After anxiously waiting and watching all summer, we spotted the first luffa fruits on our plants! Luffa, or ridge gourd, is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family along with crops like cucumbers and squashes. When harvested young, it has a mild sweetness with a spongy texture. If it’s allowed to fully mature and dry out on the vine, it becomes fibrous and yields a natural scrubbing sponge (you can see what it looks like in this post). We plan on harvesting our luffas young so that you can experiment with them in your kitchen. If you look at the photo above, you can see what one of the female luffa blossoms looks like before it has opened and been pollinated. Below you can see what a young luffa looks like just before it reaches harvesting size.

We planted a little taste of fall for you last week: winter squashes! We have both butternuts and Autumn Frost squashes growing in the field. We’re particularly excited for the Autumn Frost variety as it is one that we haven’t grown on the farm before. It is a specialty butternut that is said to be as beautiful as it is delicious. It produces squashes with dusty terracotta colored skin and flesh that is sweet and earthy. We can’t wait to share them with you!

Last week we sowed seeds for banana, Scotch bonnet, and ghost peppers in the greenhouse. And, they’ve already germinated as you can see in the photo below! Since fall in our climate is typically mild, we’ll be growing this succession of peppers to supplement your autumnal meals. These peppers will be great for making a big batch of fermented hot sauce that will last you through the colder months. In the meantime, if you’d like to get your pepper fix, you can try any of the sweet or hot pepper varieties that are listed below at the farm stand.

In Season at the Farm Stand: Delicata Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Egyptian Spinach, Roselle Greens, Malabar Spinach, Sweet Peppers, Jalapenos, Habanada Peppers, Fresno Peppers, Cayenne Peppers, Bolivian Peppers, Okra, Armenian Cucumbers, Korean Melons, Cantaloupe, Long Beans, Italian Eggplant, Asian Eggplant, and Basil.

September 9th, 2021

In order to prevent further damage from the squash vine borers, we decided to go ahead and harvest all of our butternut squashes. Upon harvesting, our butternuts were moved to the greenhouse in order to undergo the curing process. This allows the skin to toughen up so that these squashes can be stored for up to six months. It also allows the natural sugars present in the squash to concentrate, yielding a sweeter and more balanced flavor.

We made the first harvest from our fall crops this week in the form of our baby arugula, baby kale, and baby mustard greens. We also harvested some Tokyo Bekana (pictured above and below), a non-heading Chinese cabbage variety with buttery soft leaves and a mild flavor. Due to its soft texture and mild flavor, Tokyo Bekana can be used as a salad green. It would be particularly delicious in a mix with the baby arugula and baby kale. If you’d like to enjoy it cooked, try wilting it with a bit of garlic, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.

The first mature luffas were harvested this week! These luffas were allowed to fully ripen and dry out on the vine. Once they reach this stage, they’re easy to spot because they have turned brown. After harvesting, we can easily peel away the skin to expose the fibrous “skeleton”. The luffa can then be used as a natural sponge. At the end of their season, we’ll be harvesting some young luffa for you to taste! Young luffa can be cooked in a similar manner to summer squash and zucchini.

August 4th, 2021

We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about tomatoes so you’ll be happy to know that we’ve started the seeds for our fall succession of tomatoes in the greenhouse! Though tomatoes tend to be synonymous with summer, they are more of a spring and fall crop in our growing zone as the summer temperatures in July and August can be brutal. Once high temperatures are consistently above 90 degrees, tomato plants stop setting fruit and regular highs in the upper 90’s lead to poor textured fruit. We planted a mix of slicers and cherries including Sungold, Grand Marshall, Mountain Princess, and Neptune.

We spotted the first luffa fruit on the trellis! They produce much larger blooms than our cucumbers which our pollinators are loving. Though luffa can be harvested and eaten when young, our plan is to allow them to fully ripen and dry out on the vine. Once they reach this stage, we’ll be able to easily peel away the skin to expose the fibrous “skeleton” which can then be used as a natural sponge.

New to the harvesting lineup this week is our Striped Armenian cucumbers (we featured them last week) and Padrón peppers. Named after the town in Spain where they originated, these light green peppers are mild when harvested small and become spicier the more they are left to grow and mature on the plant. We’ve noticed when taste testing our peppers that they tend to be more on the spicy side, most likely due to weather-related stress they’ve endured. You’ll be able to purchase these peppers at our farm stand on Saturday from 10am-noon!

July 7th, 2021

Summer squash will be returning to the farm stand this weekend in the form of these beautiful Sunburst patty pan squash! This variety is a buttery shade of yellow with a spot of dark green on the blossom end. Just like the Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop we grew earlier in the year, the Sunburst has tender flesh that is mildly sweet. These squashes can be stuffed and baked or chopped and used in place of any recipe calling for summer squash. You’ll be able to pick up these beautiful squashes at the farm stand this Saturday from 10am to noon.

After much anticipation, our sweet pepper varieties are starting to mature which means we should be able to begin harvesting this week or next, weather permitting. Though sweet peppers can be eaten green, leaving them on the plant to fully mature allows them to develop their addictively sweet flavor. Here are the varieties we have planted: Jimmy Nardello (a long and thin red Italian frying pepper that is sweet and almost fruity in flavor), Escamillo (a yellow Italian frying pepper with a super sweet flavor), and Carmen (a red Italian frying pepper similar in shape and flavor to the Escamillo).

Planting has been a game of strategy lately as we try to dodge the rain. Amidst the dry moments over the past couple of weeks, we were able to transplant and trellis a summer succession of cucumbers and luffa. Luffa (commonly spelled “loofah”) is a member of the Cucurbit family along with squash and cucumbers. Luffa is most commonly used as a sponge but it can also be eaten if harvested young. When a luffa is allowed to fully ripen and dry out on the vine, the flesh will disappear leaving the fibrous “skeleton” which is then used as a natural sponge.

If you’ve ever wanted to get involved with the farm, we have the perfect opportunity for you: volunteering! If you’re interested in volunteering some of your time helping the team out with basic farm tasks, email us at JordanRanch@agmenity.com.