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| | | Hutten Family Farm Newsletter for Sunday Mar 27, 2011 |
It is Sunday evening around seven and I just came in the house from outside.It is very cold with a strong wind blowing steady.We planted the first spring vegetables outside on thursday afternoon (march 24). This is the earliest that I have ever planted outside and the land was unusually dry. We had to stop planting because it was snowing quite steady. Planting in the snow is not typically what we try to do. I did get some things in before the snow including snap peas, shell peas, red,chioggia,and golden beets,shanghai pac choi, and a few other Asian greens. We will continue planting kale, swiss chard, carrots, spinach, onions. lettuces and radishes on Tuesday. All of these plantings will be (and already are) covered with floating row cover which assists with germination, increases heat, and helps protect them from the cold nights.Once it warms up enough for the insects to become active the row cover will also prevent damage to the crops from flea beetles and other miserable bugs.
Debra and the kids and I spent the day at my mothers house with my three brothers and their families. Mom celebrated her birthday this past week (70!).She is still very active on the farm with pruning apple trees, painting, cleaning up my various messes etc.
There will be a new green in the boxes this week. It is a Japanese green called komatasuna. These plants overwintered in an unheated coldframe and are now ready. They look and act very similar to a pac choi. We stir fry them with sesame oil and garlic (and sometimes with pan fried tofu or other vegetables). There will also be spinach and maybe green garlic and maybe micro mix.I have to look at the production before I promise them but I think that they are likely ready. You will also find an overwintered parsnip this week in the boxes. They are really big and fantastic tasting. We roasted one of them with sweet potatoes today. Definitely the highlight of the meal in my biased opinion.
I hope you have a great week. We will keep planting to ensure you will have more to eat than spinach and sweet potatoes.Stay warm.
Ted
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