With the Sirius star hanging over the night sky above us we all can rest assured that the hottest days of Summer have arrived. One quick glance at the forecast for this week confirms such astrological ideas and you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be out there working like the dogs of Summer, all in pursuit of Good Food. Even though July and arguably Summer is just getting kicked off there are a lot of “season’s lasts” happening when it comes to the hot weather and truth be told our minds are shifting to Fall and Winter. As we phase out the heat loving cultivators in favor of cold weather favorites, things like Siberian kale, overwintered onions, claytonia and spinach begin to take the forefront in our seeding schedule. Funny how it goes always thinking one or two seasons ahead in this type of work, at least hopefully keeping our minds on the cooler seasons ahead will help us cope with the heat to come.
Now if you are as big of a fan of us here at Star Light Gardens as we think you are then you know that we take July very seriously and for more reasons than just J and J s birthdays. For one July is the month when the Great Garlic Harvest commences and this year’s is of particular importance. This past Fall we planted around 400 pounds of garlic the most we have ever planted here at SLG. However in addition to planting more than ever before this is the first year that 100 percent of the seed garlic planted was saved from our own stock. Over the years we have been planting and saving more and more garlic, supplementing our saved seed with seed from an excellent organic farm. This year though we were able to save enough to plant all 400 pounds of just our own stock. Not to say that we might not grow more than that in the future and rely again on our trustee grower friends to supplement any increased need for seed. First reports in from the fields indicate this year’s crop is looking as good as ever and will be showing up at markets and online before you know it.
July of course also means tomatoes and believe us when we say it that we are as eager for the tomato waterfall as the rest of you. Our first plantings of cherry tomatoes have been trickling into the markets over the past few weeks and the flow is getting steadier each day. Heirlooms too are looking good and the encouraging sign of a few ripe ones here and there has us hopeful that the plants loaded up with green fruit now. Will soon be a sea of green leaves spotted with the yellow, pink, red, and purple color spectrum that only ripe tomatoes can create. Besides a smaller outside planting all of the plants in our tunnels have been expertly grafted by the Tomato Goddess herself Jen. Though the process of grafting does set back the plants a few weeks, it will be made up in production and longevity as the plants continue to produce after non grafted plants will have succumb to the pressures of the season. Well worth the effort and wait.
Have a Great Week