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A Note from Layton | Summer Fruits to Bear
High season has brought the summer fruits to bear: peals of cherry tomatoes in their hombre trellises, heirlooms and their splits, plants rife with shishitos fit for sizzling, and more cucumbers than we know what to do with. Soon enough, sweet peppers will ripen from their juvenile green state to a panoply of color, foretold by their nom de plante: Purple Beauty, Revolution, Corno Rosso, Golden Star, need I say more?
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All fruits begin as flowers, and some of you have taken to perusing the zucchini rows in search of a more fleeting treat than the squash-cum-baseball bats that now are commonplace: squash blossoms! Allow me a brief parenthetical on plant botany in the interest of all you lovers of flor de calabaza.
On squash plants, you’ll notice two discreetly different types of flowers: pollen-producing, and pollen-receiving (aka, squash blossoms and soon-to-be-fruit, respectively). For the love of fruit, please only pick the pollen producers! Upon close inspection, you’ll discover that the squash blossoms best for stuffing sit atop a long, hollow stem. Early in the morning and late in the day, these blossoms will close up, so be sure you check your flowers for napping pollinators before stuffing/frying/etc.
Speaking of high summer, please take a moment to review our CSA guidelines as best practices for enjoying the farm during this time of abundance:
- Share limits are how we allot the produce that’s available based on the state of the crop and the amount of harvesters traversing the fields. Not merely suggestion, share limits must be observed by all!
- Guests of the farm are welcome with farm members present, but cannot visit Birch Hill alone, and when visiting with members may not pick their own shares.
- No stick, no pick! Rows without a sign, or a stake with a ribbon affixed, are not available to be harvested from. This includes rows of tomatoes and peppers which may be cited in bigger blocks that have certain beds open for harvesting. Please, please, please observe this important policy
Mark your calendars: at the end of the month, we’ll gather on Birch Hill for the storied Great Tomato Taste-Off (or GTTO), organized by the inimitable Jane Weissman. Come by and taste dozens of tomatoes grown, no-spray, here in Amagansett by your Quail Hill Farmers. The GTTO is free for members and their guests, and others are welcome with a suggested $10 donation to the farm. Saturday, 8/31 from 9am-noon. See the tomatoes flyer and fact sheet here!
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In advance of the GTTO, study up on our 2024 varieties list by checking out the Tomato Guide compiled by CSA member and GTTO jefa Jane Weissman. The guide will be laminated and placed atop each tomato row on Birch Hill.
Take care, and see you in the fields,
Layton
