First week in October at the Farmer’s Market.
Big Idea
- Very, very full truck headed to the Farmer’s Market
- Light and unexpected frost the night before last
- There’s a new mid-week downtown market in Prescott
- Enjoy the amazing fall weather!
- See great pics & read more...
So many miracles on the farm.
I can't believe it's October already. We have a very, very full truck this morning headed to the market. Full of so much goodness. Full of a year's worth (or more like a decade's worth) of soil building, miraculous seeds, photosynthesis, and lots of hard work. I will never cease to be amazed by plants and the natural world, even amidst the current craziness happening on our planet. Even while we do our important work out in the world, we all have to find our places of retreat. Personally, mine is in plants.
We had a very, very, light and unexpected frost the night before last. It damaged some squash leave (no biggie, those plants are about to die anyway) and nipped some of the sensitive flowers like zinnias and dahlias (but minimally). Assuming the weather stays just a little bit warmer, we should have plenty more blooms to come. But it could also go the other way. Mother Nature is in charge. We will be busy this next week covering all the peppers, so we can get the most out of them. Especially this year as they are coming on so late, so many varieties haven't even started to color up yet. All that being said, you should probably come stock up on roasted chiles for the freezer while you can.
If you haven't already heard, the Prescott Farmers Market is hosting a new, mid-week, downtown market. We are not attending this market ourselves, but we have been sending veggies and flowers each week with Jason of Bread Friend. So if you need a mid week veggie or flower or bread fix, go check it out. Here are the deets: Wednesdays, 2:30pm to 5:30pm in downtown Prescott at 119 W Goodwin at the Tour Prescott lot located at the SE Corner of Goodwin and Montezuma. Meet a friend and picnic on the square in the amazing fall weather.
with love from your farmers,
Shanti & the Whipstone Crew
Lots of gorgeous flowers this week! We have all the usuals - plus a dahlia sale and a dahlia bouquet bar.
Never enough cooler space and always seeking the shade.
Gladiolas y’all - they are still looking so good - don’t pass them up!!
The Friday afternoon compost situation. This is what an Afternoon of flower bunching produces.
I just planted a giant bed of one of my favorite flowers this week. Yarrow. In a ton of beautiful colors like
peach, white, terra cotta and paprika. Can’t wait until these bloom in 2021.
If I had a spirit plant, I think this would be it.
Getting all prepped to cover the peppers and protect from frost.
All those seeds we planted last week, guess what? They germinated. It’s like. Miracle every. Single. Time.
A super late planting of black eyed peas. So close to being ready.
I usually try to show you the good looking stuff and avoid the eye sores. But I hate to give false impressions.
This is a tunnel that the wind ripped the plastic off of - back in June or July (it's a blur).
Certainly not the first time this has happened. Since then we have completely ignored it (along with several other
greenhouses, unplanted and full of weeds). But now that the time is imminent for getting all those
greenhouses full of winter crops - we best be getting on top of this project. Why, oh why didn't we get a
cover crop going in all of the greenhouses to avoid this weed situation. Next year, there's always next year.
Bringing some of these beautiful white pumpkins to market. Sorry after dark photos are not the best.
Who’s excited about rutabagas? I am!!!!
Early on in the pandemic, when I heard that many people were stuck at home, sort of bored, tackling their socially-distancing-appropriate bucket list items, like gardening and bread baking, I was a little jealous. I certainly wasn't bored. Nor did I have extra time on my hands. But I wanted to do those bucket list things too. I made the kids sit down with me and we each put down 5 things on a white board that we wanted to make our Quarantine Goals. We have all dabbled in them a little, though no major life accomplishments have been made. One of mine was working on floral design for fun (and to get better at something I lack confidence in). Well, 6 months later, I finally did my first one. I grew all these flowers. I love that some of the dahlia tubers and seeds to grow these plants were gifts from friends. I grew these roses (a long-time goal). I used this beautiful vase I got from a friend in Australia (you can get one too from ohflorastore.com). I picked these flowers and then I let them sit in the cooler for 5 days before I got around to making this arrangement. I seriously had to set an alarm on my phone so I would stop whatever other busyness I was occupying myself with and actually do this thing that I wanted to do, for myself. It felt good. And I still have the goal to doing an arrangement every week, though with flowers coming to and end real soon, that may have to wait until next year. But, I did a thing. And I encourage you all to do your thing too. It feels good.
Here was my design #2, done on the same evening with different flowers. I was in a hurry
(I mean, Cory was making tacos for dinner and they were almost ready). I did a bad job of
constructing it and it was a little messy. When I set it down to take a photo,
it promptly fell over and got kind of smooshed, so it doesn't look really great here.
But I learned a few things. Like the importance of balance in your design work.
WHAT'S FRESH THIS WEEK
Vegetables
arugula
spring salad mix
head lettuce
kale - lacinato and curly
collard greens
broccolini
radishes
daikon radish
salad turnips
bok choy
carrots - orange and rainbow
summer squash
cucumbers
Spaghetti squash
white decorative pumpkins
cherry tomatoes
beefsteak tomatoes
okra
potatoes - fingerlings
onions - yellow and red
garlic
scallions
shishito and Padrón peppers
green chiles : sugar, sahuaro, charger and ancho
hot chiles: serrano, jalapeño, santa fe/güerito
bell peppers, sweet Italian, and banana peppers
chives
mint
thyme
eggs (limited)
Flowers
Mixed bouquets
Zinnias
Sunflowers
Dahlias
Gladiolas
Mason jar bouquets
Recipes
