This evening (Wednesday), from 5 to 8 p.m., the Broadway Community Market is hosting a special Back-to-School Evening Market to celebrate the beginning of a new school year. We have an incredible 17 vendors registered, including two food vendors, live music, and a line dance demonstration in addition to local produce, fresh flowers, artwork, handmade gifts, and more! Make sure to pick up a bingo card to fill out for a chance to win some prizes too.

The garden seems to know I have two markets this week and has provided a bounty of produce (okay, it probably has more to do with the mild weather last week, but the timing couldn’t be better). Here is what you can find at my table this evening, and likely on Saturday as well:

• cucamelons
• cherry tomatoes
• slicing cucumbers
• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• jalapenos
• garlic
• zucchini
• beans
• garlic salt
• crocheted items

The cucamelons, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers are great for make-ahead lunches for kids and adults. And I’ve been working up lots of crocheted bookmarks, both more flower bookmarks and new little sprout bookmarks, that make great gifts for students, teachers, and bookworms.

Our previous evening markets this summer were huge successes and a lot of fun, so come join us! Make sure to also follow the Broadway Community Market on Facebook and sign up to receive these farm updates in your inbox (see sidebar), if you haven’t already, to make sure you know about future special markets as well. We have the Broadway Autumn Festival coming up, and last year we had a fun trunk-or-treat style market in October, plus holiday markets after the regular season has ended.

See you at the market!

Although August is not a month of transition – with the fall equinox exactly one month from today, we are still solidly in summer – I can feel the change coming. The light changes, giving the days a golden hue and fading earlier in the evening, and crisp mornings begin to sneak in here and there.

And here I sit, with my two-fisted grip on summer, willing my tired bean plants not to give up yet and rejoicing over each perfectly ripe tomato. Admittedly, a small part of me looks forward to pulling out my favorite wool sweater and drinking copious amounts of tea and curling up under a blanket with a good book (or three) . . . but then I go contemplate the many (many) projects I’d like to accomplish, the crops I’d like to try yet (parsnips, beets, winter radishes, maybe another go at carrots), and I tighten my grip on this blessedly warm season.

I go out eagerly in the morning to put in yet another garden bed – for strawberries! – and get distracted by weeding, an endless but satisfying task. And then I see all those gloriously golden cherry tomatoes needing to be harvested, so I grab a bowl and start picking. This is good work, and I am grateful for it. If I end my morning covered in sweat and dirt and perhaps some scratches, I probably also have a smile on my face.

I also love sharing the fruits of my labor, so please do come see me at the Broadway Community Market on Saturday morning, and pick out some veggies to take home with you. Available this week:

• paste tomatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• bell peppers
• jalapenos
• cucumbers
• cucamelons (maybe)
• zucchini (probably)
• garlic
• garlic salt
• crocheted items

In another week or so, once they’ve cured and I’ve gotten them trimmed and cleaned up, I’ll have onions at the market too. I’m also working up some new crocheted bookmarks for the Back-to-School Evening Market next Wednesday, which should be a lot of fun!

See you at the market!

We finally had a good soaking (if a bit overenthusiastic) rain last week, coming down in torrents as if the entire summer’s worth of rain decided to fall all at once. Puddles formed in our basement; a limb fell in the neighbor’s yard, nearly taking out our trio of mailboxes; and tomatoes nowhere near ripe split open from stem to blossom end. I was simultaneously thrilled with the rain and concerned that it was too much.

But then, I saw the cucamelons.* Monday morning I walked through the garden, taking note of what needed to be done, and when I glanced over at the cucamelon vines, not expecting much, I saw fat, ripe cucamelons ready to pick! I picked Monday. I picked again Wednesday. And there are more cucamelons waiting for me to pick tomorrow (Friday) morning. After I’d given up hope of a decent cucamelon harvest this year, here they are!

I can’t guarantee this will happen again, so if you love cucamelons or have been wanting to try them, come pick some up at the Broadway Community Market this Saturday morning. I will also have slicing cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, and garlic, as well as garlic salt and crocheted items.

See you at the market!

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*If, like my neighbor, you’re asking, Cuca-what?, here’s a brief explanation. A cucamelon, also called a Mexican sour gherkin, is a tiny, bite-sized cucumber that looks like a miniature watermelon and tastes a bit like a pickle. It’s crunchy, flavorful, and snackable, and if you try one, you just might fall in love with this cute little vegetable.