Red Wagon Farm

Hello CSA Members!

Planning different successions of crops can be a big challenge in farming. For CSA, we try to plan our successions so we can bring you a steady flow of crops for multiple weeks during the season. But sometimes the planting and harvest dates are delayed due to a variety of factors and we end up with a lot of a certain crop for a few weeks. Right now, we have a lot of cauliflower and romanesco broccoli coming out of the field! Check out our website for recipe inspiration for both of these wonderful veggies.

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 19:

Regular Share:
1 – Onions or Parsley or Other herbs or Hot peppers
2 – Roasted Chilies
3 – Sweet peppers
4 – Harvesters’ choice
5 – Romanesco
6 – Cauliflower
7 – Greens Choice

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb zone
Choose 2 in Harvesters’ Choice zone
Choose 2 in Greens zone

Hello CSA Members!

It’s hard to believe we only have five weeks left of the Summer/Fall CSA and then we transition right into Winter CSA. More information will be coming soon about signing up for it.

We will have big basil bunches again this week- perfect for making pesto and freezing for the winter. Cauliflower and potatoes will also be back this week. And beets are new!

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 18:

Regular Share:
1 – Big Basil bunches or Onions or Garlic
2 – Roasted Chilies or Hot peppers
3 – Sweet peppers
4 – Harvesters’ choice
5 – Potatoes
6 – Cauliflower or Cabbage
7 – Beets

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Garlic zone
Winter Squash
Kale

Fruit Share:
Pears and Apples

Hello CSA Members!

New this week: big pesto basil bunches, sorrel, and cauliflower. As we transition into fall, our summer crops will start to wind down and be replaced by heartier, storage crops. We will still have many choices at pick-up. See you out there!

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 17:

Regular Share:
1 – Big Basil bunches or Sorrel or Garlic
2 – Roasted Chilies or Hot peppers
3 – Sweet peppers
4 – Harvesters’ choice
5 – Onions or Leeks
6 – Cauliflower or Cabbage
7 – Lettuce or Kale or Collards or Chard

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Garlic zone
Choose 2 in Harvesters’ Choice zone
Choose 2 in Lettuce/Greens zone

Fruit Share:
Pears and Plums

Hello CSA Members!

It still feels like summer with this hot weather. We have a lot of variety again to bring you at pick-up. New this week, we have leeks! If you haven’t tried Mo’s melted leeks recipe on our website, you definitely should. They’re great as an addition to a meal or on their own.

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 16:

Regular Share:
1 – Parsley or Basil or Other herbs or Garlic
2 – Roasted Chilies or Hot peppers
3 – Sweet peppers
4 – Eggplant or Zucchini or Melons
5 – Onions or Leeks
6 – Tomatillos or Cucumbers
7 – Cabbage or Kale or Collards or Chard

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Garlic zone
Choose 2 in Eggplant/Zucchini/Melon zone
Choose 2 in Cabbage/Greens zone

Fruit Share:
Apples and Pears

Hello CSA Members!

More of our sweet peppers are coming out of the field- Jimmy Nardellos, Carmens, Shishitos, and bell peppers. And, of course, we’ll have roasted chilies again this week. Potatoes and garlic are back too. See you at pick-up!

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 15:

Regular Share:
1 – Parsley or Basil or Other herbs or Garlic
2 – Roasted Chilies or Hot peppers
3 – Sweet peppers
4 – Harvesters’ Choice
5 – Potatoes
6 – Carrots or Cucumbers
7 – Tomatoes

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Garlic zone
Choose 2 in Harvesters’ Choice zone
Kale

Fruit Share:
TBD

Hello CSA Members!

It was a hot week but we made it through the heat. This week we’ll have carrots, green beans, lettuce, and roasted chilies again.

The roasted chilies are a favorite here at the farm- throw them in potatoes, a casserole, or eat them with a tortilla and cheese for a quick meal. They’re easy to freeze too!

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 14:

Regular Share:
1 – Parsley or Basil or Other herbs or Hot Peppers
2 – Roasted Chilies
3 – Onions or Tomatillos
4 – Zucchini or Eggplant
5 – Cucumbers or Lettuce
6 – Tomatoes
7 – Carrots or Green Beans

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Hot pepper zone
Carrots and Green Beans
Leeks

Fruit Share:
Peaches and TBD

On July 11 in Lafayette we had the worst hail storm that I think Wyatt and I have seen in our 20+ years of farming in Boulder County. It can be difficult to tell how bad the damage is right after a hail storm. Some plants have strong root systems and will eventually grow through the hail damage, though with lower yields. With other crops you don’t see the full extent of the damage for several weeks. The hardest hit crops from this hail storm were our melons and our U-pick tomatoes (among other crops) and we will feel the effects of the hail storm for the rest of the season.

Diseased tomato plants

On July 12 the tomato plants looked damaged but they were fairly well established and we thought they would eventually recover. However, in the few weeks after the hail storm the plants were in a weakened state and therefore more susceptible to disease. Now over 75% of the tomato plants in our U-pick area are dead and it is a sad sight! There are still some tomatoes out there are we are holding U-pick events on Saturday mornings. But you really have to hunt for the tomatoes and it is not the bounty we had planned for! The good news is that the tomatoes we have for our CSA members are in caterpillar tunnels and were protected from the hail. That’s why we are still able to bring beautiful tomatoes to you every week! We are now leaning towards putting our whole U-pick area into tunnels next season. It just feels too risky to plant tomatoes outside.

Battered melon plants

Our melon plants were also badly damaged and we could see that right away. Before the storm the foliage was thick and lush. After the hail most of the leaves were stripped off and the plants were mostly stems. This was our first melon succession of the season and by far the largest. Usually we would be harvesting hundreds of melons from those plants right now. But this year we’re just getting a trickle off of the plants. We always plant a second and third melon succession but those are much smaller plantings. So the short (and sad) story is that there will be a small melon harvest this year.

Other crops were damaged but not as badly. The tender zucchinis that were on the plants during the storm all had hail marks. You might remember the beat up looking zucchini the following week! But the plants mostly recovered. The beet leaves were shredded and the beets aren’t forming the way they should. The pepper plants had each put out their first pepper or two. Those peppers were damaged and had to be removed from the plants. We had to wait a few weeks for the plants to recover and put out the next peppers which is why we don’t have any red ripe peppers yet—like Carmens.

Caterpillar tunnels

We’ve used row cover for years. For a long time we mostly used a lighter weight row cover and much of that was shredded in this hail storm. But it did provide some protection for the plants that were under the cover. In recent years Wyatt has started using a heavier and more durable row cover. That paid off and there were hardly any holes in the heavier cover!

It’s more expensive and requires more work to build caterpillar tunnels every year or to use what feels like acres of row cover. But when we’re facing challenges like hail or cucumber beetle infestations we really see the benefit. We will likely keep adding more tunnels to our farm in future years.

Just a few minutes of hail can greatly impact our whole growing season. It’s a constant source of stress that you just have to live with as a farmer. The good news is that we plant crops all throughout the growing season. We still have a lot of beautiful veggies in the field and will be able to feed you for the months to come!

Hello CSA Members!

Summer is in full swing. New this week- more sweet peppers, roasted chilies, lettuce, and garlic and onions again.

Normally at this time, we would have an abundance of melons, but some early summer hail damaged many of them. We will have some coming to you soon!

Here is what we hope to bring you during Week 13:

Regular Share:
1 – Parsley or Basil or Other herbs or Sorrel or Hot Peppers
2 – Sweet Peppers or Roasted Chilies
3 – Eggplant or Zucchini
4 – Garlic or Onion or Tomatillos
5 – Cucumbers
6 – Tomatoes
7 – Lettuce

Large Share Additions:
Choose 2 in Herb/Hot pepper zone
Choose 2 in Pepper zone
Choose 2 in Eggplant/Zucchini/Potato zone

Fruit Share:
Peaches and Plums