Fields of Plenty

This year has been very  damp and the fruit is throwing temper tantrums. Here are some tips to help lengthen the shelf life of your fruit. PEACHES  Peaches will soften in 1-2 days on the counter. To hasten the process, put them in a brown paper bag with a banana or an apple; watch carefully because they can go from ripe to over ripe very quickly. Use within a day or refrigerate. Use within 4-5 days from the refrigerator. Peaches will continue to slowly soften in the refrigerator and they will gradually dehydrate, so you do not want to leave them in the fridge too long. You are better off putting your peaches in the fridge, and then putting them on the counter to ripen rather than putting ripe peaches in the fridge. Do not wash your peaches and then store them - the water encourages rotting.  As we come to the end of the peach season, it is especially important to follow the above guidelines. End-of-season peaches will not get as soft as mid-season peaches. If you ...

This list is based on the weather behaving. If it is hot, most things will start later. Cool can mean later or earlier, depending on how cool. Apples Brussel Sprouts  Cabbage  Cantaloupe (more Aug than Sept) Carrots Cauliflower  Collards  Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Figs Herbs Kale Lettuce Limas!! Nectarines Okra Onions Peaches Pears - including Asian Pears Peppers Plums Potatoes Pumpkins (more Sept) Radishes Raspberries Scallions Squash - summer and winter Sweet Potatoes Swiss Chard Tomatoes Turnips Watermelon

A bit of what we've got going on this wet summer. The rain softened the branches and we had some tree damage to our pear and plum trees Rain rain go away. Chelsea wants to come out and play :( The poor pigs had their pen flood almost everyday (sometimes twice a day) And of course all the wet made things  - like these peaches - rot  We had a good crop of gooseberries though The swiss chard hasn't done too bad - which is good since it is a family favorite The cool spring made the strawberries late. But we enjoyed them just as much We managed to get a good crop of cherries picked between storms          www.highlandorchrdsfarmmarket.com         highlandcsa@gmail.com