Is it Really Time to Seed Fall Crops?

Is it Really Time to Seed Fall Crops?

We have started packing CSA shares in boxes instead of bags.  This is to help prevent tomatoes getting squished.  These are single use, non-waxed boxes.  They can be recycled or composted (cardboard makes a great weed barrier in your garden!), but please do not return them to us!

With the arrival of tomato season it feels like summer is really here.  The humidity also makes it feel like summer is really here.  The plants are growing so fast.  I swear the sunflowers have grown a foot in the last week.  Weeds seem manageable one day only to grow into a jungle overnight!  The hot weather and abundant rainfall has made for a lush late June.  Here it is raining again, even as I write this.  We have a love/hate relationship with the rain.  Waters the plants for us but sure makes it hard to get the necessary work done.  And then there is the humidity.

We have just finished harvesting the spring crop of potatoes, carrots and beets.  Now it is time to turn around and start seeds in the greenhouse for fall planting.  Already?  It seems so soon I almost missed it.  We are always looking one month, two months, six months ahead.  This week I am starting cabbage, fennel, radicchio and kohlrabi.  Next week Brussel sprouts and cauliflower are on the list.  The following week: broccoli.  This is why I do all my planning in December and January.  I can just look at my planting schedule and go for it.  Instead of waiting around until August 1st and thinking, “hey, wasn’t I supposed to plant something in July?”

As for how the rest of summer is shaping up, I think it we are looking at a great tomato year!  There is another succession of cucumbers about to start producing and the last planting of squash should kick in soon.   The eggplant has been a little slow to get going.  It has been a pretty cool June and eggplant like it hot.  Ditto the okra.  The cantaloupe are blooming and the butternut squash is setting fruit.  Long beans are just now germinating.  The pepper plants are full of fruit and now we are just waiting for it to ripen.

Small Shares

  • Heirloom Tomato
  • Sungold Cherry Tomato
  • Yellow Squash or Zucchini
  • Carrots
  • Yellow Onion
  • Green Bell Pepper

Full Shares

  • Heirloom Tomato
  • Sungold Cherry Tomato
  • Yellow Squash or Zucchini
  • Carrots
  • Yellow Onion
  • Green Bell Pepper
  • Red Pontiac Potato