The News from Windflower Farm
Greetings from Windflower Farm! I hope that you and yours are healthy. Thank you on behalf of everyone here at the farm for purchasing a share in our 2021 season. We hope you enjoy the experience.
What’s in your share?
- Romaine lettuce (‘Coastal Star’)
- Red Russian kale
- Arugula
- Red radishes
- Bunched green onions
- Potted green or Thai basil
During the first few weeks, shares are always light – spring is often slow in coming to the upper Hudson Valley and, this year, it’s been a roller coaster ride. For now, it’s salad season! Next week, you’ll get Dinosaur kale, garlic scapes, bok choy, kohlrabi and more lettuce and arugula. Sweet spring turnips and our first squashes and zucchinis will come along soon. Strawberries are getting underway and will be in all fruit shares on Tuesday and an indefinite number of shares on Thursday.
Keeping your share longer than just a day or two takes a few simple steps. First, remove your share from the bag it came in. Please try to reuse the bag if you can. It will make for a good trash bag liner if nothing else (we cannot take it back, but we’d be happy to take your boxes back). Second, rinse everything, particularly the greens, in cold water. Third, spin or gently shake the greens to remove excess water. Finally, place the contents of your share in a perforated bag in the refrigerator. The crisper drawer is made for this, but the bottom shelf will do.
What’s new on the farm?
Today’s field work was focused on roots and tubers. Much of the staff were engaged in planting sweet potatoes. The slips arrive from North Carolina bare rooted, jammed 1000 to a box. We plant them out one at a time into mulched beds and, in weather like this, they wilt instantly. We irrigate them as soon as we can after setting them out and usually find them standing up straight soon afterwards. We should have them all planted by Tuesday. The cold sweet potato soup I had for lunch today reminds me of why we grow this crop. My day was spent hilling potatoes. It’s gratifying work if you’re a vegetable farmer. A couple of years ago, I purchased an Italian machine that perfectly envelopes the emerging tubers in a hill of newly composted soil, dislodging and burying any weeds in the same step. This week, we’ll finish planting the year’s sweet potatoes and eggplants and plant second and third successions of sweet corn, red and green cabbages, collards, kales and a variety of lettuces.
I hope you have a great week, Ted
Central Brooklyn CSA 