This year reminds us that when conditions are ideal for bountiful vegetables, they are also ideal for bountiful weeds!  But weeding future crops is just as important as any current harvest.  Some days it feels like we’re doing triage in the fields, deciding which crops will get the sunlight and soil resources first.  As one apprentice said of the baby lettuce in a bed of mesclun she had spent the morning weeding, “it can breathe again!”

We’re very lucky because our neighbors the Storers and Doyle/Ewarts have lent us the use of their fields.  We aim to sow these new fields with ‘cover crops’ of vetch, buckwheat, rye, oats or peas.  These  cover crops (or ’green manure’) are not grown for harvest, but for their ability to add fertility when we incorporate them into the soil.  They will also

Laurie in a weeding spinach before-and-after shot: on the right, before. On the left, after.

help reduce the weed ’seed bank’ in the soil over time.  We hope that the use of these fields means that some day we may be one of those rare and amazing organic farms without a weed in sight.  Until then, we’ll keep on weeding, and when we miss a weed and see it flower, we’ll tell ourselves that we left it for the bees!

Coming soon in your shares:  basil, cucumbers, and more summer squash and zucchini.  And new potatoes aren’t too far off!

For those who pick up at the farm or have home or workplace delivery, keep switching out those reusable bags!  We think it’s working well, but let us know how it’s going for you.  And if you get a cheese or mushroom share, let us know how you like it so far (did everyone grill their Haloumi last week?  We thought it was just about the best thing ever…).

Have a great week,

Reba and the HCF crew

Week 4 veggies:  Mesclun Mix, Broccoli florets, Zucchini &/or Zephyr Summer Squash, Green Baby Cabbage, Redbor Kale, Garlic Scapes

This week’s recipes:  Sauteed Greens with Cannellini Beans, Toasted Sesame Slaw