Time for A GARDEN RAMBLE…
July is the new August. It was hot and dry, oh my! We had peak tomatoes in July, in an August kind of way. And, as it is looking with these pleasant days and cooler nights, August is the new September.
Some members, especially first years, might appreciate a review and forecast of the season in veggies. Not a complete list but some hightlights:
Spring season, late May through June
–we enjoyed leafy greens and spring root crops: kale, chard, lettuces, arugula, scallions, kohlrabi, turnips, beets, cabbage, bok choy, fennel, garlic scapes
What a bountiful and beautiful spring crop. Did I take enough pictures? The lush greens and delicate bokchoy are a memory, but summer tomatoes surpass it all, so its ok.
Summer season, July-August
–with the heat of summer come the season’s summer fare: tomatoes (extra early this year, thanks to our new hoophouse), zucchini, green peppers, garlic, three choices of eggplant this year, basil the sweet plus a new addition of thai basil this year, jalapenos, leeks, cucumbers briefly, flowers endlessly pretty. U-Pick Sungold cherry tomatoes for a whole row of sweetness, another new gift for this season that we’ll have to repeat–Candy Lane!
I love tomato season, do you? Tomatoes are continuing to ripen, enjoy them while they last! Stink bugs are taking their toll on tomatoes a bit, but actually not as bad as last year at this point. So that’s good. You might see some mottled spots on some tomatoes and peppers, that’s stink bug damage. We’re doing what we can with organic methods to keep them down. In summer, its too hot for lettuce to grow, so we start making the seasonal salad my family calls “Israeli Salad”– chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and parsley. I’ve really enjoyed eggplant in the Baba Ganouj recipe that I posted on the blog. Eggplant is likely to fade out soon, as the nights get cooler. We hope you have enjoyed the watermelons, thank you to those who supported the boys in their watermelon sales. Noah cut and hauled all those watermelons from the field, with helpers, but he was out there for every hauling expedition. He and I are both learning so much about growing watermelons this year. Such a summer treat.
Early Autumn season, September-October
–We are collecting some of the goodies that we will share with you the final 7 weeks: onions, potatoes, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, more garlic. We’ll finish off the season with our yummy sweet potatoes. We’ll sneak in some fall greens and others as we can.
Can’t believe how early the winter squash have ripened. Halloween in August! The potatoes are delicious, although smaller than usual due to the hot and dry summer conditions. We grow an heirloom variety called Kennebec with a delicate skin, and this year we have the ever-so-popular russet potatoes as well. We’re ready to share them with you for this week! September is a transition month in the garden–summer crops fade out but its still early for cool weather fall crops. Growing cool weather crops like greens and lettuce in the fall challenges us, because we need them to germinate in trays when its super hot and buggy. We’ve had some success and we’re hoping to bring you some, like lettuce, beets, and bokchoy. We’ll dig sweet potatoes in mid-September and give those out the last few weeks. We are having a Common Market Crop Mob out to dig sweet potatoes on Saturday September 17. CSA members can join in with this event, and we’ll set another date or two as well, for CSA members to help with the sweets. Its treasure-hunting made easy, with our potato digger on the tractor. We’ve been really pleased with our sweet potatoes in the past, we know you’ll love them. Also, sweet potato greens are a special treat from the sweet potato vines, they are great sauteed or wilted like spinach! Can’t wait for you to try them. A welcome return of a dark green veggie after the summer crops.
Hope you have enjoyed this walk through the seasons. Do you have any questions about what we’ve harvested or what is yet to come? Feel free to ask!