Heliopsis - one of our quart sized perennials that we are giving away with every purchase this week.
The days are numbered for drinking coffee in the garden while the sun comes up. If you enjoy that kind of thing, I hope that you are getting plenty of it. I find myself doing a mental inventory much of the day, re-organizing the list of things I have to make time for while summer lasts. Lots of swimming, lots of outdoor meals, and that precious early morning coffee in the garden.
The fall garden calls, and I continue to plant more veggies each week for late season harvest. This week: spinach, scallions, lettuce. I was at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market this week, and bought 2 heads of lettuce for my mom. I had failed to plant lettuce a while back and am now in between generations. I am vowing to have every green thing I want ready in the garden between now and December. It is possible. This Succession Planting article is helpful if you want to learn more about working the edges of the season to your advantage.
New in the greenhouse this week: spinach, chard, cabbages, sprouting broccoli, kohlrabi, kales, and lots of new chicories and lettuces. All are cold hardy, and all will create bounty in the fall garden.
Our Plant of the Week is really a Deal of the Week. It is mid-August and we are closing on August 29th, so highlighting just one plant doesn’t seem fair. This week, with every purchase of $25 or more, we will offer you a free quart sized perennial. There are lots to choose from: yarrow, salvia, coral bells, catmint, heliopsis (pictured above), rattlesnake master, boneset, and more. I hope you take advantage of this deal and pop in a few new perennials when you stock up on those fall veggies.
We have had a few requests for a recipe I have been making for years, slow roasted tomatoes for the freezer. if you are curious, you can read about it here. This is one of the main ways I preserve tomatoes. Super easy - just roast tomatoes, garlic, herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper overnight at a very low temperature, and then, in the morning, slide the mix into freezer bags for good winter eating. I also do a version with eggplant, peppers, onions, tomatoes etc as a roasted, deconstructed ratatouille. That also freezes quite well.
I hope to see some of you in the next couple of weeks. I will be working in the greenhouse this Friday afternoon - come say hi!
Thank you for your support and your garden enthusiasm,
Julie