A Note From Layton | Summer Solstice at Quail Hill Farm
June 20, 2024
By Layton Guenther
The Summer Solstice has arrived, and with it the longest days of our year here in the Northern Hemisphere. More than 80% of the crops that we will transplant from our greenhouse have been seeded; most of our winter cover crops have been mowed, and we’re preparing to sow summer cover crops of buckwheat, clovers and new experimental cover crop species like sunn hemp.
Our field crops are coming along nicely, and you’ve likely noticed the arrival of the farmer’s favorite fleeting garlic-flavored treat: garlic scapes! Scapes can be thought of as the flower stalk produced by hardneck garlic planted across the Northeast (versus softneck garlic, which is grown on the West Coast and commonly found in grocery stores and garlic braids). Growers of hardneck garlic must be steadfast in removing the scapes from each and every plant in the interest of a larger terminal crop: doing so will ultimately increase the size of the bulbs by up to 80%.
Be well, and see you in the fields,
Layton
Layton Guenther
Director, Quail Hill Farm
LGuenther@PeconicLandTrust.org