Ready or not, summer weather is here. Wow, is it ever hot this week! I am not ready for July heat here in the middle of June. But I am glad that I got the shade cloth on all the structures last week. The summer vegetables are happy for the heat, I am sure, as long as we can keep them watered. We’ve been pulling the last of the beets and the cabbage out of the field before they burn to a crisp.
We cope with the heat by working early. Everyone is out of the field by 11:00, then we spend the rest of the work day – either until 12 or 2pm depending on the day – in the wash/pack. Sometimes we squeeze in some work late in the day, like tractor work or transplanting. But when it is this hot the evenings are short. By the time it starts cooling off sunset is not far away.
Time for all the onions to come out, too! We had a lot of wet weather this spring, which is hard on the onions because it is good for foliar disease. Did you know that the part of the onion we call the bulb is actually made up of leaves? We have plenty of fresh onions, but not as many as I would like that are going to hold up to curing and storage. Maybe next year we will grow our storage onions in the high tunnels if I can carve out some space for them.
Our sweet potato slips arrived last Thursday. Maria and I spent most of Friday morning planting them, two thousand in all. We are excited that we found a source for organic slips. It’s the first time we have had sweet potato slips shipped in the mail. They arrived in good condition and I have already seen signs of new growth. Ideally, we would get them planted June 1st, so this year they went in about a week late. If this week’s weather is any indication of what our summer will be like, I am sure they will have no trouble catching up.
Eat Like a Farmer
If you are anything like me, you probably don’t have any trouble getting through a bunch or two or three of carrots. But you’ll want to save some for this Moroccan Inspired Carrot and Chickpea Salad. It is one of my all time favorites. I make it every year when carrots are in season. Recently we also tried this Stuffed Zucchini with Italian Sausage and Quinoa recipe and it was a hit with everyone in the family.
Small Shares
- Zephyr Squash and/or Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Beets
- Carrots
- Savoy Cabbage
Full Shares
- Zephyr Squash and/or Zucchini
- Cucumber
- Beets
- Carrots
- Savoy Cabbage
- Red Onions
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