As the current market garden winds down for the season, the new garden is sprouting, showing hope and promise for next year. The rain last weekend nourished the cover crop seeds I planted just before, and the beds are now full of fresh green life.

A mixture of winter rye, daikon radishes, and Austrian winter peas will hold down the compost I spread and send their roots deep to break up the soil in preparation for spring crops. And when I mow them down ahead of spring planting, the cover crops will add nutrients back into the soil. It’s such a simple thing to broadcast seeds in the fall and let them do so much good work over the winter.

In the “old” garden, I’m still harvesting a few tomatoes, green onions, and peppers as we ease into fall. You can pick up some of these fresh vegetables at the Broadway Community Market tomorrow (9am-1pm), as well as garlic and knit and crocheted items.

See you at the market!

I’ve missed a couple markets lately, and I’m finally telling you why: Fairydiddle Farm is moving! Paul and I settled into a new house about a month ago, and while I still have access to the “old” market garden, we’ve been busy putting in a new one. It will be bigger, at 2,000 square feet (vs. 1,500), and hopefully better, as I’m being more intentional about the preparation. I’m so excited to see how things grow next year!

Before we moved in, while we were still cleaning and painting inside the house, I laid down plastic sheeting and some borrowed landscape fabric to kill the grass. Now, about two months later, the plastic has been pulled up. On five out of eight beds so far, I’ve laid down newspaper and spread garden soil – a 50/50 mix of topsoil and compost – over top.

I’m hoping to start seeding the finished beds today, ahead of this weekend’s rain, with a cover crop mixture of winter rye and daikon radishes. These cold-hardy plants will grow through the winter, with the radishes, sometimes called “tillage radishes,” breaking up the soil in preparation for spring planting. I’d also like to get a sixth bed prepped today, but I’ve been moving slowly this week due to illness.

Which leads me to my other, far less exciting announcement: Once again, I will not be at the market tomorrow. My friends will still have plenty for you to shop, though, with fresh produce, pasture-raised beef and eggs, healing salve, moisturizing balms, take-home meals, sourdough bread, handknit items, and more.

See you at the market – next week!

Tomorrow the Broadway Community Market will be open 9am-3pm to coincide with the Broadway Autumn Festival and Antique Car Show and to kickoff our fall market season. In addition to our market, there will be vendors all up and down Main Street and on part of Central Street. Come out for food, handmade items, antiques, classic cars, live music, and more!

In addition to vegetables and herbs, I’m bringing some extra crocheted items for the festival. Just in time for the hot drinks that come with cooler weather (the forecast says it is coming…), I’ve made more cup cozies. They have stretchy ribbing and pretty buttons that allow them to fit a variety of takeout cups, mugs, and smoothie cups. They might even fit a pint of ice cream!

I’ll also have dish cloths, skillet handle covers, face scrubbies (also great for dishes!), and market and water bottle bags. And if I can get the creatures finished in time, there will be a fishbowl stuff-and-spill toy on the table too.

Don’t forget: This is the last week to enter the market giveaway! Each purchase from a market vendor gains you an entry into the weekly drawing and the grand prize drawing.

See you at the market!