Hamlet Organic Garden

July 27, 2009  Share 10
Whats Happening At the Farm
We’ve started to give out our first planting of sweet corn! The cool and rainy weather this spring made the plants and ears a bit smaller than we are used to, but they are the sweetest ears you’ll ever taste! The moment corn is picked from the plant, the sugars begin to turn to starch and the ears loose their sweetness. As part of a CSA, many of you may be tasting corn picked that day for the first time! Its truly memorable, and I recommend you eat the ears the day of the pickup if you can! Organic corn often will have worms, usually just at the tips of the ears-thats because there is no practical organic management of the corn earworm. Luckily, all you have to do is cut off the tops of the ears, and no one will know the difference! At pickups, please don’t husk the ears looking for that perfect, worm-free cob-it doesn’t exist, plus you are husking your fellow members’ ears, and leaving a mess at pickup! We will be giving out corn several more times this summer, so enjoy it!
In other crop news, this past week was a terrible one for the tomatoes. We’ve continued scouting for late blight, but are no longer removing infected plants, because it is too widespread. The heavy rains Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday morning are the perfect conditions for the blight to continue to spread and get worse. At this point, many plants look healthy, but have small areas of blight. We are hoping that the tomatoes will ripen and we’ll be able to harvest some before the plants get too weak. We’ll keep you updated, but it’s not likely we’ll be giving out 10 pound bags of tomatoes like we did last season.
Lastly, Mead Day is rescheduled to August 15. More details to come soon!

In Season Now
Lettuce
Cabbages
Sweet Corn
Green Beans-if you have too many, just trim, boil in water for 1 minute, dunk in ice water and freeze! You’ll be able to enjoy green beans all winter!
Carrots
Cucumbers
Zucchini and Summer Squash-to save this, shred in the food processor and freeze-great to add to soups, muffins, or to make zucchini appetizers.
Onions
Garlic

On The Way
Peppers
Eggplants
Tomatoes?

Pick Your Own
Pick your own items are available for you to harvest at any time, as long as it’s not raining. Look for the signs marking the beds!
Green Beans
Basil-only pick the tops, and don’t pick too much off one plant! Please go down the beds to find big, healthy, unpicked plants!
Parsley- flat or curly–don’t pick too much off one plant! Please go down the beds to find big, healthy, unpicked plants!
Oregano
Thyme
Chives
Mint
Flowers-our zinnias, sunflowers, and other summer flowers are finally starting to bloom! Limit 15 stems

July 20, 2009 Share 9
Whats Happening At the Farm
Garlic Fest was a huge success! A special thanks to Don D, Don M, and Greg and Ian for manning the grill, Eli for his amazing juggling act, the Windstrings, Matt and Justin, Reiny and Charles for setting the mood with great music, Tabbethia from Long Island Livestock, Jen for her great kids activities, Blue Point, Matt, Matt, and Nancy for the beer and wine, and our hardworking board for keeping the whole thing running smoothly. Thank you to everyone who came to enjoy the food, community, and entertainment at the farm. Check out some great pictures taking by member Lenny here:  We made almost $2000 which we hope to use to fence in the front field this fall. We won’t be increasing our membership, but the extra land will allow us to keep more fields fallow, and help break some pest cycles we are having trouble with, like potato beetles and squash bugs.
Many of you may have read the article about late blight in this weekend’s New York Times. You can read it here.  Late blight is the fungus that caused the Irish Potato Famine, and is one of the few plant diseases that can wipe out 100% of a crop. It usually affects potatoes and tomatoes. Our incredibly rainy May and June brought this fungus to the spotlight in the Northeast, including Suffolk county. Even conventional growers are unable to control this fungus well with pesticides, and often the only solution is removing all infected plants and starting an aggressive program of weekly spraying to protect plants that aren’t infected. We have found late blight in our tomatoes, as have most farmers in Suffolk County. We are scouting the plants almost daily looking for diseased plants so that we may remove them, and are awaiting the arrival of an organic approved fungicide so that we can protect the rest of the crop. Hot, sunny weather with low humidity will protect the plants, so we are hoping this weather will continue. We’ll keep you posted as the season progresses. Jill
In Season Now
Lettuce
Escarole-a great Italian green, try it in chicken soup, or with a warm bacon dressing!
Green Beans
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Onions
Garlic
Basil

On The Way
Broccoli
Cabbages

Pick Your Own
Pick your own items are available for you to harvest at any time, as long as it’s not raining. Look for the signs marking the beds!
Green Beans
Snap Peas-these are winding down, but there are a few still in there
Basil-only pick the tops, and don’t pick too much off one plant! Please go down the beds to find big, healthy, unpicked plants!
Parsley- flat or curly–don’t pick too much off one plant! Please go down the beds to find big, healthy, unpicked plants!
Chives
Mint
Flowers-our zinnias, sunflowers, and other summer flowers are finally starting to bloom! Limit 10 stems

July 13, 2009 Share 8
Garlic Fest is this Saturday July 18th at 11:30, tickets are $10 on sale at the pickups! Mark your calendars!

Whats Happening At the Farm
We have begun harvesting the garlic! This is a great way to help with your work hours-stop by the farm Monday, Wednesday or Friday to help, hours are 9am-5pm. Soon the tractor barn rafters will be creaking under the weight of 9000 garlic bulbs cleaned, bunched and hung to cure. Last year we lost a lot of garlic to a soil-borne fungus, and only were able to save enough seed garlic for half of our usual amount. So, we decided to add a little variety and bought in three new and different garlic varieties. Last fall they were planted along with our HOG saved garlic seed and have been growing since then into big, beautiful, and hopefully delicious bulbs of garlic.
Perhaps we should have a series of taste tests at the Garlic Festival to see how they stack up against one another?
This years Garlic Festival will also feature young Eli and his mind-blowing feats of juggling and balloon animaling, a prodigious jazz ensemble, and a rotating array of folk strumming and singing! For the kids there will be swimming, crafts and a little bit of a petting zoo! The classic favorites of grilled chicken, sausages, farm veggies, roasted garlic, and iced mint tea will all be there along with Matt and Matt’s homebrewed beer and a donation from the Blue Point brewery. Top it all off with a digestion enhancing game of volleyball and it’s a party! Lots to do so don’t leave early! Buy your tickets at the pick-up this week or at the door. All are welcome, you don’t have to be a member so bring your friends and neighbours. All tickets are worth one chance to win an entire free share for the 2010 season! Save the planet and carpool or bike!

In Season Now
Lettuce
Napa Cabbage
Beets
Potatoes
Cucumbers
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Scallions
Garlic

On The Way
Green Beans
Broccoli
Cabbages
Onions

Pick Your Own
Pick your own items are available for you to harvest at any time, as long as it’s not raining. Look for the signs marking the beds!
Snap Peas-we have lots! limit 2 quarts
Parsley- flat or curly!
Chives
Mint
Flowers-our zinnias, sunflowers, and other summer flowers are finally starting to bloom! Limit 10 stems

July 6, 2009 Share 7
Garlic Fest is Saturday July 18th at 11:30! Mark your calendars!
Whats Happening At the Farm
Well now that the clouds have parted, its shaping up to be a pretty nice summer! The weather has been warm and breezy, but the mosquitoes haven’t been to bad at the farm yet! Don’t forget to buy your tickets to Garlic Fest, Saturday July 18th 11:30-?? They’ll be on sale at the pickups for the next 2 weeks-not only will there be roast garlic, chicken, sausages., grilled veggies, homebrew, Blue Point, and live music, but your ticket enters you in a raffle to win a FREE 2010 share!
We have, all of us, made it to that time in the season when the balance between what we have grown on the farm and what we must buy at the supermarket begins shifting much more noticeably. The greens of spring and the perennial herbs are still faithfully producing, but are now accompanied by an ever-expanding host of fruits, roots, flowers and leaves.
Do you know what it means? It means it is time for us all to rise joyfully to the challenge of creating dishes and meals that are intentionally HOG-centric, to see what sorts of recipes we can come up with that contain ingredients that come mostly or only from the farm, to experiment with the relationships and interplay between two, three, even four seasonal, locally grown organic vegetables.
It is a challenge. And it is a challenge that one will find becomes easier and easier as this land, which is such an integral part of our community and our health, continues to offer us its bounty throughout the growing season. And as you take on the challenge, let it lend a bit of new perspective to the other ingredients you enjoy cooking with. Certainly, you won’t be finding coconut milk, lemons or wild salmon in your shares, but when you combine such foods with the fruits, vegetables and herbs from the HOG, take the time to compare and appreciate differences in the geography, culture and production of everything you are eating.

In Season Now
Shell Peas-you can’t eat the shell on these peas-just shell them and enjoy raw or cooked
Lettuce
Bok Choy
Carrots
Scallions
Cukes
Zucchini/Summer Squash
Garlic Scapes

On The Way
Potatoes
Garlic
Cabbage

Pick Your Own
Pick your own items are available for you to harvest at any time, as long as it’s not raining. Look for the signs marking the beds!
Snow and Snap Peas-limit 1 quart
Parsley
Chives
Mint
Flowers-our zinnias, sunflowers, and other summer flowers are finally starting to bloom! Limit 5 stems