Planting the Last Succession of Summer Crops

Our new implements for our BCS tractor made our last summer planting a breeze! The rotary plow and power harrow implements allowed us to clearly define both our beds and furrows which should help with both drainage and harvesting. Our last planting for the summer season consisted of Provider bush beans, Dragon’s Tongue bush beans, Dunja zucchini, Yellowfin zucchini, and cucumbers. This is officially the last of the summer crops we’ll be planting this year which means Fall will be here before you know it!

Now that the greenhouse is empty of all summer crops, we’ve been able to seed even more cool season crops to join the existing trays of kale, collards, and mustard greens. Last week we seeded over 40 trays with chard, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and mustard greens in preparation for Fall planting. We’re already seeing really good germination rates among these veggies which has us really excited for the change in seasons.

New to the harvesting lineup this weekend were the first of the jalapeños, Korean melons, and bitter melons. We’re particularly excited about the Korean melons and bitter melons as these are new crops for the farm. Judging by the fact that we sold out of bitter melon at the veggie wagon this past weekend, it seems that you’re just as excited as we are! As the name implies, bitter melon has a bitter flavor with flesh that resembles a cucumber in texture. It can be eaten raw, but cooking does temper the bitterness a bit. Have a favorite bitter melon recipe? Feel free to share it with us!