THE BEET: VOLUME 20; WEEK 10

FULL SHARE & YELLOW HALF SHARE PICKUP TONIGHT


218 Gates Avenue between Classon and Franklin
(IMPACCT Brooklyn at the Gibbs Mansion)
5:00 to 7:30 pm

Core meeting next week at 6:15 - if you're curious about how the CSA works, or would like to become more involved, you are welcome to sit in!

This week's share

  • Sweet corn

  • Sweet peppers

  • Fennel

  • Tomatoes

  • Collards

  • Yellow onions

  • Dinosaur kale

  • Squashes or cucumbers or cabbage

  • Fruit: Yonder Farm peaches

Mushrooms this week, plus eggs and bread as usual!

The News from Windflower Farm

Distribution #10 - Week of August 9, 2021


Hello from Windflower Farm where the weather has been beautiful all week!

Sweet corn, collards and sweet peppers are this week’s new crops. Collards, with their ribs shaved thin and steamed for a few minutes, or long enough to make them soft and pliable, make excellent low calorie wraps for just about anything. Next week, you’ll get more corn (I hope!) and peppers and the first of our garlic and red cabbage.

What’s new on the farm?

Organic sweet corn is not especially common in the markets largely because it’s a challenge to grow. Birds, insects, weeds, drought, demanding nutrient requirements – these all play a role. With the early crop, my greatest concern had been European corn borers. And with the later crop, I had been most concerned about corn earworms and fall armyworms. These are all caterpillars, and in corn country they are present in large numbers. But I am now most concerned about the little bandit faced mob that has swarmed our corn. Raccoons are not interested in any of the other vegetables we grow, but we are learning that they love sweet corn. They destroyed half of our first planting this week, and I’m now looking for ways to prevent them from doing the same to our second planting. Nearly the entire farm perimeter is fenced, doing absolutely nothing to prevent them from coming and going at will. They are excellent climbers. An electrified interior fence is an option, as is trapping and removal. In the meantime, we are short of corn. Small quantities of corn can still be useful in the kitchen. Victoria tells me that she’ll carve kernels off the cob directly over the top of a garden salad. We’ll do the same over tacos or bowls of beans and rice. Enjoy this corn starter, this small down payment, and know we’ll (try very hard to) have more corn in the future.

Have a great week, Ted

Community Highlights


GrowNYC's mission is to improve New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations. You may be familiar with GrowNYC from their greenmarkets, compost program, or school gardens.

GrowNYC often holds workshops for the public on topics related to sustainability, growing, and food, including upcoming free workshops on seed saving and edible weeds. Click here for more information and to RSVP! We'll feature GrowNYC events on our social media occasionally, and you can follow then directly on Instagram @grownyc.

Recipes

Here's an extremely thorough tutorial for summer vegetarian dumplings, filled with squash, cucumber, or mushrooms, and a vegan recipe for Southern collard greens.

Visit our website for more recipes, information, and food storage tips!

Rachael Maingot