Behold! The long awaited Lemon Cucumber!
Happy summer! We are in “full swing” mode here on the farm. It’s the time of year we thought about as we slogged through a damp and chilly spring. Cherished crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers lingered a few weeks longer than usual in the warm hoop house... and fortunately so, as we found ourselves under a blanket of snow around Memorial Day. Never a dull moment farming on the front range! Everything eventually made its way into the ground, where we are now getting harvests by the bucketful. Morning and evening chores now include a quick peak under green canopies of summer squash and cucumber, uncovering harvests that I could swear weren’t there the day before. Just about everything on our menus is coming off our farm right now. Lots of lettuces, beets, carrots, tomatoes, and peppers. Just this week pole beans have made an appearance, for what I hope will be a bountiful few weeks ahead.
This year we have also expanded the “kitchen garden” to include more herbs and edible flowers. The stuff farm dinner dreams are made of!
The last of the spring crops have been harvested, and we have what feels like an endless cabbage supply... Large batches of sauerkraut are brewing as we speak. Kohlrabi is a staple on menus right now, and we enjoyed the last of the broccoli and cauliflower a few weeks ago.
It may be considered the peak of the season, but we can’t stop and bask in it just yet. Now is time to look ahead to the fall harvest. The exit of the early summer crops has opened plenty of space for what will become rows of more beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, and a few weeks later cold-hardy greens will go in the ground. Can’t believe how the summer is flying... I better sign off now and get back out there!