Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 3

From the Farm

Its transition time (again!) at the farm - the last of the weeding is nearly done - thank goodness! (we still have to do a few more weeding passes, but only on crops that are in the ground for a long time or are sensitive to weeds. Also, the planting is done (except for a few more plantings of salad mix over the next few weeks), and the irrigation system is set out and working reliably (with a little effort required to move the water around and keep things wet in the incredible heat of summer). The main work on the farm has become HARVEST. I promise to get some current pictures on the website soon, but I can tell you the fields are looking great! Everything is sizing up nicely, and we're slowly catching up to the regular season timing.

We've had a few pests worth mentioning this summer: first the rabbits, who last week decided to eat all the shelling peas. they neatly removed the peas from the shells leaving the plants bare! The left us a few snow peas and sugar snaps, but ate nearly all the shelling peas! We fought back last weekend by covering the entire pea bed with a sheet of 'floating row cover' - a thin, breathable fabric that will keep the rabbits off while the shelling peas recover. We also have another, even larger, second planting of peas that the rabbits don't know about, so we still plan to have lots of peas. This week, only the full shares are getting peas, and only a small amount.

Another pest that we have every summer is the flea beetle. This tiny, shiny black bug hops like a flea when you get near it. Some growers use this trait to trap these pests on a sticky trap moved over the crop beds. The flea beetles love to eat soft leafed brassicas - mustards, chois, arugula and the like. For this reason we always cover the 'spicy' portion of our salad mix with the same floating row cover that is keeping the rabbits out of the peas. the wave is fine enough to keep the flea beetles off the spicy mix. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to cover our bak choi crop and for this reason you can expect to see some holes in the leaves of the bok chois in your box this week. If the holes are bad, just cut the green leaf part off and use the stems of the chois which are crunchy, watery and sweet.

The garlic is finally ready - a few weeks later than usual like everything else this year. We pulled a few this week for the boxes, and will harvest the main crop next week. After we get the garlic washed, we set it in the greenhouse to dry, which takes a few weeks.So you can expect some more fresh garlic for now, and the dried, cured garlic you are used to in around three or four weeks. The onions look beautiful, but are still very small - i try to hold off on harvesting these until they have a chance to size up - probably anopther 4-5 weeks. We also have leeks that look nice, chives that are slowly coming in, scallions that are nearly ready and seed grown shallots that are great for storage and come in at the end of the year.

The spinach in this week's share was harvested with some effort from the weeds. The spinach never got weeded because it never really came up very well (both plantings - something was either wrong with the seed or more likely my seeder setting) and it didn't seem worth weeding. Still, some spinach managed to out compete the weeds, and we managed to harvest enough of that for the box this week. Because spinach is a cool weather crop, the only spinach you will see for the rest of the summer is the baby spinach leaves that are often in the salad mix.

Questions and Answers

Q: My box is stuffed!
A: Last week's full boxes were crammed, sorry. We are ordering larger boxes and trying to source good, reusable plastic totes for the CSA. For now, full shares will get TWO BOXES - please get both your boxes at the pickup if you are in Crested Butte and have a full share.
Q: I didn't get fruit!
A: (Crested Butte) Sometimes the fruit won't fit in your share box(es), instead its bagged and in a box that reads 'Fruit share, take 1 bag' - don't forget to grab your fruit. If someone else picks up your share, remind them to get the fruit if you have a fruit share (or not to if you don't). At the farm, fruit is usually in the main cooler with the veggies.
Q: Can my friend still sign up?
A: Yes, we are still open to new members for the summer, fees are slightly reduced based on the late start, call the farm for details: 970-872-4413.

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week's Box

Chard or Kale - still bagged, bunched next week
Chois - green or purple bok chois (sorry about the holes, try the stems!)
Beets - sweet and delicious boiled, three types are coming in - chioggia striped, red
Spinach - spinach had a hard time this year, enjoy this while we have it.
Head Lettuce - this is the peak season for head lettuce - green & red romaines, green butters starting, red frilly types make a beautiful garnish. Full shares get three heads.
Salad Mix - i keep planting these greens nearly every week, and we water them every day to try to keep them tender. watch for a changing mix of lettuce types.
Garlic - a couple more heads, more next week.
Dill - fine leafed for now, dill seed later in the season
Thyme & Oregano - a bit that overwintered, this year's crop was frozen before we could plant it

Full Share

Extra heads lettuce (2)

Peas (not enough for the half shares, everyone will get some next week)

extra chard or kale

Fruit

NEW: Yellow Reinier Bing Cherries & Bing Cherries from First Fruits of Paonia (transitional organic this week) - YUM - enjoy these delicious fruits

Next Week

more peas
more head lettuce varieties
bunched chard, kale -three types

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Scallions
kohlrabi
Chives, parsley
Carrots, Baby
Garlic, dried
Beans - Green, Yellow & Purple
Summer Squash

3 or more Weeks

Summer squash

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Cabbage - Red, Green & Savoy

Cucumbers

Carrots

Onions

Potatoes

Winter Squash

Pumpkins

Flowers - Gladioli, Zinnias, Snapdragons, Bouquets - i'll have these for special order (CB) and for sale at the farm

everything else!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 2

From the Farm

Solstice was just a week ago, and that means the longest days of the year. Growth in the garden this time of year is nothing short of amazing. Everything is growing including the weeds! We are keeping busy with weeding, thinning and now harvest has begun. The field looks great (I'll try to post some updated photos soon), and we have a great succession of three plantings in the field, meaning an extended harvest for crops like beans, peas, beets and carrots. A good crew has formed to handle the harvest with some old and some new faces.

We encourage visitors and offer tours of the farm. If you pick up at the farm, walk out past the harvest area and just keep walking straight. I try to stay in sight of the harvest area on Friday afternoons if you want a tour or have questions. For those of you getting a box delivery into crested butte, we strongly encourage you to plan at least one visit to the farm - any time in the next three months is probably fine, but call a week ahead so we can plan to be here.

A word about the appearance of your produce: We take a lot of time and care each harvest making sure the produce we bring in from the field is carefully cleaned and processed. We carefully wash everything in domestic water, sometimes double or triple washing to get all the dirt off. You may see some damage to crops that is normal in organic production: holes in the leaves of the radishes for example, or the corn ear worms in the tips of the sweet corn (later in the season), but we try hard to make the produce you receive looks better than the produce you see on a grocery store shelf. Produce is very sensitive to temperature and moisture. If your produce becomes wilted at any point, it can usually be revived be wetting, then placing in a bag in the refrigerator. Please email or call with any concerns!

Questions and Answers

Q: Why didn't I get Braising Mix (or carrots, or peas)?
A: Each week as I type out this email, I make a best guess at what will be available for the box harvest later in the week. Sometimes what we actually harvest might be a little different than my list, or there might be a shortage of one crop and an abundance of another. As we pack the boxes each week, we try to ensure everyone gets the exact same box, but sometimes (usually as a particular crop is just beginning to ripen) there isn't enough for everyone. In this case, we substitute another crop, so if you didn't get carrots you got beets, or if you didn't get braising mix you got extra baby chard. We also watch the overall dollar value of the box each week to insure you get a great deal for your share fee. Since the first few weeks are slim this year, that means extra big boxes later in the season.

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? email me!

This Week's Box

NEW: Beets, baby - a mix of pink (chioggias are striped when cut sideways), red round and red long (cylindrical) beets, mostly the pinkish ones this week because they are sizing up first. Delicious boiled until soft and topped with a little salt.
NEW: Head Lettuce - a rotating mix of Romaine, Green & Red Leaf, butters and summer crisp heads. Head lettuce will last for a month or six weeks, then disappear because it can't take the heat and 'bolts', turning bitter.
NEW: Baby Kale - We will be bunching chard and kale starting next week. Recipes on the website - see cooking greens
Salad Mix - Starting slow, we should have this all season
Cilantro - Enjoy it while we have it, cilantro can't take the heat of summer and lasts just a few weeks

NEW: Sage - great in beans or meat (lots of info on the web of course )

NEW: Dill - great on fish, in a dressing or dry and use later.

Full Share

Extra head lettuce

radishes

extra chard or kale

Fruit

NEW: Sweet Bing Cherries (for fruit shares) - these are the 1st of the season for our area and come out of established orchards in Domingez canyon, between Delta and Grand Junction. These are '2nd year transitional' meaning they have been under organic cultivation for two years. The Paonia cherries should start in the next week or two and cherries will last a month or more, when the peach harvest begins!

Next Week

Shelling peas
more head lettuce varieties
bunched chard
bunched or bagged spinach

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Bunched Kale & Chard

Sugar Snap Peas
Scallions
Carrots, Baby
Garlic, dried
Chois (Bak Choi and other types)
Summer Squash

3-5 Weeks
Tons of Peas and Beans

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter - Week 1

From the Farm

This week I thought I would run down all of the vegetables and let you know how they are doing. Some of you might be concerned about the late season, our extremely late (June 8) freeze, and the cold wet spring that slowed down the spring planting. As a result of the late season, everything is a little behind, and the first few weeks of harvest will be particularly slim.

Please don't be alarmed by the size of your box for the first few weeks. we will make up for the slim selection later in the season (also, full shares are going to get a lot fuller than the half shares as the crops fill in - for now they are the same. again, we will make this up later in the season). The overall harvest season is looking great this year, with nearly everything planted, watered and weeded! Here is the scoop on some of the main vegetables:

Beans - we grow green beans, as well as yellow and purple beans. we have several strong plantings with multiple varieties this year and they look great - weeded, thinned and starting to bush out, so expect an extended harvest beginning in mid July and lasting over a month
Braising Mix - this tender baby greens mix is great for a side dish, we offer this for the first few weeks until more crops are available.
Broccoli - looks great, we got a great planting of broccoli in this year, and its all weeded and growing well. Harvest will begin by the end of July and last for a month or more
Beets - the first bed of beets has been thinned and the first baby beets will be ready in the next week. We should have beets or baby beets for at least four weeks, we have several strong looking plantings.
Cabbage - also a great planting of red & green cabbage, some savoys and Chinese cabbage (napa) as well. Harvest will begin around week 7 (Aug. 4) and lasts for a month or more
Cauliflower - we have good plantings of white cauliflower, as well as the intense purple and delicious orange cauliflower varieties. expect cauliflower mid-season this year, by early August
Chard - a good planting of rainbow colors: red, green, yellow, pink & orange. Harvest begins this week with baby chard (washed and bagged), then continues with bunched chard by week 3 or 4. Chard lasts all season, but expect it in your box for the first 4-6 weeks until the box fills out with the main season crops.
Corn - we have several good sweet corn plantings this year, including our favorite 'delectable' - a super sweet bi-color (yellow and white) corn and the classic Silver Queen, a large eared white corn. Our corn will be coming in late in the season, mid September, but we will try to pick up some of the local Organic 'Olathe Sweet' corn which is now available in the our area by sometime in August.
Cucumbers - The cucumber plantings look good - we have several varieties, the standard slicers, some thin skinned Asian types and pickling cukes (we'll alert you when these become available for bulk ordering). we lost some of our early plantings to a late freeze, but still expect a good long harvest.
Eggplant - The eggplant was hit by the late freeze, but most came back and we also replaced some. still eggplant is always late, expect a bit of eggplant in late September
Herbs - we rotate culinary herbs in your box each week. Tender cilantro lasts for the first month of harvest season, and you'll also get over-wintered thyme, marjoram and oregano early. later you'll get fresh basil - the planting looks great, but won't be ready until mid-august. bulk basil (or cilantro) for making pesto available for special order. most herbs can be dried very easily in our climate - if you find you don't use the fresh herbs each week, hang them to dry and store in a jar for winter use.
Lettuce, Head - we have a great looking planting of head lettuce, lots of romaine, butter and leaf lettuces. we will start picking these next week and harvest should last for four to six weeks. expect a rotating selection
Melons - they are planted and growing, but melons are a marginal crop in this area, expect melons in September if we have a long hot season
Onions, Leeks, Shallots - we have a beautiful crop of onions planted and weeded this year - yellow sweet walla wallas, white storage onions and red sweet 'burgermaster' onions. we'll start picking onions around the end of August. Onion harvest lasts all fall. The leeks and shallots also look great, expect these late September
Peas - the peas are a little later than usual this year, but we have several strong plantings that are growing well. the shelling peas are filled with peas that are sizing up - we'll start picking them in the next two weeks. the sugar snap peas are just flowering and will be ready in three weeks. Pea harvest lasts three to four weeks
Peppers - these come in late in our area, sometime in September. our early batch was frozen, but we replanted
Potatoes - a nice planting with reds, blues and yellows as well as fingerlings. potatoes are available for the last few weeks on the season.
Scallions - ready in a few weeks, these will last for just a few weeks
Squash, Summer - some of the early plantings made it and are flowering now. we expect a trickle of squash in a few weeks, then a flood later in July and August - we have zucchini, yellow crookneck, patty pan, straightneck and other varieties.
Squash Winter - we have a great planting of delacata, butternut, acorn, buttercup, kabocha, red kuri, spaghetti and more. these come in late in the season, late Spetember
Tomatoes - we did loose some to a late freeze, but we have replanted even more. tomatoes will be late this year, if we can find some organic early tomatoes for sale from palisaide or delta we will add them to an earlier box.

This Week's Box

Radishes - red and white mixed

Braising Mix - tender greens - eat raw or cook
Baby Chard - Delicious and tender. Recipes on the website - see cooking greens
Salad Mix - Starting slow, we should have this all season
Cilantro - Enjoy it while we have it, cilantro can't take the heat of summer and lasts just a few weeks
Marjoram - great for tomato sauce, dry what you don't use
Garlic - immature, with a slightly milder garlic flavor. the skins aren't dry, but you still need to peel the cloves. We'll have more garlic in the coming weeks, this is just so you have some for now.

Next Week

Beets, baby
Sage

Head Lettuce - Romaine, Green & Red Leaf

Dill

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Kale
Sugar Snap Peas
Scallions
Garlic, dried

From The Farm
Things are busy, busy here at the farm. As I write this, the last crops are ready to go in the ground and all of the 'cool weather' crops are in the ground (they can take our early season freezes). We just had the latest freeze of the spring since we've been farming in Western Colorado - June 8th. It was a mild freeze and it nipped or killed most or all of our early tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash and cucumbers. Ouch! A small backup planting is going in the ground tomorrow, but expect a later season unless we can fill in from other local growers.

A late season
Even without the recent freeze, this has been a late year. We've had a steady series of missed planting days due to rain or hail, wet fields as well as some really hard early freezes that damaged the local fruit crop. The farm machinery all decided this was the year to break down, and one implement after another has been down for repairs. The good news is that we have still managed to keep up with field planting and prep work, and the early spring plantings look great. The peas and beets are growing strong, as well as salad mix, radishes, baby carrots, spinach, cilantro, scallions, garlic, chard, kale and more as we prepare for our first harvests. Will all our early crops are in the ground, the weeding season has begun! Our big direct seedings - corn, squash, pumpkins, green beans, cucumbers, etc. are completed and salad mix is on its 3rd planting. A good crew has formed to plant weed and harvest, and the weather is finally warming up.

What to expect
Pickup/Delivery will begin the week of June 23rd. Farm pickups will be Fridays 3-7pm (or by arrangement), delivery into Crested Butte will happen every Sunday, starting Sunday June 29th, at 11am (see below for details). I will call every shareholder by June 16th to go over the exact pickup location and to verify you got this email!

Farm Pickup Directions
The farm is located just before 34830 Powell Mesa Rd. From Hotchkiss, head North on 4th St., travel 1 mile and take the 2nd Left on Powell Mesa Rd. (not the 1st Powell Mesa turn). Travel 1 mile, look for Round Earth sign directly ahead. Read the board carefully, grab a box and pack your share. Full/Half shares are listed separately, Fruit share is separate. Check the list if you aren't sure what you have. Please check your name on the list when you take your box so we know you got your produce! Please save your box and bring it back. Remember to pick up your box each week. If you will are unable to pick up your box, please send a friend and explain the pickup carefully, or call to arrange an alternate time to pick up your box.

Crested Butte Delivery
Crested Butte Deliveries - Our current delivery location is now FULL and we are seeking a second drop off location. We are looking for an existing or new member with a shady porch or north wall in an accessible downtown (ideally) location. We offer a generous trade/discount for hosting the pickup location - please call Adam at the farm (970) 872-4413 if you can help. For now, here are the directions to the primary pickup, at Stacee Vanaremans house:
421 White Rock, Stacee's is a tall green building. Please park on the street. Please meet the truck at 11:30am, or pick up produce any time that day from the shady East porch. Each share is in a box, fruit shares are separate. Please check the list of you aren't sure what you get. If you have any questions, please call the farm. Please save your box and bring it back to meet the truck, or leave it for us that day (please don't leave boxes all week). If you will are unable to pick up your box, please send a friend and explain the pickup carefully!

Turkey Hill 2008 Season

Spring has Sprung!
The sun is working hard to thaw the ground, still soaked with the great winter rains. We are busy planting early seedlings in the greenhouse - flowers, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and the first round of brassicacas - broccoli, cauliflower, savoy, red & green cabbage, napa cabbage and bok choi. In the next few weeks our first plantings of lettuce will go in: romaine, read & green lean, butters and crisp heads, plus an early round of salad mix greens whenever it dries out enough to plant.

Dreaming of Summer!
We are dreaming of a bountiful, vegetable-filled summer... please join in the potential of spring by signing up for a 2008 membership today.

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter

Week 13-17, 2007

From the farm:

The farm is slowly declining as we linger without our usual September freeze. Even without the frost, many crops have decided to give up for the year, including the chard, kale, summer squash.

We had a fantastic lightning storm the other day, accompanied by lots of rain. I learned something new when talking to a friend: lightning storms fix atmospheric nitrogen, giving free food to the soil and crops. i found an article online on the nitrogen cycle that mentions it, and they say:

Nitrogen fixation refers to the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas (N₂) to ammonia (NH₃) or nitrate (NO₃). The latter is formed when lightning or sometimes cosmic radiation causes oxygen and nitrogen to react in the atmosphere.

Amazingly, salad greens that looked to small to ever harvest this year look noticeably larger after a long storm full of heavy rain and lots of nearby lightning. Its as if the entire field got fertilized.

Alert: We are having a little 'end of the season' gathering for farm workers and CSA customers. If you can make it (sorry about the last minute notice) THIS SUNDAY, September 23rd @ 3pm at the farm. Please bring a potluck dish and visit us at the farm on Powell Mesa (approx, 34833 Powell Mesa Rd).

Four weeks of the CSA remain; depending on harvest conditions, the last week may be a double box, (boxes 16 & 17) will come as one big box, with two weeks of items - since everything stores so well at this time of year anyway. On to the crops:

Here is what we will have for the next four weeks

Salad Mix - tender summer greens - still picking for CSA - will last a week or two more
Broccoli - fall broccoli is now coming in

Cauliflower - Orange (cheddar - delicious!) - some White, Purple too.
Carrots (last week)
Tomatoes - more & more until the freeze - if you get overloaded, throw these in a bag and freeze them in a freezer bag. Defrost and stew in winter (add some fresh herbs) for a great sauce.
Lots more Winter squash - so far we have picked acorns (and white and orange acorns) , dalacata, festival and sweet dumpling. Delacata (striped long ovals), Butternut (brown, pear shape), Buttercup and Blue Hubbard all look great this year. Leave these on the shelf for a few weeks for a sweeter flavor. A freeze (soon) will help sweeten up the rest of the crop.
Pumpkins - we will have enough for everyone to get at least a small pumpkin, which you can put on your table or bake in a pie.
Onions - Reds coming on strong (dry these out, they store very well), yellow storage onions ready at the very end.
Peppers - Until it freezes
Chard in extras

Fruit -
Apples - Galas, Jonagold, Jonathan, Golden Delicious and others
Pears - red and others

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter

Week 12, 2007

From the farm:

Fall is here! This is certainly my favorite season of the year. all that remains on the farm is a lot of picking! (and a little clean up and garlic planting for next year).

This week we are enjoying the last of the Summer crops as we head into Fall.

Since only five weeks of the CSA remain, I thought I'd summarize what you can expect as the season ends:

Lots of Fall crops:

Potatoes are now being harvested, we should have enough to give you all 2 lb./week for the remainder of the season;

Onions are still coming in with shallots, and Red.s ready and storage yellow onions still ripening. Special order a 25lb. box for $20 - the red or yellow storage onions will last all winter inf kept in a cool, dark spot.

Winter squash look fantastic this year - Lots still ripening, but the delacata and acorn are now being picked (plus cream acorn and orange acorn), as well as 'festival'. The larger squash: butternut, buttercup, blue hubbard, red kuri and others are all a few weeks off (after it freezes the 1st time, we pick them all). We will give everyone 1-2 squash a week for the rest of the season: place these in a cool spot and enjoy any time this winter. Call to special order before we sell it all.

Tomatoes will continue and increase until our first freeze, usually in mid september. Same for peppers and eggplant.

We have a nice crop of fall cauliflower and some more red cabbage you will get over the next few weeks.

The cucumbers, squash and basil are all giving up for the season, freeze or no freeze; the kale and chard are tired, i'll put a few in extras for real greens lovers, or ask about picking from the field, as the quality deteriorates, we stop picking!

The carrots are gone, but I imagine everyone has a nice supply in their fridge by now. trim the tops, and keep these in a bag; a damp paper towel is sometimes helpful, but watch for rot - clean the tops carefully.

We have some pumpkins, hopefully enough for everyone. Let us know if you must need a pumpkin for a pie.

This week's probable box:

Salad Mix - tender summer greens

Purple Cauliflower (giant)
Carrots (last week)
Cucumbers, including lemon cukes (last week?)
Tomatoes - more & more until the freeze
Eggplant or Winter Squash (farm pickup will get eggplant next week).
Onions - Red
Leeks
Peppers - Hot, Anaheim (semi hot) and hot (the small ones)

Squash - yellow pear, yellow straight neck, eight ball, sunburst, crooked neck. TONS!
Sweet Corn -lots- from the farm - "Delectable" - last week.

Fruit -
Apples - Galas, Honey Crisp and Jonathan
Green Bartlett Pears

Coming soon (in the next 1-3 weeks):

Potatoes
Winter Squash
Onions