Hello Everyone!

Hip-Hooray for some much needed cloud cover and a forecast for the foreseeable future in the 80s! It couldn't have come at a better time as our irrigation pumps are in need of some serious maintenance and your farmers need to catch up on their own hydration. Hard to believe it is already the last week in July and its time to start the downhill slide to fall. After the summer solstice, the onions start to size up and continue to do so until their necks get soft and the plants fall over. That means its time to stop watering and get them out of the ground for curing. Its a big job that takes several days, especially because we are growing all our onions that we will be selling this winter...hint hint, winter CSA! The onions cure for a month and then we cut the tops off and put them in the cooler for storage. I tend to breath a little easier once our onions and garlic are in storage for the winter months, as geeky as it sounds I feel very ready for the cold months with a serious pantry of alliums at our disposal.

This week we are plugging away on the summer crops and tomatoes and peppers are just starting to trickle in. Pepper ripening depends on your average daily temperatures, so those cool nights that we enjoy here in Colorado lead to slow ripening of these fruits. The sweetness of colored bells comes from the actual ripening of the fruit and so most peppers start in some form of "green" then turn to a red, yellow, or orange pepper. We of course grow some exceptions that are purple, white, or lime colored in their unripen form. They will taste similar to a green pepper are great on pizza, for fajitas, or just for dipping in carrot tahini dip. We are having a bit of a cucumber beetle apocalypse on our farm this year and I think time is running out for the slicing cucumbers...well all cucumbers really. We are doing our best to have them as long as possible, but there is just nothing that we can do to stop the little monsters. The pickling cucumbers have just come online and you can eat them like slicing cucumbers, no problem. If you are interested in bulk pickling cucumbers, please email me and get on the schedule as I am unsure how long we will have them this year. Dragon Lingerie beans (aka, sexy beans), will be at the stand this week. With a flat pod and a beautiful cream and purple color, these beans are a fun break from the greens guys. They have a more delicate flavor, so don't over cook! AND, of course we will still have the green ones for posterity.

Looking forward to seeing you all real soon!

Katie

This Week's Harvest

Kale

Chard

Head Lettuce

Carrots

Beets

Basil

Zucchini and Summer Squash

Bell peppers

Asian and Italian Eggplant

Broccoli

Sweet Onions

Cucumbers

Green and Dragon beans

Garlic

Tomatoes (just starting, not too many!)

Flowers

Farmer's Journal

Cloud cover and summer crops