More August farm pics

(Closeup of bee enjoying the sunflower)

More August farm pics

(Bolted cilantro)

(Growing top tier)

(Black eyed Susans)

(Sunflower with many stems)

(A bee enjoying the sunflower)

More August farm pics

(Growing eggplants)

(A different variety of sunflower) (Beets peeking above ground)

(2 emerging zucchinis)

( A different view of the day's harvest)

More August farm pics

(Some of the day's harvest)

(The tomato harvest)

(Growing basil)

(Growing row of basil)

(Bolted mustard greens)

More August farm pics

(Mostly greens growing at the side of the building)

(Growing tomato)

(Tara holding two strawberries)

(Growing collard greens)

(Sunflower with many stems)

More August farm pics

(Growing tomatoes)

(Tara hiding in the blue corn patch)

(A kale leaf)

(A rhubarb chard leaf)

(Rhubarb chard and kale growing together)

August pics of the farms

(Joyce with 2 eggplants)

(Growing cucumbers)

(Growing blue corn patch)

(Black-eyed Susans)

(Bolted broccoli)

Whats happening at the Farms

(Spaghetti Squash)

(Many headed sunflower)

(Another many headed sunflower)

(Growing green pepper)

(Yellow Squash)

Since the last blog much has happened at the farms. We have harvested red lettuce, mesclun lettuce, collards, cucumbers, zucchini, white squash, arugula, basil, chamomile, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, peppers, tatsoi, kale, beets, mint, parsley, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, eggplant, mustard greens, garlic, swiss chard, rhubarb chard, hot peppers and radishes. We have planted hummingbird mix, agrostmma, quinoa, chicory and sweet pepper. We pulled up bolted collards, arugula and kale and began drying and saving the seeds. Tara has been drying seeds from tomatoes and peppers for later use. We have had to stake and re-stake tomatoes as they grow and get larger and heavier. Some of the leaves on our squash plants became dry or diseased so we had to cut them off. Our 6 foot sunflowers began to lean as they grew larger so we had to tie them against the fence. I went to the Garden at St. Vincent's Hospital to pick up a large amount of lavender from Chris since we decided to either use them to make soap or to sell them at the Farmer's Market. In preparation for the Farmer's Market we have been weighing our produce to keep track of how much we yield at each harvest. For example, on 7/30 we harvested:
3 lbs. 9 oz. of collards
8 oz. of rhubarb chard
4 lbs. 6 oz. of tomatoes
4 lbs. 1 oz. of cherry tomatoes
6 lbs. 12 oz. of cucumbers
3 lbs. 4 oz. of eggplant
1 lb. 4 oz. of spaghetti squash
5 lbs. 11 oz. of kale
15 oz. of white squash
2 oz. of hot peppers
1 lb. of yellow squash
One day, we harvested more than 20 lbs. of cucumbers from one location and on another day over 20 lbs. of tomatoes from another location. The numbers are amazing if you take into consideration that we are in two backyards of the largest metropolitan city in the world and not in a rural, country environment. Finally, in terms of culinary activities, Natalie made a grated beet salad and sauteed zucchini with spices while Roberto made a salad with tomatoes, basil, mozarella cheese and balsamic vinegar. They were very good.