farm share

Our ladies started laying for us about a week ago. Unfortunately we have been confining them to their coop until they ALL learn to use their nesting boxes. We keep finding little piles of eggs in the bushes, the pumpkin patch…all over. It kind of makes for a fun Easter egg hunt every day…but really it would be more convenient to just go out to the coop and collect them on a daily basis in the same spot each day. We’ll see how our “training” goes. As for right now…those free rangers are not too happy being “cooped” up.

We are now, of course…as anyone who grows or knows anyone who grows summer squash…up to our ears in it…almost at least. We’ve got a lot to harvest today despite this crate full we already got. I’ve got zucchini relish, zucchini pickles, zucchini bread, and dehydrated zucchini chips on my list of “things to do”. My favorite thing to do as a vegetable grower…dare I say farmer, is to grow a nice aesthetically pleasing arrangement of a certain crop. I think it’s more fun that way. This year, we have yellow crookneck summer squash, dark green zucchini, yellow patty pan (or scallopini) summer squash, and ronde de nice squash. We are loving the ronde de nice!

The raspberries have gotten their summer pruning. Now on to a little bit more weeding and then the biggie…mulching!

We harvested the last of our sugar snap peas…and took down the vines…creating room for a fall crop.

Eggplants, tomatoes, tomatillos, beans and peppers. We are now approaching full swing of summer crop harvest up here.

We cleared out the rest of our beets, carrots, and head lettuce…also creating room for fall/overwintering crops. We actually haven’t totally decided what to do. We are planning to build a hoop house. At first we thought we would put it right here since the room was ready and available. But then I got to thinking that although a hoop house is somewhat moveable…it would be best to put it in a more permanent location that wouldn’t be right smack in the middle of the garden. SO, we decided to start everything in flats again, until we can get the hoop house up sometime over the next two weeks. Never a dull moment! And certainly never a lack of things to get done!

Our pumpkin patch is thriving. We planted a row of teeny tiny pumpkins and a row of jack-o-lanterns for carving.

We also are watching as our winter squash are literally overtaking their allotted garden space. Luckily each plant is heftily weighted in big beautiful winter squashes…so I guess it’s okay that they take up all that space.

As the peas phase out and the beans come in…we gradually bring in each week’s abundant harvest to our table. It is ever evolving, ever changing…and we are grateful for each and every part of it!