Market/ CSA Gardener

[peapod]

I was just reading the lastest on what the Old Farmers Almana is predicting for the region that I live in.

Once again we are expected to be very cold and dry for the winter months and a cooler drought summer too.

I just experienced the above weather patterns for the past 3 years. I've been able to keep the CSA customers happy and sell at the local Farmers Market too. I'm busy most summers with this kind of activity. My husband said to me today " would you concider not doing one or the other?" Of course "why" came out of my mouth so quickly, and his reply was "our well".

I got it- and then decided to grow for the CSA (only) this next season. Little does he know I am boosting my customers to 18 this year. I ought to be nuts by June.

Here is where I am going with this...
Since all of you are gardeners or developers and the like. The members of the CSA are ready to try even newer items. I live very rural and they think red tomatoes are/were the only kind of tomato... Until they met me.

I would love suggestions of any kind. I do include some herbs in the packages. The basic ones here... Basil, Italian Parsley and Lavender.

I grow sorrel for us... HMMM

I have several squash varieties too.
Tomatoes, Onions, Brassical of all sorts, beans, beets, carrots etc.

What if you would/ could add to the items?



I really appreciate any input...

Thanks

Peapod

[pugs]

Chives, garlic chives, some of the hardneck garlics, French Tarragon, shallots, oregano, bay leaves (it will grow in New Jeresy, I'm not sure if it will grow where you live), Opal Creek snap peas (yellow).

Just some ideas to start with.

Pugs

[peapod]

Thanks Pugs. I started chives a few years ago and I am hoping that there will be enough for 15 plus families. I have never grown bay leaves but sounds like a winner to me.
Opal Creek snap peas, I have not heard of them... OHHHH I just love this. Something new for me too!

I will try to grow just about anything.

[mnjrutherford]

I need bay myself! Oregano is stubborn stuff Peapod. But I'm with Pugs on the herbs. We need more herbs in our diets for health purposes and that average American is herb impoverished. If you can come up with Vietnamese "sawleaf herb", that would be awesome and I would love some of those seed as well. Also, do you put out recipes with your boxes?

[peapod]

mnjr,

Bay sounded wounderful to me too. I know oregano is just about impossible to grow but here is what I did this year and it worked. I stressed it beyond what I thought would have made anything grow. I put rocks, yes rocks and stones in a container. A large container and sometimes watered it. I put it in a windy not protected place. I live on prairie land and we have lots of wind... and more wind and yet more. Ok. I was able to harvest oregano this year for the first time. I find that its just about impossible to grow parsley. Arg. You are right in the impoverished theory of fresh herbs. Let alone fresh food, I will see if I can find sawleaf herb and then I'll share half of what I find with you and we'll see who it grows for best and all that kind of fun stuff.

Yes I do put recipes in my newsletter with the CSA. At the Market I have copies of recipes if folks want to try something new or different. Like cilantro and beef with broccoli. Mnjr I hope you understand that I am an exception to the rule here. When I put purple cauliflower in the boxes this year... The first family that picked their box up asked me if it was edible. Being somewhat of a smarty pants... I said no, I grow food to make people sick and not healthy, of course I had a huge smile and was pleasant... Thats why I am working very hard to have folks see that there is so much more to our food chain than beef and mashed potatoes.

Oh I digress. Sorry.

Peapod.

[pugs]

Michelle,

Owen has Opal Creek Pea on his trade list. It should be the edible pod as I don't think there is any other. This was bred by Alan K. (I can't spell his last name!) at Peace Seeds.

I've never had a problem growing Oregano. In fact it seeds quite a lot. My neighbor has it coming up in her lawn now, hee, hee, hee. Remind me next spring and I'll dig up some plants to send you, unless you'd like some now. I can check and see what is out there. I don't remember the variety, just that it was a cooking one.

Pugs

[mnjrutherford]

OH MY GOSH! YOU MUST BE MY TWIN SISTER! I SO would have told someone that. Only, I might have tried to keep a straight face for at least a couple seconds. I guess we have more varied diets here because along with beef and mash we have BBQ and coleslaw OR fried chicken and mash.... ::sigh:: I made Vietnamese spring rolls with shrimp and peanut dip at a party and people were absolutely gaga about them! And I promise, I was a tad nervous about feeding them this dish because of the predominant herb combination, cilantro and Thai basil. I WISHED I had some nice mint... maybe I should have tried the chia leaves?!??! hmmm, sounds like I'll have to get some more shrimp!

[flowerpower]

Oct 24, 2009 20:49:28 GMT -5 peapod said:

Thanks Pugs. I started chives a few years ago and I am hoping that there will be enough for 15 plus families. I have never grown bay leaves but sounds like a winner to me.
Opal Creek snap peas, I have not heard of them... OHHHH I just love this. Something new for me too!

I will try to grow just about anything.

I grew the Monk's Madness Edible Pod from LI Seed Project. (Thanks, Jim ) The pods were green, yellow & purple. I ate them raw and the yellow tasted pretty good. It was sweeter than I anticipated.

You say you have chives. Why don't you start some scallions? They're perennial and if you let them seed out in the fall, you'll never run out.

www.liseed.org

[peapod]

Flowerpower, I have tried for at least 4 or 5 years to grow scallions. To no avail I have tried just about every theory too. Water, no water, start indoors, toss seed directly into ground, mulch, dont mulch, compost and several other ideas too. I just cannot get those little buggers to grow. Personally I think its the soil. My chives are in containers that are quite large and I move them into our barn in the winter so as to not freeze the roots. I can become quite cold here... minus 40 at times with a raw wind chill.

Not looking forward to those days.

[flowerpower]

Wow, that's really weird. I hardly have any die over the winter. I do nothing to them, not even mulch. I do let them grow in clumps and never thin out to get bigger scallions. I just dig up a section when I want some to use.

I'm not looking foward to the 30 below days either. But mostly I don't feel like shoveling tons of snow this winter. Sometimes we don't see the grass til June.

[mnjrutherford]

When you guys say "scallions" are you talking about the "green" onions like I get at the store? Onions still in a "stick" without a bulb? Or is this an allium variety I don't know about?

When I buy green onions at the store, I stick the left overs in a jar of water in the widow and let them grow and use them as needed. They last quite some time depending on how many I use...

I'm gonna try the rocky route for some of my herbs. Thanks for bringing that to my attention! I should have thought of that before actually. HOLY COW! The sun is up and I've gotta scram! You guys may not be hearing from me for awhile... BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!!!!

[ottawagardener]

I have the same experience: bunching onions of all sorts do well but then we have good snow cover most years. Could that be the difference? From what I know, A. fistulosum (green onions) is quite hardy and A. schoenoprasum (chives) is even hardier.

[peapod]

I have not one clue as to why (yes MNjr) the scallion (green onions) will not grow here (or at least for me), But chives will. The soil here is fairly acidic. I had always thought that was the reason; but guess not. Every spring( summer and late summer)- I toss some seed into the ground or a container and hope like all get out that I will one day have some green onions/ scallions.

We had a horrible wind this spring and tossed our green house into the grove ( no kidding) and not much was salvagable. But I had started scallions and they were doing well. Until....
OK so I bought a new green house, hardsided etc. Needs cement for a floor and all that happy horse dodo... We poured the cement now I am waiting very paitently for my husband, who is the carpenter in the family, to maybe put it up before the snow and weather is to much.

Probably not...

If I am lucky to have it erected then I'll start some scallions again.




Wish me luck

[littleminnie]

Hello, hello.
I have to add here. I sent out a taste questionnaire to my CSA subscribers (only have 3 right now) and one of them didn't like any herbs. Tolerated a couple, but liked none. People don't realize that herbs are what makes a meal standout and what takes your cooking to the next level. I agree there are some herbs a specific person may not like (me cilantro, hub parlsey and dill -he thinks), but there should be a difference between that and basically being too scared to try any. I hope this subscriber can broaden her horizons. I mean I won't even eat a grilled "cheese" without basil and tomato on it.

I have good luck with scallions generally, but not as well since I started farming a field. At my home garden I always could overwinter scallions without trying -zone 4 and a cold spot! I start them inside in early March or grow them from the bottoms I cut off when eating them. Right now I have 3 full trays of cut off bottoms that are regrowing. They are the organic ones from the store and I just don't use the bottom 2-3 inches but replant them. Then we have fresh scallions -more like chives- for dinners and eggs.

I also have really good luck with oregano here. I have a plant that will live through anything. When I started harvesting it's seeds in 08 it reseeded itself all over the garden. I started some of the seeds in 09 indoors and they all sprouted really well. It must be a cold-hardy strain. I can trade the seed if anyone wants to try it. I believe it is Mexican. Or a SASE would get you some if you want.

[littleminnie]

I can't find the quote option on this site!
Quote Peapod
"I just experienced the above weather patterns for the past 3 years. I've been able to keep the CSA customers happy and sell at the local Farmers Market too. I'm busy most summers with this kind of activity. My husband said to me today " would you concider not doing one or the other?" Of course "why" came out of my mouth so quickly, and his reply was "our well".

I got it- and then decided to grow for the CSA (only) this next season. Little does he know I am boosting my customers to 18 this year. I ought to be nuts by June. "

OMG that sounds like me. Hub isn't involved and would rather I not garden at all and I expand a lot without telling him.
There is a Bible scripture that is a good defense- a capable wife as described by Solomon:
(Proverbs 31:16) 16 She has considered a field and proceeded to obtain it; from the fruitage of her hands she has planted a vineyard.
When I rented my field I brought this verse up LOL! ;D