The crushing heat of July is behind us. The feeling of endless summer is starting to give way to knowing how many weeks left until school starts again. We start to think about all the things we put on the Summer To Do List that we didn't yet do--but there is still time!
Some of you may be discouraged by this season's weather and our bedraggled gardens...and depending on where your garden is situated and the kind of soil you have, this just may not be our best tomato or eggplant year. But we don't have to take this sitting down! We can plant again! We can have fall zucchini, we can have fall cukes for pickling, we can have broccoli! We can have herbs and fall scallions for seasoning, we can have carrots and salad turnips and radishes...and of course, we can have beautiful green leaves of kale, swiss chard, and collards. Lettuces are still a thing. And spinach is around the corner!
As a grower of plants, I always have to be thinking six weeks or so ahead, and my least favorite time of the season is when I have to face the fact that fall is coming many weeks before most other people have to. That used to really bum me out. But then I realized that by starting fall plants, I'm really harnessing as much summer as possible--keeping a fresh harvest coming for as long as possible--growing the plants that will be full of summer sun and warm air when they come into our kitchens this September and October.
So stop by, and keep stopping by--fall cukes, fall squash and zucchini, arugula, carrots and beets, lettuces, swiss chard, kale and collards...dill and cilantro...all kinds of fall starts are on the table now, and more are coming! And lots of flowers are moving to the half-priced table--4-packs of zinnia, sunflowers, aster, pincushion, cosmos and more, so we can all squeeze every last drop out of this summer!
OH!!! And!! Update on the seedlings who wanted a ride to Boston--this year, Farmer Apolo and one of his steadfast volunteers, Keisha, came to us! They drove out to the the Berkshires last weekend and we loaded their car to the brim with surplus plants and some things I sowed especially for them. No nook, no cranny of that car was left unfilled. They brought the plants back to Boston's Oasis on BALLOU farm, where Apolo and his team blend urban agriculture with sustainable community development, social equity, and social entrepreneurship--this urban farm feeds the local community while providing job training and effecting lasting economic change. I am so moved by the work that they do, and so privileged to participate in this small way.
Keep on planting, everyone!
--Laura
laura@farmgirlfarm.com • (413) 262-8707 FARM GIRL FARM @ NORTH PLAIN FARM 342 North Plain Road Housatonic MA 01230
