Newsletter #8-09

Wonderful sunshine at last. The 2009 climate is quite schizophrenic. The plants are all treading water. A good thing is that we planted on raised berms and mostly into biodegradable (corn based, not plastic) mulch. The water runs off the mulch and fills the walkways  between. It took days for our sneakers to dry out after the deluge of water we were showered with but fortunately we found an entrepreneur  who  sold high tide heels in all our favourite colors; just what we needed this summer.

We have bees on our property but they are not flying on most days. It has been too cold for the nectar to run and the bees have to be fed sugar water by the beekeeper. No bees, no pollination. Lots of flowers, no fruit. This year it is the survival of the fittest and the cucumbers and summer squash are just starting to produce. What heroes.  Better late than never.

This week you are getting the flavours of the summer that never was, We planted hundreds of eggplants, Snowy White, Rosa Bianca Black Beauty and Japanese eggplant. Only the snowy white has produced fruit sparingly.

There are four kinds of zucchini, green zucchini, Golden Dawn, straight neck and the striped is called Striato d’Italia. We grew two kinds of pattypan squash, sunburst and flying saucer (pointy tips) also called scalloped squash, they are part of the summer squash family but the smallest of the lot. Patty pan squash is a great source of vitamins C and A, as well as folic acid. It is 90% water and a cupful of this squash has less than 30 calories.