Last week was filled with lots of carrot weeding. In the Spring, we start with two plantings of carrots in our greenhouse. These are the carrots you all have been enjoying thus far. We also plant 4 plantings outside. Each one is a little bit larger. 

Right before the carrot seeds pop up from the ground, we go over the beds with a flame weeder. This is a tractor attachment that burns all of the weeds so the carrots don’t have any competition while they’re germinating. This is a crucial part of the weed control process. It eliminates a large number of weeds at the beginning of the carrots life when they’re the most fragile. After the carrots have popped up from the ground, we can’t flame weed anymore otherwise we would kill all the carrots. This is where the crew comes in.

We crawl along each row of carrots removing all of the weeds by hand, and disrupting the soil around the plants so hopefully no more weeds germinate. With our first outdoor planting, this goes pretty quick. It’s a short field with less rows, and it’s usually not too hot out. The fourth planting however, is quite the beast. This is our Fall planting of carrots, and the one the crew is currently working on weeding. These are the carrots that will be stored for the winter. In order to have carrots to send through the end of Winter CSA in April, we have to plant A LOT. 

Each carrot must be lovingly weeded and cared for. This means the crew will crawl around weeding about 10 miles worth of carrots, and that’s just the Fall planting. They’ve been doing it in the rain, in the heat, and in the early morning when the coffee is still kicking in. These carrots, like most things around the farm, are truly a labor of love.

This week we will finish weeding carrots, trellis our pepper plants, and start transitioning the greenhouse from a potting space into a drying shed in preparation for garlic harvest soon.

In your box this week:

Swiss chard can be used just like other dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or even beet greens. When I want to change things up, I like to make this Swiss Chard- Tahini dip. It’s bright and fresh. Perfect as a spread on sandwiches, or as a dip for all those delicious summer veggies.

If you’ve been feeling like it’s too hot to cook, but you’re sick of the same salads over and over, check out this Curry Green Salad. It has minimal ingredients, but so much flavor. The recipe calls for romaine, but the lettuce in your box this week would also be perfect for this. Try adding chicken, shrimp, or grilled tofu to this to make it even more filling.