Greetings!

This week we've added Cherokee beans and acorn squash to the market bags. Don't forget to check out featured selections at the blog.

In this week's market bag:

• romaine, last lettuce for a while
• costata zucchini
• tuffy acorn squash
• chioggia beet
• hardneck garlic
• "Bright Lights" Swiss Chard
• citrus thyme
• thyme
• rosemary
• tarragon
• dill
• basil
• purly and garlic chives
• pint of gold nugget and sungold tomatoes
• 1/2 lb. royal burgandy beans
• 1/2 lb. cherokee pole beans

Business:

Double-breasted chicken: Broilers are available frozen, and they are delicious! The breast is full and the meat has a tender, mild flavor. We have just a few left, so get them while they last. Cost is $3.00/ lb, dressing out at about 4-5 lbs.

Duck: We have just a couple pasture-raised ducks available, as we opted to put the remainder back on pasture for another month or so to gain more weight. These are hand-processed birds, so if pin-feathers make you squeamish, stick to the broilers. (For complete feather removal, we recommend a paraffin wax strip.) Cost is $7.00/ lb dressed out between 2 and 3lbs currently.

All these birds have been pasture-raised with only natural feed free of hormones, antibiotics, and animal byproducts and finished out on organic grains from Nature's Best Organic Feeds.

News:

Cucumbers and yellow squash are maturing along with sweet corn, so look for these delicious goodies to be added to your bags over the next several weeks.

Unfortunately, our drought is not only affecting yields and plant growth, but also ripening stages. Tomatoes in particular slow down ripening and flower setting during extreme temperatures and low rainfall like we've been experiencing this year. June gave us low rainfall, but since the beginning of July, we've received only 1/8" of rain. Plants ideally need 1-2" of rain per week, leaving a considerable shortfall.

While the lack of rain is not dramatically affecting member shares at this point and surrounding area rains have been replenishing our well enough to keep us out of a declared drought zone, this does mean little to no extra shares, no u-pick opportunities, and little available surplus for canning or storage. Many, many farms in our area are struggling, and we're certainly no exception. We appreciate your continued support.

Happenings:

Our tomato harvest is beginning in earnest, and this week we added Sungolds to your harvest bag. Very similar to the gold nuggets, sungolds are even sweeter and a deeper orange color. Hopefully ready for next week's share bag will be the sweet olive tomatoes, a delicious, deep red-orange grape tomato that is good fresh, but absolutely amazing either roasted on the grill or dried. We have many large, glorious green tomatoes just waiting for time and cooler temps to ripen: green zebras, brandywine slicing tomatoes, and German strawberry tomatoes. Our two varieties of paste tomatoes, Amish paste and San Marzanos, are growing and ripening and will hopefully deliver a bumper crop in late August.

Keep your fingers crossed for a grape harvest in the next few weeks. In part because this is only the vines' second year and in part because they've been beset by Japanese beetles and threatened by black rot fungus, the yields won't be large. But we just may get to enjoy a bunch or two of organically grown grapes.

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