Greens, More Greens and a Greenhouse

Believe it or not, things are still growing out in the field, and it’ll show this week at market. There was a window in mid-September when it was dry enough to plant baby greens such as Tokyo Bekana, lettuce, Hong vit, arugula and various spicy and mild mustards. Normally that’s a little late to plant greens out in the field, but the inclement weather (understatement) of late August—which is when I usually sow the last seeds of the season--made planting fragile greens (or anything else) a bad idea. Since the weather has been warm the past 5 weeks, those seeds grew well (see photos) and so you will be in the greens the next several weeks (I think). Even more than that, I also took a photo of my greenhouse, which we have been putting up the past month. It is almost finished, and that will allow me to grow all sorts of greens and hopefully herbs year round for you.

In the photos, you can see how the planting beds are raised above the water. I started planting everything in raised beds in the spring of 2010 because my soil tends to be wet. In many parts of the farm, the footpaths are actually flowing streams, but right now, after some very heavy rains last night and this morning, there are no places where the produce is actually underwater, which is a huge accomplishment. (Speaking of huge accomplishments, as I write this my friend Aaron is hooking up the greenhouse heater, and I just heard the heater go on for the first time, which means all connections have been made and it’s working).

This week at market, I’ll have the same peppers as I had last week: sweet Italian, jalapeno, cayenne and Russian Roullette. I’ll also have eggs; garlic; purple top turnips; THE BEST SALAD MIX AND BRAISING MIX YOU’VE EVER HAD, AS EVIDENCED IN THE PHOTOS; red and white potatoes; Hong vit; pea shoots; sunflower greens; watermelon radishes and possibly some chives and mint, though I’m not sure if they grew back. It looks like they might have gotten abused in the rain. Either way, I’ll try growing chives in the greenhouse all winter, and maybe some mint, too.

The sun is out now, and it’s supposed to be nice Saturday, so finish up last weeks produce and save your appetites for some awesome salad and potatoes.