Well, sun does not appear to be in the forecast for tomorrow. In fact, we have a 90 percent chance of rain and high winds. The farmer’s market is still scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but you’ll want to keep an eye on the Facebook page in case of a weather-related closure. As always, even if we’re not at the market tomorrow, you can contact me for on-farm pickup – I might even head into Harrisonburg Saturday, if meeting up in town would be more convenient.

I still have lots of garlic, a few sweet potatoes (fingerling and small to medium sizes), fire salt, hot salt, and hand-knit/crocheted items. And there are a few last jalapenos hanging on the plants! The collards and kale are still a bit small yet, and the squash needs to cure so it’s good and sweet and stores through the winter. Maybe this promised rain will give the greens a nice growth spurt!

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I’m putting the garden to bed a little at a time. Now that the sweet potatoes are all up, I can rake out that bed and seed it with a cover crop of winter rye. I finally pulled out the tomato vines as well, though I’ve left the massive marigold plants for now; they’re just too pretty to uproot yet.

The weather has turned cool, darkness falls sooner every evening, and I suddenly find myself fighting of the urge to hibernate. I try to embrace the slower months, give myself grace when I wake up late every morning because the sun wakes up late, too. But not yet. The harvest isn’t all in yet: there are still sweet potatoes to dig, squash to cut off the vine, beds to sow with winter rye and cover with mulch. The first frost has kindly waited (so far) for me to finish these tasks this year.

The sweet potatoes I dug two weeks ago have been curing in a spare bedroom, and my experimental bed of brassicas appears to be producing some collards and kale. Although I’d hoped to harvest squash last week, the heirloom orange butternuts I planted in late spring are taking their sweet time ripening. Soon.

Unfortunately, the New Market Farmer’s Market has been cancelled this week due to low vendor count. If you would like sweet potatoes, garlic, hot or fire salt, or any of my handmade items, please send me an email, and we can arrange a time for on-farm pickup. We are planning to be at the market next week, October 29, so pray for sunshine and come out to shop! In addition to the list above, I hope to finally have some of those beautiful butternut squash for you and maybe collards and kale.

And if you’re wondering where I disappeared to last week, we headed to the Outer Banks for a few days of wild ponies, exploring, relaxing, and visiting with extended family before attending the beautiful wedding of one of Paul’s cousins (outdoors and fully vaccinated! 🙂 ).

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Hot salt is back, and it has a friend! Thanks to a less-than-stellar jalapeno harvest this year, this second batch of hot salt is rather small, so grab it while it’s, well, hot! When I ran out of jalapenos, I concocted an even hotter seasoning for my spice-loving friends: fire salt. Paul (my husband) has actually been using an early version of fire salt all year, and he puts it on almost everything. This spicy mixture of habaneros and salt can be used on just about anything you would use plain salt on, from eggs to soup.

The butternut squash continues to ripen, turning a beautiful shade of bright orange that I’d been looking forward to all summer, and I hope to have it at the market by the end of the month. Sweet potatoes will also be available soon; I started digging up the beautiful tubers last weekend and will likely bring them to the market in two weeks, after they’ve had time to cure. Curing allows the sweet potatoes (and squash) to convert starch into sugar, making them sweeter, and to form tougher skins for longer storage.

Speaking of beautiful roots, I also dug up a few purple dragon carrots this morning, and they are absolutely stunning. I planted a small experimental patch with some leftover seed I found this summer, but I might have to grow a whole lot more next year to share with you all! What do you think?

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Tomorrow looks a little drizzly, but we’re still planning on having the New Market Farmer’s Market! As always, keep an eye on the Facebook page for weather-related updates. I’ll have fire salt, hot salt, butternut squash, and garlic, as well as hand-knit and -crocheted items. Next week, October 15, I will not be at the market, but I encourage you to still come out and support my fellow vendors! I will be set up again on the 22nd.