Final Farmers Market

 

So the market garden season is wrapping up. It is hard to believe on a warm, sunny day like today that there is one final market left. It feels much more like late August than October. Especially in the hoop house.

But here we are on the eve of another Thanksgiving. The days are shorter and the nights are cooler. The trees are turning. Chores and veggie tending have slowed enough to allow for time to review the last few months.

What a summer. Heat. Drought. Well running dry. Flea beetle plagues. And now hordes of slugs. Quite the year to start a market garden. But every year has it’s challenges. Next year we will be stretched in new directions. They tell me, that’s what farming is all about. Better learn to be flexible.

But we made it through, thanks to some timely help from friends and family. And also thanks to our customers. Lovely people who understood the difficultly of growing vegetables without rain. And didn’t get mad when the kale and lettuce we had on our table since early June suddenly were no longer available in August.

We did have some successes though, despite all the curve balls the weather threw our way.

 

 

On a whim, we threw some winter squash seedlings into a new mulch garden (experiment.) They did really, really well. So well, that my family has had to live with all interior surfaces covered with curing squash over the last few weeks. The summer squash growing in that bed did significantly better than the ones grown elsewhere, more traditionally. Something to think about for next year, for sure.

 

 

Next week, I’ll put all of our sales into a spreadsheet and see which veggies did the best. I’m thinking tomatoes will be at the top of the list. There are only a handful going to market tomorrow. Despite the excellent protection of the hoop house, they are winding down, producing less. Ripening slowly.

We are all preparing for another season.