BELOVED ‘CREEKNIKS: What do you call it when you really want sweet peaches and tomatoes, but your farmer gives you early apples? A CSA share! Kidding. CSAs can be lovely for buyers and vital for farmers. But you’ve probably had that experience once or twice. You dream of the season’s most prized noshings, then open your farm box to find… kohlrabi. Hurrah! Kohlrabi! Sooooo much kohlrabiiii! Well, we don’t have CSA shares at The ‘Creek, but we’re sorta pushing a deal like that on you, Dear Farmketeers, today. Check it out.
Farmer Steve knows you want peaches and tomatoes. Oh, he knows you want them big time – a bumper crop befitting our usual August bounty – but he really wants you to pick Pristine apples first. Thus Pristines are the new kohlrabi. Of course the metaphor breaks down at some point. Pristines are nothing like kohlrabi. Pristines are round and lemon-yellow with an alluring blush, while kohlrabi is… wait, what IS kohlrabi? Dollars to donuts, at least 77% of our readers have no idea. Good thing we’re pushing apples instead.
Come pick Pristine apples. (Pleaseee.) They are the first real apple-ish apples of the year. Lovely lemon-yellow orbs of fruitological blushitude. Descendants of the venerable McIntosh and Golden Delicious varieties. Perfect for eating fresh, saucing, and cooking. Easy to pick in Row 10 of the Dwarf Orchard. Easy as pie. Tart, crisp, juicy, and firm. And isn’t that blush prettier than a store-bought doll?
Sweet apple cider is back! More good apple news to distract you from peaches and tomatoes. With the first apples of summer harvested, we hereby resume weekly cider pressing. Get your “Orchard Ambrosia” in gallon and half-gallon jugs. 100% unpasteurized juice from fruit we squeeze with an R2-D2 looking contraption. Beep beep burp burp.
But if PEACHES are what you really want, you can come pick. Just be aware that y’all engaged in some heavy picking action on opening weekend, so you might have to hunt for ripe peaches this weekend. Please ask at the stand which trees are ready. Don’t go rummaging around, squeezing every peach with your big mitts and bruising the babies that aren’t ready yet. That would be stealing from your future self – picking unripe fruit and mashing a bunch along the way. Let us direct you to the ripe rows, and if they are are getting thin, don’t worry, be patient. The crop is abundant and delicious this year. The orchard might simply need a few days to recharge. We’ll announce the big wave of ripening as soon as we see it.
Same deal with eggplant. There are eggplant to be found; try not to pick the babies. That would rob Future You of a nice big eggplant. Last week’s sermon emphasized that it is best to let the babies grow so other Farmketeers can get full-size specimens. This week, David Hasselhoff has come to remind you, “Don’t hassle the Hoff. And don’t rob YOURSELF.”
Ditto for tomatoes. Don’t rob Peter-You to pay Paul-You. Come hunt for all kinds of tomatoes: heirlooms, romas, cherries and beefsteaks. They are all starting to ripen. Just try to pick the ripe ones and leave the half-baked ones. We’ll holler if a big wave comes on strong. We’ll call for a crop mob.
Likewise for peppers. Sweets are ready. Hots are coming along. Jalapeños are ready. Serranos are ready. Everything else can be picked but it is still green: poblanos, Thai hots, habaneros, Hungarians, dragons toes, capperinos, Korean drying peppers, Mexican drying peppers.
Flowers. You can go bananas on those. There are lots. It is easy to tell when they are ripe. Even from like 500 feet away. Just look. If it’s pretty, pick it. If not, don’t. You can also get really cute bouquets in mason jars at the stand. Ready to deploy as living tchotchkes on your kitchen table. Tell your guests you picked em yourself. Mum’s the word.
Donuts. A limitless supply, lord willing, between 10:30 and 6:00 every Saturday and Sunday. Lord willing because the Mark II Donut Robot can break down time to time. After all, it’s only human.
Farm Fan spotlight. See what @dolcedelightithaca did with her fresh-picked peaches. Boom!
Thank you for reading this “Fresh Crop Alert” on the rarified topic of behavioral hygiene in the u-pick arena. We leave you with two more best practices: (1) Please bring your own bags and (2) Drive slowwww wwww wwwwwly on the farm. Please! Bring your own bags for picking and shopping, or buy our reusable farm totes. There are 2 sizes, $1.50 and $2.00. Goodbye to single-use plastic bags forever! And be car-ful as you drive around the farm. It is a working farm and there are machines and people and dogs and potholes and lots of other things to not crash into.
Love to y’all. Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.
Indian Creek Farm 