Fall Planting Continues

Village Farm Team,

Fall planting continues this week as we focus predominantly on brassicas and root veggies for the (hopefully) cooler weather we’ll see over the next few months. Carrots and beets were sown both in the field and in some of our raised beds and we’re just starting to see them germinate. We also seeded scallions, lettuce, and more kale and arugula. We’ll be planting the silo field soon so in anticipation we seeded around 80 trays with a mix of storage cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and Romanesco cauliflower. Our first succession of brassicas are swiftly growing so we should have the first harvest of kale for you very soon!

We’ve been harvesting a variety of peppers over the last few weeks including shishitos, banana peppers, and jalapenos. Our most prolific fall pepper producers so far have been our banana peppers. We’re growing the variety “Goddess” which produces sweet, mild tasting peppers. Sweet banana peppers are versatile in the kitchen and can be used as the base of soups, raw in salads, or pickled to be enjoyed later. If you haven’t been able to try any yet, make sure to stop by the veggie wagon this Saturday from 8am to noon.

In order to try to get ahead of our weed situation, we’ve been implementing a different method: flame weeding. This method has many benefits, namely that it takes much less time than scuffle hoeing or weeding by hand to cover the same amount of ground. The intense heat generated by the flame weeder sears the leaves of the weeds. Eventually, this causes the plant to die back and replenish the soil with nutrients as the dead plant decays. We’re eager to see how this method helps with weed management over the coming months.