Planting fall veggies while harvesting summer crops

We are still in the thick of harvesting all the delicious summer veggies but are starting to plant cooler season veggies for September and beyond when it is slightly cooler.

Yesterday we transplanted the first lettuce, chard, kale and collards of the fall. Tomorrow we will be transplanting more brassicas including broccoli, broccolini, cabbage and cauliflower.

With the hot days many of the leafy greens will grow very fast and they definitely will be ready to harvest in six weeks or maybe even a little less.

These small plants always need a little bit more care and attention early on with the added stress of the warm weather to the stress they already get from being transplanted. It is very nice that the weather cooled down this week and the forecast for next week is not too bad.

Pretty much every week from now on until the end of October we will be doing some transplanting in the field. Starting soon we will be adding in direct seeding at least every other week.

The new crops bring different tasks to the farm as we have lots more weeding to do to keep the plants ahead of the weeds that grow fast with the combination of heat and water we give often to the new plants.

We were able to get ahead on lots of our composting for the fall but still have to continue doing some prep work with the tractor to stay ahead of where we need to be planting.

Almost all of our fall and winter crops will be in the ground by the end of October to get them growing well before the days get too short and cold so it is a sprint to get everything in the field.

That can be a challenge while we are still busy with the summer crops and have some just starting to have lots to harvest but its part of the fun. Plus, the shoulder season is always a fun time to eat a combination of cool weather and hot weather crops.

Even though we try to get the eggplant to start producing well it always seems to wait until August to really be covered in baby eggplants.

It is exciting to see all the baby eggplants out there and for the Japanese and Chinese varieties that grow quicker than the other ones we have lots of them ready to harvest.

The Japanese and Chinese don’t break down when being cooked so it makes them perfect to slice in half and throw in the pan or on the grill.