June 2011 Crop Mob (Red Tail Farm)- Recap & Photos!

In 2011, Ithaca celebrated the Solstice with thanks for rain and cool breezes. The overly wet spring had given way to a June drought as temperatures climbed into August-level highs before abating. Here in early July, the weather forecast suggests we may be looking forward to another hot, dry spell. Summer, with its gifts and curses, is here! And so are the veggies (we give great thanks to the farmers for tending them when the rain wouldn't come): lettuces, broccoli, collards, kale, chard, mustard greens, garlic scapes, and our first taste of cucumbers, basil, and zucchini. Rhubarb and strawberries have come and gone, to be substituted (but never replaced, of course) with cherries and raspberries, serviceberries and mulberries. I'll be especially looking forward to the blueberry crop coming shortly after, after all the hours the crop mob has spent this year in near-worship, kneeling in front of those acid-loving bushes.

A rare, almost-ripe blueberry...

June Crop Mob at Early Morning Farm- Recap & Pictures!

"Take thy spade,
It is thy pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
they are thy colours."
-William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

"If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done." - Anonymous

The solstice may not have arrived yet, but it is definitely summer in Ithaca. Last Wednesday a small Crop Mob gathered (in 85+ degree heat!) at an Early Morning owned land plot in Lansing to plant potatoes for the farm's CSA and farmers' market patrons. Aided by several Early Morning employees, our dozen or so volunteers set to work in the hot afternoon sun.