Sliding into the Fall Harvest: Delivery #11

Hello Moon Bears,

This is your second to last official delivery. A bonus delivery will occur, however, on September 17th.

On You Full Share Menu This Week

• Concord Grapes
• Honey Crisp Apples
• Super Sweet Corn
• A Dozen Varieties of Tomatoes
• Small Detroit Beets
• Wax Beans
• Viking Potatoes
• Last of the Summer Salad
• Purple Hawaiian Sweet Bell Peppers 
• Rainbow Carrots
• Garlic

Did you notice a theme here in the flavors: Sweet and Savory.

Blessing to you this last week of August.
Thank you for believing in this small farm.

Rick



(c) Copyright Rick Sievers, Moon Bear Produce, August 2015

Sweetness in Summer: Delivery 10

 Hello Moon Bears,

The tomatoes are really coming on strong. We harvested 110 pounds from the 35 mature plants this morning. Also the corn and concord grapes will be ready and SWEET next week.

Here's Your Menu For a Full Share

• Delicata and Carnival Squash
• Sea and Siberian Kale
• Ten Varieties of Tomatoes
• Green and Wax Beans
• Nantes Half Long Super Sweet Carrots
• Venersborg Garlic
• Savoy Cabbage (Frilly and sweet)
• Fresh Red and Sweet Basil
• Rose Finn, Pontiac and Yukon Gold Potatoes

Thanks,
See you Soon,
Rick


(c) Copyright Moon Bear Produce, Rick Sievers, August 2015

Rainbow of Roots: Delivery #9

Many Carrots Are Not Naturally Orange

 Hello Moon Bears,

Only 2 1/2 weeks left of August. Looks like the tomatoes have finally arrived. And we're seeing the final root crops coming in this week and next.

We had a funny frustrating occurrence this week. We've been discovering the pepper plants in the greenhouse eaten down to the ground. I thought of two possible culprits:  rabbits. But we'd installed a 500 foot rabbit proof fence around the perimeter of the north garden and greenhouse this year. Should be no rabbits, right? Well, I just saw a rabbit scampering around in the kale bed outside the window. The funny thing about armoring up is that it not only keeps the warm fuzzy creatures out. It keeps them in. Looks like I trapped a lonesome bunny in paradise this year. Now, if we could only trap him and drop him off at the neighbor's farm... only kidding.

Here's the Menu for a Full Share this Week:

• Green, Purple and Yellow Beans
• Barbecue Perfect Onions
• Tomatoes of Many Stripes and Colours
• Small Pumpkins... hey they're ready. Why Not?
• Spaghetti Squash
• Fresh Basil
• Lemon, Armenian and Tender Green Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Maybe some Concord Grapes... We'll see
• Golden and Cylindra Red Beets (The last)
• Purple, yellow and White Carrots 
• Beira Kale
• Yukon Gold Potatoes

Coming Your Way

Thanks for Eating Local and Fresh.
See You in the Garden

Rick


(c) Copyright Moon Bear Produce, Rick Sievers, August 2015

Slowing Down in a Catawampus Season: Delivery 8

Almost Ripe

Baby Bears

This is a season of topsy-turvy surprises. Like how did the pumpkins get ripe before the tomatoes? Or the salad has grown strong almost all summer despite the big heat. What about the clouds of grasshoppers, when we've never even seen a hopper before this year?  There's no doubt about it weather and gardening know how is changing quickly. With this in mind I've been taking the following prescription for my befuddlement:

Just be still. Put down the tools. Stop the worrying about voles and moles. Find a shady patch of garden and simply sit there.

Bees LOVE the Corn Tassels

Sound simple? Well, it's the most difficult behavior in the world for this would be farmer. But I tried it again yesterday. I sat  down in the cool rustle of the corn rows. Silky fronds moved lightly across my neck. And then I heard it; not silence per se', but the bees. A thousand bees swarming and dancing and slinking their way through the tassels of pollen. There was a buzzing symphony of sweet contentment. There are no GMOs or sprays in this garden, so I knew the bees were safe. Then, listening to them I knew I was safe too.

Try the prescription sometime and simply stop, set everything down (and I mean literally empty your hands) and then just  be there the best you can. You may find some otherworldly visitors coming in the form of buzzing bees or the caressing hands of the rustling corn.

On Your Full Share Menu this Week.

• Alas, the tomatoes are still on the green side
• Ruby Queen Beet Greens
• Cylindra Beets
• Nantes Carrots
• Purple and Yellow Beans for 1/3 of the folks. More again next week.
• Venersborg Garlic
• Summer Salad Mix
• Mega Load of Lemon Cucumbers
• Armenian Striped Cucumbers
• Red Pontiac Potatoes
• Siberian and Russian Kale

The Pumpkins go into the root cellar until September.
Looks like just about everything else will come ripe next week including Squash, Tomatoes.

Thanks,
See You In The Garden,
Rick

(c) Copyright Moon Bear Produce, Rick Sievers, including words and all images except the bee, August 2015