Share #6 July 23rd & 25th

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Swiss Chard, Romaine Head Lettuce, Bok Choy, Fresh Garlic, Basil, maybe Tomatoes and/or Sugar Snap Peas

It has been a hot and dry month on the farm! This weekend I watched storms pass over Driggs and Jackson...Victor got some sprinkles, but not enough to water anything. Luckily we can keep irrigating with the amazing snow melt coming off the mountains.​​ The garden is thriving with the heat and irrigation.
Thanks to our amazing crew we are getting somewhere with the weeds. It is the make or break season for some crops "weed wise". The crops want to stretch up and out, if they are too crowded with weeds they won't make it. We are trying to get through the harvest every morning and turn to weeding in the afternoon. We have gotten through a lot of crops! The cucumbers, cabbage, garlic, summer/winter squash and potatoes are looking gorgeous right now. We are so close to being done with the carrots. We are half way through the beets. On the list to start is the second weeding of sunflowers and cabbage.
We have to move around the garden based on where the irrigation pipe is. Even with this heat it is not fun to weed under the sprinklers! The irrigation is on a set rotation that we must keep moving or the plants will suffer. So we weed where ever it will be most effective each day...not necessarily which row would be most satisfying to finish. 30 feet left from yesterday's project...oh well, it's under the irrigation now!
We try to weed a crop when the soil has the optimal moisture for pulling weeds. We have to find a balance of soil moisture, weed size and crop size. When soil is really dry, big weeds tend to break and the roots of the weed keep growing. The large root systems can also pull up the desired crop when the soil is dry. If the weeds are little, a hoe will chop the weed in a dry bed and the roots will wither because of dryness and lack of reach for water. Weeding a moist bed will get a hoe all stuck up with soil and make it unusable. Sometimes the best case scenario is hand weeding a moist bed.  We sometimes call it "glory weeding" if the conditions are just right. It's kind of equivalent to "hero pow" for all your skiers! When the weeds are big and the soil has just the right amount of moisture, the weeds come out quick and easy. When hand pulling huge weeds in a moist bed, the progress is so easy to see and getting rid of one big weed makes a big difference.
Weeding is our biggest need and use of time on the farm. Because we don't spray herbicides we have to remove the weeds somehow. Human labor is the best answer so far. We have a couple of tractor implements to help, but they can only do so much.  Maybe someday someone will invent an affordable device that weeds by itself with our destroying all the life in the soil. For us, for now, people are still where it's at!

Lunch this Week: Pasta with lots of butter, Swiss Chard, Basil and Tomatoes; Chili Mint stir fry with Cosmic Beef, Sugar Snap Peas and Bok Choy
Recipe Ideas: BLT with Romaine, Tomato and Cosmic Bacon! Bok Choy, Swiss Chard and noodles; Swiss Chard with Pine Nut, Parmesan and Basil.
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Click the button below to access our collection of Cosmic Apple CSA inspired recipes!

Recipes

Let us help you avoid the grocery store!!
We have lots of extra goodies available at your pick up. If you want something specific, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved just for you. Dinner just got easier!
The coolers at your site are stocked with a selection of Lifeline Cheese and Cosmic Apple Pork and Beef (listed below). I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit!
​Pork Available: Grandpa's Sausage, Breakfast Sausage, Pork Chops, Shoulder Roast, Spare Ribs, Tenderloin, Bacon, Neck Bones (make the real deal Ramen!) Hock and Fat
Beef Available: Tenderloin, Sirloin, Eye of the Round, Patties, Stew Meat, Ground Beef, Sirloin Roast, Tongue and Liver
​Hunters and Huntresses: We have pork fat for your wild game sausage making. Let me know if you want to order any and I can send it to your pick up location.

WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
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Bring Bags to pick-ups!

If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 10% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1
JH Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-12
The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7
Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? [email protected]