Yes, the carrots have begun!

We are excited to announce the first wonderful young carrots of our fall season are available this week at Hattie’s Garden from 2 – 5 p.m. this Thursday, September 25.

We grow carrots only in spring and fall; never in summer. Carrots are cold-hardy and love to grow in temperatures below 70 degrees. During hot summer days they use up too much of their sugar through transpiration.

What’s Available This Week

Please remember we will NOT be at the Historic Lewes Farmer’s Market (HLFM) this Saturday, September 27, so please do come and get your produce and flowers from Hattie’s Garden on Thursday, September 25 from 2 – 5 p.m.

We will return to HLFM the following Saturday, October 4 at the new fall location for the HLFM. We hope you attend the market in any case, as it is the last market to be held at the Lewes Historical Society grounds for the season. Beginning the following week, the HLFM moves to Shields Elementary parking lot for the remaining 8 weeks of the market in the months of October and November. Additionally, please remember the HLFM will change its hours, running a three hour market from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. during the fall market.

The following will be available this Thursday at the garden.

• Young Carrots – Slim early carrots are sweet and delicious.
• Hakurei Turnips – If you missed these last week, we still have some for you!
• Young Pak Choi ‘Joi Choi’ – A new planting of the ‘Joi Choi’ variety; these vegetables all get sweeter as the weather cools.
• Fun Jen Chinese Cabbage – Much lighter than a Napa Chinese Cabbage, this one can be eaten raw or slightly cooked, especially in a quick stir-fry.



• Red Russian Kale – Yes! Red Russian Kale is making its debut!

  Nice bunches of tender leaves can be juiced, eaten in salads, or cooked. Red Russian Kale is a bit different than the curly kale you find in the supermarket. It is tender, smooth and sweet.

  Even the kids like this one!

• Loose Leaf Lettuce – cut at a young and tender stage of growth and includes a delightful variety of colors, shapes and textures.
• Young Arugula – it’s beautiful, clean and very flavorful.
• Mesclun – a mix of arugula and loose leaf.
• Tomatoes – We are still pulling very nice medium sized slicing/salad tomatoes from the high tunnel.

  

  They are a pink Tomimaru Muchoo and a red Rebelski. Both hybrids have been chosen for their flavor.

  In addition, we have a few wonderfully tasting larger cherry tomatoes known as ‘Tommy Toe’ from the field and ‘Pareso’ grape tomato from our high tunnel. Pareso is a delicious and meaty grape tomato–sweet and flavorful. This was a late planting and while not as abundant as our mixed pints of mid-summer, this heirloom is sweet and good and you should have no trouble getting a pint at the garden on Thursday.

• Lemongrass – We will continue to harvest our lemongrass until the first killing frost.

  

  This is an essential herb throughout Asia and has more uses than we could possibly list, including use as an antiseptic and astringent. It has antibacterial and antioxidant properties, is given to babies and children to treat digestive disorders and stomachaches and is indispensable as an herb in Asian cooking.

  It is very easy to freeze and you can get a handout at Hattie’s Garden that will help you get started in taking advantage of something absolutely fresh that is not generally available locally.

• Peppers – Peppers grow very slowly at this time of year, but they do grow. We will not harvest them until next week, but if you like, you may pickup a string of Cayenne Peppers for hanging and drying.
• Flowers – This week we are featuring Lisianthus and Gomphrena. Our Lisianthus flowers are also doing a “second flush” and they look spectacular as always. They are a fantastic flower that will last a couple of weeks for you in your home. We are putting them with another long lasting favorite – Gomphrena for a wonderfully elegant display. You should find them at the HLFM market as well as at the garden sales for as long as the frost holds off. We may also have a few Benary Giant zinnias. These flowers are cut and conditioned to last all week for you and come with a packet of flower food.

What’s Ahead

The nights are crisp and the days have been mostly cooler than normal this September. That means our fall crops are all very happy. The spinach is growing well as are lettuce, arugula, kale, turnips, radishes, daikon radishes, carrots, mustard greens, swiss chard and beets.

Yours at the market and garden…