Nobody will ever accuse me of being the world’s most organized farmer. There was a time, however, when I used to make stakes to mark where each variety of winter squash began and ended in the field at planting time. I can also remember once having made a map of the squash field. This year I did neither.
Winter squash is one of the few crops that we still plant by hand. Using a broad hoe, one person makes holes one pace apart, a second person drops 3-4 seeds in the hole, and a third person uses another hoe to co
ver the seeds an inch or so deep. Working together this way, we can plant about two acres in a day. This year we planted a fairly large block, by our standards, here at our home farm and another large block at the Redman House field. On planting day, I was preoccupied with a broken rotovator/bedshaper implement that I was trying to put back together. I started the crew out with three different varieties and gave them instructions to plant until they are out of seeds and then start with the next variety. When they were done with those, I gave them several more, and so on.
By the end 
of
July we ended up with a sweet scented sea of intermingled vines in full bloom. It was impossible to tell where one variety ended, and the next began. Two weeks ago we cut off the water, and the vines have begun to dry down. Last week I waded out into the patch for the first time and was pleased by what I saw. Despite the cool, foggy summer that we have had so far, most of the varieties did well. The orange, grey, and green Kabocha varieties all look great. Being disorganized can sometimes make life interesting. I felt like a kid on an Easter-egg hunt. A couple of varieties (Long-Island cheese 
a
nd Marina Di Chioggia) I had forgotten about entirely.
Veggie Notes:
You will notice that the Chanteney carrots are considerably larger this week than when we last harvested them for you two weeks ago. Larger, and sweeter. Contrary to popular belief, most carrot varieties actually get sweeter as they mature. The peeled “baby” carrots available in most grocery stores are actually made from long, skinny, mature Imperator carrots that are cut into small sections and ground down.
Cousa squash are one of our favorite summer squash varieties. Also called a middle eastern zucchini, they have a lovely, almost nutty flavor. They are incredible sliced into slabs about ½ inch thick, brushed or tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and grilled.
We are delighted to be getting these dry-farmed early girl tomatoes from Dirty Girl farm. (It has been a difficult season for tomatoes; the unusually cool weather makes them more susceptible to blight. Some farmers we know gave up and ploughed in whole crops of tomatoes.) But these Early Girls are as good as they get. They have that intense, sweet/tart flavor that only a true dry-farmed tomato can have. We’ve been enjoying them in simple tomato salads with onions and basil.
It seems like fall already, but some of the more “summery” vegetables are still maturing. You can still expect to see eggplant, bell peppers, shelling beans, more padron peppers and tomatoes, and other ‘summer’ vegetables as we head into September.
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