Every week brings surprises. The unwieldiness of the weeding tasks every weekend is punctuated by this bright, gigantic sunflower, whose stalk is far stouter than I would ever expect.

Hello Sun

The 50 pounds of buckwheat seeded an area of the farm that is prone to flooding, though that was not a concern for this season. It’s flowering and about 4 feet tall. In a few more weeks, the seeds will set. Shall we attempt a low-tech grain harvest?

Fields of Buckwheat

A-Maizing color on these dry corn! The “Painted Mountain” variety produce kernels in all shades, red, purple, organe. While using the corn planter, the dispensing mechanism kept getting clogged with dirt, so we had to go back over the short rows by hand. Needless to say, the rows are a bit spotty, and sad looking. We should hand pollinate the 50 plants – the top of the plant holds rice-like pollen, which needs to fall on the corn silk. Each silk results in a kernel!

Dry Corn “Painted Mountain”

Summer squash season is about to begin. The pattypan squashes had weed competition and have not matured as quickly, but these crookneck squash are looking great. All I can say is, zucchini bread, zucchini muffin, zucchini noodle, grilled zucchini, fried zucchini, zucchini a la mode.

Crookneck Squash

Rainbow chard regaling in hand-weeded row.  Dan claimed he couldn’t tell the weeds from the chard, but after 10 minutes, he gained his vegetable eyes!

Rainbow Chard

Mid-july is prime purslane season. They hug the weeded soil and spread out 2 feet in all directions. In weedy areas, they grow vertically and leverage other weeds to gain access to sun. At this point, they are everywhere near a cultivated vegetable row. I’ve eaten a few in the field, but have heard they become mucilaginous when cooked, almost like okra. It’s gaining favor in certain circles as a super food high in omega 3.

Purslane, Eat it or Weed it