What’s been going on! 

I try not to make this the weather report page but you know that is what dictates farmer’s lives and sometimes, especially in the spring, it is the news.  A very unusual May cold snap coming Saturday night, an extreme version of the classic blackberry winter which we have every May but usually with lows only down into the low 40’s or high 30’s, we have forecast lows on Sunday morning as low as 31 degrees!  We will be watching this one closely but will undoubtedly have to pull out the row covers to add an additional layer of protection over the tomatoes and cucumbers even inside of the tunnels.  And the wild blackberries are not even blooming yet!

This blast of cold is one of those crazy swings due to the polar vortex breaking down as it moves towards summer.  There was a really good article in the Washington Post in March that talked about how intense the polar vortex was in the arctic this winter (which contributed to our warm winter) and when a vortex with such strong winds breaks down all kinds of unusual weather can be the result.

The generally cool weather for the start of this week has slowed down some crops in the field especially the flowers which are not blooming as quickly as we would like for the Mothers Day weekend.  Betsy refers to it as like milking a chicken, you go out every day and cut the few stems that have opened but you don’t get much.  If you need to reserve some bouquets email us and we will put you on the list or let you know if we will have them by Friday afternoon.

Picture of the week

Sugar Snap Peas blooming like crazy, peas in two weeks!

What’s going to be at Market?

We will not be at the Wednesday market for the foreseeable future until the outbreak subsides but we do plan to be at Saturdays as long as we can be.

To facilitate less contact and faster exchanges we are encouraging people to pre-order so that it is ready to go when you get to market this page has all of the details on how to do that.  We need your orders by noon on Friday for us to be able to put them together on Friday afternoon.

A gap in production this week especially in lettuces.

No Red and Green Little Gem lettuce this week.  A small supply of Red Summer Crisp Lettuce (a combination of Romaine and Red leaf).  A few heads of Romaine.

In the bitter greens department we have a good amount of Escarole for soups, salads or sautéing.  Lacinato Kale (aka Dinosaur Kale or Cavalo Nero), you all know what to do with it. Lots more Broccoli Raab and it is maybe the most beautiful we have ever grown.  The first of the red and speckled Radicchios.

Tons of crunchy Red Radishes.  A few bunches of tender and sweet Japanese Salad Turnips. New this week really nice, tender medium sized Fennel.

Betsy’s famous bouquets.  There may be a few other floral selections too.

Stay safe and well and we hope to see you all at the market!

Alex and Betsy

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