Weekly Weeder

Olin-Fox Farms Volume No. 9 Issue No. 19 July 25, 2007

www.olinfoxfarms.com Summer Season Week 10

STANDARD REMINDER

Please be sure to wash your weekly share thoroughly before serving. To preserve freshness, it is NOT ‘table ready’ (i.e., pre-washed). We deliver your Olin-Fox Farms’ produce right from the fields to ensure highest quality.

Special Note: The 2007 Fall Program is filling up fast and we have limited space in Alexandria. If you are planning on signing up for the Fall Program do it as soon as possible so as we may release any available shares to the general public.

This Week's News From The Farms

Some well-needed rain was received last Thursday after tiring from all our attempts at getting the rain dance right. We decided during our trip to Northern Virginia to try the old adage of getting the van washed in hopes of sparking up an afternoon shower. Well it worked, a little bit too well and luckily we had stopped for lunch a little early or we would have found ourselves in the middle of a tornado as well travelled back to the Northern Neck by way of route 301 and La Plata, MD. A number of trees and large limbs made for some delays as well as a 10 mile obstacle course. Power was knocked out from Dahlgren to La Plata. Luckily, we gathered from the radio that there were no serious injuries associated with the storm, so we are so glad we chose the mid-grade wash on the van. Could you imagine if we had chosen the more expensive wash?

As we were making our way back to Olin-Fox Farms, making our regular stops at some of the other farms to pick up more of the summer's harvest and to exchange storm stories, everyone had pretty much the same story of a very fierce storm with high winds and lots of rain. But, thankfully no reall damage or injuries occurred and everyone was very thankful for the rain. In fact, we were really excited when we returned to Olin-Fox Farms and saw some standing puddles of water throughout the farm. So, the first think John did was check a couple of containers that accumulated about 1.5 inches of rain. This was really good news – a great sight! The ground had soaked up enough rain so that John could stick his finger an inch into the ground. And, in just one day, all the vegetation looked very happy and was growing again.

The rain was so widespread that Holly Hills Organic Farm in Waterview is slowly making a comeback for the last few weeks of the Summer Program with basil, several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, as well as some Japanese eggplant, all the while preparing for the upcoming Fall and 2008 Winter Programs.

Crop Report

While Canning Farm held their ground produce-wise for the first part of the Summer Program, the drought has really started taking a toll on a number of their crops. But, the Beefmaster Tomatoes, Sweet Olive Tomatoes, and Okra is holding on and hopefully the second planting of corn will also come through. This has been the pattern for some time now. While Holly Hills is attempting a seasonal comeback, we here at Olin-Fox Farms and Grateful House Farm are kinda in between these other two micro-climates. We also have lost some crops and have been able to save some crops. For instance, Olin-Fox Farms and Grateful House Farm have had a good, not great, but a good garlic harvest this year that will keep the CSA in garlic for some time, as well as providing us with enough seed garlic for next year and plenty for the Garlic Roast still TBA for later this fall.

It seems that most of the farms have done well with the harvesting of eggplant. Normally, eggplant starts just before our signature tomato, the Sungold, and both are running very late this year. Quantities are just starting to pick up on both. Normally, Sungold are the first tomatoes to come in and last to go out, producing one to a handful on July 4^th to one year, picking the last batch on December 24^th. Note: it was a mild winter and the tomatoes were under the protection of plastic cover on hoop frames. We had hoped to pick our last Sungold on Christmas morning,but got a really cold Christmas Eve that finished off the tomatoes. But, it was still a record for us for late tomatoes in our Zone 7.

The potato harvest may also be a little light this year, but is producing some very tasty baby potatoes. So, pray, dance, and get your cars washed because our part of the world really needs more rain!

In Your Produce Basket This Week

Eggplant; Sweet Peppers; German Stiffneck Garlic; Genovese Basil; Beefmaster or Holly Hills Brandywine Tomatoes; Small Tomato Mix including Sweet Olive Sweet 100s, Cherry and Red Grape

Please see your location's Produce List for more details.

For those with fruit shares: Blackberries

Please Note: With elements beyond our control such as the start or the end of a harvest, or extreme weather conditions that may limit the quantity of produce coming in, we systematically address each delivery and pick up group each week and do our very best to see that everyone receives some of everything.