June 19th, 2019

It’s time to kick off our summer CSA program. Although summer, just like spring, seems to be reluctant in showing up, we are indeed just days away from the solstice. True to form, this season is about two weeks or so behind, weather wise, with cooler than normal temperatures. This has been great for the greens but has slowed the ripening of some of the more traditional summertime fare. Good thing we have greenhouses! Joy has been scouring the bottoms of our cherry tomato plants and was simply beside herself with the discovery of our first ripe yellow cherry tomato! In the past couple days, they have been trickling in, a few here and a few there, so an explosion of cherry toms is just around the corner. Speaking of things that are right around the corner, Joy and I will be hosting a little meet and greet on June 29th at one of the shelters in McKee Farms Park in Fitchburg. We realize our farm is a bit far away for most people to visit and perhaps a better option for meeting you wonderful CSA members would be to host an event closer to your neighborhood. So with the help of a few members, we set this up. Please check out page two of our newsletter for more details regarding this event. It will be a casual meet and greet. We love putting a face to your names, as well as help you get to know your farmers. Of course we realize summers are busy, so if you can’t make it to this event, we totally understand. For those of you who feel more adventurous, we will also be hosting an open farm event in October, so there will be another opportunity to visit with your farmers later in the year. In the meantime, our season careens forward at an almost breakneck pace. We are entering into Wisconsin’s peak growing season and will begin to transition away from the spring greens to more of the standard summer goodies like tomatoes, melons, broccoli and sweet corn. Following the seasons with my stomach is one of the main reasons I love this job. Just when I am getting tired of something, the season changes and with the change comes new flavors.

~Farmer Rufus