Prepping for Fall CSA

We’re working hard in the garden throughout September preparing everything for the fall CSA. Sometime in October, regular harvests begin, and we deliver our CSA boxes to your neighborhoods for you to work your culinary magic in your kitchen. We’re dreaming up stuffed peppers, kale and arugula salads with toasted pumpkin seeds, grilled okra, roasted acorn squash with cotija cheese– you can dream up all kinds of fantastic meals with what we’re gonna be sending you

Below is a look into our work since the Summer CSA ended.

If you haven’t joined the fall CSA yet, there is still time, and we need more members! Sign up below or spread the word to friends and neighbors to help us fill.

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Click here to Join our CSA

We spend much of August and September planting the fall garden.  Some crops do best sown directly into the garden: winter squash, late summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, beans, and loads and loads of root crops are all in or going in soon.

Some crops need to be grown under more controlled conditions while they get their start, so we baby them in our greenhouse for the first 5-6 weeks before transplanting them out in the garden. Here they have protection from weed pressure, birds, and gophers, we can better control their moisture levels and feed them easily with our organic fish fertilizer, and they’re shaded under our big shade cloth to help them get a cooler start during these hottest weeks of the year.

The crops we start under the greenhouse include head lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage, and even beets. All of them have germinated now and are looking really wonderful. Some will be ready to transplant in about 2 weeks and others need a little more time.

The “direct-seed” crops (meaning we directly seed them into the field, rather than trays in the greenhouse) are irrigated with our drip lines that emit about a drop of water per second near the base of the plant. This method conserves water and limits loss to evaporation, and you’re watering JUST the seeds you planted, and not the weeds nearby which you would do if you used flood irrigation or overhead sprinklers. Drip irrigation works great between rains, but it’s not an equal replacement. The hotter and drier September is, the slower the plants are to get their start. Cross your fingers for a few nice showers this month.
During the driest months of the year, we don’t have many insect problems. We instead battle gophers, moles, deer and crows. Deer chomp off the okra and bean plant tips, gophers and moles will pull down an entire young seedling into their hole, and crows poke holes in the drip lines springing dozens of mini geysers every time we turn on the water. It means we spend a lot of time repairing drip lines. We’ve now covered the irrigated rows in a heavy hay mulch which has lessened the crow’s interest. Our deer netting will go up soon to keep those susceptible crops protected, and gopher traps are set all over.

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Click here to Join our CSA

While not much diversity is harvested from the garden in the month of September, the crops we do have are as beautiful as ever. Okra flowers are the most striking plant in our late summer garden, and our 4 different heirloom okra varieties are a huge big at market. This crop produces all the way to frost, so you can expect some in your early fall shares.

Peppers also rock strong till frost, with increasing beautiful colors as they fully mature to deep red, vibrant orange, and golden yellow. We’ll still have classic green and funky purple bell peppers too.  Our cayenne, habanero, jalapeno and chipotle peppers keep our market table lovely throughout the lean month of September. They too produce till frost and should make a showing in your boxes a few times this fall.

If you can’t wait that long, come visit us at Rose city Farmers Market on Saturdays.  And if you haven’t gotten yourself signed up for the fall CSA, do so below!