At the Farm is located on Highway 5 in Carver County, Minnesota - 2.5 m. East of Waconia - 4.5 m. West of Victoria - 10 m. West of Chanhassen
Donna Frantz, Proprietor - 8880 East Highway 5, Waconia MN 55387 - imthefarmer@earthlink.net - 952-442-4816

At the Farm Newsletter

Sent August 13, 2008 Hello, Hi, Ho! Come to the Farm! The Organic Pickings are Great! Red Ripe Tomatoes - Roma, Heirloom, Cherry, Slicing and Canners Cucumbers - Salad, Pickling and Slicing Onions - Red, Yellow, White, Cipollini, Shallots, Scallions Zucchini, Summer Squash, Cabbage Sweet Peppers - Green, Purple, Cream, Lipstick, Carmen, Yellow Banana Hot Peppers - Jalepeno, Portugal, Serrano, Garden Salsa Carrots, Red Beets, Yellow Beets Potatoes - Red, Yukon Gold Herbs - Dill, Basil, Cilantro, Parsley ORDER NOW FOR CANNING: Beets, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Pickling Cucumbers Corn for freezing coming soon! TO FILL YOUR WILLOW BASKET Minnesota Grown Sweet Corn, Muskmelon, Watermelon, Baby Red Potatoes Illinois Peaches California Nectarines, Plums, Grapes-Black, Red, Green Washington Cherries Idaho Apricots Michigan Blue Berries Gilroy California Garlic NOW GATHERING GARDEN FLOWERS FOR BOUQUETS! ORDER AHEAD FOR YOUR SUMMER PARTIES! Enjoy the Summer Bounty! Donna

Harvest Hints for August - When and How to Harvest Jalapeno Peppers need to be scarred for heat. The smooth skinned ones are not ready to be picked yet. Green Sweet Peppers will turn red on the plant if left on. A pepper plant that claims to be a red sweet pepper does not ripen any faster than a green pepper. Any color pepper starts out green and then turns color (yellow, orange, purple, red). To harvest Basil cut stems about 3 inches above the ground, it will re-grow. Clip seeds and blossoms off stems to keep growing energy in the plant. Zucchini should be about 4-6 inches long when ready to pick. Tomatoes can be harvested with some green. Pick, remove stem, put in paste board box and cover with towel. The need to be dark to ripen. Sometimes if you know you won't be able to get to them to pick when ripe its better to pick early, a little green, and cover. The flavor is excellent. Harvest Kohlrabi when bulb is 3-4 inches. Harvest Beets when bulb is 2-3 inches. Pick Cucumbers when long and slender, not too fat, that's when the seeds get too large. Onions are ready when the tops fall over. Dig and put in garage to finish drying. Cut stem. Store in paper bag or paste board box until too cold in garage. Be sure to cover to keep light off them. Potatoes are ready to dig when the tops are dry. You can dig potatoes all summer for fresh eating after they have bloomed. You can look under them and pick only the bigger ones and then cover again for the little ones to grow. Kinda scratch the soil away to look. Rub the soil off the potatoes for storage. They store better not washed. Keep in a paper bag or crock stone jar. Potatoes keep to Christmas, do not refrigerate them. If your potatoes have green shoulders, don't eat them. You did not get your sets in the ground deep enough during the growing season. Cover them up better to prevent that greening. Also, when storing potatoes keep light off them so they don't turn green. Happy Harvesting!