Each year we try out a few new varieties of lettuce to see how they compare to our past favorites.
This year we are smitten with Slogun, a beautiful crisphead that has amazing bolt tolerance. It has held in the field a good two weeks longer than the other 8 varieties we transplanted at the same time. But not only is it still looking good, it also is one of our sweetest flavored. Slogun is definitely a variety we will plant next year, the tricky part is that we have a bed full of lettuce needing to be pulled out and replaced, except for lovely Slogun, still holding in the middle. This will take a little finessing of our succession planting plan. (If you are in the market for good seed, we bought our Slogun seed from Adaptive Seeds, out of Oregon, who also provided us with our other new favorite, Vulcan)
A few quick-before-the-sun-sets photos: Renegade sunflowers in the middle of our trellised tomatoes. Freshly weeded tomatoes and basil. Our most productive hop plant, a mystery variety that appeared at the corner of the house a few years ago. Cabbages are heading up.
This week’s CSA shares include cucumbers, beets, eggplant, and fennel. The newsletter is online here with a recipe for a fennel, eggplant, garlicy pasta sauce. And for those of you who are still working on developing a love for beets, check out the super simple beet chip recipe online here. We have confidence, you’ll be kvassing soon.
Cheers! t&j
Cycle Farm 