This was the first harvest that came close to what I had planned in terms of volume and varied content for the CSA. In the second basket were lettuce, snow peas, spicy greens, radishes, rapini, and arugula. The herbal bouquet contained garlic chives, sage flowers, yarrow flowers, and flowering thyme: it smelled fantastic!

I’ve found it to be a particularly challenging spring cold loving crops. The temperature seemed to be quite variable (which is pretty normal here) but the heavy downpours & hail that we had several times in May and June, followed by the extreme heat this week really seem to have done a number on the plants. Many seem to be bolting or getting quite strong before I can get them to a suitable size/stage for harvest. Better luck next year, (or in the fall) I guess.

Photos:

1. Overview of the harvest (two CSA shares, plus a day’s worth of lettuce for me)
2. Herbal bouquets
3. Rapini – went from a few leaves to bolting basically overnight. A bit of a disappointment… I will have to ask CSA members for feedback on flavour as I gave it all away.
4. Spicy Mix – definitely lives up to its name: I advised members to use the greens sparingly in salads or sandwiches, or to cook it in order to mellow the flavours a bit.
5. Close up of lettuces (Black Seeded Simpson on left, Gourmet Mix from HMS on right.)