The tomatoes look great and we are right on the cusp of having lots of them, so expect to see them in the web store soon. This year we planted several new varieties including grape and “San Marzano” type sauce tomatoes and they all are loaded with fruit. This is the third year that we have used the single stem method of training the tomato plants in the greenhouses and every year we have gotten a little better at it. Starting when the plant is small, we prune off all of the “suckers”, or side branches, leaving one central stem that is supported by a length of twine suspended from the greenhouse ceiling. This method involves a lot of work, but it has several huge benefits. Because most of the plant biomass is stretched out vertically (some of the varieties will top out at well over 8 feet high) as opposed to sprawling out horizontally, we can space the plants more closely together—resulting in much higher yields. The tomatoes themselves are much easier to pick using this method as well. Because we have pruned away all of the side branches, there is nothing to obscure the ripe fruit as it hangs off the central stem, and little stooping is involved because most of the tomatoes are set in the comfortable 2-6 foot off the ground range.
The other crop that we grow exclusively in the high tunnels is peppers (with the exception of the Padrons which are grown outside) and even though we got off to a later start than I would have liked, the plants look great and should start to produce over the next few weeks. Expect to see Hungarian Wax first, with Corno di Toro and Bell peppers not far behind them.
The squash you will be receiving in your box this week are Costata Romanesco, and Cousa—my two favorite varieties. The Costata has a somewhat sweet nutty flavor without the bitterness that regular zucchini can sometimes have and the Cousa are my favorite for summertime grilling. We’ll have a block of yellow crookneck coming into production soon as well.
Even though we are just coming into the thick of the “summer” produce, August is the month that we start looking ahead to fall and winter. Soon we will seed the last of this season’s transplants in the greenhouse and just last week we transplanted a block of leeks that will mature in late September on.
The strawberries are going gangbusters right now, so we’re offering U-Picks for the August weekends (Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM). Come down to our farmstand at Riverside Drive and Highway 1 in Watsonville and pick your own! You do not need to be a current CSA subscriber. Please bring your own containers if possible. Hope to see you there!
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