Friday was an incredible garlic harvest day!  Even though we are yet to complete the harvest, we brought in as many bulbs on Friday as we did all of last year.  We think we’ve pulled somewhere around 7,000 bulbs so far, and hope to complete the harvest next week.  Thank you to Janina, Nancy, John and Sam, Phyllis, Monica, Maria, Doug, Shlomit, Bev, Heather, Sarah, Brendon, Karen, Prairie, Susie, Emily and Ruth and Nellie, Claire and Tom, Lily, and of course our great regular crew: Gordon, Hannah, Burley and Katie.  With our new high-tech sorting equipment (that is, different size holes drilled in a piece of wood that you can use to measure the size of the garlic),  the garlic grading happened speedily and accurately.  There were garlic pullers (the hard physical work), sorters, twine cutters (a good job for our friend who arrived with a broken foot) and bunchers.  And then, of course, there is the person who hauls ten bunches of garlic at a time up to Bill, who hangs out of a door on the third floor of the barn to pull them in.  I got the chance to learn all over again that ten bunches of the huge garlic is far heavier than ten bunches of the small garlic!

We will probably complete the harvest on Wednesday or Friday next week, for those of you who would like to participate the second time around.  I’ll send out an email as soon as I know which day will have the right weather for the job.

As of this writing, the corn is almost ready!  We might start giving it at the end of this CSA week, or we might wait till next week.  The kids have already started testing the ears regularly, to “determine if they are ready.”  We know that they just can’t stand the wait.

There are a few Red House Farm blueberry boxes available, for those who still want to sign up for a box:    http://www.tinyurl.com/2014blueberries.

Our experiment in growing early tomatoes for the CSA was a wash (long story and we’re happy to tell it if you’re curious).  So here we are in August, waiting for our big greenhouses to ripen.  CJ picked the first of the cherry tomatoes this week, so more shouldn’t be too far behind.  We can’t wait to start getting them in your shares.

Have a wonderful week.  We hope it’s full of memorable meals.

Reba and the HCF crew

CSA Week 8 of 18:  Green Beans, Carrots, Cucumber, Basil, Zucchini and/or Zephyr Summer Squash, Kale, Garlic  

This week’s recipes:  Sesame-Glazed Green Beans, Summer Squash and Herbed Ricotta Pizza

Cheese Share Notes Week Eight

Bill pulling a load of garlic into the barn. Picture courtesy of Prairie Stuart-Wolff (www.cultiaveteddays.com)