Monthly Archive: August 2015
Hello Everyone! On Thursday of last week a series of storms delivered nearly 2 ½ inches of rain. This is, of course, more than we really wanted at one time, especially since most of it came in very heavy downpours. I had just seeded radishes into very dry soil the day before and I was worried they would be washed off the beds, but they seem to be popping up okay. We were also in the process of preparing more beds for planting and the rain came before we had a chance to till in the fertilizer we had applied, so some of it was probably washed off the beds. I’m not complaining though — I know that many areas to our east that have been very dry did not receive any rain. And then there’s the Plainfield / Scotch Plains area that had significant road damage from flooding caused by a stalled storm that dropped 6” of the wet stuff in just a few hours! (more…)
Now that we have tomatoes to spare, why not try an easy salad dressing with some of the tomatoes that are “riper” than others. As we start to ease back into salad greens, it’s a good time to broaden our salad dressing repertoire, too. (more…)
Here’s a simple recipe to make your own tomato juice. Then, you can use it in the Summer Gazpacho Soup recipe, too, which follows, both taken from Vermont chefs Imrie & Jarmusz’s book, Cooking Close to Home. Enjoy! (more…)
Hi Everyone! So I thought we were almost done with the brutal heat and humidity for this year but I guess the forecasters were wrong (imagine that!). We received about an inch of rain last week but my soil dries out quickly and I am hoping for a good rain soon. We are in the midst of a big push to get planted up with the fall brassica crops, greens and lettuces and I really count on precipitation, especially for the direct seeded crops like arugula, radishes, turnips, and spinach. (more…)
Purslane is one of those plants that grows unbidden all over, and yet, it is embraced by foodies around the world for its succulent leaves and stems. Originally from India, this fleshy plant resembles baby jade plants. (more…)
Hello Everyone! The weather continues to be excellent for growing and for living. We are a little on the dry side but are hoping to catch some rain in the next couple of days. I am in the process of sowing many crops for the fall harvest, so I count on some precipitation to germinate the seeds. (more…)
Hello Everyone, We had 2 rain events this past week; the first dropped .7 of an inch and the second .3”, so we received the 1 inch per week that is ideal. Both came just as I was about to head out on my seeding tractor to do some planting, so the timing was less than perfect, but hey, we need the rain. The second storm came with a gorgeous double rainbow, so that was adequate compensation for my frustration with not being able to seed. The heat wave will break soon, so all in all the weather continues to be copacetic. (more…)
