Summer Week 2: Summer Rain

The first cucumber blossoms are setting fruits in the greenhouse. I’m predicting the first slicing cucumbers for everyone in three weeks.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Salad Mix
• Green Onions
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Beet Greens or Pea Shoots
• Fresh Dill

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON:
Shelling Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Garlic
Fava Beans
Arugula
Cucumbers

Last night for dinner, I sliced a bunch of carrots into coins, and sautéed them in a bit of butter, finished off with a bunch of chopped dill. We had salad with it, and grilled pork chop. Someone commented today as she picked up her produce that her basket looked like quiche—spinach, dill, and green onions, and a carton of eggs. Early summer is delicious.

Alternating rain and sun spells are perfect, but we really need a small warm stretch to get things growing faster, and to kill some weeds. Weedy crops don’t grow as well or produce as much as they do when somewhat clean.

Rainy days in June are for doing inside work. Tomato greenhouse is ready for growing, with trellises up and weed-block fabric down. Tomatoes will be easy to see and pick this year.

The Friday downpour was the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time in the greenhouses. Both the tomatoes and cucumbers were in dire need of attention. We like to grow them both upwards, on supports (or trellises) so that the plants stay clean and tidy, which helps prevent disease and makes the fruits easy to find and harvest. In one day, we got all the posts put in, netting hung, and weed-block fabric stapled down to the ground. It’s all easy from now on, no weeds to battle, and just training the plants up the support. And reaping the harvest—cucumbers in about three weeks, tomatoes in about five weeks.

The u-pick area for subscribers is nearly ready. Look at all those pea blossoms! They are going to be covered with pods soon, and that means easy picking!

The peas are setting pods—luckily they don’t care much if it’s cold. Some plants won’t set fruit if the temperatures are too low, but peas don’t care. The pea patches are loaded with blossoms, and that means easy picking with lots of juicy pods to pick in just another week or two.

It’s just warm enough to have the windows open in the house tonight, so I can hear the chirping of the Killdeers as they swoop past the house, I caught the shadow of a Barn Owl as it dipped past the office window, and the chorus of frogs outside is deafening. Hoping for a warm, sunny day to catch up on planting tomorrow.