Tomato Season

July is the month of tomatoes.  A major crop for us, the month is filled with the endless picking and sorting of tomatoes.  It seems like as soon as the tomatoes are picked, I turn around and they need to be picked again.  Cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, paste tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and slicing tomatoes.  Hundreds of plants.  Over a thousand tomato plants over the course of the season.  Who’s idea was it to plant so many tomatoes?  Alas, only myself to blame.  Of course, having an abundance of produce to harvest is a good thing.  But it is still an exhausting thing.

There is a sort of hamster wheel feeling to the month of July.  We just keep running.  At the end of a busy week, and they are all busy weeks, it feels like we are back in the same place.  We look at each other and think, “you mean we have to do it all again next week?”  But tomato season only lasts so long, and we want to make the most of it.  So here we are spinning away.

July is also the month we prepare for the planting of the fall garden.  It has always been a dry month.  This July is off to a wet start and we are behind in getting the field ready.  Still we are seeding plants in the greenhouse.  Broccoli and cauliflower.  Brussels sprouts that wont be harvested until December or January.  I can hardly believe it is time to start fall and winter seeds but that is why I plan my whole seeding schedule ahead of time.  The plan says it is time, so it must be time.

Small Shares

• Onion
• Bell pepper
• Slicing tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Basil

Full Shares

• Onion
• Bell pepper
• Juliet tomatoes
• Paste (San Marzano type) tomatoes
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Eggplant