This Weeks Veggies
Cabbage – More of the beautiful Savoy cabbage.
Savoy Cosmos or Formidana Lettuce – Formidana is a heading lettuce that is supposed to be slow to bolt. Unfortunately, I’m finding that it actually bolts quit readily. Out of the sixty we planted, only six survived the most recent heat. Savoy Cosmos is a Cos type lettuce, otherwise known as Romaine.
You’ll notice that the word “Savoy” appears in both the name of the cabbage and of the lettuce. Do you notice any similarity between the two? Look closely and you’ll realize that both have leaves that are more crinkly than is typical for that vegetable. “Savoy” means “crinkly leaved”.
Farm Life
We have spent much of the week weeding, transplanting and sowing seeds. I’ve also re-built the hoop house, top dressed most of the beds with compost, ordered garlic for fall planting, and begun laying irrigation pipe for the new system.
One of the difficult things about farming is that I must keep in mind both short term and long term planning at the same time. What is the highest priority to attend to today in order to have a crop to harvest next week? And, what do I need to do today in order to fill your shares four months from now?
In the last few days I have sown chard, brussels sprouts and three kinds of broccoli. They will remain in the hoop house for five to six weeks before they are ready to transplant. They will then take another two to two and a half months to mature in the ground. You’ll likely find them in your November shares.
By this time next week, I will also have sown several kinds of kale, cauliflower and more cabbage also for November shares. Plus I’ll sow lettuce, spinach, salad mix, kohlrabi and mustards for harvest the end of September through October.
In the last several days we have also transplanted the lettuce and fennel that will appear in your shares in six to eight weeks. One batch of each was sown on June 15, the second on July 7th. Both are ready for transplant now.
Why is that seeds sown three weeks apart are ready for transplant at the same time? Part of it is that I changed growing mediums. But, the biggest difference is the weather. On June 15 I moved the seed sowing operation into the hoop house because it was a warmer place to work. During the initial germination period the high temperature was 74 degrees. The low was 51. Obviously, with air temperatures like that, the soil temperature wasn’t very high either, even in the hoop house, slowing the germination process.
When we sowed seeds on July 7th, we looked for a cool place to work. During the germination period the high temperature was 93 and the low was 72. This made for warmer soil and therefore faster germination. That combined with the higher quality sowing medium meant that the second batch of seeds caught up with the first.
What does this imply for all the seeds I sowed this week? If the current weather forecast holds true, I’m betting they will take a little longer than average to germinate.
Featured Veggie of the Week
Last week, I suggested that you steam your cabbage. This week, I’m including a link to a recipe for a simple sauté.
http://www.cookingwithpatty.com/recipes/vegetables/Verza.php
If you choose to make this recipe, omit the first step of removing the outer leaves of the cabbage. When I harvest your cabbage, I remove the tough outer leaves and leave them in the field. Doing so saves you the trouble, and cycles the nutrients in the leaves directly back to the soil. This is one of the many small things we do in order to support sustainability on the farm.
