Bringing in the harvest in July

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July is the ultimate summer month! Blueberries, peaches, corn, tomatoes… and the hot weather to go with it! The first week of July left us hoping that that was our extra hot week of the summer—in the 90s, heat index over 100, humidity was intense. And we were wrong. The third week of July pushed temperatures higher, humidity higher, and hit a heat index of 105-110 for the weekend. It was like swimming through the air!
But all that heat makes everything ripen more quickly and imparts great flavor to many of the crops. The peaches are extra sweet this year and the blueberries have phenomenal flavor. And when the weather eased and the humidity came down a bit, everyone—including the plants—felt better.
And it truly feels like summer once watermelon and cantaloupes are here!
Zucchini, yellow squash and patty pan squash are all doing great. We are pruning the squash plants this year to see if it extends the plant productivity for a longer season.  (That is what is supposed to happen.) We enjoy learning something new!
After two years of the plums being frosted out (unheard of in our farming memories, which extends for 4 generations), we are happy to have Methley, Shiro, and Santa Rosa plums  in abundance. Each variety has a different flavor, and we enjoy them all!  We had a bumper crop of gooseberries this year, which has enabled us to have some turned into gooseberry jam (look for that on the market shelf and sometime this winter in the fruit shares).  Blackberries have exceptional flavor this year also; our customers must think so, as people are buying them as fast as we can pick.
          Basil and baby bok choy are doing great in the hydro house, and in mid-July we are starting chard and kale for fall crops. It’s hard to think of fall when it is 90 degrees , but by mid-August, when we will transplant the seedlings, night-time temperatures drop dramatically and daytime temps drop as well. Fall truly is just around the corner in farming terms.
The perennial flowers delight us with their succession blooms. The most dramatic so far is the perennial hibiscus, with its 8-inch flowers in vivid red or pink. This shrub is a wonderful mid-summer addition to the garden and thrives in July’s heat and thunderstorms. Liatris, black-eyed Susan, and cone flowers are additional July blooms. I love watching the honeybees and butterflies visit the flowers and collect nectar.
The chard and tomatoes in the high tunnel are finishing their run of productivity, transitioning to 100% field grown, and making way for the fall and early winter plantings in the high tunnel. Snap peas are planted the last week of July, so that we can start harvest in early October.
The okra house is a happy place these days, as okra loves the heat. Beautiful flowers develop into funny looking vegetables. The okra will continue into September, thanks to the greenhouse covering which provides the extra warmth that okra needs.
We are still basking in the long daylight hours, but by the end of the month we start noticing the creeping dusk a little earlier each night.
We are so happy that you can participate in the summer bounty with us! Eat fresh—eat local—eat well!


For more about the farm or our CSA program, go to 
www.highlandorchardsfarmmarket.com.

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