July 27th, 2022

What’s in your share?

• Carrots

• Cherry Tomatoes

• Tomatoes

• Zucchini

• Beans

• Thai Basil*

• Cucumbers, Eggplant, OR Shishito Peppers

*Thai Basil - is an aromatic herb that has a sweeter and spicier taste than Italian basil. The leaves are heartier and store much better, too. We love to use it as a garnish anywhere we would use Italian basil. Use a sprig to flavor some sparkling water with a lemon on a hot day or just keep the whole bunch in a jar as a bouquet for decoration. It’s also delicious in bruschetta or a caprese salad.

Perhaps y’all have noticed that we are slowly working through the rounds of getting everyone cucumbers. This season we had an absolutely gnarly infestation of cucumber beetles, whom, as their name implies, enjoy eating our cucumbers.

Ali is the tomato tender! She prunes the tomatoes every week. Here, she is using the “lower and lean” method to give the cherry tomatoes more vertical space because they have already reached the top of their trellis!

Our first - and arguably best - method of pest control starts with maintaining and encouraging a diverse ecosystem in our field and - particularly - the soil. Creating nutrient rich and stable habitats by way of crop rotation, minimal tillage, and organic methods allows for us to team up with others critters - ranging from robins overhead to the trillions of microscopic organisms beneath our feet - all of us (in a way) partnering to balance our ecosystem. But alas, imbalances do occur. These imbalances often reveal themselves in the form of one prolific species outcompeting the rest for space and food, sometimes resulting in the downfall of another species. In this case, the cucumber beetles are the result of an imbalance somewhere in the complex web of relationships that is our farm and the environment surrounding.

YUM, shishitos!

Unfortunately, once the cucumbers are planted and the beetles have appeared it is usually too late to start digging into the hundreds of potential variables that have led to this in-balance. Plus, it is entirely possible, that the real in-balance is the cucumbers themselves, and the beetles are the ecological response in correcting our mistake. But, we really like cucumbers, so we’re going to hope that isn’t the (only) case.

The second method we use to protect our cucumber habiat is row cover. We use row cover on a host of plants (parasitic pun!) - from brassicas (think kale) to chenopods (think spinach and beets) - to protect them from pests. Row cover also acts to trap in heat, and when applied to the above plants correlates well with the cool spring and fall temperatures when these plants are planted. However, when applied to our cucumbers during the last month’s heatwave, the heat trapping properties of the row cover did not correlate all so well. The result of row cover on the cucumbers ended up being a whole bunch of crispy piles of cuke dust.

The third and final (after-the-fact) method, we have left in our arsenal is - regrettably - direct engagement and removal of the pests through violent means. This is usually done manually, going plant-by-plant, picking the little buggers off and then feeding them to the chickens. Another way is to poison them with an overdose of a chrysanthemum-based organic pesticide. Not having the time for direct combat and not knowing enough about the range of consequences potentially wrapped up in leaning on a new pesticide and their effect on that healthy ecosystem concept mentioned above, we opted out of this third method.

Our roommates, Clay and Taryn, help out on the farm every week. It takes a village, folks.

So, that is the long way of saying, about two-thirds of the cucumber crop have been compromised to a permanent end. And, by and the grace and patience of our wonderful CSA membership, that’s okay! Thanks for bearing with us. If you haven’t gotten cucumbers, you will (hopefully) get them soon. If you have gotten cucumbers, you now know why they are the way that they are. And, if you are getting them for the first time this week, we hope you appreciate them all the more now having read this newsletter. Thanks y’all. Enjoy!

No caption necessary.