It is time to say goodbye to the green leafiness of spring. This week may be the last for lettuce. The kale has given up the ghost. A few lonely turnips and kohlrabi remain. The chard has slowed down considerably. The spinach and arugula have long since bolted. The radishes and bok choi are a distant memory.
The fact that the spring garden is winding down is a good thing. Mostly because it is entirely engulfed in weeds…But new things are coming in to fill the void. The zucchini has started to produce. The onions and garlic will be fully mature soon. The potatoes are almost ready for digging. In fact, we dug ourselves a little sampler pack this weekend – one each of our seven varieties – to see how they were coming along. I had been worried all spring about them rotting in the ground; it has been so cold and wet and we planted them super early. It may not be a bumper crop, but they are looking good all the same – never mind the fact that Yang Farm has had potatoes at the farmers market for two weeks already. How do they do that?
I am hoping that the long awaited carrots are just a few short weeks away. [We know you have been wondering but are too polite to ask.] We have been tending 1800 row feet of carrots. Yup, that is a third of a mile. I promise you lots and lots of carrots.
The later summer crops are still a ways away: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, cowpeas, cucumbers, melons… but everything is growing. Even though the spring crops are just now winding down, it is already time to get ready for their encore in the fall. That is the great thing about cool season vegetables: most of them are in season twice each year! Time to make plans and order seeds – always a challenge for me because I want to grow everything. Did we grow a lettuce that you loved? Did we grow one that you hated? This would be a good time to make your case for your favorite cool-season crops and varieties to make sure they get a replay in the fall.
