Author: joshvolk

Looks like the weather is continuing on a helpful track this coming week and the plants will get some sun and warmth after a bit of soaking rain. Should make for a bit more growth before the days get too short and cold – if we can get out of the fog early enough in… Continue reading 3rd Fall CSA Share Predictions

I knew I was kind of playing with fire, so to speak, when I posted a photo of our repaired wash table on the Slow Hand Farm Instagram account and wished for continued luck in avoiding ongoing vandalism. We weren’t so lucky and it ended up in a literal fire on Saturday. It appears someone… Continue reading Fire in the Pack Shed

First, here’s what was in today’s share: chard, tomatoes, daikon, sweet peppers, cipollini onions, winter squash and parsley. The chard continues to be really beautiful. Tomatoes are on their way out but seemed to have a little bit of a revival today after this weekend’s sunny weather. There will be some for Thursday, but probably… Continue reading Fall CSA share – Week 2 of 9

I’m looking at the plan for next week’s harvest that I made back in January, based on what we’ve had in prior years, and it’s actually looking pretty close to what I’m expecting we’ll have in the shares next week. That’s both surprising, as this season feels very different than others, but also reassuring that… Continue reading 2nd Fall CSA Share Predictions

The first day of the fall shares today and it’s definitely not what I planned, but it should be a decent one in the kitchen: cooking celery, sweet peppers, romano beans, tomatoes, lettuce, shallots, winter squash and kohlrabi. There are a few variation on the share this week, and thus two photos. The first photo… Continue reading Fall CSA share – Week 1 of 9

Our first fall share this year actually comes before the fall equinox which is a little unusual, but just the way the calendar worked out. As I’ve noted here in previous posts, the extreme heat and dry of the summer kind of sped up all of the summer crops anyway and so they’ve really been… Continue reading 1st Fall CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share contains: basil, tomatoes, sweet peppers, cipollini onions, lettuce, chard and a delicata squash. It’s the final summer share and the weather is really emphasizing the change in season. The cool weather has really slowed the tomatoes down, and really everything is growing noticeably slower these days. I’m happy that we have one more… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 13 of 13

This coming week is the last week of our 2021 summer CSA season and the week after that will be the first week of our fall CSA season. It’s been an interesting summer, growing wise. The two big heat waves at the beginnings of July and August really speeding things up and burned them out,… Continue reading 13th and final Summer CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share contains: lettuce, sweet peppers, beets, romano beans, shallots, tomatoes, summer squash, and chard. I don’t usually put beets with greens and chard in the same share, they’re so similar, but they were both looking ready this week. The summer squash is just a last little patty pan and we have a few of… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 12 of 13

The weather has been feeling very fall like for the past week and the CSA share will be looking a little more fall like for the last two weeks of the summer share. Here’s my best guess but there will definitely be a lot of crops to check on when we get back in the… Continue reading 12th Summer CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share contains: lettuce, potatoes, summer squash, sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and yellow onions. The potatoes in the share are the all red Amarosas, and they’re the last potatoes we have this season. The peppers are just getting started and it looks like there’s good fruit set on the plants so I’m hoping we’ll have… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 11 of 13

Here’s my best guess for next week: more tomatoes, fewer summer squash and cucumbers, maybe a sweet pepper or two, possibly some onions and potatoes, and a head of lettuce too, I hope. Thursday all got a sweet pepper in their share this week and a few notes on our sweet peppers are in order… Continue reading 11th Summer CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share: chard, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, summer squash, onions, and lettuce. Chard and tomatoes are the two crops that really stand out for me today. I love putting together the chard bunches and getting to see all of the subtle variations in the colors. It’s from farm saved seed, so that makes it special, too.… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 10 of 13

Looking out at the fields I think we’re going to see the trend of the last few weeks continue: more tomatoes, fewer summer squash and cucumbers, possibly some carrots and onions, likely some chard, and a head of lettuce too, I hope. The tomatoes have been doing well, one of the few crops that seems… Continue reading 10th Summer CSA Share Predictions

A bit of a crazy day today, trying to catch up after last week’s heat wave through our schedule into a bit of disarray. Thanks to everyone at pick up this evening for waiting so patiently to collect your shares. Here’s what was in this week’s shares, and will likely also be in Thursday’s share:… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 9 of 13

Yesterday was a hot one! We did a bit of pre-harvest for next week, a bit of irrigation, some weed cultivation, and then got out of the fields early. I didn’t stop to look too closely at what’s in store for next week, and I didn’t take my usual photo from the SE corner of… Continue reading 9th Summer CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share has: a small head of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, chard, summer squash, cucumbers, mini red onions, and basil. I don’t typically go for baby vegetables, but for some reason this year, at least this week, that’s what we seem to be getting from the field. I suspect the field that the onions are in… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 8 of 13

A bit later on the post today than usual, perhaps subconsciously avoiding making any predictions. Here’s my guess: more tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, carrots, onions, basil and lettuce. There might be a bit of chard in there, not sure how much we’ll have though. There could be more beans but I think quantities on those… Continue reading 8th Summer CSA Share Predictions

Today’s share includes: green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, romano beans, summer squash, sweet onions and lettuce. This is the first time in many years that we’ve put more than one kind of bean in the share at a time. Beans are pretty labor intensive to pick so we try to pick just one variety at… Continue reading Summer CSA share – Week 7 of 13

The shares are getting denser and less bulky as we move away from the spring greens and into more dense fruits and roots. My best guess for next week is: more tomatoes, romano beans, summer squash, cucumbers, potatoes, parsley and a smaller head of red leaf lettuce. On the farm stand I’m hoping we’ll have… Continue reading 7th Summer CSA Share Predictions