August is a beautiful month
I love the various stages of growth and beauty that overlap at this time of year.
Young fall greens and broccoli, summer okra in its prime, flowers beginning to fade, late tomatoes about to produce, & freshly sown lettuce, beet and turnip seeds nearing germination – all growing side by side. Joy truly does come here with the morning’s light. This field has been my favorite spot on the farm all summer long.
**************
Thanks to last week’s 4 inches of rain, we are suddenly swimming in eggplant! Look for them in this week’s boxes! Here’s a scrumptious recipe I am going to make this week from Linda Watson, one of my favorite NC cookbook authors, who has so many healthy and affordable veggie-based recipe ideas:
Eggplant Baba Ganoush or Smoky Eggplant Spread.
Eggplant Baba Ganoush or Smoky Eggplant Spread.
We pulled our popcorn this week, and like most of the corn in the area this year, the crop is sadly pretty dismal. We mowed down the corn stalks, tilled it in, and already have kale and brussels sprouts planted here.
This year makes me very thankful that I am not dependent on only one or two crops to make my living – corn and soybean farmers have really struggled. Diversity is the name of the game for small-scale farmers. It also makes me thankful that NC isn’t in a drought anywhere near the magnitude of what is going on in California. I cannot fathom the depths of stress and total helplessness that those farmers feel.
This year makes me very thankful that I am not dependent on only one or two crops to make my living – corn and soybean farmers have really struggled. Diversity is the name of the game for small-scale farmers. It also makes me thankful that NC isn’t in a drought anywhere near the magnitude of what is going on in California. I cannot fathom the depths of stress and total helplessness that those farmers feel.
I’m still sooo happy that the okra is producing like crazy – but I bet that smile will fade by late September when the plants are 10′ tall and super annoying to harvest! 😉
Gomphrena, also known as globe amaranth, has an adorable little clover-like blossom that dries beautifully and with vivid colors. This week I’m going to harvest a whole bunch and try my hand at making some dried flower arrangements later this fall.
