Harvesting Butternuts and Sowing Seeds for Fall
We’ll have something new for you at the farm stand this weekend: butternuts! These are a smaller variety called “Butterscotch” and they have a deliciously sweet and nutty flavor. Farmer Alex recommends roasting and stuffing these butternuts with a mix of your favorite protein, herbs, and goat cheese. Or, you can roast them until the flesh is tender and blend it up to use in baked goods just as you would pumpkin puree. We will have limited amounts of these at the farm stand so first come, first served!
Over the past week we direct-seeded several different fall crops in our prepared rows. Direct-seeding simply means that we planted the seeds directly in the field rather than starting them in trays in the greenhouse. We often do this with crops that we want to plant densely (like arugula and other baby greens) and root vegetables. Here’s what we direct-seeded: carrots, dragon’s tongue beans, arugula (pictured above), watermelon radishes, icicle radishes, and Easter egg radishes. Since the arugula and radishes grow fairly quickly and have already germinated, we should have them ready for you in the next 2-3 weeks!
We finished installing the new film and shade cloth on the greenhouse just in time to plant the next succession of fall crops. We’re really excited about this round of seeding because it includes a few new varieties as well as some old favorites. We sowed seeds for broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, head lettuce, fennel, scallions, celeriac, and celery. We also planted some cooler weather flowers like nigella, larkspur, and strawflower. It’s shaping up to be an incredibly delicious fall season!
In Season at the Farm Stand: Butternut Squash (limited), Okra, Asian Eggplants, Italian Eggplants, Cucumbers, Sweet Peppers, Roselle Greens, Egyptian Spinach, and Zinnia Bouquets.
