Dissonance & a Transcendental Solstice

With the Solstice came the rains, at long last, with their good water, auspiciously saturating a desperate and dissonant landscape.

Last week, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to rest, recover, and rejuvenate with family on North Carolina’s southern shore. We were 600 miles away when those steady rains came, unable to experience that relief in the moment, in person, in real time. But upon returning to the farm, we were overwhelmed instantly by the obvious praise and celebration resonating throughout the biological congregation. Crops for which we felt a diminished hope of any extended harvest season found a second wind and summer long-season varieties were offered the cool drink they needed to officially transition from vegetation to reproduction. To us, it doesn’t feel hyperbolic to say that our return to the farm, after just five days away, was a psychedelic experience. Walking from bed to bed, from one corner of the farm to the other, our chests swelled and our eyes welled with awe as we dug down for mature roots, gazed up at intimidating canopies, and looked new blooms right in the eye.

In reflection upon this strange Spring, we analogize dissonance, intentional tension, in music. Dissonant harmony, out of context, is anxious and unsatisfactory. Without an understanding of what came before a dissonant sound, or an expectation of what is to come after it, a listener can hardly experience it as anything other than uneasy, tense, out-of-tune, clashing noises. But Mother Nature is a seasoned jazz artist with a profound gift for creativity and improvisation. Sure, we were anxious as she calmly arpeggiated that dissonant chord from the end of May through the first half of June, but she had a plan, she knew her direction. Appropriately, she used the Summer Solstice as a performance opportunity to resolve that chord.

We feel the peace, the relief, the harmony, that she had planned all along.

Housekeeping

We thought it would be appropriate/informative to include this excerpt from an email correspondence with a shareholder this week:

(Regarding harvest scheduling) Much of our lack of predictability is due to insufficient irrigation and our minimal greenhouse space. With more experience, we could have a more predictable harvest schedule. With more greenhouses and controlled irrigation, we could have a more predictable harvest schedule. That is partly why the seasonality and flexibility of the CSA model is best for us for now. If we were relying on market sales and wholesale delivery to restaurants, markets, and stores, we would need more predictable harvest periods and yields to satisfy deliverable deadlines and marketability. But the industry's obvious answer to this lack of predictability, the lack of consistency that comes with a reliance on nature's whims, is to isolate their crops from nature by growing hydroponically or covering the farm with plastic and greenhouses. We're not sure we want to do that. It feels unnatural and somewhat counterproductive to the nature of our operation. Like I said, with more experience we may have a better idea of what we can provide further in advance and better tools to work with Nature's variability, but for now this is how we have to operate.  Our website has a general harvest schedule by month. The schedule lists what crops are in season, though in reality there are successes and failures, crops sown earlier or later than expected, crops reaching maturity earlier or later than expected.

Week 5 CSA Harvest:

New Potatoes

We were able to plant four different varieties of potatoes in the early spring: Red cobblers, Yukon Golds, Blue Adirondack spuds, and the traditional white Kennebec variety. Some varieties mature faster than others and are traditionally categorized as Early Season, Mid Season, and Late Season.

To grow a high-yielding crop of storage potatoes, spud farmers allow the plant to complete its full season, hilling-up the beds and burying foliage along the way, encouraging sub-surface productivity. To get a high-yield, long-storage, staple crop, a farmer ought to potato patiently and cure thoroughly.

But, at least for this week, we’re not harvesting for storage. “New Potatoes” are those fresh spuds that developed early, just below the soil’s surface. They’re not yet cured for long-term storage and ought to be enjoyed promptly. With our current favorable weather conditions and appropriate soil texture, we’re able to dig around the plant base with our hands and pull out young spuds without disturbing the plant too aggressively. These thin-skinned, fresh tubers are extra creamy and flavorful. Often, they can be washed and peeled by hand simultaneously. This week, we’ll have Yukon Gold, Blue Adirondack, and Red new potatoes included with your harvest.

Head Lettuce

The Parris Island Cos variety. Cos is an heirloom term for Romaine lettuce. We really like this variety for its light green broad leaves and good flavor. The leafy heads are great chopped up for a salad base, used whole on sandwiches or as wraps.

Snow Peas

We harvested a whole mess of Pea pods before our break and they seem to be storing awfully well. Enjoy these Snow Peas while they’re available as we’ll soon transition from the cool Pea season to the warm Bean season.

Kale & Collards

We were not only gifted with steady, satiating rains over the past couple weeks but moderately cool temperatures as well. That’s Kale weather. Leaves look as good as they have this season and we’re excited to share.

Broccoli

Our broccoli was one of those crops that found a second wind at the end of Spring. Our Mini Broccoli variety is fantastic and versatile in that it can be harvested and used as a sprouting/flowering Broccoli, a longer-stemmed Broccolini type, or pinched as Mini Broccoli buds. Crowns have held up well in storage over our break and will be handed out as well. We’ve been alternating the delivery of these two varieties between our Sunday and Wednesday shareholders and will continue to mix it up. We recommend cooking this bunch as they’re not as fresh and have lost some sweetness through the heat and drought of the Spring. It would be wise to eat these promptly as we have kept them stored in our cooler for the past week.

Beets

Our shareholders may recall that we distributed a “Beet thinnings” harvest earlier in the Spring. We had directly sown the bed thickly with beet seed. We allowed those Beets to foliate in dense competition with their peers. Just before they began to develop roots, we thinned them for salad greens. This turned out to be a surprisingly beneficial strategy, and one we’ll likely replicate. We think the competition allowed for vigorous top growth and the removal of that competition enabled that potential to be directed downward. For direct-sown bull’s blood Beetroots, this is our best crop yet.

Carrots

The story of our Spring is artistically represented by our inaugural root harvest from our Spring carrot bed. A well-watered carrot in loose soil will grow evenly and symmetrically but for this year’s first pull, we have been blessed with many multi-legged carrot roots, or “dancers” as we like to call them. The carrot roots start out normal and singular but develop multiple legs in an effort to forage for a water source when moisture is not readily accessible. We have plenty of carrot beds left to grow and harvest for future deliveries. These ought to be more uniform and traditional but for now, it’s funky roots for us.

Summer Squashes

We are very appreciative to our Mom, Sue Zacharias, for keeping up with an exponential Zucchini and Yellow Squash harvest for the past week. The rule of thumb for Summer Squash storage is “One day on the counter, One week in the refrigerator,” but we’ve been accumulating these fruits for the past week, so it would be wise to prioritize them soon. Cook them up in a stir fry, bake them in a casserole, or shred, peel, and freeze them for future preparations. The Summer Squash harvest will be ongoing until the borers and bugs have their way.

Basil

While we wait patiently for our tomatoes to fill out and ripen, our Basil plants have been less patient and are hinting at flowering. It’s time to start harvesting. It’s difficult to transport Basil nicely. When they arrive, we suggest transferring your basil stems, if they have enough length, into a shallow bowl of water to preserve them prior to use.

Parsley

Like our Kale, our Curly Parsley enjoyed the recent cooler temperatures and saturated soils. It ought to be an appropriate compliment to your root preparations for this week.

Eggs & Flowers

We are again thankful to Erin’s mom Sue for keeping up with egg collection, sorting, and storing while we were away last week. We are seeing some new shell colors as Erin’s November classroom hatch is starting to mature and lay regularly. If you receive some tiny eggs in your dozen it is likely from these young pullets putting out their first nuggets. We hope it’s made up for with some double yolkers from our mature hens. Our goal in breeding is always to produce hardy hybrids that can handle frigid winters as well as the summer heat - and of course interesting colors, speckles and shapes that are a nice contrast to the traditional store-bought alternatives. We hope your families are enjoying the variety you get each week.

We are pleased to witness the results of our flower rows having exploded with blooms while we were away, making arrangements quicker and easier for Erin after yesterday’s arrival home from vacation. Only weekly subscription members should expect bouquets for week 5 with a variety of Sunflowers, Celosia, Coreopsis, Zinnias, Snapdragons, Cosmos and more!

We are refreshed after a week off and look forward to hearing about the ways in which you are using your hearty summer boxes this week.

Thanks for your continued support of our farm,

Erin & David