Subject: This week's CSA share 06/19/2007 08:01:39 AM PDT Hello all, CSA Share #5 will be delivered tomorrow, Wednesday. After this many weeks, it looks like I'm getting the kinks worked out of the logistics of that process. I thank everyone for the patience and understanding they've shown while I've been figuring it all out. I really do enjoy bike delivery and am glad it's been working for the most part. This week's share will feature peas again, which people really enjoyed last week, plus the last of the turnips, and a new batch of salad greens, these grown in the city. And we'll see what else is ready! NEWS: This was an exciting week. The bike cart busted, and busted bad, but has been fixed by a welder friend who works at the PCC Rock Creek campus. This guy is a friend of my roommate and had seen the cart a year or so ago. He's into creative bicycle transportation and took photos of it. He also looked at the hitch and was like, "That's where it's gonna break." And that's where it did, so he knew what to do. Just another example of how this project is "Community Supported"! It was Squash Planting week. I had gotten starts going in the greenhouse of one of the CSA subscribers and it was time for them to be moved from their little pots. With help from friends, 60 pumpkins were planted at Try/On Farm. Two subscribers were out that day to see it, and a third was helping. I'll be growing those out there with as little irrigation as possible, perhaps nearly none. We'll have an event out there when they're ready, perhaps combined with the Farm's annual pumpkin-carving day, for people to pick them up. Starts of four kinds of melons, three kinds of winter squash, and white pumpkins were planted at the new gardening space at SE 44th near Harrison. This garden is called "The Firepit" because of the large impressive example of such in the middle of the yard. This might be the location of the August CSA party, more details to follow. Also in the ground this week: Corn, Black Aztec Sweet. So dark purple it's almost black, and a great sweet corn flavor. Planted from seeds I saved myself. Sprouting: Beans! 11 varieties of snap, in different colors and shapes. Always one of my favorite things to grow, harvest and eat. I am looking forward to sharing these all with you. They are being grown on a plot that has no irrigation available so this will be a dry-gardened crop. I grew some beans like this last year, so know it can be done. Thriving: Peppers and eggplants, in the greenhouse. They all doubled in size in the first 10 days and their growth continues to be explosive. We have flowers and fruit already. And some aphids, but we'll get them to move along soon here. All in all, things are going quite well. Eleven plots is a lot to take care of, but it's working out. I am still feeling the effects of the North Plains acreage unexpectedly not working out for the season -- there is certainly less of some of what I had planned to plant/harvest -- but the recovery from that event has been impressive, in my mind. Anyway, I'm off to put some zukes in the ground. See y'all soon! xoxoxo, Your Farmer, Kollibri 503.686.5557