The peppers are starting to come in with the heat of summer.  We often lose up to 50% of our peppers due to sunscald - there's just never enough foliage on the plants to prevent the fruits from getting burn spots.  It's the kind of heat only mad dogs and Englishmen venture out in lately, and nobody should be out there without a little protection from the mid-day sun.  So we made our peppers some hats last week out of shade cloth and piping.  Will it work?  We'll see, but it never hurts to try.

Our cucumber vines withered up into little dry crisps this weekend, and the beans may well go on hiatus for a bit.  Most warm-weather crops are fruiting crops, which means they produce a blossom, which needs to be pollinated, then set fruit.  That whole process gets aborted when temperatures rise too high, and especially when it never cools off at night (fun fact: did you know plants do most of their growing at night?)  We are definitely careening into the late summer crops: peppers, eggplant, melons, and okra, which can continue to set new blooms and fruits even when it's steamier than a sauna out there.  Still plenty of tomatoes, especially the tangy orange 'Kelloggs Breakfast,' juicy red 'Big Beefs,' and sweet pink "Mariannas Peace', but we aren't seeing any new green fruit set.  This could be the last week to get tomatoes in bulk quantities if you're looking to squirrel some away for the winter, or just stuff your face with tomatoes (and that's OK). 

Lots of new crops this week, many of which may be new to you, so a little explanation would probably be a good idea:

• 'Sensation' melons have a very soft white flesh, the flavor reminds me of the best perfectly ripe pear you ever ate with just a hint of cinnamon. 
• Sweet Italian peppers, also called Marconi peppers, are a long, tapered horn-shaped pepper.  They are just as sweet (if not sweeter) than a red bell pepper, with slightly thinner walls.  We love these for stir-fries and sautes. 
• We grew 'Aji Dulce' peppers at the persistent request of a regular customer (ask and you shall/maybe/sometimes receive!)  These are a small chinense variety of pepper that look exactly like habaneras, have no heat, but lots of flavor.  They're traditionally used to make a Caribbean sofrito, a sauteed mixture of the peppers, onion, and garlic, which is used to flavor everything from rice and beans, to meats, or veggies. 
• After sorting through all our stored onions, we also have a few cases of small baby sized sweet onions, about the size of pearl onions.  These would be perfect threaded onto skewers for grilled kabobs, dropped whole into stews, or just chomped down as is for all our fellow onion fans.

I think that's the run-down on the 'weird' crops for now.  We still have plenty of regular ol' tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes if that's your preference, but I do like to mix things up when I can get away with it!

One last note - did I mention it's a little toasty out there?  We need to pick as early in the day as possible to make sure your veggies get in out of the hot field to maintain good quality.  I'll admit we also like to preserve our own hides and get inside before the hottest part of the day as well.  For those of you who prefer to place pre-orders, you can help us out by getting your orders in a little earlier than usual, so we know what we need to have on hand for you.  We do love early birds!

Thanks as always for your business, and have a great week!

okra blossom

A big thank you to all who came out for the Tomato Tribute last Saturday at the Midtown Farmers Market.  Before dawn on Saturday morning we stacked the truck as high as we dared with crate after crate of tomatoes, drove into Raleigh ever so carefully, and you cleaned us out of nearly every tomato we brought to town.  That never happens!  We rejoiced in packing up and driving home a nearly empty truck on Saturday afternoon (then took a nap).  We still have a lot of tomatoes; I picked another truckload of tomatoes this morning, but we are starting to see them slip past their peak point.  What looks like a lot of green fruit left on the vines can ripen in a heartbeat through these dog days of summer.  Remember to eat your fill before they're gone!

We're still getting socked with heavy rains nearly every night, and praying for a stretch of dry weather so we can get our fields cleaned up and turned over for planting to fall and winter crops in August.  I usually like to try and grow a quick cover crop in between the spring and fall crops; that window is closed and gone.  Now we are just hoping to be able to get it all in decent shape by the first of August or so - yikes - just two weeks away!  It doesn't take long for the ground to dry out enough to work it over when it's in the 90s every day, but we desperately need more than one or two days between torrential thunderstorms.  Not that I get to decide what the weather will bring, but given a choice between a dry summer or a wet one, I would choose a dry one every time.

Quite a few of you were asking about melons and sweet peppers last week - they'll be here soon!  I try to time these to ripen in August (or at least post-peak tomato season), because no one here wants to haul 500+ pounds of tomatoes out of the field one box at a time then lug another truckload or two of heavy watermelons in when the heat index has topped 100 by noon.  One heavy crop at a time, I say!  Both crops are shaping up nicely (though both could use less rain) and with a little luck should start appearing in a few weeks.

Thanks as always for your business, and have a great week!

I saw this article in the Washington Post two weeks ago, and it suddenly hit home.  That's why.  We've seen a dramatic downturn in our sales at both our farmers markets this year, but I've been struggling to figure out why.  I've heard the same from farmers all across our area.  Our crops are the same, we haven't had any major losses, we've been chugging along just the same as the past decade, but suddenly...you all just aren't into it?  What's going on?

I asked for your thoughts last week.  I got a lot of feedback - thank you! - from mostly those of you who already grocery shop with us on a weekly basis.  I would have loved to hear from some of our more casual, infrequent shoppers.  I'm still all ears if you'd care to put your two cents in. 

There is never one simple answer to a complex problem, but I think it boils down to largely one thing:  there are simply too many farmers markets in our wider community.  The number of markets have doubled in the past ten years, and someone is still forever trying to create new ones in every untouched corner.  Everyone wants a market they can get to within walking distance or a few minutes' drive from their home.  That's just not feasible.

There are not enough farmers to supply all these small local markets.  There are not enough patrons to supply all these small local markets.  The market customer shows up, expecting a dazzling array of produce, meats, bread, cheese, and more.  The farmer, who spent months in advance growing and preparing those items, the farmer who labored an 18-hour day the day before and stayed up til midnight making sure all was in order, the farmer who drove a long distance into town to get to the market, began to set up at 6am, and paid for the privilege of selling for four short hours, must have more than a handful of market patrons come buy their product in order to make all of that worthwhile. 

The one comment I heard from those of you who responded was "we want to see more produce, more food vendors."  I have repeatedly seen markets try to grow by adding additional farms and food vendors, only to watch most of them vanish within a few weeks or months because they are not pulling in the profits they need.  This is a tough business.  I desperately want to see the number of markets in Wake County downsized.  And please, for the love of carrots, stop opening new ones.  Tighten it up and run them well, and the customer will be happy, and the farmer will survive.

The article in the paper suggested that the boom days of farmers markets are over, and farmers need to diversify in order to stay in business.  We always have.  It is never a wise thing to put all your eggs in one basket, literally or proverbially.  A small farm will lose money hand over fist wholesaling to grocery stores.  The restaurant trade infuriates me - chefs want my best quality produce for the least amount of money, will never order consistently, and need the product delivered on a whim and a moment's notice to boot.  I understand why, I've worked in restaurants before, but I can't do that.  I love our CSA members, but we are forever shaving many tiny profits off the top with those discounts.

Farmers markets - strong, vibrant ones - remain our most profitable venue.  And even then we aren't exactly making a killing selling lettuce and tomatoes.  I don't do this for the money.  I do need to make a living.  It's still a business, and I need to turn a profit to remain viable. 

I will leave you with my favorite response that I received last week (edited for brevity):

I LOVE the North Hills market.  I am incredibly grateful to know the people who raise the plants and animals I eat. I cook almost all of our meals, and the freshness and quality can't be beat, but that's not why I do it (although it helps!). I do it because it feeds my soul as well as my body. It gives me joy to support my local community and people who grow food. It kills me how little respect farmers get in our culture at large when they (you) are quite literally responsible for keeping our bodies alive. And how people nickle and dime when it comes to food. It's going in your body. It's nourishing you and keeping you alive. Can people seriously not value that? I honestly don't think food costs enough. And I will always go to the market to buy food, not because it's a lifestyle choice or to socialize.

I think you and our community of farmers at the NH market are so wonderful, and I hope SO MUCH that the trend you're seeing from the article doesn't impact you in a negative way.

And very sincerely, thank you.

And thank you.  We hope to keep seeing you out there.