Share Organics Fresh News

Grain CSA: Harvest Day & ThreshFest

Well the Share Organics red truck decided it did not want to go to Cobble Hill on Sunday.  It would rather go to the garage so…we did not make it.  However a few Share Organics customer did get to go and here is what they said.

“ it was a fun time out there!  i learned tonnes and am now wondering whose backyard i can take over and sow some grain this fall.  know anybody???  lucy (my 7 yr old) is outside winnowing her precious handful of red fife right now….. we want to be part of the CSA next year” Tracey Cook
“We had a great time, with Heather and Brock sharing so much of their knowledge, and then we got to work, cutting, carrying, loading trucks, stomping them down and tying them up and then off to the combine.  We were able to cut and combine the Red Fife, Hard winter wheats and the Rye as well.” Beatrice

Report from Heather and Brock at Island Grains

It ended up that each 875 square foot shareholder will receive 8.75 pounds of the Hard White Spring wheat (HWSW), 9.25 pounds of the Red Fife wheat and 19 pounds of rye, for a total of 37 pounds of grain, just slightly less than the 40 pounds we had estimated.

Josh Mellor and his combine and baler were a huge help, as were those helping feed the combine and baler. Josh called last night and mentioned he was blown away by how hard and well everyone was working, including those at the back end of the combine, where it was dusty and fast-paced.
Besides the combine, we harvested old school, using only scythes, sickles or scissors to cut it down, which was hard work, but didn’t take as long as we thought it might. A big thank you to David Slade for helping scythe despite risking re-injuring a recently dislocated shoulder.

IT IS SOMETIMES HARD TO GUARANTEE WHEN IT’S THIS FRESH!

Tom up in Cobble Hill had his fingers cross all weekend for lots of sunshine but it was not enough to ripen most of the melons in his fields.  When you are hoping to get produce this fresh sometimes the weather does not co-operate!
We will still have Tom’s honeydew melons but half the melons with bee honey Galia and are coming from our farmer friends on the mainland!

ISLAND CORN ONLY HALF BAKED
A Sunday call from Joe at Kingcott Farms with bad news about the local corn.  His large first crop did not get pollinated.  Joe thinks that the heavy rains in June knocked the pollen off the plants when they were only half way pollinated.  So the cobs came out with just the bottom kernels formed up nicely.  Half baked you might say!  Joe told us that each tassel is connected to a kernel and each tassel needs the pollen to form its own kernel – in layman’s terms!
The good news is that we have ordered the extra cobs from our friends on the mainland so corn is in the box.  More good news – Joe believes his second crop coming in about 3 weeks is looking good!  He also brought us some figs – enough for the LOCAL ONLY BOX.  THANKS TO Joe for sending fresh figs for free!  We have been hoping for years that the timing would work out.  They are ready and we have put them in the LOCAL ONLY BOX – they have been short on fruit for awhile. And the Orchard Box – because the numbers worked!  Let us know how you enjoyed them.