What’s Growing?

Peppers are starting to come in and we are SO excited! Sweet banana peppers have been ready for about a week and are now starting to come in very nicely. These are great just to crunch on or sliced in salads. You can also use them on pizzas and stuff larger ones with cheese and grill them. Of course, if you like to can, you can pickle them to use on sandwiches. Yum!

I just looked at some of the bell peppers this morning. We planted several colors to experiment with what people like and to see how each variety produces. In the picture, you can see that these are just starting to turn brown, hence the name Chocolate Bell Peppers. They are the size of a normal green bell and the flavor will be pretty similar – I think. Since this is our first time growing them, we will do a taste test and see shortly. Bell peppers are so versatile! You can eat them raw, cook them in stir-fries, use to top pizza or put in spaghetti sauce. Whatever your preferences, these chocolate bells will add a fun zip of color to your dishes.

Tomatillos are also filling out their husks. We planted three colors – yellow, purple, and the traditional green. Eaten raw, the yellow tomatillos are surprisingly sweet. And, these lovely gems are not just for salsa. I found a recipe for Pan con Tomatillos (tomatillos on/with bread) – sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!

Stop by our booth on Sundays from 10 am – 2 pm at the College View Farmers Market. We ‘two gals’ – Diana and Margaret – would love to chat and you can see what we have this week. You might want to bring an umbrella if you come by Sunday, July 29 – occasional showers are expected. But then, these make our garden grow so we are happy to dance in the rain!

And, for some trivia, “a peck is an imperial (aka Great Britain) and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 dry gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints (9.09 (UK) or 8.81 (US) liters). …four pecks make a bushel.” (Wikipedia)

My goodness! Mother Nature has sure played with us this year. . .snow on two weekends in April and pretty chilly weather. Because of this planting has been delayed. Those little transplants that we talked about last time, well, they are ready to get in the ground!

I am seeing a little green in the garden. My chives have come up and yarrow (which spreads and is doing so nicely after year 1) and horehound are coming up. The lemon balm, thyme and oregano are being a little shy. Hopefully, with the warmer weather they will start to pop up quickly.

Diana and I will be at the Sunday Market at College View Farmers Market (48th and Prescott) in Lincoln this year. The first market is on April 29 from 10 am – 2 pm. The next weekend, May 6, the times for the market are 3 – 6 pm due to the college graduation. We’ll love to talk with you so stop on by! Tell us what you are looking for or wish we carried.

For the next few weeks, we will have a few things – chives, baked goods (we both LOVE to bake), seasoning mixes and a few crafts.

Diana and I could hardly wait to get started with transplants. In February, we carefully planned what and when we would plant on the farm. Then, in early March, we each started cabbage and cauliflower – several varieties of each.

Then, we waited (impatiently, I might add!) about a week to start tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and several different herbs. We want to share several varieties with folks at Farmers Markets. There are SO many wonderful and unusual varieties of all these vegetables to choose from, so our customers will need help us decide what they like best and which we will grow again next year.

Here are some of the seedlings so far. These are cauliflower – Purple of Sicily and Green Macerata. Well, I know you can’t tell from the seedlings but just wait till spring when we can share the actual veggies!