Hot salt is back, and it has a friend! Thanks to a less-than-stellar jalapeno harvest this year, this second batch of hot salt is rather small, so grab it while it’s, well, hot! When I ran out of jalapenos, I concocted an even hotter seasoning for my spice-loving friends: fire salt. Paul (my husband) has actually been using an early version of fire salt all year, and he puts it on almost everything. This spicy mixture of habaneros and salt can be used on just about anything you would use plain salt on, from eggs to soup.

The butternut squash continues to ripen, turning a beautiful shade of bright orange that I’d been looking forward to all summer, and I hope to have it at the market by the end of the month. Sweet potatoes will also be available soon; I started digging up the beautiful tubers last weekend and will likely bring them to the market in two weeks, after they’ve had time to cure. Curing allows the sweet potatoes (and squash) to convert starch into sugar, making them sweeter, and to form tougher skins for longer storage.

Speaking of beautiful roots, I also dug up a few purple dragon carrots this morning, and they are absolutely stunning. I planted a small experimental patch with some leftover seed I found this summer, but I might have to grow a whole lot more next year to share with you all! What do you think?

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Tomorrow looks a little drizzly, but we’re still planning on having the New Market Farmer’s Market! As always, keep an eye on the Facebook page for weather-related updates. I’ll have fire salt, hot salt, butternut squash, and garlic, as well as hand-knit and -crocheted items. Next week, October 15, I will not be at the market, but I encourage you to still come out and support my fellow vendors! I will be set up again on the 22nd.

Yesterday was the autumnal equinox, placing us squarely in the fall season. The sun now slants rather than bakes. As the days grow shorter, I’m moving from an existence of sun, sweat, and tomato sandwiches to one of crisp morning walks and coziness.

The garden, also changing, continues to surprise me. Though I predicted that last week marked the end of tomato season, a few more fruits have ripened on the wilting vines. I also harvested the first few butternut squash; not the orange variety I’ve been eagerly watching, but volunteers that sprouted from the compost pile, a classic tan variety I grew last year. Sometimes the best plants are ones we didn’t sow.

Tomorrow at the farmer’s market, then, you can expect a few more tomatoes, the first of the butternut squash, lots of garlic, and perhaps a few herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary – the basil is, sadly, done).

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As you can see above, I picked some jalapenos the other day! Due to the dry summer, I didn’t get the bountiful crop I enjoyed last year, so I won’t be selling any of them fresh. Instead, they’re all going in the dehydrator so I can finally make more hot salt!

Mist hangs low over the ground this morning; on my prebreakfast walk, a doe and her two fawns materialized like slender ghosts. Spiders have decorated my front porch, lawn, and garden with their glistening, intricate webs. They’re a good six weeks early for Halloween, but I’m enjoying their beauty nonetheless.

The tomato vines appear tired and may have contracted a disease (it’s hard to pinpoint which one) thanks to insect damage creating entry points in the fruit. Yields tend to decline as the season draws to a close, anyway; we’re just coming to the end a bit early this year. Tomorrow – or possibly next Friday – will likely be your last chance for ripe tomatoes! I’ll wait at least until next week to begin picking green ones, I think (mmm, fried green tomatoes).

The bean and zucchini beds have been cleared out, and I sowed winter rye in the first two beds. They look barren now, but in the coming weeks verdant blades will sprout, and by winter I should have lush patches of rye holding the soil in the beds until early spring, when it will be cut down to provide nutrients to young vegetable seedlings.

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The garden is still producing, though, with the jalapenos finally ripening en masse, and I hope to get them in the dehydrator this weekend. That means you should see hot salt return to the market soon!

As the jalapenos swell, the butternut squashes are beginning to turn from green to orange, and the sweet potatoes remain a mystery under the soil. I’ll harvest the latter two in October before frost threatens, then let them cure to sweeten their flavor and ensure they store through the winter. I have brassicas (broccoli, collards, kale), too, struggling along under row cover, though time will tell how my little experimental patch turns out.

At the New Market Farmer’s Market tomorrow afternoon, you will find what might be the last of the tomatoes, as well as plenty of garlic, some fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme), and the usual handmade items. We might have a new vendor joining us, so come welcome her to the market! As always, keep an eye on the farmer’s market Facebook page for weather updates.

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