RUF'S 2ND SUMMER CSA HARVEST

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 I had a great day working in the shade of the big, old unknown tree. The dappled shade was a welcome relief. Today we were able to offer the Asian greens as a salad mix. The second planting of radishes, which have been mammoth this year, is almost at an end with a third succession on its way.

Peaceful scene ... all alone in the shade of a big tree!

The carrots, generously supplemented from Luc's garden are still baby. All the root veg are doing well so far. Luc wonders if we will have enough beets. I notice the third succession is up but looks "spotty".

More flower varieties to come ... 'but when?' I wonder. I planted zinnias, batchelor buttons and something else which I started to long ago I don't remember. Have been relying on the daisies which can be stinky but so friendly. I do love the airy flowers of the dill and the parsley ... they make nice fillers.

We decided to wait another week before harvesting any more potatoes because they were too "nugget". Next week we will try again. Surprisingly we were not able to offer zucchs today as hoped ... we felt sure ... based on what we know of them ... that they would be up to size by today. Instead I replaced them with the less ubiquitous Mizuna ... a good Asian veg to get to know. The way I like to use it best is to throw it in at the very end when boiling up one of them Asian noodle soups.

                            Yup! This is a radish ... crisp and mild


Hello Folks,

We are looking for a few more people to add to our mailing list, who are interested in the occasional extra CSA box over the summer.

If all goes well they may find that we are able to offer extra boxes each week.

Thanks for your help …

Happy Summer!

Susan

for RUF
Richmond 
Urban Farmers

RUF back on Track in 2012

After a long break of almost 10 months RUF is back in the swing of things. Talk about getting the old wheel turning again ... Luc and I began emailing back in February arranging to get together and tackle 'dem damned weeds' ... the constant rain would not let up! We finally got a break at the beginning of March and headed for the garden to tackle the weeds.

At the end of April we received our order of 10 yards of manure ... between us ... me shoveling and Luc trundling many many wheelbarrow loads into the rows we added valuable nutrients to the garden.

As we garden using organic methods we prefer to tend the micro organisms in the soil ... they in turn break down the organic matter and make it accessible for the veggies to absorb.

The way I look at is ... what we feed our veggies we then feed ourselves.

Chemical fertilizers kill of the organisms in the soil.

Luc then rototilled and we shaped the beds and seeded some crops and started others indoors in trays. 

We finally put four summer CSA shares up for sale beginning of May. They were bought up by our regular clients for another year.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture ... the customer buys one share paying for all 10 boxes up front. This frees the farmer to grow food without worry about marketing the produce.

 Hoop houses and holes for tomatoes and peppers.

Unlike in the tropics where they belong ... in this rainy Pacific Northwest climate, tomatoes must be coddled under plastic shelters ... to protect them from fungal diseases and to build up the heat.

Rows shaped ... bean poles up ...

As always the great experiment is to be able to see what we can grow in the very cool and wet early months.

Luc decided that the squash would enjoy the bounty of the compost bin.

 The beets coming up and the carrots covered, protected from rust fly and their progeny ... rust fly maggots that tunnel through the carrots.

Again ... another organic practice is to use preventative methods rather than pesticides ... The white fabric, Remay, allows light and water through but prevents insects from eating or laying eggs on the veggies.


 
This year, we have set ourselves the challenge of not allowing the usual weeds ... chick weed, dandelion, lambs quarters etc. from smothering the veggies we are trying to grow and nurture. The amount of weed is phenomenal! Perhaps, if we limit the amount of weed that is able to flower in the garden we can reduce the amount of weed seed in the soil .... So far we are ahead of the curve ... but who know if we can stay in control if the sun starts shining!

Luc's babies ... tomato plants started from seed and tended in his kitchen.Planted deeply to encourage extensive root systems.

Herbs ... this year chives, bunching onions, thyme, mint, celery, cilantro, dill, basil.





We planted Asian greens that appreciate wet and cool conditions ... gai lan, pac choi and mizuna as do spinach, lettuce, radish. This has allowed us to offer, to date, two Early Season boxes, above and beyond the 10 Summer Season Boxes to come ... eventually ... which have been well received.

Our first Early Season Box ... two weeks ago ... Rhubarb a sure sign of the spring garden.

 The flowers, indulged by the abundance of rain and manure were lavish  ...  too much of one thing is good for nothing ... the weight of the flowers landed them all on the ground! I had to cut them all back ... a new flush is already on the way.

The first bouquet of the season was stunning none the less.

Today, two weeks later we are offering another Early Season box ... with additions of kale, mizuna and radishes. The parade has begun ...

The challenge of offering enough leafy veggies ...

I always feel the need to offer more than swiss chard and kale ... those two stalwarts of the veggie world. Swiss chard and kale ... spring, summer, fall and winter. How much can one really eat without getting abysmally bored?

When the beets come in then there is the variation of beet leaves. Mizuna has also offered welcome relief.

I think we are getting better at offering a wider range of leafy veggies.
This year we were able to extend our growing season by doing early plantings of spinach, which did very, very well indeed. We also planted patchoy which was more of a challenge.

We planted the smaller Toy Choy variety which I have found, after numerous attempts, bolts very quickly.

For the first time, as we move towards fall, I planted "Shanghai patchoy", a larger "White Stemmed Patchoy" (name unknown) and once again the "Toy Choy" variety.
What was amazing was to see the seeds I had planted on Sunday already germinated by Tuesday! Unfortunately, I planted the two larger varieties in the 100 cell trays which proved to be too small and stressed the seedlings out. On top of that, something ate most of the seedlings! I planted the smaller variety in slightly larger cells and those did very well. I planted the smaller variety out yesterday. We'll see if it bolts.

I will do another round of patchoy shortly.

Fall Succession Planting ...

To keep the garden productive into fall we have be planting successions of different varieties.

Lettuce and salad mixes have been ongoing all season. We have replanted about six times so far. The goal is to always have more salad coming up.

We have done about five successions of radishes as well. Cauliflower we have planted as three successions and two of broccoli. This also allows some variety in what we can offer to the customer. So we may have cauliflower in the box for two weeks followed by cabbage the next time.

In spring we planted patchoy and spinach, as they enjoy the cooler weather.
I may have done so too early, as we are getting some hot summer days now, but yesterday I planted some patchoy seedlings.



We have also planted one of the beds in onions, two varieties a red onion and Walla Walla onions. The plan is to cover the bed with plastic hoops over winter, just to keep excessive rain off, so the onions don't rot and perhaps raise the temparature a bit. In spring we should be able to harvest onions for our early season box. Well, that's the plan, anyway.