COLOR MY WORLD

They’re free! The reds and the purple, the Masquerade and the Harvest Moon have been freed from the terrible sweat. But, the six weeks in sweat prison paid off. The high security potato prison dropped one degree each day until they get to 45 degrees or less. This hardens the skin and shows flaws so when we sort, we can catch the misfits and send them off to the cattle. Even the yellows, that we were forced to release pre-sweat, hardened up nicely. We can now safely report we have a nice crop this year. Not museum perfect, but clean, hardy, and to field or storm damage. Not our largest crop, but we should easily get through May. Three color mixes are now available as are straight colors. Fingerling potatoes are now available both conventionally and organically. Colors and mixes are not abundant this season and the grower is asking a bit more than usual. Sticker shock won’t be too bad and should be quickly replaced by the satisfaction of quality and availability. The coolers are open, the crop is ready, bring it!

PAW-PAW WITHDRAW

    They are expensive and they are difficult to ship. We can only use overnight carriers. They are the only subtropical grown in the United States. They kept Lewis and Clark alive in their travels. They were beheaded and replaced with tobacco. The Paw-Paw season is almost done. In two weeks, fresh product will be done but there is often frozen pulp available. The most fascinating thing about the Paw-Paw is the stages in which it ripens. Like a banana the fruit sweetens as it matures off the branch. At its ugliest, a Paw-Paw is wrinkled and brown, but it tastes a lot like crème brulee. Firmer fruit brings out the banana, mango, pineapple flavor which makes the Paw-Paw worth fussing about.

 FRISEE DISMAY

The late summer heat has affected the quality of the frisee. Tips are blackened and in many cases the head is reduced to nothing. Product has not been riding well. We have just entered the last of our northern fields and a good bit of this product shows promise. Ware hoping next week’s harvest will show improvement, but quality is a still in question. Fortunately, we are just under a month away from our new fields and southern exposure. In the meantime, will sort out only the good stuff and allocate what remains.  

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???

  Abram Akane Akero Almata Arthur Ashmead’s Kernel Aunt Rachel Beacon Fenton Belle do Boskoop Benham Benoni Betsy Deaton Bevan’s Favorite Bietigheimer Black Amish Booth’s Brogden Buckingham Buff Bullet Buncombe Burgundy Calville Blanc Calvin Carpentin Carter’s Blue Cathead Champlain Chandler Cheese Chenango Cherryville Black Chesapeake Chesney Chimney Coppertone Cornish Gilliflower Cotton Sweet Court Pendu Plat Cranberry Crow Egg  Cullasaga Dad Davey Deaderick Devine Devonshire Quarrendon Disharoon Dr. Matthews Duchess of Oldenburg Earliblaze Earwin Baur Edward VII Enos Fallawater Tulpehocken Fanny Fireside Flat Fall Cheese Fortune Foust Franklin Fukunishiki Further Gano Geneva Early Gloria Mundi Gragg Gray Stark Haas Hackworth Haraison Harvey Hawaii Hawley Henry Clay Hidden Rose Higdon Hightop Sweet Hog Sweet Hogpen Holiday Holland Hollow Log Holstein Hoover Horse Hunge Huntsman Hyde King  Ingrid Marie James Grieve Jarrett Jefferies July-Aug. Go No Kandil Sinap Kent Keswick Codlin Kinnaird’s Choice Knobbed Russet Lacy Lodi Lowell Lowland Raspberry Lowry Lubsk Queen Magnum Bonum Mahogany Mann Margaret Margil Mary McKinney Mattamuskeet McLellan Milam Minnesota 714 Mio Mother Mountain Mrs. Bryan Muskmelon Sweet Muster Norfolk Beefing Notley Pea No. 1 Ohio Nonpareil Oliver Ophir Ortley Ozark Gold Parmar Peck’s Pleasant Pewaukee Pilot Polly Eades Priestly Prima Primate Priscilla Pumpkin Sweet Puritan Quinte Rainbow Ralls Janet Ramsdell RebelRed Horse Republican Reverend Morgan Rusty Coat Saint Edmund’s Salome Sam Young Crofton Schell Seek-No-Further Sekai Ichi Sheepnose Signe Tillisch Sinta Smoky Mt. Somerset of Maine Sops of Wine Sparger Spencer Stearns Stump Summer Rambo Surprise Swayzie Tar Button Tenderskin Terry Winter Tioga Tohoku Viking Vine Vista Bella Wagener Waltana Watermelon Wealthy White Bausel William’s Favorite Willie Sharp Winter Banana Wolf River Yarlington Mill Yataka Yates Zabergau Reinette.