Loon Organics Farm News

by Laura Frerichs, Tastemaker in Residence

True summer is here! I looked back on mid-July newsletters from the last few years and sure enough usually I’m writing about the intense heat and how fast the zucchini and the weeds are growing. Guess that is mid-July for you! A farmer we worked for before we started Loon said that he noticed that 3 weeks after the summer solstice is the peak heat of the summer. That was right on this year, plus peak mosquito season too! Our greenhouse clocked in at 115 degrees on Monday. I was seriously worried that our hoop house cucumbers and tomatoes may get slightly cooked at these high temperatures!? A taste test proved that they still taste fine. Us farmers and crew are feeling a little cooked too—or maybe more like lightly steamed with all the humidity. Luckily, we are all pretty acclimated to working in high summer temps by now so we know how to take good care. We are all looking forward to a break in the heat next week perhaps. As thunderstorms build up from the heat in early evening, we’ve been treated to spectacular cloud formations, dramatic indigo skies and three rainbows in the last week alone. Definite perks of the job.

Crop Update:
Tomatoes: It’s Tomato Time at Loon! The first tomatoes of the season always taste the best. We’ll send a bounty of tomatoes your way the next few weeks as they ripen early in our hoop house and are especially abundant right away. Canning and preserving shares will start to be ready soon too and continue throughout August likely. I’ll keep you updated when they are ready.

Broccoli: The first broccoli planting went through multiple frosts and about a gazillion inches of rain this Spring. It took its sweet time to mature (3 weeks late) and now we have 4 plantings of broccoli ripening up at once. It’s really tasty and there will be lots more to come.

Green beans: the first pick! This is a variety called Provider and they are an early bean variety that has really great flavor even when they are a large bean. We’ve been steaming these until really tender and topping salads with them. Check out the ginger miso dressing here 2 for a fun dipping sauce or salad topper with green beans. More beans next week. We also planted the last seeding of beans for the season this week. Ready in 60 days which puts us in mid-September. Let the weeks of beans begin!

Peppers: The green peppers are nearly ready, as are the sweet Italian peppers, and the hot jalapeno peppers. Look for these soon.

Carrots: After a delicious batch of hoop house carrots, our field carrots took a cue from the broccoli and are wildly late to the party this year. We plant 100,000 seeds of carrots each year, so mind you, there will be plenty more. Should be ready in another week or two.

The onion and garlic harvest will begin soon! Exciting things to look forward to!! Have a great week all. Thank you for eating our vegetables. –Laura, Adam + crew