Week 9

This past week a dear friend and her family came to stay with us for a few days.  Maryanne and I spent our junior year of college living and studying in Rouen, France.  The study abroad program connected her family and mine so that I could catch a ride with them to airport to meet up with the rest of the study abroad group.  We were friends instantly, talking nonstop the entire two hours to JFK airport.  France was incredible and without that year in France, I don't know that I ever would have found my way to a life in agriculture.  I was fascinated by their food systems.  I loved the regional pride they took in certain foods that could only be found in one region of the country and was struck by the joy people took in eating.  It was the nightly cheese plate that stuck with me the most and I knew I wanted to learn more about making cheese.  It took me ten years to follow up on that dream. When I left Colorado for Maine to learn cheese making, I had no idea that it would be the the other most transformative year of my life.  I learned a lot about making cheese that year, but more importantly I discovered farming and I met Kelly.  Maryanne was living in Maine and I spent a lot of time at her house, sharing food, doing laundry and hanging out on my day off.  She has been a part of two of the most important years of my life, not just in terms of my interest in agriculture, but really just in general.  We hadn't seen each other in about six years, but it didn't feel that way.  It was so wonderful to spend time with her and her family and also to be reminded of why I fell in love with farming and how I got to this spot.  I also slacked a bit on doing farm work which was an incredible luxury for July and I feel ready for August!  A special shout out to Kelly who was so supportive and who along with our crew picked up my slack so that I could enjoy having my friend in town.

The heat has given us a boost and the first good harvest of slicing tomatoes happened on Friday.  I was also surprised to see how much the melons have grown in the past week.  Stuff happens so fast this time of year, it can be hard to keep up, but so far so good.  I was particularly pleased we got the parsnips and leeks weeded.  I don't know how many of you missed getting them in your boxes last year but I really missed having them to both sell and eat.

Carrots - We have a crew member out this week and we are going to save a bit of time by giving you carrots without the tops.  The only purpose the tops serve is that they look nice, which admittedly  I put a lot of value in, but these will taste just as good.
Beets 
Lettuce
Potatoes - We have moved our next planting of potatoes and these will be true new potatoes with very thin skins.  If you pick up at our house you can see the potatoes flowering in the back field behind our house.
Japanese Cucumber - Our favorite cucumber - has a thin skin and is more perishable than the type you had in your boxes a couple weeks ago.
Slicing Tomato
Kohlrabi
Cherry Tomato - Large Only