When I walk out to the garden, I am greeted by clouds of cherry tomato blossoms. These branches filled with giant, airy clusters of starry yellow flowers will, in a few weeks, be weighed down with as many little round fruits. The early slicing tomato plants, and even some of the later varieties, already have green fruits set on, slowly filling out before they begin to blush red.
Further into the garden, the cucumber vines grow faster than I can trellis them, and this week I spotted the first itty bitty baby cucamelons among the chaotic tangle of string-like stems. (Yep, that’s a baby cucamelon in the photo above!)
I am already overrun by zucchini, and they have only been producing for a week! The yellow crookneck squash may soon follow suit. I’m no longer entirely sure where the line is between bed and path in that section – it’s all just the summer squash patch now.
Back inside, in the cool of the basement, the garlic I harvested on Monday is hanging to cure. In a couple weeks, I will trim off the leaves and roots and bring the bulbs to the market. Whatever remains unsold by this winter will be dried and ground for garlic salt – and maybe some new seasonings!
In this transition from spring to summer crops, I don’t have many vegetables to offer at the market right now, aside from the zucchini, the surprisingly heat-tolerant kale, and the aptly named perpetual spinach chard. So it works out well that this is the one Saturday I am not planning to be at the market. I will miss seeing you all, and my fellow vendors, but I hope to have more to offer when I return next week!
See you at the market – next week!