FoxDog 2009 CSA: Pictures
2009 was a good year for our CSA. We had more shareholders than ever before, and grew a wider variety of items that we had previously. The season started slowly, as rains and cold temperatures in early May set back some of the crops. That meant pushing the start date for 2009 back a week. By mid-June we were up to speed, with July being an very abundant month. Shareholders often got two bags of vegetabes a week in July.
The weather is always a concern for farmers, and Summer 2009 was no different. It was an unusual summer. We had no rain from more or less mid-May to mid-September. Temperatures were hotter than normal for most people during July and August. Here at FoxDog we had hotter than normal day temperatures, but colder than normal night temperatures. This led to poor performance by our corn and squash plantings. We made up for it with beans and brassicas, however!
Late July saw the scorching, from sunlight, of the lettuce crop. Mesclun stopped producing for a while, but we had cabbage a plenty. The lettuce soon recovered, although it was a bit sparse in mid-August while it recovered from the scorching. September brought some rain, finally, and coolness during the day. Our late summer crops flourished.
The 2009 Summer CSA ended the first week of October. We hope all our shareholders enjoyed the vegetables we produced as much as we enjoyed growing them!
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Field prep in March: ready for planting.
Garlic in March. It was planted the previous Autumn.
Plough furrow: April 2009.
Peas in mid May. They will be 4 feet tall in another three weeks.
Some of the lettuce we planted. We love the colors!
Baby cabbage plants starting to grow.
Herbs are often part of the shares. These are chives and oregano.
Cabbage harvest, washed and ready for the shares.
From our herb garden, lovage, a strong flavored relative of celery.
Lettuce, ready to be put into the shares.
Potatoes starting to emerge from their planting holes.
One week's harvest!
Assorted hot peppers, separated for stringing and drying.
One share's worth of mesclun, a salad, soup and braising vegetable mix.
Cherry Tomatoes, one of the last harvests of these.
Cauliflower. It tasted so good!
Shares, in their cooler, ready to go.
Tiny, pea-sized tomatoes are excellent in salads.
Part of the harvest of German butterball potatoes.
If you are interested in supporting local agriculture and receiving farm fresh, tasty, healthful and pesticide clean produce, please email us or contact us via phone at 360 297 7135 or mail at PO Box 1330 Kingston WA 98346.
