Morning Song Farm News

We had a tough time last week getting the lids shut on our boxes, particularly the large shares. Despite the ongoing war with rabbits and squirrels, our gardens are offering bumper crops of lots of different items; with thousands of row feet of tomatoes coming soon! We really weren't expecting the baby kale-dominated braising mix to be still going strong in the middle of summer, but there it is; looking great. The basil looks succulent this week, and we're proud to offer large box subscribers our carefully tended Arugula. We've discovered using winter row covers to guard against  this time of year's total flea beetle devastation and we've cut beautiful, small bunches for all large shares. (There's no way large bunches would have fit in the boxes!)  Little by little we're providing less outstanding organic greens for resident squirrels by shoring up the matrix of entrances to our gardens. We've fenced, dug down and buried chic...

Well, not a a partridge, and not a pear tree. Peering out at the photographer: our not-as-stealth-as-they-think-they-are juvenile hens roosting in their new favorite tree: a sapote.  They're not laying eggs yet, but have finally taken to launching into the trees at night to guard against predator attacks. Baby chicks don't roost, so we know we're halfway to eggs when a young hen starts to fly at night. True story: back in the day when I was married and living in the suburbs of San Clemente and commuting to the family farm...I raised our chickens against city ordinance law right there in San Clemente and then brought them; squawking and clucking to the farm when I (inevitably) was issued a San Clemente "chicken ticket." The kids couldn't bare to leave the cute babies at the farm all week, only seeing them on the weekends, and I truly have always enjoyed raising baby chicks. Even today, so many years later, I  get such a kick out of watching their antics. Ofte...