It was wonderful to see so many members out in the strawberry patch the last two weekends. Red fingers from strawberry picking is one of the first joys of the season. The peak strawberry season is about to end and this has been our best strawberry crop ever. The elongated winter seemed to have delayed the start of the season, but once it began, it began in earnest. And we have all enjoyed the sweetness they have brought. There will still be some strawberries, but after this week they will peter down to a trickle. On the up side, the raspberries growing under the cover of our high tunnel are now ripening. This high tunnel is proving very fruitful as the same varieties of raspberries growing outside are more than two weeks away from maturity. Those who came to pick strawberries saw how nicely the blueberries are growing. The first varieties will be getting blue in two or three weeks. In the orchard, the apricots that have not provided fruit for the last two years because of cold weather are showing a small crop of growing fruit that will be ready soon.

While we have already enjoyed a few greenhouse grown cucumbers, the greenhouse tomatoes are now ripening nicely and a few might make it in the shares this week or next. While we might not notice it, these high tunnels and greenhouses are really adding a lot more variety to our shares. Normally the cucumbers are not ready in the fields until early July and the field tomatoes not until late July. This adds an extra four weeks to a typical eight week season. Adding an extra 30% more weeks to a harvest season is huge!

To tasty and long harvests!

Farmer Dave