Tale of Woe

I have been a sloth for posting.

I have excuses, but those don't mean much. (Vacation, work etc etc)

This weekend I am looking at adding the fruiting bushes and vines to the yard, and we shall see how that goes. My plans are Raspberries, Blueberries and Grapes. While I would love to plant Goji berries, currents and strawberries, I don't think this year it will happen.

The apples are gone (yay), due to a late frost after budding we will have no apples on our apple tree. I am oddly overjoyed. I forgot to spray, and this will help with pest control for next year (no food for the buggers). Not only that, but harvesting would be time-consuming and I don't yet have a way to process them and store them after the harvest. I need to get stuff for canning/drying/cold-storing produce before we have a big harvest.

I lament my inadequate ability to grow tomatoes. Not sure why, but I can get cherry tomatoes to grow too my height from seed, but can't get normal sized ones growing from transplants or seed. And I love tomatoes, and it is one of the things I want to grow the most. Give me a few years and I might finally get the process down.

As for the CSA I have been having trouble as the resident 'chef' to figure out how to use all the veggies. The first part of the CSA season had a managable amount of veggies for just dinners. Now we need to use them for lunches as well, or not use them all in a week. Also my mother is out of town with my grandmother for a month, and my brother is gone for the summer for an internship. So 3 people to handle a medium share as quantities ramp up for the season. Doable, but requires a bunch of work.

I have found that I like Bok Choy, but not to fond of radishes. Perhaps I have not found the right way to use radishes. And I am not sure what to do with beets, given that I try to cook after work and have dinner ready fairly soon after. I have found some oven recipes that would take some time, so only good for a weekend really.

So this afternoon we will get

1. Bok choy - probably the last for the season
2. Radish
3. Lettuce - either Romaine, head or butter
4. Peas - shell peas, snow peas or sugar snap
5. Turnips
6. Kohlrabi
7. Beets
8. Carrots
9. Cabbage
10. Summer squash - assorted varieties
11. Kale
12. Broccoli
13. Onion
14. Spring greens
15. cucumber/spinach/something

Turnips, Beets and Summer squash are the items that may require more thought than the rest of the ingredients.

I hope to do better at posting.