Popcorn and strawberries

09 Sep Popcorn and strawberries

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any hotter, it did. Our unofficial observation is that these past few days have been the hottest of the summer yet. The lawn is crispy brown and dry, the summer crops are winding down and the fall crops are looking pretty sad, and our steady irrigation continues. Pretty similar story as last week!

Hopefully the rain on the horizon will not all fall in a fast downpour (slow and steady would be great!). Exacerbating our struggles with the heat, the “new” refrigerated box truck is in the shop awaiting parts, resulting in the unpopular farm dance known as the cooler shuffle.

9/8/15, on-farm CSA share #15, week A

With rain in sight we spent Tuesday afternoon harvesting our popcorn crop. Though we grew the same variety as last year, the plants are taller this season, so we were unable to use the conveyor belt- it was all harvested by hand. Our crew hung in there through the heat, working steadily down the narrow tunnels created by the dry crackling corn plants. The next step will be to get the beautiful kernels off the cobs. I see a volunteer work day on the horizon 😉

Today our goal is to plant 10,000 strawberry plugs. All in a days work, right?!

We treat our strawberries as annuals and replant them every fall. This makes it easier to rotate where they grow, and better manage disease, pest and weed pressure organically.

Hot peppers are still abundant in the share this week. The following photo should help you identify the varieties. Large box shares beware- you have poblano peppers (mildly hot) – not to be confused with green bell peppers (no heat at all!), as well as an assortment of other colorful tiny but very very hot peppers, and the larger sweet Italian peppers (sweet! not hot). We made a whole batch of pickled hot peppers last weekend- recipe here from a previous blog post.

**A special note for boxed share members picking up at the YARDLEY delivery site. Pick-up at the Congregation Beth El site only for Wednesday Sept 23rd will be rescheduled for Thursday Sept. 24th (same hours) due to Yom Kippur. We thank you for your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience.

Post and *photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. *Corn photos by Justin Seelaus. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is entering its 10th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.