CSA Newsletter 7/9/2012

July 9, 2012

Hey there everybody, Happy belated 4th. I hope you all had as great a week as we had here at Cerridwen. Last Tuesday marked the end of the first half of the Summer Farm Intensive, and the beginning of a week long vacation for students. As you know the students have been writing articles for the newsletter, and as a result of their vacation our little publication is going to be pretty bare bones this week. But don’t you worry, while the size of the newsletter may have diminished, the amount of crops we are harvesting has downright exploded. The shares this week should be our biggest of the season by far, and will include such wonderful treats as; peppers (hot & not), carrots, beets, and whole bunch of tomatoes (cherry & big beef). We do have a an article or two contributed by myself and our farmhands as well as some pictures of what we’ve been doing this week. The newsletter will be back to functioning at full capacity next week, we’ll see you then.

Plant Update: Cantaloupe

Alex Bennett

This season we are trying our hand at growing cantaloupes in one of our hoop-houses. Thus far it has been a rousing success. Despite initial issues with lack of pollination, a situation quickly remedied by my fellow farmhand, and resident melon expert Tomer Kilchevsky. Tomer believed that our lack of pollinators was a simple case of accessibility. The hoop-house we have delegated for the melon patch is the only one on our farm on which the plastic sides cannot be rolled up, or I should say it was the only one. Thanks to some ingenuity and a few lengths of PVC piping we now have a retractable siding on our hoop-house, and I am happy to say that it appears as thought the melons are flourishing. I have had the pleasure of trying one of our first cantaloupes and I must say that I am incredibly excited for their upcoming harvest.

Our melon patch, prior to our little construction project

Chicory: A Plant to be Recognized.

Courtney Perry

You may have noted a delightful sprinkle of periwinkle petals in your salad mix last week. Some CSA members received bright, spicy nasturtium blossoms, but others experienced chicory—a perennial plant that lines the edge of Cerridwen farm’s fence down to pasture, dotting the grass and other weeds with a vibrant bloom.

The flower opens in the morning and closes with the sun’s intensity later in the afternoon, just about the same time each day. The delicate circular ray of the blossom is open for one day.

Many parts of the plant are edible, including petals, leaves, and the long taproot, which can be used as a coffee substitute. The leaves are best before flowering, as they become bitter later on.

Some may refer to the plant as a ‘weed’, but on Cerridwen Farm, they play a number of positive roles. Not only are they beautiful, but also provide habitat for beneficial insects, and pleasant surprise in your salad mix. I hope you take the time to enjoy this beauty on your next visit to the farm.