This week I’m pretty sure I felt a turn of the seasons. I happen to be rejoicing in this awareness as the heat does not suit me well. I find myself enjoying such tasks, once again, as driving the truck out to the field to begin a harvesting project and keeping at it until the end of it without the need for water breaks, or any kind of break for that matter. Without the sun beating down on me, I find once again, that I really do love my work!
It’s a bit of a reality check when I look at the forecast and I see lows in the evening dipping back down into the 40’s. It gets me thinking about what all needs to be done before the frosts start hitting. We’ll have to start thinking about getting our winter squash out of the fields before the frosts, picking all of the peppers left on the plants, cleaning up the tomatoes, freezing green beans, and giving as much basil to you as we can manage before we have to wait an whole additional year for more.
We spent most of the week working around the rain schedule for our harvesting and buckleing down to get all of the onions out of the ground. We do happen to grow a large amount of onions to keep and store into the winter as well. The harvest is pleasant, quick, but quite serious in quantity. The onions are covering all of the tables and a good amount of floor space in our greenhouse, keeping the bad spirits away from at least the greenhouse!
Momma Jane is home on the farm again after a couple weeks away dealing with all that it takes to clean up after a mother’s completed life. We’re so happy to have her back again cooking, cleaning, helping in the fields and reminding us all to not drop our boots right in the entryways main throughway of the house. Embracing the changing of the season’s, I welcome new forms of life that come from those that are put to rest.
Carrots– We were having a heck of a time bunching them with their tops on, so we said the heck with it and just decided to bag them loose instead.
Red Potatoes– Beautiful red potatoes dug in the muddy rain on Tuesday! But we cleaned them this time to the best of our ability.
Parsley– Finally some more parsley. Beautiful, healthy parsley. Stores best in a plastic bag in fridge.
Cucumbers– Maybe one more week of cukes. They’re really looking a little ruff now as the plants are dying back quite a bit. We’ll go out and clean out what’s left, but the cooling crop is saying goodbye until next summer!
Swiss Chard- The return of the leafy greens. Stores best in a plastic bag in fridge.
Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers or Jalapeno Peppers– Sometimes these little guys are hot and sometimes they’re not. It’s a bit of a hit or miss. When they are hot, they’re one of the most mild of all of the hot peppers. Jalapenos are a bit hotter!
Green Beans– Perishable green beans. They’re storage life isn’t long, so eat ‘em up!
Tomatoes– Tomatoes are hitting with a bang! We’ll have a few heavy weeks of them, but the forecast doesn’t look all that great for a never-ending tomato year. If the tomatoes are soft, they are ripe. Keep your eye out for those heirlooms that don’t turn your classic red/orange color. The Cherokee purple’s are more of a greenish/purple color when fully ripe. A nice mix of heirlooms, slicers, and paste tomatoes (romas).
Green Peppers– A pepper or two for all. Stores best in a plastic bag in fridge.
Eggplant- The best eggplant year we’ve ever had. Not my favorite veggie in the world, personally, but they just look sooooo yummy! And the plants are so prolific! Eggplants are fragile and they’ll keep best in a plastic bag in fridge, but not for too terribly long, a week or so.
Yellow Summer Squash and Green Zucchini– Maybe another week, just like the cukes.
Next Week! A short list of items that we may have next week, but will not promise to have. Due to the unexpectedness of the season and perishable nature of produce, anything could pop up or go down hill unexpectedly.
Zucchini, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Green and Purple peppers, Hot peppers, Eggplant, Green Beans, Green Kale, Purple or Green Cabbage, Red Beets, Garlic
