Wow – what a rough start to the growing season this year! The spring that would never end was very hard on us gardeners who wanted to plant but could not get into the garden without sinking to our knees in mud. But finally the weather broke and some plants did survive the earlier drowning rains well enough that we were finally able to harvest some items to share with our CSA members. The first delivery included items that one would expect for the first of the year: a European lettuce mix, romaine lettuce, green onions, and as a bonus some rhubarb stalks. Enjoy!

A few weeks later, we were able to replant the peas, onions, lettuces along with some other varieties of vegetables that were due to be planted for the first time this year. Then again, another long period of rain has kept us out of the garden. The mid-May plantings are doing ok but really need to sunsine to burst into their full potential. The growth rate has been rather slow this year. The radishes though are loving it. These little globes are coming along nicely. The onions are popping up fairly fast as well. Members can certainly count on seeing those two items in the first few boxes of the year. Peas on the other hand are the opposite. Not a single plant grew from the first planting. For the second planting only about half of the plants have broken the surface. We are holding out hope that more will appear over the next week. Either way, a third planting will be made once the weather breaks.

Speaking of the weather breaking, the long term forecast shows several days of sunny weather coming up over the holiday weekend. That means we will be in for what we term a marathon planting session. We should be safe from frost here on out so all of the different varieties of seeds can be planted now without fear of being destroyed.

So enjoy your holiday weekend as we will enjoy ours getting our hands dirty once again in the garden!

This year we will be again offering all the garden staples like corn, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, potatos, zucchini, and peppers. We will also be growing watermelons, broccoli, and butternut squash to add variety. Be sure to check out the produce page on the website for a complete listing of vegetables we will be planting in 2011!

So be sure to sign up then enjoy your spring while we till, plant, and begin to harvest the first of June the fresh veggies that we will be bringing to your doorstep!

This week was the final week for deliveries of the 2010 growing season for the Garden Cart CSA.  It was a good first year for the CSA with lots of learning experiences.   One thing I learned is that one should not have surgery on an arm right in the middle of planting time, especially if there is a chance for infection.  The second thing learned is that when Father says he could never get corn to grow in a certain area, he knows what he is talking about. 

But on the good side, we were able to figure out how much needs to be planted to have plenty for each share, that it is peaceful to be outside early on a Saturday morning, and that Juliet Hybrids are a wonderful variety of tomatoes.  All of the knowledge learned will be put to good use in the upcoming years as the Garden Cart CSA expands so that many others are able to enjoy ultra-fresh veggies delivered to their door on a weekly basis.

We were blessed with good weather this year too - lots of sun, plenty of rain, and no bad weather on Saturday mornings when producing was being picked other than the very first week.  And may the blessings continue to fall upon all of the members through the upcoming holiday season!

Until next year…  Trudy Garvey, Garden Cart CSA

For a moment this morning as I was outside preparing the boxes I was actually looking forward to the end of the 2010 season only a week away.  My hands were growing numb from picking lettuce in temperatures below 35 degrees.   Then a flock of geese numbering over 100 flew overhead, honking and jockeying for position in their ever expanding ‘v’.  And as they flew over I found myself thinking how much I will miss these early Saturday mornings spent in the garden hearing birds calling out, the first rays of sunshine spreading warmth, the puppies happily dashing around. 

As I am not normally a morning person, this was one side benefit I never expected to enjoy when I started the CSA this year.  But as the weeks went by, it is one that I have come to enjoy more and more.  The next few weeks I will still be up Saturday mornings, pursuing a different passion – archery hunting.  And who knows, maybe the dogs will miss it as much as I and wake me early to take long walks the rest of the year.  But if not, I know that I will have this pleasure to look forward to once again next year when the 2011 growing season begins!

This week ole Jack Frost came nipping around the neighborhood for the first time this fall.  Unfortunately we missed the warning and ended up losing all of the beans.  The tops of the pepper plants didn’t take to fondly to the white stuff either.  But alas it is that time of year that the garden dies off.  We still had a nice box of produce for delivery.  It included lettuce, onions, spinach, peppers, watermelon, butternut squash , and pumkins.  Other plants did survive so there will be two more weeks of delivery!

It rained a lot the past week so the root crops were fairly muddy when pulled out of the ground.  We have been blessed this year with only one actual rainy morning in which the harvest needed made – and that was the first week!  A lot of the garden has died off now leaving only the late crops like winter squashes and lettuces left to grow.  We have been lucky not to have a frost yet this year but we all know one will be coming soon.  The end of the season is growing near.  Too soon we will be saying goodbye for the winter months.  Until then we will be enjoying such produce as carrots, lettuce, broccoli, onions, peppers, and acorn squash!

Now on to the delivery.  This week there was a first for the members – watermelons.  These little melons pack a big juicy punch and will be greatly enjoyed.  We also saw the return of spinach to the salad greens.  Staples such as lettuce, onions, and peppers were included.  The green bean plants continue to produce and still have blossoms so members can expect to see many more of them forthcoming.  We also had a huge batch of jalapeno peppers mature.  All in all it was another tasty week of produce from the garden!