The skies over the farm were beautiful this afternoon …

… before the storm,

… and after the storm.

The rains came down hard for a short period of time – almost 1″ fell.

I had transplanted in the morning – lettuce, arugula, baby kale, spinach, & baby chard. Then I watered it in … and watered, and watered. The ground on top is very dry.

Thankfully the rain completed the job – and did it far better than I could!

 

Some of the vegetables got flattened by the intense rain, but they’ll be up and straight by tomorrow.

It’s good to see some puddles! They will soak into the dry ground & disappear quickly!

What’s in the box?

Sweet corn, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, lettuce, garlic, shishito peppers, (winter squash).

extras – hot peppers

• Those of you who have been a part of our CSA before know that we make 1 planting of sweet corn each year. Depending on how it turns out, it will be in your box for 1 or sometimes 2 weeks. This year it is looking good – the cobs are smaller, but they appear to be cleaner (ie not as many worms) then usual. Good news since we choose not to spray! Your corn will be picked the morning of CSA pick-up (or the day before for North York market pick-up), so you know it will be fresh & delicious!
• It’s unusual for the 2nd planting of zucchini & patty pan summer squash to be so healthy & lush & producing so heavily – but we’ll take it! The patch is amazing! Enjoy a few zucchini in your box again this week.
• Tomatoes, beans, lettuce & garlic are the staples of the late summer CSA box and will continue to be for several more weeks.
• We have been hearing good things about the shishito peppers, so we decided to include them again this week. While you can use them as you would any other sweet pepper, they are at their best when charred in olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add some minced fresh garlic. Cook the peppers whole, turning occasionally, until they begin to blister on all sides. Sprinkle with salt (and maybe a splash of lemon or lime juice and some parmesan cheese) and serve immediately. Eat the whole pepper – except the stem.
• There will probably be a winter squash in your share this week too! I don’t recall ever having summer squash/zucchini and winter squash in the box at the same time. But when I walked through the squash field today there appeared to be some that were mature & could be eaten – especially spaghetti & perhaps sweet potato (delicata) squash. So why not have a taste of fall along with all the summer vegetables?!
• Hot peppers (jalapenos, serranos … ) will be available for those who would like some.

The sweet peppers continue to ripen ever so slowly. We will pick what is ready tomorrow, and perhaps there might be a pepper in the box as well. Here’s hoping! Our cucumbers had a great run, producing much longer than most years. Now the plants have finally given up & the cucumber season is over.

Labour Day was a busy day for us – until the rains gave us a break! But I guess not everyone was busy ….