We finally got some rain Sunday night. Which for us is about the first time it has rained on the farm in two months. The droughty weather has not affected us very much because as we slide into shorter fall days there is not much going on in our field. Our tomato plants that were producing fruit until the hard frost killed them at the end of October prefer dry weather. We don’t really grow any fall field crops, so right now our rows are just filled with dead summer crops like tomatoes and tomatillos.
But we do grow one winter crop, garlic. November is always the time we plant garlic which then grows all winter long and gets harvested towards the end of June. We typically do not irrigate our garlic crop because the “normal” fall rains, winter snow, and spring showers is enough to grow and produce delicious garlic.
With the recent extra dry weather I have been hesitant to plant the garlic. Our sandy loam field looks more like a sandbox so adding drip irrigation might not be enough to nurture the garlic cloves to establish roots and grow healthy plants. But we can’t wait too long to plant garlic or we will miss our planting window (they need to be in the ground before December).
So this past Sunday we shaped our garlic beds making them 2 feet wide and 100 feet long. We started working through the various heirloom varieties breaking apart bulbs and separating the cloves. Our plan is to begin planting garlic this weekend with the hope that we get a bit more rain this week, fingers crossed.
If you are looking for garlic seed our heirloom garlic can be used for planting, just keep in mind that unlike the garlic from a seed supplier our garlic has been stored at room temperature which is perfect for eating garlic but can result in not every clove germinating when planted. We currently have 5 varieties of garlic available in our online shop.
This Saturday’s Easton farmers’ market special will be our Chicken Mole Taco. We simmer succulent chicken in a rich smokey red mole sauce that is a bit spicy, it is served on a warm corn tortilla garnished with queso fresco. We tend to sell out of this special, so if you are interested in this warm comforting mole we recommend you plan to get to the market before 10am.
Our soup this Saturday will be Mushroom Soup, creamy and delicious made with local shiitakes. We offer our hot soup by the half pint, pint, or quart. Which you can order ahead of time. Our delicious soups are perfect for a quick lunch or part of an extravagant dinner. When making the soups we do not use any preservatives so they must be kept refrigerated or can be frozen for later use.
We hope you can swing by our booth at the Easton farmers’ market as we only have 5 market days left for the season!