Harvesting Cayenne and Criolla Sella Peppers
We’re harvesting some new hot pepper varieties for you this week: Cayenne and Criolla Sella. When fully mature, Cayenne (pictured below) is a bright red pepper with a neutral flavor and a medium heat that lingers on the tongue. They are perfect for drying and making crushed chili flakes or ground cayenne pepper. Criolla Sella (pictured above) is a small golden-orange pepper native to Bolivia. It has a rich and citrusy flavor with a medium heat level. It is great for adding to salsas or making your own hot sauce. You can now find them both at the farm stand!
Our basil row is quickly becoming one of our favorite spots on the farm! It is planted with four different basil varieties: Tulsi, Thai, Italian, and Opal. We’re growing the Tulsi, Thai, and Italian basils for culinary uses while the Opal basil is intended for cut flower arrangements. Each of these basils has a unique scent. Tulsi (pictured below) has a fruity scent with notes of mint and cloves while Thai has a distinctly potent anise scent. As for the Italian, it is sweet with faint hints of mint and cloves. Farmer Alex loves the tulsi basil and highly recommends using it to make tea. Or, you can make a simple syrup with any of our basils for use in summer mocktails and cocktails.
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve transplanted more rounds of zucchini, eggplant, and long beans in preparation for summer harvesting. Staggering multiple plantings of the same crop (called succession planting or successionalization) allows us to lengthen our harvest window and maintain more of a steady supply of produce throughout the season. Succession planting also helps in the event of any weather or pest related problems we might incur, like the super dry and hot weather pattern we’ve been in!
In Season at the Farm Stand: Watermelons, Eggplant, Okra, Egyptian Spinach, Cucumbers, Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, Zucchini, Scallions, Tomatillos, Carrots (limited), Beets, Delicata Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Tomatoes (limited), and Sunflower Bouquets
