Fall Crops

Arugula

Fall (yes, it's coming fast!) means wonderful fall crops like butternut squash, pumpkins and even grapes. At One Love Farm we also have second harvests of crops normally harvested in the spring. Greens and root crops typically like the cool nights of the spring and fall. French long radishes and beets were a big hit at the Richmond Farmers' Market in the spring and we should have both ready for harvest in late September or October.

We also harvest Arugula in the fall. Arugula is a spicy green used in salads, on pizza and as a pesto. And, if you are wondering about the tiny holes in the Arulula leaves, those are from a common pest to the plant. Flea beatles feed on Arugula and other greens. Since we don't use pesticides at One Love Farm, we have to rely on organic controls. So far, I have yet to find and fully effictive organic control for flea beatles. However, their damage to the crop is visual only and doesn't harm the plant or affect the flavor of the leaves.

Arugula sets seeds in the hot months of the summer. We harvest the dry pods in the summer to save the seeds for next year. Inevitably, seeds drop in the dirt and we get Arugula sprouts in August. We don't even have to plants the seeds. That is the magic of nature at its finest. The plant has such a strong genetic disposition to reproduce that it will germinate wherever it hits the ground and gets rain. In fact, we have Aruguala growing outside the beds from the seed pods flopping over the side of the border and in the paths from where I carried seed back to basement. Arugula is truly an amazing plant! Next week, I will make a mix of radish greens and Arugula for a spicy salad mix available at the Richmond Farmers' Market. Come see us on Saturday.