- New Potatoes
- Broccoli
- Sugar Snap Peas - a motherlode of 'em!
- Fava Beans
- Zucchini
- Strawberries
- Head Lettuce
- Cucumbers
On Rotation:
- Artichokes
Oh holy heat wave! Glad that's over, SHEESH! I don't know how those inland farmers do it - dealing with heat like that, and temperatures ten to fifteen degrees more extreme, on an increasingly regular basis. Climate change is no fun as a farmer, I can promise you that. Heat waves force you to spend a lot of energy throwing extra water at crops; trying to outpace the sun as it vaults into the morning sky during harvest; trying to keep your own body cool and hydrated and conscious; doing your absolute best to keep produce from wilting while you pick it and pack it. We hit the high nineties/low hundreds over the weekend, temps that we've seen before on the farm, but it's always been one random day here or there - never a string of consecutive, unrelenting, oven-broilers. Certain summer crops soaked up the heat happily: the peppers, sweet corn, onions, winter squash, green beans and eggplant all bushed out and doubled in size in the span of a few days. But some of our "spring" crops that don't like extreme temps, like peas, tried to outrun us. We put in an extra harvest day to avoid losing them all, but even so our Monday haul broke every yield record in the history of growing Sugar Snaps at Valley Flora because the pods were so fat and filled out (still sweet, thank goodness). That explains why you're getting a huge pile of them in your share this week...:). We also lost a bunch of lettuce to bolting, the aphids moved in on the broccolini, and the strawberries are in a mild state of heat shock.
It's a huge relief to see our forecast returning to the lovely 70's for now, a temperature that both flora and fauna thrive in. That said, there's a part of us that is constantly braced nowadays, trying to stay mentally, emotionally and physically prepared for the next heat wave or climate catastrophe, because it's coming at us no matter how much we hope it won't. Climate change means that farmers and farmworkers have to dig that much deeper, work that much harder in uncomfortable - if not downright dangerous - conditions, and reckon with the financial reality of climate-related crop losses. Wish us - and the global food supply - best of luck, and consider the connection before you hop willy nilly on an airplane, eat lots of meat, or cast your ballot. Your choice to source your produce from us - a local, organic, solar-powered farm - and eat a plant-forward diet is a very important step in the right direction (30% of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to the food system, nearly 20% of that 30% is food mile emissions, and 36% of that 20% is from fruit and vegetable food miles). So it's significant when you get your fruit and veg nearby, and especially significant when your produce doesn't travel by air. While you might have been motivated to join our CSA for the flavor, freshness, or health benefits of peak-of-season produce, you're also engaging in a form of climate activism when you pick up your CSA tote, farmstand order, or buy Valley Flora produce at the Port Orford Co-Op, Coos Head Food Co-op, the Langlois Market, McKay's, Crooked Creek Farmstand, or any of the other wonderful outlets that support the farm. Thank you so much for being part of the solution! We hope it feels good and tastes great.
P.S. If you don't know what to do with fresh fava beans, this guy'll help get you started :) and here are a few recipes to consider.
