Lunch

My favorite meal is anything fresh from the farm. Today for lunch I sauteed some red onion, sweet red peppers and zucchini in olive oil. Once soft, I added some cooked rice. So glad I got those zucchini inside before the frost last weekend.

Zucchini

Friday night we had a hard frost in Rhode Island. So, whether they were ready or not, I had to pick all the produce except the cold loving beets and arugula.

The zucchini were small, but I had to get them in so I picked all of them. I would have liked to let them grow bigger for another week or two but I am enjoying these baby zucchini with rice and in omlettes.

Frost

We got a hard, killing frost all over Rhode Island Friday night. I took this first picture Friday morning, knowing that the mimi zinnias would be gone by Saturday morning. Some veggies, like beets, do well in the cold. But most like peppers, eggplant and tomatoes are done for the season.

Cosmos

The forecast is calling for a killing frost tonight. So, I'm enjoying one last day of flowers before the cold temperatures finish them for the season. I'm also harvesting as many veggies as possible since they will probably be gone by tomorrow morning as well.

Daisies

I don't remember planting daisies in any of our patio containers, but this week they started to bloom, so they must have come from somewhere. The flowers will be short lived as we are expecting a frost Friday night.

Hydrangea

In August, I posted pictures of the Limelight Hydrangea when it was in full bloom. In the fall, these blooms start to turn pink which can be even more striking.

Burning Bush

In 2010 I posted about burning bush. If you look at that picture, you can see the burning bush is not as vibrant this year. However, that photo was taken at the end of October so my hope is that the red color will intesnsify as it gets cooler later in October.

Sedum

Check out how the sedum has turned from pale pink to burgandy in a few weeks.

Dill

There was no frost warning for Rhode Island last night, but I was still concerned. When it gets down into the low 40s in Providence, I can get a frost in Hope Valley. This morning the temps stayed in the mid 30s so we missed a frost. But, we're expecting more of the same this week, so we will be on the lookout for frost.

While out this morning seeing if there were any signs of frost, the dill caught my eye. I really like the way the morning dew looks on the leaves.

Peppers

New England is not an ideal climate for growing peppers. They like long summers that are hot and dry. That is why they thrive in places like Mexico, and the southwest United States. But, we grow them here in Rhode Island because I love the challenge and people enjoy them at the market.

We grow a lot of red peppers at One Love Farm. For them, the growing season is even longer than green peppers. That is because you have to be patient and wait for them to turn red. And now is that time. We have had a few over the past few weeks, but now it seems they are turning at a quicker pace.

That is a good thing because the first frost at One Love Farm is likely fast approaching. The earliest we have had a first frost is October 6th, which would be tomorrow. But, usually the first frost happens between the 10th and 12th. That means it is a race against the inevitable frost clock to get as many red peppers picked as possible.

Dill

We've been growing dill for several years at One Love Farm. Here is a post from 2009 when we planted dill in an herb garden near our patio. I also posted in June about this years crop. That crop from June went to seed in August and we pulled it out and planted some lettuce in its place. Some seeds dropped in the beds and now we have a nice fall crop of fresh dill.

Dill is nice to use fresh in salads. But I also like to make a quick refrigerator pickle. Slice up some carrots, sweet peppers, cucumbers and a clove of garlic. Cover in white vinegar and add some dill. Put in the fridge overnight. These pickled veggies are great as a side dish or on a salad.

Zucchini

Zucchini is normally harvested in late June and July. This year, however, when the zucchini was done in August, I planted some more seeds for a fall crop

As most folks who plant zucchini in New England know, there is one pest that is always on these plants. The Squash Beetle overruns the zucchini plant, eventually killing it. I have given up trying to control these pests because organic methods have proved worthless. They laugh at insecticidal soap and plucking them off one by one is not feasible. So, I take the position that I will have zucchini for a few weeks, then the plants will succumb to the squash beetles and the crop will be done for the year.

That is until I realized that the squash beetle has a defined life cycle. They hatch in July, devour the plant and are gone by early August. The seeds I planted in mid August are ready to bear fruit and are squash beetle-free! Now I need to pick them as quickly as possible until the frost comes, which usually hits One Love Farm between October 6th and October 12th.

Arugula

Arugula is one of my favorite greens. While we grow it successfully in the spring, it is even better in the fall. That's because the increasingly cool nights give the green that distinctive peppery bite that makes it so delicious. As you can see from this picture, this new batch of arugula is doing well with less insect damage than the crop I planted nearby. We will continue to harvest arugula well into October as it can tolerate several degrees of frost. In fact, I have harvested it some years until Christmas and even under patches of snow!

Strawberries

Strawberry season has been over for several weeks. But, I still need to maintain the planting bed. Strawberrys like to be weed free, so we monitor the area and pull any unwantededs out.

Strawberries send out runners in late summer and fall. These runners root in the soil and become new plants that will bear strawberries next year. I'm posting this picture to show the agressiveness of the runners. They are spilliing out of the bed's border, trying to find a spot to take root wherever possible.

Cosmos

It's been overcast and rainy for the past few days in the Rhode Island. So, here's a picture of a cosmos to brighten the day. You can see the purple basil and zinnias in the picture as well.

Beets

You can really feel the change of the season at One Love Farm. Days are cooler (it is barely getting to 60 today) and shorter (it is getting dark before 7:00). Tomatoes are done, basil is getting to the end, and I'm just waiting on some peppers to turn red.

But, the fall season has tons of upside, too. Fall carrots are crisp and tasty. Dill has reseeded itself and is sprouting. Lettuce and arugula love the cool nights. And, the fall planting of beets is ready for harvest.

Beets are a cool weather crop. They like warm days, but also chilly nights. In the summer, they languish in the heat. Now, they are really coming into their own. Last week I pulled over 20 pounds of the root crop for the Richmond Farmers' Market. Hopefully, I will get at least that much for tomorrow's market.

Grapes

Last year I posted about a grape vine that survived the purge when I pulled out the small vineyard a few years ago. This picture shows one of the grape clusters ready for harvest this year. I think I'll be making sorbet again.

Eggplant

Unlike the incredibly production eggplant crop in 2010, this has not been the best year for eggplant. Growing conditions have been good, though not great as we never got the intense summer heat that eggplant likes.

My problem was the greenhouse. Eggplant needs to get off to a strong start. This year, the eggplant got hammered by insects in the greenhouse. This causes stunted growth with the plant, fewer flowers and late development.

While everyone else has been harvesting eggplant for weeks, I am just now getting a few fruit. We will continue to harvest until frost, but certainly not in the quantities we are used to at One Love Farm.

I have posted many times before about eggplant. Here is a link to my first post about eggplant in 2008. Here is a post in 2010 about the lost eggplant year of 2009 (probably the reason there are no posts about the sad eggplant crop that year). I also posted later in 2010 about eggplant parm. In 2011 I talked about flea beetles preying on eggplant in this post. And, in this post from last year, I talked about how to freeze eggplant.

This year, I am preparing eggplant in a new way. Baba ghanoush. First I roast my eggplant on the grill with the skin on. When the skin gets charred I peel it off under cold water and chop the cooked eggplant. Setting the eggplant aside, I put some tahini paste and salt in a food processor and drizzle in olive oil until the mixture is smooth. Then, I fold in the eggplant. Most recipes will have you add the eggplant to the food processor, but I prefer to have the eggplant chunky for a nice texture. Just make sure the eggplant is fully cooked or it will be stringy and chewy (the worst!). Serve with pita chips or veggies like cucumber rounds or carrot sticks.

Mike's Wild Cherry

Tomatoes are almost done for the season. But, I have been able to scare up a couple pints of Mike's Wild Cherry Tomatoes. These tiny beauties will sprout anywhere (check out my post earlier this month about a tomato plant that sprouted behind the patio stairs).

I used the little cherry tomatoes to make a nice marinara. Using onions and carrots from the farm, I sauteed them in olive oil and then added some garlic I pulled earlier this summer. After roasting the tomatoes in the oven, I used the immersion blender to make tomato sauce which I added to the onion mixture. Taking the marinara off the heat, I added some basil leaves.

Spirea

When we bought this property in 2002, there was zero landscaping on it, except for a single tree in the front yard. So we spent the quite a bit of time planting. Near the back of the house, we planted lilacs, herbs, azelea, astilbe and spirea.

Spirea gets its name for for its alternating leaf pattern. There are a hundred varieties that come in tons of colors, so spirea is definately worth planting.

Purple Basil

Last month I posted about Purple Basil and how it had reseeded itself in the herb garden. I also posted about it last year.

This picture shows purple basil going to seed. You can see why the plant is able to reproduce so prolifically. The seed heads are huge, filled with tons of seeds that will make an amazing purple basil patch next year.

Carrots

Today is the first day of Fall. And I sure do like the veggies that the season brings. Crisp greens, beets for roasting, sharp radishes and, of course, carrots.

We plant carrots in the spring as well, but I really love them in the fall. They grow more quickly when planted in late July and August with the warm days and nights. But, as the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, the carrots really flourish. They get big and sweet and are perfect for salads and soups and stir frys or even smoothies.

Here are links to two posts from this year about carrots. This one gives several tips on growing successful carrots. This one talks about the gospel of succession planting which I have been preaching hard this year.

Rogue Tomato

Tomatoes like a spot with well drained soil and lots of sunlight. Except when a seed drops behind the stairs leading to the patio. Then, they grow competing with spearmint and other plants in damp soil that only gets a couple hours of sunlight a day. And, they produce fruit!

Turtlehead

Turtlehead is one of our favorite perennials at One Love Farm. We planted it next to the driveway so we can see it all the time. It has glosssy green leave most of the year, but the explosion of pink blossoms in September is what we look forward to.

Turtlehead can be grown in shade or sun. We have ours in full sun, but if you grow it in shade, pinch the plant back to keep it from getting too leggy. Turtlehead likes moist soil with lots of composted leaves. That said, we don't regularly water our turtlehead and it has done well for many years.

Ornamental grass

The area around One Love Farm used to be a large strawberry and pumpkin farm. Then, in the early '90s it was divided up and sold off as housing plats. This flat land with no landscaping presented a blank canvas when we bought the property in 2002. With a single tree in the front yard and grass everywhere else, we knew it would take a while to create the images in our mind.

The first thing we did was to build a brick paver patio. On the hottest August day in 2002, Karen's brother and I set brick pavers on a huge 20'x25' outdoor patio. I remember I couldn't walk for a week after that.

Karen's brother made an off the cuff remark that we should build a berm around the patio for privacy. He may have been half joking, but I thought it was a great idea. So, I had 120 yards of fill trucked in and Karen and I started working on putting plants on the mound.

We first added some pine trees and mountain laurel. Later, we would plant a weeping cherry, rose of sharon, russian sage, roses, lupine, lavender and countless other plants to fill in the huge space. But, one of our best ideas was planting ornamental grasses on the berm. The verigated leaves provide a nice contrast in the summer and in September they send up the plumes that you see in this picture. They also provide shade for us to grow hosta and privacy for when Karen and I want to enjoy a meal or a bottle of wine on the patio.

Carmen Peppers

Every year, we plant a variety of peppers at One Love Farm. Some standards, like Cayenne, we plant every year and use in our chili powder and hot sauce. But, mostly we like to experiment with varieties of chilis that we have not planted before.

Carmen is one of those peppers we have never planted before. It has a wide top that grows to a tapered end and ripens from green to red in late summer.

I had been harvesting the peppers during the summer when they were still green and enjoying them in stir fry and stuffed with rice or cheese or veggies or all three. But, one they turn red, they get an amazing sweetness. So, I have been roasting them on the grill and using the roasted red peppers on pizza, on salads and as an antipasta with goat cheese. While smaller than the common bell pepper, they are much sweeter and tastier!

Sedum

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of sedum. I promised to post more sedum pictures when they turned from a light red and pink to burgandy. Here are those pictures.

Sweet Potato Vine

Sweet Potato Vine has become a very popular ornamental plant in the last few years, especially in container gardens. Karen arranged this container garden next to the garage. She used the striking purple vine on one side and the more common lime colored sweet potato vine on the other. She added a verigated plant in the middle for some height in the container. These vines have grown so much that you can't even see the container any longer.

Cathedral of Junk

While in Austin, Texas, Karen and I visited the Cathedral of Junk. This monument of kitsch, trash, antiques, and the obsolete is a hundred feet high and contains tens of thousands of items. You can even climb to the top for a bird's eye view of Barbies, license plates and rotary phones. Best of all, it is in a residential neighborhood, unmarked and unadvertised. Just another dot on the freak map that is Austin, Texas.

What does this have to do with organic farming? Nothing, really. Except that I found it interesting and funny and wanted to share it. But, it also made me think about what people do with outdoor space.

Some people build swimming pools or tennis courts in their backyards. Others have massive entertaining spaces with a wet bar and fancy grill. Some of us, obsessed with plants and food, pull up tons of grass and build huge raised beds and spend all their time planting, weeding, watering and harvesting more crops than they could ever eat in a lifetime. And still others collect junk and pile it a hundred feet in the air. Who are we to say who is crazy?

Basil

Here is a link to my post about basil earlier this summer. Since then, the basil has gone from outstanding to out of contol. The plants are over three feet high and bushy and vibrant. That can only mean one thing: Pesto!

Aster

A week and a half ago I posted about Asters. Those pictures were taken of asters in containers on my patio. I also planted some asters in the garden.

These asters are in the front of a bed with zinnias behind them followed by sunflowers for a nice multileveal effect. Asters are great because when a lot of others flowers have died back they are just starting to bloom, keeping interest in the garden through first frost.

Birds

Tons of birds hanging out near the herb garden and the wildflower garden.

Mike's Wild Cherry Tomato

Tomatoes have been a bit of a disappointment this year. The harvest has been less than normal and shorter than normal. Not that I'm complaining since other crops like peppers, lettuce, beets and carrots have been much better than average this year.

A variety of tomato that has done well was one that I didn't even plant this year. Mike's Wild Cherry is an heirloom variety with very small, but very tasty fruit. I planted a couple dozen of Mike's Wild Cherry last year. At the end of the season I pulled up the old plants but in several spots the tomatoes reseeded and sprouted this spring. I left a half dozen plants grow to maturity and they have been producing like crazy.

Lettuce

We received over 3" of rain the last two days in this part of Rhode Island. That means I didn't have to water the carrots, beets, lettuce and arugula seeds I've planted. When seeds are germinating (aka getting ready to sprout), it is very important to keep them watered. This is especialy true for carrots. If you miss a single day of watering the number of seeds that germinate will be decreased. In order to keep the soil moist, I add peat moss to seed bed. Peat will retain water and helps with germination. It also keeps the soil light a fluffy which is important for root crops like beets and carrots.

This week I have focused on succession planting for the fall. I've posted about the beets and carrots I've planted this fall, using the space that was previously occupied by spring and summer lettuce, carrots and beets. The lettuce mix we grow at One Love Farm is a spring and fall variety. So, in the heat of summer, we don't have any lettuce. But, with temperatures forecast to be in the 70s next week and lows in the 50s, we should have a big crop of lettuce in the coming weeks.

Carrots

I'm posting about succession planting this week. One thing to keep in mind when succession planting is the variety of veggie. There are types of lettuce that do best in spring, or summer, or fall, but not all three. Some plants do best in greenhouses, some outside. While we planted one variety of carrots in the spring, this picture shows carrots that do best in the fall. As you can see, they look big and healthy and they will be ready to harvest in a couple of weeks.