Welcome to October. This is the time of beautiful fall colors, gorgeous sunrises & sunsets, the Rehoboth Jazz Festival, Fall Craft Fair, the Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddlers’ Festival, and the Historic Lewes Farmer’s Market (HLFM) fall market.

This week, HLFM will begin its fall season at the Shields Elementary parking lot, just off Savannah Road. If you are traveling down Savannah Road from Five Points toward the City of Lewes, you will see signs for the market and someone from the City of Lewes Police Department directing traffic.

Please remember the market will open one hour later and run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Hattie’s Garden will also have Thursday afternoon hours at the farm. Enter the garage through the door just behind the house. We have been growing lots of great produce and we are still cutting flowers from the garden.

What’s Available This Week

The following items will be available at Hattie’s Garden on Thursday, October 2 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and at the HLFM on Saturday, October 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

• Young Arugula – it’s beautiful, clean and very flavorful.
• Mesclun – a mix of arugula and loose leaf.
• Loose Leaf Lettuce – cut at a young and tender stage of growth and includes a delightful variety of colors, shapes and textures.
• Red Russian Kale – nice bunches of tender leaves can be juiced, eaten in salads, or cooked (try our Kale Bean Soup recipe).
• Young Toscano Kale from our thinnings. It’s delicate and delicious. Great eaten raw.
• 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.
• Hakurei Turnips – if you tend to run screaming from turnips, these pretty little turnips just may turn you around.
• Carrots – our first planting of sweet carrots for the fall season.

  

• Tomatoes – we are still harvesting medium sized tomatoes for slicing and salads. Our cherry tomatoes are ‘Tommy Toe‘ (a larger bright red heirloom cherry with great flavor) and ‘Jasper‘ (a small delicious-pop-in-your-mouth sweet cherry tomato that kids love).
• Peppers – our hot peppers are still producing and range in heat from a mild Ancho or Anaheim to a very very hot Habenero.
• Lemongrass – get some fresh lemongrass to freeze for use during the winter and for using fresh in your fish, chicken and vegetable dishes.
• Flowers – we will be cutting Lisianthus, Zinnias, Gomphrena and Ageratum this week. These flowers are cut and conditioned to last all week for you and come with a packet of flower food.

Storage & Freezing Tips for Greens

Store your carrots, lettuce mixes, kale, pak choi, and other leafy greens unwashed with a dampened paper towel (be sure it is not too wet) in a plastic bag in coldest part of the refrigerator. As long as they stay nice and cold, they should keep from one to two weeks.

Generally, the “crisper” drawer is probably not the coldest place in your refrigerator. It is better suited for vegetables that prefer the 45° (degree) range, such as peppers, eggplants, beans and potatoes.

Freezing: Greens freeze well. Wash, then blanch for 3 minutes, drain and plunge into ice water. Chill for two minutes; drain. Pack in freezer containers or bags. Use within 6 months.

Yours at the market and garden…