Two Feet in the Dirt

• Every year on the farm is different in a variety of ways from the weather to the crops we decide to grow. This year, we’ve noticed some significant differences in pest and disease pressure. On the downside, we’ve experienced, for the first time, some pretty heavy disease pressure on our cucumber foliage. On the positive side, we’ve seen a huge uptick in beneficial insect populations and a corresponding decrease in insect pests.

Early in the season, our eggplant were covered in aphids. Within a week of planting, they were also covered in ladybugs, which eat aphids, and soon the aphid problem had disappeared! Another beneficial insect that has become one of our favorites is the assassin bug. These bugs are definitely a bit intimidating. They get huge and have long proboscis that they use to inject into and suck dry other insects (eww!) I even got stabbed by one of them while harvesting beans the other day and, let me tell you, it hurt! But I’m willing to completely overlook that given how incredibly effective they are at controlling pests on the farm. Over the years, we’ve seen them devouring cabbage loopers, Japanese beetles, cutworms, harlequin beetles, and Colorado Potato beetles. In particular this year, we’ve noticed a huge drop in the number of Colorado potato beetle larva on our eggplant. Last year, we would do a weekly check through of the plants and smash dozens of larva. This year, we’ll find a handful each time. We’ve seen the assassin bugs going after the adult potato beetles and we credit the assassin bugs with the corresponding decrease in the larval form. So thank you to our insect helpers!

This week’s harvest list is below. The store will be open from noon until midnight on Thursday!

Farmers Katie & Mike

• Harvest List:

• Lettuce salad mix
• Arugula
• Onions
• Rainbow Chard
• Carrots
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Zucchini/Summer squash
• Cucumbers
• Beans
• Basil
• Fresh Garlic
• Potatoes
• Eggplant
• Okra
• Tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Peppers