Greetings!

Well, since starting to mention the whole raindancing thing here in the newsletter again, we've gotten rain! Another 1/2" fell on us this weekend, so for good measure, I'll be mentioning raindancing in the newsletter for the rest of the season.

In this week's market bag:

• Mars slip skin grapes
• 1/2 muskmelon, either Old Time Tennessee or Hale's Best
• 1 1/2 lbs. "sungold" and "gold nugget" cherry tomatoes
• Brandywine heirloom slicing tomatoes
• Green Zebra specialty tomatoes
• German red strawberry tomato
• handful of mixed beans
• Costata zucchini
• yellow squash
• Waltham butternut squash
• Boston pickling cucumbers
• Chioggia beets
• 3 ears sweet corn
• bulb softneck garlic
• rosemary
• dill seed
• basil
• thyme
• citrus thyme
• tarragon
• green onion

Business:

This week we've experienced our first shortfall of eggs, as the heat has thrown our entire laying flock into an early molt. Molting is a natural cycle, which usually occurs in the fall, though it can be brought on early by heat and/or stress. During this period, hens lose their feathers and egg production slows dramatically. Although we were hoping our new pullets would be laying by the time our current flock began their molt, the heat has put a crimp in those best laid plans. While we understand that it's no replacement for eggs, we've included some extra produce to help make up for the shortfall.

While the rains have been a blessing, they've also meant some inevitable tomato cracking, despite our best efforts at maintaining a consistent supply of water. The dramatic increase of water means the plant takes up water more quickly than the skin can stretch, causing the skin to crack. These are still edible and quite tasty; they just have a shorter shelf life, so eat them sooner rather than later.

Don't forget: we need reservations for fall broilers now so we know how many to order. We'll be placing the order at the end of this month; availability may be limited if we don't hear from folks before the order. Also, Thanksgiving turkey sales will open to non-members on September 1st, so reserve your bird now.

Tip:

This week's share bag includes Boston pickling cucumbers, dill seed, and garlic—all the garden ingredients for great pickles. Slice off the ends of the cukes and quarter; mince a clove of garlic and place cukes, garlic, and dill seed into a 1 quart canning jar. Bring 2 cups white vinegar, 2 cups water and 2 tbsp of pickling salt (non-iodized salt) to a boil and pour over pickles, leaving about a half inch of head space. Seal and boil in a water bath for 15 minutes. Let set for 24 hours to vacuum seal; will need at least 2 weeks for flavors to develop. For a slightly less sour pickle, add a tsp of sugar to the boiling mixture.

News:

This week's share includes harvest from our second corn planting out of four total, and corn worm pressure is definitely increasing. The second planting was our sparsest, so this week's share is 3 ears though some members received an extra ear because of obvious worm sign in the lower part. We'll be using hand-applications of vegetable oil in subsequent plantings to try to reduce that pressure, and hopefully this wonderful rain we're receiving bodes well for the third and fourth plantings and an increased yield.

Members also received half a muskmelon in this week's share bag—either Old Time Tennessee or Hale's Best. The Hale's variety didn't fare well in this drought, so we have a very limited number of those. The Old Time Tennessee did much better, and we hope to have some to share for the next couple of weeks. We'll definitely be planting those again next year.

Happenings:

Our first and second plantings of beans are really suffering, and this may be the last week of beans for a while. Our third planting kind of stalled out because of low moisture, though the recent rains may turn that around.

One variety of green bean—"genuine cornfield"—has been very slow to set fruit, yet the plants themselves from the first and second planting are looking much better than the more delicate varieties. So, they may yet surprise us and fill in the gap as we're waiting for the third planting to mature. Wednesday's bean shares had the first sampling of this variety.

Our calendula, or pot marigold, crop is growing and will soon be flowering. An ancient medicinal plant, calendula is an edible flower as well as a valuable skin soother used to treat minor wounds, eczema, diaper and other rashes, burns and a variety of discomforts. Look for a few flower heads in an upcoming share along with a recipe for making your own calendula ointment. We hope to be able to offer a bar of goat's milk calendula soap in our fall share bags.

Pitch In!

We're still collecting sheer curtains for row covers, so if you have any to donate, they're much appreciated

Don't forget, we recycle used pulp egg cartons, so please return them rather than throwing them away. While Maryland law doesn't allow us to reuse egg cartons for our eggs, we can use them for making homemade paper. Thanks to all who've brought theirs in!

Happy Eating!

Danielle at Touch the Earth Farm