Harvesting Potatoes and Cucumbers
May 5th, 2021
Since the farm received quite a bit of rain over the weekend we decided to go ahead and harvest our potatoes a little earlier than planned. Potatoes are quite sensitive to moisture so we wanted to make sure that we got them out of the ground as soon as possible. We’re happy to report that they’re incredibly delicious and we’ll have them this weekend and possibly next weekend at the farm stand! Both of the varieties we have are red-skinned and one of the varieties even has reddish flesh as you can see in the photo.
Our cucumbers are setting fruit and we are on track to have the first harvest available this weekend at the farm stand. The first cucumber to fruit is the Korean Eun Cheon variety. These striking cucumbers have a sort of ombre effect with green on the stem end fading to light green on the blossom end. Eun Cheon is a slicing cucumber that is sweet and crisp. We’re also growing Calypso cucumbers (a small pickling variety) in addition to a Turkish cucumber variety. We expect to begin harvesting these varieties in the next couple of weeks.
We transplanted a row of tomatillos this week and some of the plants are just beginning to set their first flowers. Tomatillos are members of the nightshade family along with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Tomatillos are a unique crop in that they bear fruit surrounded by an inedible, papery husk. As the fruit matures and grows, it can eventually break through the husk right before it reaches the harvesting stage. Depending on when a tomatillo is picked dictates the flavor. If picked early when light green in color, the tomatillo is tart and ideal for making salsa verde. However, if left to mature on the plant longer, it develops a sweeter flavor similar to a tomato.
If you’re out and about and want to support restaurants that are using our produce, check out the following: Ostia, Squable, Theodore Rex, UB Preserv, Nancy’s Hustle, and Tongue Cut Sparrow.
