The incredible shrinking mulch pile

I spent all day moving mulch from the driveway to planting beds. Down from 10 yards to about two. You can see where the pile used to be in the picture. Fun times.

Video

Check out the Richmond Farmers' Market video on Youtube!

Mulch

Two inches of rain today in Rhode Island. Moving wet mulch is not a fun job.

Spring!

Today is the first full day of spring (Spring officially arrived yesterday afteroon). Temps were in the 70's yesterday and today it is only 60, but skies are clear and it is absolutely a perfect day. Karen and I went to one of our favorite restaurants. Bruna's Table just started serving breakfast so we wanted to check it out. You know you're eating at an Italian Restaurant when you can Pasta Fagioli at 9am. We had to get a good breakfast because 10 yards of mulch were waiting in the driveway when we got home. Not much is up this early in the season, but we had to clean out the ornamental beds, pull out some weeds and carefully put the mulch around emerging shoots. One thing you can count on to be up early and first to bloom is Crocus. They will even bloom when there is snow on the ground. Don't laugh, in 1997 we got 2 feet of snow on April 1st (it was 70 degrees a couple of days later), so it can snow late in the season. Hearty Crocus will still be blooming!

Aster

This year, we've expanded the space we dedicate to cut flowers and have been trying some new varieties. Queen Anne's Lace, Sweet Pea and Nasturcium are a few of the new types of annual flowers we have grown this year. We have also been using perennial flowers in our arrangements. Hydrangea, hosta, ornamental grasses and holly have been especially nice in vase arrangements.
Chinese Aster is one of my new favorites to grow. Native to China, it is pretty easy to grow in the northeast. The flowers are multi colored and striking in bouquets. We will definately be growing more Chinese Asters next year!

Tomatoes

It is tomato season in Rhode Island. This year is bittersweet for tomatoes. Blight, the same disease that caused the potato famine in Ireland, also can wipe out tomatoes. Tomato blight has ravaged the crop in the northeast and all the way to Ohio and West Virginia. I personally know farmers who have pulled out 3,000 tomato plants due to blight. I have avoided the worst of the blight through dumb luck and a little prevention. However, I have had to remove some plants as well. The blight seems to be mostly contained at One Love Farm and the tomatoes we have harvested are especially sweet knowing the bullet they dodged going from the farm to my plate.

One of the most enjoyable parts of growing tomatoes is all the different varieties. This year we experimented with a lot of varieities we had never grown before. One of the most successful was a Japanese variety called Trifle. The pear shaped friut is picked with green shoulders but the base is a deep red, almost black which looks striking sliced on a plate. Another favorite this year was pineapple. The huge globes are all yellow on the outside except for the very bottom which is pink. When sliced, it reveals a gorgeous pink heart surrounded by yellow flesh. We're also loving a variety called tall rose. Beautiful lobed fruit with a very strong tomato flavor. Of course we also can tons of tomatoes every year. All September and October my kitchen is filled with pots and jars as I process tomatoes into marinara and salsa for the winter. This year we grew Juliet (pictured above) as we do every year. This small, roma shaped tomato has a wonderful flavor. In addition, we grew some other Italian varieties including San Marzano which is like Juliet, only bigger and meatier. We also grew Striped Roman (also pictured above) which may be a new favorite. The oblong fruits are huges and incrediblly meaty which means they yeild a lot sauce and not much water making for a very rich marinara. We'll definately be growing more Striped Romans next year!

Peppers

I've been talking all summer about the tough growing season due to an unusually wet and cool summer. Chilis (peppers) generally prefer hot and dry conditions, so it has not been a banner year for them. However, we are getting chilis right now. Some of the best are sweet bell and Pablano. From the picture above, you can see that the pablano chili plants are producing well. Pablano are great in salsa or roasted on the grill. I also like them with beans and rice. My favorite way to have Pablanos is to stuff them with mashed potatoes and cheese and roast them in the oven. Or, can stuff them with beans and rice and roast them in the oven. If you have some time, try making Chilis Rellanos. Here is a vegan variation on the classic, but if you want yours to be vegetarian, try this recipe. Or, Google Chili Rellanos if you want to find another recipe, there are a million different variations!

I am growing Paprika for the first time. However, the fruit on the plant doesn't look like the paprika peppers from the seed catalog where I ordered them. I am hoping that they turn color, but for now it looks like I'll have to wait til next year for my first paprika peppers at One Love Farm.