The Full and By Farm vegetable fields continue to improve by the day. The summer cabbage is bulking up and the green beans are just starting to set fruit, along with the fingerling potatoes, they will be in the share soon. The delicata and butternut squash have a good number of fruits filling the vines, with lots of flowers, but no fruit yet, on the other squash plants. The brussel sprouts are growing nice and tall and the tomato vines continue to put on beautiful, dark green foliage and large green tomatoes. With good luck we will continue to have a warm, sunny late summer before the real fall weather sets in so that we can enjoy all of these annual favorites.
Caught Up on Hay
Another big push on hay last weekend wrapped up the first cut. James has been working to get the big round bales moved to the edges of the winter paddock and covered for feeding out this winter to the beef herd. We’ll have one more field of second cut hay to bale in a few weeks. It feels great to be caught up on at least one thing this season—and just in time to move on to field work in preparations for next year’s vegetable and grain crops.
Ashes for Baths
We are looking for ashes for the chickens dust bath. Please bring them to pick-up if you have any left in your woodstove (ashes must be clean with no old nails or debris mixed in).
In the Full and By Farm Shares
In the veggie share: sweet onions, bunching onions, curly kale, swiss chard, carrots, beets, lettuce heads, mesclun mix, basil, herbs (including cilantro and dill) and flowers. Summer veggies—cucs, zucs, eggplants, tomatoes, okra and sweet corn—with limits. U-pick flowers are in the field behind the silo.
In the meat share: beef, whole and half broiler chickens all in the freezer. Next week: fresh broiler chickens.
Related articles
- Full and By Farm: Tempting Root Vegetables (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Full and By Farm: Taking Back the Fields (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Full and By Farm: Cruising Along (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Full and By Farm: Good News and Bad News (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Full and By Farm: Summer Veggies (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Sara, love your pictures and stories! Would like to link/use some of them in our grange newsletter blog. We’re located in N California but much of the information translates. We have several families who have chosen to farm with draft horses, as well.
Amy