The Final Summer Harvest

Several days ago, we completed our final harvesting of the remaining Summer crops. A killing frost was forecast for the following day, so all available hands were busy pulling up sweet and hot pepper plants, tomatoes and other perishables. The only remaining tomatoes are of a good size but remain in the green stage of development. 

Some of the hot peppers have turned beautiful shades of yellow, orange and deep red. This assortment of hot peppers will be used by the Larder to create our own Blackberry Farm Garden hot sauce. 

Climbing butterbean vines remain in full bloom and are laden with clusters of butterbean pods. However, with the first frost, all of this lush growth will come to an end. I find myself working at an increasingly rapid pace so that not one butterbean pod will be lost due to frost damage. Fresh shelled beans will be processed and frozen for use during the Winter months, and the dry beans will serve as seed stock for Spring planting. 

There are a number of uses for the green tomatoes, with my favorite being pickled green tomatoes using the same recipe that is used for dill pickles. In the cornfield, corn stalks are laden with dense pea vines and long dark pea pods from the variety known as the Unknown Pea of Washington Parish Louisiana. These peas have a wonderful flavor fresh shelled, canned or frozen. Not one pod will go to waste. There are also numerous khaki-colored dried pods which will be shelled out for seed preservation and for future plantings. 

Scattered throughout the cornfield are numerous Kentucky field pumpkins which is an old heritage variety dating back to the 1700s. When stored away from freezing temperatures, these pumpkins will last well into the following Spring. 

With the end of our long growing season, the Fall gardens are beginning to take shape. Rows of kale, collards, turnips, mustards and Fall lettuces add new colors to the gardens with varying shades of bright green. When one season ends, we are always looking forward to the new growth of a new season. 

– John Coykendall, Blackberry Farm Master Gardener