August 11, 2017
Hello all!
This week we harvested 67 lbs. of apples for donation to local food banks along with our other foods. Thank you to Nina Schueren for helping with the apple harvest!
Out of the apples we harvested, about 20 lbs. were not the quality needed to donate to the food banks. However, we were able to take the bad apples to Another Choice Animal Sanctuary for the animals to enjoy. We went ahead and harvested the bad apples anyways because they can harbor bug eggs and diseases over the winter (especially if it doesn’t freeze long enough) and can become a menace to the new crop the next year. This is an organic practice that we sometimes forget. There is also speculation that plowing in the fall turns the soil up so the grubs are exposed to the elements in winter and will die off. I still like using chickens to pick out the grubs and keep a garden clean of pests.
The eggplant is starting to come in and we are having an abundance of lettuce and radishes for our salad bags that we donate. The north side of the culinary garden has been dug up and replanted with parsley, radishes and cilantro.
This week we met a milestone! We have harvested 4 tons of food to donate to local food banks since 2011!
Thanks to all who continue to help with our 2017 growing season!
Patti Keller, RD, LD, CDE