Friday was a nice, easy day for the "farm hands". We harvested some salad greens from the hoop house for the co-op, and for ourselves, and tore the rest out. It will be too hot in there for them very soon (this week?!?) and the heat-loving eggplant are ready to be planted in their place. No need to fret over the salad greens, though. There is plenty more. Some that is ready to be harvested, and some that was just seeded in another bed a few days ago.
After that, we visited a local woman that grows and sells herbs. Most of the herbs for CSA members have come from her in the past. This year, H got more plants from her and will be planting them here for the members that ordered herbs. (They are not normally included in the share boxes, but members can purchase them "a la carte" in addition to their regular box.)
Then, we were off to Danzinger Vineyards. Last fall, H gave them 100 pounds of raspberries in exchange for a case of wine this spring. What a deal, huh?!? We learned that most fruit wines these days are made from syrups, not real fruit. The wine they made was great. Not overly sweet like some can be. We got to sample their other varieties too, and learned about their vineyard/winery. This is the first season they are open to the public. Their opening day was only a few weeks ago, but they've already sold about 300 cases of wine. They have 18,000 cases available this year and have built the place with the hopes of eventually reaching 30,000 cases a year. After our field trip we delivered the greens we harvested to the co-op.I didn't go home this weekend, but did a little exploring around the area. Checked out the town of Alma yesterday. There were several really nice gift shops/art galleries/antique stores to wander through. Made me wish I was a millionaire so I could buy it all.
J is on a bicycle ride this weekend, a circle tour of Lake Pepin. (Don't get me started on their use of the word "Lake".) Anyway, they started in Red Wing, MN, and crossed into Wisconsin, traveling on British 3-speed bikes--most people in some form of period costume--down WI 35 eventually crossing the river again at Nelson, WI, and into Wabasha, MN for dinner last night. I met up with him in Stockholm, WI at his lunch stop. We looked around there for a while and had awesome homemade pie at The Stockholm Pie Company. Today, they head back to Red Wing on the Minnesota side. Their goal: To make as many stops as possible along the route.
Also on my agenda yesterday was to find a "real" grocery store. Turns out, that's quite a task. The closest one seems to be in Winona. It's worth it, though, to have some ingredients on hand to cook with. I miss cooking!!! After my journey to find a produce department, I took in the atmosphere at a local (Alma) bar. A family friend lives in Alma, and tends bar there. I got to meet a few locals and hear some stories over a very cheap adult beverage.
Temperatures are slowly creeping up (although yesterday wasn't as hot as they were predicting), but the humidity is skyrocketing. It's overcast today, so that will keep it from becoming too uncomfortable. Hopefully, next week won't be too bad either. There's plenty of time for that yet!!!
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