian eggplant, fennel (limited), okra, red onions, cippolini onions, green bell peppers, rainbow mixed potatoes.
END: garlic scapes, rhubarb.
Open-farm invitation: You should have received a separate email from us last week with all the details for the August 1 and 2 open farm. Check the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) if you're still trying to find a ride. Please RSVP if you're coming.
ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that was our question: Last week we mentioned our concerns about whether we wanted to continue next year with our organic certification, a big deal for us since we've always been an organic farm. The issues were not just about certification hassles and cost, however, but also about the dangers of some of the materials allowed, and the dangers of losing a crop completely if the organic controls didn't work. We heard back from 9 or 10 of you, and I talked with about that many at market last Saturday. The gist of all the conversations was along the lines of “do what you need to do... we trust you to do the right thing.” So that we will try to keep doing. We'll keep you posted.
On the farm: We can see that the blight is spreading on our potatoes and tomatoes, in spite of me now spending lots of money and time applying organic sprays each week. However, many of the crops were large enough that they have started producing, and it looks like we have a race to see if we have enough sun and rain to keep them growing fast enough – while they still have enough leaves to make use of it – to put out enough of a crop to harvest before all the leaves die and we're done. We have started harvesting potatoes, and while they're still mostly smalls and mediums, at least I feel like we're getting something for our work.
We've been getting some rain every week lately, which is both good and bad, with the plant diseases mentioned above, as rainy conditions are conducive to their spread. Even with the rains, we still need to irrigate, specifically our crops grown on plastic mulch (an acre of winter squash) as the rain doesn't get down through the mulch. We've had to dig holes in the creek bed to make a spot for our suction hose to sit in the minimum one foot required, as the water level is so low.
The construction of our second cooler – actually an expansion of our existing cooler – has been on hold since cutting the hole in the wall last spring, but we have begun on it again, and are more-than-ready to have more space in the cooler, especially on Fridays when we're packing orders. Hopefully we'll have it ready in about two weeks.
CSA-Specific News
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for green beans, lettuce and tomato, a Walla Walla sweet onion, bi-color corn, rainbow chard, a few of the first chile peppers of the season, a small bunch of sage, a cantaloupe a peach and a nectarine. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Gabe & Jul and Will for their help handing out orders last weekend!
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
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