The weather looks great for Friday, and after a two-week hiatus, I’m excited to see everyone at the New Market Farmer’s Market this week! I plan to have lettuce, green onions, and radishes along with the usual handmade items.

I’ve been clearing out spent spinach and pea plants this week to make room for pole beans and fall crops like butternut squash. A few last-minute sweet peppers also got tucked in next to the jalapenos, and the last of the bush beans are finally in the ground. In addition to green beans (a variety called Contender), I’m trying out a fun speckled heirloom variety with the unique name Dragon Tongue.

• 

• 

If you follow Fairydiddle Farm on Facebook, you may have seen that I also picked an abundance of sour cherries from a generous neighbor’s trees this past weekend. Do you have a favorite treat made from sour cherries? Leave a comment below to let me know what it is, and you just might see it at the market soon!

Now that we find ourselves solidly in June, the garden has begun to transition from spring to summer growth. The spinach is done, having all bolted and set seed, and the spindly pea plants look like they might soon wither in this heat. Grandma Hadley’s Lettuce – the beautiful, red-tinged heirloom variety I planted this year – seems to be pretty hardy, though, and might hang around for a few more weeks. Green onions are just thickening up, so we should also have plenty of those for a while yet, too.

In place of these spring crops, the bush beans and zucchini have sprung up and are leafing out beautifully. The tomatoes and peppers are putting down roots and looking stronger as they begin to focus more on upward growth; I’m even starting to see some flowers! The sweet potatoes look like they might take over their bed with tangled vines any day now, and it might not be too long until the garlic is ready.

Across the yard, the main herb garden, too, looks full and lush and has in fact begun to outgrow its current bounds! High on my to-do list for the coming week or two is expanding this little plot to give the current plants a bit more room and squeeze in a few more.

• 

• 

So what about the farmer’s market? With a 60 percent chance of rain in the forecast for tomorrow, you’ll want to keep an eye on the New Market Farmer’s Market Facebook page for updates. But if the weather holds, I will be set up with lettuce, sugar-snap peas, radishes, green onions, and handmade items. Hope to see you there!

Spring is barreling toward summer in our area, with 80-degree days and thunderstorms this week. With such unseasonably warm weather, the spinach has already begun bolting. Thankfully, spinach doesn’t get bitter quite as fast as lettuce does, so I should still be able to harvest it for a few more days yet.

Other plants in the garden have thrived in the recent warm, wet weather: the first plantings of zucchini and bush beans sprouted and are growing happily! The peas are also plumping up, and I plan on harvesting a fresh batch in the morning to sell at the farmer’s market tomorrow afternoon alongside spinach and some beautiful, enormous heads of lettuce. Radishes are almost ready too.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Speaking of the farmer’s market, we are hosting a plant swap tomorrow! To participate, please bring healthy, clearly labeled plants as well as gently used hand tools, planters, and gardening books. A table will be provided for participants to place items on, and you are welcome to take what you want from the table, keeping the amount roughly equal to what you brought.

Remember that nest of eggs I found along the garden fence last week? They hatched! Mama bird doesn’t seem to appreciate some of my activity in and around the garden, but I try to give the nest and its occupants as much space as possible. I couldn’t resist taking a peek this morning, though, and discovered three tiny, hungry beaks gaping up at me.

A lot is happening in the garden right now, but I think that’s everything! Remember to order your Fairydiddle Forage Baskets before next Wednesday (the first pickup day!), and have a great Memorial Day weekend.