Cream of the Crop CSA

Farmer Notes

August 21, 2006

Hello NYC CSA,

Hope you enjoyed our strange looking sweet corn last week. I'm not sure why the kernels on the ends wont fill out, but I do know I've enjoyed the taste. What a difference it makes to feed the soil with real nutrients like composts, seaweed, minerals, etc. to get produce that actually tastes like something! More corn's on the way either this week or next.

In your share this week: cilantro. This veggie takes considerable effort for us to grow with such consistency. We transplant it in clusters of eight plants to get a start on the weeds, which would otherwise overtake the slow to germinate plants. (Sometimes ten days to sprout!) Most people feel strongly about either loving or hating cilantro. We love it.

Also new this week: Garlic, serrano and jalepeno hot peppers. Salsa week!

A second round of celery, hard won, as with most years, as this veggie takes so much attention to grow well for us. We grow ours using drip lines and plenty of foliar feeding to keep them nutrient packed. We leave lots of leaves on these little beasts so y'all can make use of the whole plant. We savor the difference between what you get at the store and what you get in the garden.

Hope you've been enjoying the tomatoes. It's turned out to be a decent year, though the plants look whipped a bit earlier than usual this year, I think due to all the early rains we were having in June. Fortunately, we planted a late round to get us a longer season. Our record is ten weeks. My guess for this year, six.

Enjoy!

peppers
celery
Kale
cilantro
garlic
lettuce
tomatoes
cukes
squash
mint
beets
corn???

Your farmers,
Dan, Tracy + Bea