Week 10: Ripening

It’s August, what wow wowza how?!

I try to get my mind wrapped around the season back when we put in all the August-ready plants and it still surprises me each year.

I’d say I’m like a tomato or eggplant sometimes–it’s a slow, long process of reaching full potential, but when I’m there, I’m ready to share the bounty with everyone!

What was great:
Hearing everyone’s joy at the first tomatoes! If you’re like us, we wait all year to eat tomatoes until they are in season and dripping with flavor! It is fun to have so many colors around to add to every meal: caprese salad; fresh tomato and basil sauce; tomato, eggplant, and okra breakfast hash; and on and on, yum.

Homemade pupusas with cabbage slaw and beet mash + fresh tomatoes:

Alli’s famous cucumber sandwich with tomatoes and onions:

What made us laugh:
When the tomatoes are so quickly outgrowing the trellising, you gotta laugh so you don’t constantly stress about it!

How these myscelium grew snug in the calendula and showed up in all the pathways after the rain:

What we wish was different:
Lots of greens struggle in the heat–it’s amazing to have any at all! We wish the head lettuce planting would have lasted longer, but alas, it just hates this heat even more than we do.

What we’re grateful for:
Finally getting a sunflower shoot harvest for market! It took so much finagling with the early heat this year, but they’re so cute and tasty.

Share potentials:
Tomatoes!
Summer choice: cherry tomatoes, okra, beans, eggplant, or peppers
Leeks!
MAYBE lettuce mix, head lettuce, arugula, or yukina
Basil
Herb choice
Kale, Collards, or Chard
Beets or Carrots
Cucumber or Summer Squash
Garlic
Onions

Cobbler base with plums and raspberries:

Cow friends doing a first mow for us:

Yummy veggie red sauce from Member Leslie:

The view from the herb garden:

Here’s to the lovely paradox between slow growth and quick ripening,
Lyds