This is the diary of our CSA share this year. The cost of a full share is $545 for 22 weeks (this CSA offers a winter share) which will bring us to the last week in October, and works out to $24.75 per week. Western New York weather is such that June is the lightest CSA month. September and October will be more than abundant! Usually, I feel I don’t get my money’s worth the first few weeks (which will be predominantly lettuces), but the fall bags more than makeup for that.
Tomato blight has reached western New York. It was advised that if you have tomato blight in your garden, immediately remove the infected tomatoes and toss them. According to Cornell the tomato and potato blight is prevalent in Ohio, New York and Massachusetts. Here is the current disease map which lists the areas with blight. Looks like 20 states right now, with New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida having the most infected areas (or the best reporting).
This week we took:
● Carrots
● Celery
● Eggplant
● Fennel
● Garlic
● Okra
● Peppers, sweet and hot
● Potatoes
● Tomatoes
Also available that we didn’t take:
● Arugula
● Beets
● Cantaloupe
● Chard
● Kale
● Lettuce
● Salad Greens
● Squash
● Yellow and Green Beans
● Zucchini
Looks like another round of chili for us since we have all the ingredients between last week and this week, and maybe some ratatouille for Hubby.
Do you belong to a CSA? If so, what type? How much? Do you find it as worthwhile as I do?
● Past CSA Shares
● Find a CSA
● NYS Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Calendar
● US Agricultural Data
TB says
Finally you ‘e got a nice share! (from what I have seen your CSA gave you this year this might be the best one). Ann, why not just plant a small garden next year? It’s not difficult or time consuming and I think you will get a much better return. This year I bought most of my plants/seeds from Home Depot in May. 6 peppers and 6 eggplants.About 10 tomatoes. I put cucumber seeds directly into the ground. Onion and garlic I planted in the fall, but could be done in early spring too. Other than watering (when there was no rain) I did not have to do much. Maybe fertilize once or twice a month – I use organic Neptune’s harvest fish and kelp fertilizer. That’s it. Super easy.
Ann says
I agree, Tatiana, this was the best share so far this year.
We really don’t have the room to grow a garden. While our yard is large, it is landscaped (hard and green) exactly as we like it. We do plan on adding a blackberry bush next year. And, these are our herb garden plans. Hubby has hunting land, so I told him I am thinking of going up there with him and planting rhubarb. 😛
Ann
TB says
Somehow I missed that herb garden post. I don’t think anyone mentioned dill. I love dill. Maybe it is a European thing. I add it to salads and soups. Dill is so goon on pirogi and some sour cream. By the way I made a HUGE mistake this year, I saw some caterpillars on my parsley and dill and I did not know what they were. Well turned out they were Black Swallowtails which I did not know so I killed them and now that I know I feel so bad. So if you have these on your herbs make sure not to do anything to them as they will turn into large beautiful butterflies. You can see how they look throughout different stages of their life here: pbase.com
From what people have mentioned there: I grow sage and oregano (they became about one foot tall bushes on the second year both flower with very beautiful and bee attracting bloomed on the second year!). Parsley – I just have flat leave kind. Curly kind is not very flavorful IMO. Even though Parsley is a a bi annual plant, here is my experience: I had two plants last year and thought I was set for the second season. Well one plant went to flowering mode right away this year (making it not usable really) and the second one did not even make it through our mild winter). So I just bought one new parsley plant in one of those compostable pots from home depot and it grows well during the season. I also put some parsley seeds directly into the soil and those grew as well but not as big of a plant as the one form home depot. I also grow garlic chives, thyme, regular garlic, spring onions and basil. I don’t grow any oregano. I did try cilantro this year which I started from seed it grew at first, but then started to flower quickly, not sure what I did wrong.
TB says
meant to say I don’t grow any rosemary. By the way all the herbs I mentioned like full sun.
Ann says
Thanks for all the herb tips, Tatiana. They are very much appreciated.
Ann
TB says
Ann one thing to remember with gardening is you are just experimenting and if it goes well great if not well you will try something different next season.
KimH says
T.. Cilantro is a cool weather crop and it is happiest growing in the spring.. By summer it goes straight to seed so you probably didnt do anything wrong with it. You can still use the ferny leaves when they change shape when going to seed.. You can just toss some coriander seed in a pot or in a bed in the early spring and you’ll get loads of cilantro.
TB says
Thanks Kim! I was not too sad about my fiasco experiment with cilantro as we are hot huge fans.
KimH says
Oh, what a beautiful share you have this week!! Fabulous! Whatcha gonna do with that okra & eggplant?
I was in Western NY on Saturday so M’honey picked up my share for me.. He even took a picture of it for me before he put it all away.. Im kinda shocked he did it to be honest but I asked, and thats usually what it takes. 😉
This weeks bag was pretty full! We got a Seedless Watermelon, 5 slicing tomatoes, 3 leeks, 6 jalapenos, a big bag of yummy orange peppers (yes, I think that is the name of them), a bag of red fingerling potatoes, 2 slicing onions, carrots, leaf lettuce, 1 black & 1 green bell pepper, 1 nice cabbage, a good bunch of dandelion greens, 1 eggplant, a pint of grape tomatoes, and 1 zucchini.
I think I’ll be making Didi’s Eggplant Manicotti (Amazing) and Stuffed Cabbage Rolls this week..
I need to do a veggie bin clean out this week.. Im going to cook and then can beets & carrots. Not sure what else I’ll do with the bounty this week, but thats what Im planning.
Ann says
The okra was used in a gumbo… no idea what Hubby will do with the eggplant.
Sounds like you got a fantastic share, Kim! We did the veggie bin clean out last week, so that gave us room and time this week.
Ann