After what seems to be nearly months without rain this weekend we finally got the relief from drought that has been well overdue. It really for the most part was a good soaking rain that all the life whether plant, animal or soil organism truly needed. Now don’t get us wrong the timing of the rain wasn’t the best for those of us who do Sunday markets but as some old timers say”we’ll get the rain when we need it” and we certainly needed it. The only question now is what to do with all of our free time since at least for a few days we can ignore the regiment of rotating irrigation.
One thing we of course we will be spending our time on is planting for the seasons to come. Though we have just under 2 weeks of Summer left with that chill in the night air it’s easy to see Fall is just around the bend. And as we all know with those cooler nights also come longer nights and consequently less hours of daylight for our little veggy friends. In some ways this is a good thing the cool temps and reducing light allow for things to grow larger and hold in the field longer without bolting. Not to mention the sweetness that the cold imparts upon the veg. But things are also growing slower and many things are past their point of seeding for this year. This really puts the the pressure on us four season growers as the countdown is on until you can’t realistically plant anything that will be harvestable this year.
So for about the next month and a half it’s plant, plant, plant, then the pace changes a bit. Once November rolls around there are a few key direct seedings and transplantings that will take place in the last months of the year. First and foremost is a November seeding of overwintered carrots that will be harvested in late Spring 2026. After that it’s some seedings of brassicas each month for salad greens and of course transplanting spinach and lettuce for late Winter. Then before we know we’ll be back grafting tomatoes in the basement and dreaming of that Summer sun.
That being said with the last two weeks of Summer being in the here and now there is still a lot to plant out in the fields before we turn exclusivity to planting inside the tunnels. Our goal each year is to continue harvesting outside up until at least Thanksgiving so that we have a deep pocket of veg safely tucked away for the Winter. The nursery seems to be an ever lasting sea of transplants with more lettuce, choys and spinach dying to get into the ground in the coming weeks. We’ll get as much space prepped for the last round of Arugula and Mizuna seedings out in the field. Those seedings will also be the first official sightings of row cover, it’s ghostly white appearance returning to the fields and heralding in the spooky season to come. With the cooler weather and longer nights it’s also a great time of year to bring out those SLG sweatshirts find all Official SLG Merch here.
Have a Great Week