Gong Garden

The most difficult part of the CSA for us is telling you the shareholders when some sowed seeds failed to germinate or we had a crop failure due to insects, rodents, deer or weather.
The labor we don't mind. The anxiety we thrive on. The preparation we enjoy.
We never claim to be master gardeners. We do claiim to have a little experience and to try our best.

Out of the three gardens we grow your veggies on, one has taken a big hit from moisture stress. The six inches and more of rain we received in the first two weeks of August have stressed out the garden north of the grapes on Webster Rd. The lower two gardens are on a sl;ight slope which was enough to let water flow and the plants stayed healthy, well somewhat, some of them.

On the top garden the zucchini, yellow squash, watermelons, melons, cucumbers and winter squash, all took on way too much water and never made a come back in the last week of sunny warm weather. The leaves and vines turned yellow and stopped transfering nutrients to the plants.

When the leaves turned yellow the beetles began gnawing on the veggies.

Most disappointing to us is that the tomatoes also took a big hit on the upper garden. The fruits did not form well and some have bottom wet rot. Some plants blew over in the hail storm. We will have tomatoes but not the quantity or uniformity we hoped for.

In the lower gardens we see that the broccoli also did not appreciate the very wet conditions. They formed small heads that didn't last long. The onions we harvested and stored and the garlic harvested and curing on the distribution stand. We'll start distributing garlic soon, a couple of bulbs a week per share, until we come to the number of bulbs we need to plant for next seasons garlic.

Any questions? Please ask. And THANK YOU ALL for your support this season .... there will be a lot more veggies coming!!!