Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 20 No 14–September 15, 2015

Finally some Rain !

We received at least 3.5” of rain at the end of the week. This should end the “drought” conditions. We have been working on an area to plant the garlic for next season. We usually like to plant by the middle of October.

 

The temperatures have stayed seasonably cool both during the day and at night. The rest of the week should again bring low temperatures and may even be too cold in the early am hours. The crew will be wearing their flannel shirts and gloves for sure. We do start about 6:30 am now as it is just too dark at 6:00 to start working in the fields. We don’t want to have to go out with miner’s hats on!!

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:   

The newly seeded Oriental greens are coming along and the eggplant are starting to slow down on their production. The hot peppers continue to do well. We have 4 beds replanted and another one to be cleaned up and replanted this week. These new plantings include White Hailstone radishes, Oriental greens and Daikon radishes. The basil crop has dropped off both in the greenhouse and in the fields.

From the Fields: We are still able to harvest some tomatoes though the plants are shutting down. The cucumbers are pretty much shut down with only a few plants left producing. This is not unusual as the cooler temperatures and shorter days are the main reason that the hot weather crops start to shut down. The red noodle beans have returned to the harvest with excellent production this year. We have an excellent winter squash harvest this year. The first ones to be delivered will be butternut squash next week. We also have more potatoes coming up in the next week or two.

 

The sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) crop looks extra good this year and we plan on starting the harvest in October. They are now in full bloom and this is a sign that they are ready to “choke” up. The sunchoke are native plants to North American and used extensively by Native Americans LONG before the Europeans arrived on the continent. They have a “nutty” flavor  and cooked like potatoes or may be eaten raw. They will not brown during cooking as there is no sugar in them. They are a favorite with diabetics.

Weather Report: Autumn is approaching and some of the trees are starting to show their colors. The color change being earlier than usual is mostly due to the dry conditions along with the cooler temperatures.

Dory and the corn harvest