All good things must come to an end and they have in terms of strawberries. There will be just a few pints available for sale at market. There may be a few on Saturday, but that will be it until next next year. So sad. But as one thing finishes others are starting. The sugar snaps are still going fairly strong. We should have them for at least another week, if not two. That may depend on how hot it gets over the next week or so. The summer squash plants are starting to put out more fruit. Starting next week there should be enough for everyone to get some in their boxes. The cucumbers haven’t started yet, but will very soon. There’s garlic scapes in your boxes this week! The scape is the flowering stalk of stiff-necked garlic. We pick them off the maturing garlic plants while they are still tender, allowing the plants to concentrate their energies on making big bulbs, and we get to enjoy an early mild garlic flavored treat.
So we’re settling into the summer season now. Most of the big summer planting have been done. We’ll get the popcorn and sorghum (for making molasses) in the ground this week, as well as the second round of sweet corn and the first round of melons & watermelons. We have a few weeks of maintaining all the tomatoes, peppers, etc., until we start thinking about all the fall crops. It’s truly hard to believe that we’re hardly through with spring and we’re already looking towards fall. Most of those early fall plantings happen in late July, but we have to get the fields ready for them, sow the seeds in the greenhouse starting in about 3 weeks.
But let us enjoy this early part of summer when the weed pressure isn’t too great and the farm seems more or less manageable. And blueberry season is just around the corner!
Field tomatoes. Peppers. Little winter squash plants. Baby Beans.
Ideas for Cooking
Kohlrabi, for those who have yet to experience it, are the purple balls with the greens attached. Peel the skin off and use raw, cut into whatever size pieces you prefer (great for dips, hummus, etc.) It can also be sauteed in a stir fry. It’s texture is very crisp. It’s taste is somewhat like that of broccoli, though it can be a tiny bit sweet.