I’ve had an overwhelmingly busy couple weeks juggling writing and editing projects as well as squeezing in some gardening time, so I’m super excited to be able to finally share a new product with you: Fairydiddle Farm Hot Salt! This all-purpose condiment is made with pink Himalayan salt and a blend of habanero and jalapeno powder from last year’s peppers. It goes well on just about anything – in fact, I don’t think Paul (my husband) ever uses plain salt anymore, and this hot salt has earned a regular place on my parents’ table.

A limited number of bottles are available from this first small batch of hot salt, so come on out to the farmer’s market tomorrow to snatch one up! In a few weeks, once the jalapenos in this year’s garden have ripened, I will have some more hot salt for you.

In other news, bean production has slowed down thanks to an invasion of Mexican bean beetles. Several organic control methods exist, but one that I’ve found works pretty well is succession planting. As the first bed of bush beans succumbs to the bean beetles, the second bed is flowering, which means that after about a week’s reprieve from picking beans, we’ll have another bountiful crop come in. And when this second bed begins to decline, the first bed should have recovered enough to begin producing again.

So, I will have hot salt, green beans, and more zucchini at the New Market Farmer’s Market tomorrow, along with handknit and crocheted items and notecards featuring Paul’s photography. It looks like we will have some lovely weather, too, so come visit the market and maybe stroll through downtown as well.

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