September is the time when we begin to harvest our fall crops. Yes, the summer of 2019 has lingered with its hotter than ‘normal’ weather this month, but we have also enjoyed cooler evenings and mornings.

Autumn officially starts in five days on Monday, September 23. It is the intervening period between the warmest time of the year, summer, and the coldest time of the year, winter.

For the remainder of September, Hattie’s Garden will harvest beets, snap beans and young ginger, as well as lettuce, arugula, Hakurei turnips, and radishes. Of course, we will continue to offer lovely flower bouquets. We expect to harvest turmeric in early October.

For those of you not familiar with our ginger — it’s not anything like the tough, gnarled-rooted kind you may be used to getting at the supermarket. This ginger is juicy and plump, with pink at its tips from where green stems shoot forth. It’s mild and tender enough to eat raw and, of course, very good for you! With an almost translucent skin that is so thin it doesn’t need peeling, you can practically rub it off. Just wash it and trim the cut surfaces.

We hope to see you at the Garden on Thursday or Friday, or at the HLFM on Saturday. Remember that beginning Saturday, October 5th, there are two major changes for the HLFM: (1) We move to Shields Elementary School parking lot for the remainder of the season and (2) the fall hours at the market change to 9 to Noon.

What’s Available This Week

The following will be available on Thursday and Friday at Hattie’s Garden from 2 to 5, and the HLFM on Saturday from 8 to 12, located on the grounds of the George H.P. Smith Park at the corner of Dupont and Johnson Avenues. If these times/dates do not work for you, please email Hattie to make other arrangements.

• Fresh Young Ginger — We will have a limited amount of ginger this week, and expect more the following week.
• Beets — Young bunches with greens.
• Snap Beans — Beautiful and flavorful.
• Radishes — We’re harvesting a new planting of red radishes.
• Loose leaf lettuce — Triple-washed, bagged and kept cold for you in our coolers.
• Arugula — It’s young and delicious. Triple-washed, bagged and kept cold for you in our coolers.
• Mesclun — Triple-washed, bagged and kept cold for you in our coolers.
• Hakurei Turnips — Sweet, crunchy, and great raw in a salad, yet versatile enough to be added to soups and stir-fry.
• Cherry Tomatoes — Limited amount of mixed pints.
• Basil — Freshly harvested.
• Specialty Cut Flowers — Choose a freshly prepared beautiful bouquet which will include this week several lisianthus stems, along with zinnias, gomphrena, and tall blue ageratum. Or have a custom bouquet made on the spot. Each bouquet comes with flower food, and is guaranteed to last at least a week.

Yours in the Garden & at the Market,