Only a week remains before the summer solstice, but I hardly need a calendar to tell me that; it’s written all over the garden. Lettuce heads that didn’t get harvested in time have begun to grow upward rather than outward, sending up tall flowering stalks in the heat. The pea vines, having enjoyed a good two weeks of peak production, now look tired and yellow. And the radishes, too, will soon grow bitter and pithy in the long, warm days.

But the summer vegetables – now is their time to shine. The summer squash plants already threaten to spill over the edges of their beds, and tiny zucchini lengthen by the day at the base of large, golden blossoms. Though the cucamelon vines have a bit of growing to do yet before they put on flowers, I’ve spotted at least one miniscule slicing cucumber. And the tomatoes! The cherry tomato vines are covered in big clusters of little yellow blooms, and the early tomato vines already bear small green fruits.

So you might see zucchini on the table in a week or two, and perpetual spinach chard will begin to replace the spring greens. For now, though, let’s savor the flavors of spring. The final spring plantings of lettuce and radishes still wait crisp and sweet in the beds, and the peas have one last crop waiting to be picked. Come to the Broadway Community Market this Saturday to find:

  • sugar snap peas
  • radishes
  • lettuce
  • kale
  • chard (maybe!)
  • garlic salt
  • crocheted items

Don’t forget: this Sunday is Father’s Day! Support local small businesses at the Broadway Community Market and find unique, heartfelt gifts for the father figures in your life. Plus, every purchase at the market this month earns you an entry into a weekly drawing and the grand-prize drawing at the end of June!

See you at the market!

Celebrate the start of summer vacation at the Broadway Community Market this evening, 5-8 p.m.! At this “School’s Out” Special Evening Market, you can purchase tacos to enjoy for supper at the picnic tables and shop local vendors, for a festive weeknight version of our Saturday market. Here’s what I’ll have for you:

  • Garlic scapes
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Radishes
  • Head lettuce
  • Kale
  • Garlic salt
  • Aloe plants
  • Crocheted items

If you purchase one of each vegetable, you’ll have all the veggies you need to make a stir-fry or pasta primavera (literally “spring pasta”) with a side salad. Simple, nourishing, and delicious! You can expect all of the same items at this week’s Saturday morning market as well.

I’ve been harvesting an abundance of lettuce this year, and some of you may have wondered, Why head lettuce? Why not sell convenient bags of mixed greens? There are two main reasons for this choice. First, head lettuce does not require packaging. Whereas mixed greens are best sold in single-use plastic bags that end up in the landfill or clamshells that may or may not be reused or recycled, I can set head lettuce on my market table as-is for a pretty, waste-free display.

The second reason is that head lettuce does not require washing on my end. It does get a quick dunk in a basin of cold water to remove any bugs and cool it down quickly, but I don’t have the setup to properly and safely wash and spin-dry mixed greens.

Plus, both the lack of washing and the heads remaining intact mean that the lettuce will keep longer. You may have noticed that mixed greens will start to wilt within a couple days, and there always seem to be icky slimy bits. That doesn’t happen with head lettuce. Just make sure to transfer your lettuce to a sealed container or plastic grocery bag and put it in the fridge as soon as you get home from the market, and it will last a week or longer (if you don’t eat it sooner!).

See you at the market!

The garlic plants have put on little wispy elf hats. Each of these whimsical additions curls downward on a long, thin stem emerging from the center of the leaf stalk, a sure sign that the garlic will be ready to harvest in a few weeks.

In truth, these are garlic scapes, the flowering stalks that appear on hardneck garlic, such as the Chesnok Red variety I am trying this year. Pulling the scapes – a firm, steady tug detaches them from the rest of the plant with a satisfying pop! – encourages the plants to put more energy into bulb production rather than the flowers. And then we get to eat these springtime delicacies.

Much like a garlicky green onion, garlic scapes can be added to salad, stir-fry, quiche, soup, or even garlic scape pesto. Really, anywhere that you would use garlic or green onions, you can use garlic scapes. Just give them a rinse, trim off the bud end (or “elf hat”), and chop up the rest of the stem, or thinly slice them to use raw.

If you’d like to give them a try, I’ll have bundles of garlic scapes for sale at the Broadway Community Market this Saturday, 8am-noon! I’ve also been picking lots of sugar snap peas this week, and I still have plenty of sweet, crisp head lettuce and tender kale. Of course, you will also find garlic salt, aloe plants, and crocheted items on my table.

Keep an eye on the Broadway Community Market Facebook page for details about an upcoming giveaway opportunity! Each purchase made at the market during the month of June will enter you to win some fantastic prizes from Fairydiddle Farm and other vendors.

See you at the market!