Would you look at that?! It’s Friday and that means picking, prepping, baking and getting ready for the Saturday farmstand. This week has been filled with harvesting fall crops and beginning to pull their vines. The last of the acorn squash have been picked and they are drying until next week, but there are plenty ready for tomorrow, too. There are butternut in three stages: ready, drying, and finishing on the vines.
Picking for orders during the week and for tomorrow has left me with about a dozen tomato plants that still have nice, viable fruits (hopefully for next weekend). The plants that have finished will begin to be pulled next week when we see a break in this heat. The cherry and salad tomatoes are just bumping along like nothing is really bothering them, but harvests are on the smaller side. These tiny tomatoes are usually the last ones to go.
Peppers are in their happy place with longer, cooler nights. There are red, green, orange, yellow, and some that are mid-color change for tomorrow. We will have 3 sweet pepper grab bags available tomorrow for $5 each and they have a good assortment of bell, Carmen, and banana peppers in all the colors. It’s time to get these prepped and into your freezer.
Let’s talk about cucumbers for a moment. There have been almost 1,200 cucumbers from my home to yours this year! That’s incredible, and you are all appreciated for taking them in and enjoying them. That’s the good part. The bad part is that there are only a few single plants that have anything left to give. Maybe. So, to be practical, they are finished. If we see a few fruits, that’s a bonus. If those last few plants give up after so much heat, we will still be grateful for them. The cucumber harvest for tomorrow is the smallest since early July, but there are some. Some is better than none, and, after all, we’re nearly a week into October.
All you green bean lovers, take note: they are still in the game! To date, there have been 152 pounds of them from these little patches. That is a LOT of bean picking, in case you were wondering. The first two beds were planted May 12th, and one of them finally finished and has been pulled. That first bed of Jade beans is still flowering and giving beans! I should have kept better track, but this may be the 6th time they’ve flowered and set beans. The second planting is slowing and fading out. The third and fourth beds are over there waving their little stems in the air saying “Pick me!! Pick me!! Every couple of days, please!” So, if you want beans mid-week, get in touch.
The new zucchini and yellow squash plants are giving harvests! I forgot to check them mid-week, so there are a couple of big zucchini that would be perfect for your freezer or several batches of bread.
I’ve seeded more lettuce in hopes of having some for fall harvests. Some are in outside beds that will be covered if it gets cold, and more are seeded in an empty area in the hoop house. The kale has been ravaged (again) by cabbage loopers that will not stop reproducing! So, there’s no kale today. There is a beautiful harvest of chard, though.
All in all, we are doing great for October, and I have been searching for new recipes to bake more as the garden finishes up. My thought is to do more baking in the last quarter of the year. If the weather continues to be decent, I’d be up for a bake sale table on Saturday mornings for a couple of hours. It also means that I can take your requests for baked items, too.
Menu:
7 Beans $4 per pound
1 Beets $3 per bundle
1 Broccoli $3 per 3/4 pound
1 Carrots $4 per bundle
Cucumbers .50 each or 6/$2.50
Peppers: Bell .75 ea, Carmen .75 ea, Banana .50 ea, Jalapeno & Serrano .25 ea
3 Mixed sweet pepper bag $5 ea
1 Mini sweet pepper basket $2.50 ea
2 Roasting kits $5 each (beets, carrots, fresh herbs, small zucchini & yellow squash)
Swiss chard 1 @ $4, half bag @ $2
Yellow squash .75 each
Zucchini .75 each
Fall squash $2 each
Decorative gourds .50 each
Tomatoes:
Small slicers .50 (includes heirlooms)
3 Salad tomatoes $4 per 1# basket
5 Cherry tomatoes $3 per 1# basket
1 Basket of smalls $2
1 Basket of small heirlooms $2
12 Roma $1.50 per 1# basket
19 Raspberry crisps $2 each single serving
There are raspberry crisps baking right now, and I need to put flower bouquets together. There are Chai latte refills and jams for $5 each. New this week is Pear Butter that is low sugar! It has 7 pounds of ripe pears and one cup of brown sugar. I added a light touch of cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to make it is a delicious spread! In time for cooler weather, there are a few jars of instant potato soup on hand for $5 too.
This heat has has zapped my energy today, so I’m planning to take the night off after those flowers are put together. I’ll be recharged and ready to see you in the morning!