Is Summer officially here yet?
I'm just going to say yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah... it was so much hotter this time last year, but let's not belittle this Summer's heat just yet. I've recently started getting tan on my back, through a long sleeve shirt. The sweat drenches me on the humid days and plasters my shirt to my ever hunching over back. The sun does the rest. I've also got the okra itch, the squash scrapes, and the tomato stains. I'm hanging in there and so far, so good.
The crops are all doing great right now! What started out as back-breaking harvesting of the petite okra plants has gotten easier with each passing week and each foot taller they grow. Yesterday, the okra plants were just above waist high on me. The squash has been prolific and it is a difficult tight-rope act trying to not crush the plants growing out into the walking aisle. I can't even recall how many hundreds of pounds of cucumbers we've been harvesting and selling wholesale... at least half a ton now. Oh, and tomatoes. They just keep coming! They are unstoppable! Quality-wise, It is absolutely AMAZING to eat okra, an over-ripe tomato, or a cucumber straight off of the plant. It makes a huge difference eating truly fresh vegetables that haven't been flown in from Peru or ripened in the back of an eighteen-wheeler from California.
There is no going back for me. The grocery store is so very lacking.
On the horizon: eggplant, more peppers, melons, edamame, and long beans!
Most importantly, here are some fun pictures!
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| Tomato face, Patty Pan squash owl in the rafters, "Brioche" squash, and a wet dog caterpillar |
