Dear KCSA community,
As we go into the sixth week of harvest, our early summer fruit is setting! In addition to relishing our zucchini, we can also start to relish our summer squash this week as well. As zucchini is technically a summer squash, we will have a total of four types this season: zucchini, zephyr, patty pan and yellow crookneck.
The zephyr is quite similar to the zucchini in its shape but generally is harvested a little longer. It is yellow and tapered toward the growing point on the plant with a green blossoming end. The yellow crookneck is similar to the zucchini in size but has a more bulbous end than the zephyr and is completely yellow. It also has a rough skin, similar to some decorative gourds. All our summer squash are edible!!
The patty pan, on the other hand, is out there on its own! It has the distinctive yellow/green coloring of summer squash but is shaped…like a flying saucer! Also known as the scallop squash, patty pans can be used as any other type of squash (you may have to slice it up differently, though). However, the unique shape of the patty pan lends itself to grilling! Flying saucer squash burgers anyone?
You can see a visual identification of our squash is available on our summer squash recipe page.
A few weeks ago, we let our members know that a couple of bluebird fledglings had flown the coup. This was Marylin’s personal birding project on the farm and we were very pleased to have housed some indigenous (but endangered) nesting bluebirds. This week, we have an update on our Purple Martins.
Currently, we have a total of 39 fledglings in our colony. The traditional gourds seem to be a little more popular than the new, luxurious T-14 as we have twice as many baby birds in them. But the T-14 is still housing nesting birds and hopefully the concierge has some good advice for our fledglings when they partake on their first flight!
This isn't the final count by a long shot! There are still eggs that could hatch and, unfortunately, there are still plenty of dangers for our fledglings to face before being mature enough to fly all the way back to Brazil.
Well that's it for another week! Other than the addition of our summer squash to the share, members should expect a similar box to last week. U-pick strawberries and peas are still producing but growth and vigor have been affected by the wet cold spring. Flowers are in full bloom though! There should be some more additions to u-pick soon.
Stay safe,
Andrew
