Preparing for the Next Freeze
The peas in the high tunnel are flowering which means we’re really close to the first harvest. Check out the beautiful flowers on our Royal snap peas in the photo above! We have a mix of snow peas, sugar snap peas, and shelling peas growing. Both snow peas and sugar snap peas yield peas in edible pods. Shelling peas don’t produce edible pods and must be shelled (hence the name) in order to be enjoyed. We can’t wait to share the first pea harvest of the year with you!
The arrival of another frost kept us busy with preparations this week. This involves making sure both the greenhouse and high tunnel are sealed and susceptible crops in the field are covered with frost cloth. Though freezing temperatures have the potential to damage our crops, they also have some benefits. They help to eliminate or lessen certain pests like margin beetles and aphids. And, they can enhance the taste of crops like carrots and kale since their cells will begin to convert starch to sugar in order to protect themselves from freezing, which adds a delicious sweet note to their flavor.
The time has finally come to bid farewell to the tomatoes in the high tunnel. These tomatoes were planted as a fall succession last year and have been giving us a steady supply of fruit throughout fall and winter! We’ll be removing them in order to make way for the next round of tomatoes. Before they go, we’ll be harvesting as many green tomatoes as we can. You’ll be able to purchase both green and ripe tomatoes at the farm stand this Saturday. Make sure to stock up because we won’t have any tomatoes for you for a while!
In Season: Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, Carrots, Beets, Kale, Little Gem Lettuce Heads, Green Slicer Tomatoes, and Ripe Slicer Tomatoes.
