The rain is pouring down once again as I write this week’s newsletter. It’s hard to believe that this time last year there had been so little rain that I had to postpone the CSA pick-up by a week! Despite the challenges that this season’s too much rain brings, I’m still thankful that it isn’t a drought. All the same, a few nice warm and sunny days might help get some of these green tomatoes ripening, so fingers crossed.
I have heard that some parts of Ontario have already seen signs of the dreaded Late Blight in their tomatoes. Once it arrives it can wipe out the whole crop in less than two weeks. It is my understanding that this is the same type of fungus that caused the famous Irish Potato Famine. I haven’t seen any signs of it here yet, but am keeping a close watch.
This year I have the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants planted between rows of black woven landscape fabric. The cover keeps the weeds down, which has been a huge help this season, as well as providing a little extra heat for these heat loving plants. Hopefully it will also help keep the plants a little cleaner, as fungus’ such blight are usually spread by soil being splashed up on the plant leaves.
On a more happy note, the greenhouse tomatoes have started to ripen, the carrots, beets and onions are growing beautifully, along with the lettuce that has been overwhelming us! This week you will have the first of the fresh onions in your shares and likely the first of what will hopefully be a lovely crop of cucumbers. There will be more peas and summer squash coming along this week too.
This week’s Shares:
- Lettuce or Salad Mix
- Fresh Onions
- Snow or Snap Peas
- Carrots or Beets
- Cucumbers
- Summer Squash (a.k.a. zucchini)
- Mustard Greens
- Chard or Collards
- Herbs
— Jenny
