
We've had over seven inches of rain here in about the past three weeks, and with each additional monsoon, we've watched the tomato vines slowly melting back into the earth. It was a good run, but I'm sad to report that our tomato season is over. All good things eventually come to an end. We're very grateful for what was a tremendously beautiful bountiful crop this summer, and we hope you enjoyed every last delicious bite!
The peppers are slowly recovering from such unusually cool and wet summer weather in recent weeks; the plants are looking much better now that we're heating back up to normal, and we expect to have our full array of peppers in a few more weeks at the most. The eggplants are picking back up again as well...a few of your favorite pink speckled butterbeans have begun to appear...and the okra is really cranking! Hot and humid is okra's favorite weather. Even though we pick the okra every other day, some of the pods quickly get a little large-ish under ideal growing conditions. This week we have both small 'baby' okra that are good for stews, sautes, or pickles, as well as larger okra that are great for grilling or roasting.
Late August is typically a slow harvest period for us. You may find we have a bit less at our market displays for the next few weeks, and now's when we always start to hear a lot of mournful-sounding "it's all over" talk at the farmers markets. Or as I once heard a fellow local farmer quip, "all the sexy vegetables are done." It's not the end - it never ends on a year-round produce farm - it's just a transitional period. Just like March tends to show a gap between the last of the winter crops and the new spring crops, late August bridges a gap between the peak summer produce and the earliest fall crops. We've been racing through rain showers in recent weeks getting the fall crops sown and transplanted, it's almost time to dig the sweet potatoes, and before you know it we'll be up to our ears in a mountain of fresh greens again!