The First Harvest of Sugar Cube Melons

JULY 6TH, 2022

We started harvesting our Sugar Cube melons this week! Sugar Cubes are what is often thought of as a “Cantaloupe”: round fruits with a beige rind that has a netted appearance and deeply aromatic orange flesh. Since Sugar Cubes are considered a “personal-size” melon, they’re smaller than a traditional cantaloupe. Just as the name implies, this melon variety has intensely sweet flesh! We highly recommend putting a scoop of ice cream, sorbet, or yogurt in the hollowed out seed cavity of these melons for a delicious summertime treat.

Have you had a chance to enjoy any of our summer greens? Since traditionally popular greens like lettuces, spinach, and kale do not tolerate our summers, we opt to grow other varieties that can withstand the intense heat and humidity. This summer, we’re growing amaranth, sweet potatoes, and Malabar spinach to harvest as leafy greens. Though our Malabar spinach won’t be ready for harvesting for a few weeks, you can get both amaranth and sweet potato greens (pictured below) at the farm stand! Farmer Nick recommends caramelizing some sweet peppers and onion in a pot, then adding the greens and some stock for a quick braise.

The time has come for another round of cover cropping! We planted a cowpea cover crop in the last few rows by the animal enclosures. Historically, these rows tend to have the worst drainage and a higher percentage of clay in the soil. As it grows, the cowpea cover crop will work to fix beneficial nitrogen to the soil, reduce soil erosion, and add organic matter to the soil once it’s mowed down. Our plan is to also plant a cowpea cover crop in all of our former tomato rows as they have a tendency to pull a lot of nutrients from the soil. The added bonus with this type of cover crop is that we’ll be able to eventually harvest some cowpeas for you!

Currently in Season at the Farm Stand: Sweet Potato Greens, Amaranth Greens, Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, Asian Eggplant, Italian Eggplant, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Okra, Korean Melons, Sugar Cube Melons, Bulb Onions, Fennel, Basil, and Lemongrass.