Farm to another kind of table

The tail end of the warm season this year brings the uncanny feeling that we're just now to the midmost. You'll remember Summer arrived in fresh foliage from cool, muddy weeks that stretched all the way back to early Spring. The slugs stuck around for far too long. The tractor mocked us in forced idleness. And frankly we had some dread from the late start, the old work piling onto the new, with missed opportunities mounting as time got scarce. In a pinch like that, you do what you can, when you can, and take your chances. I've heard all farmers are gamblers, and in a year like this one, you'll sit down to the table to play, and the ante seems too dear even before you see all the cards. I take heart from Townes Van Zandt singing Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold:

"Now, here's what this story's told: If you you feel like mud, you'll end up gold; If you feel like lost, you'll end up found. So amigo, lay them raises down."

And we did. We planted melons, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers (even hot peppers), and potatoes, 4-6 weeks late, not knowing if the house would take all. Honestly, I've just been hoping for a push, and this week, friends, we got it.

Arrived:

• Watermelon, in glory. Red, and seeded, on principle.
• Cantaloupe, small to medium. Ripe, and will ripen further (market and farm stand only this week)
• Heirloom tomatoes, mixed colors, shapes, and varieties, all good.
• Sauce tomatoes: mixed San Marzano and Sunbow's own Teardrop paste
• Fine green beans. Fresh, firm, and long-lasting because we just picked them.
• Jalapenos. On plants like shrubs that make us smile.
• Patty pan squash. Tender, toothsome and cheerful.

Soon to come:

• little, green Fordhook Gem melons.
• more cantaloupes and watermelons (not yellow, not this year)
• celery
• carrots
• more potatoes, many kinds
• more peppers
• onions

Will not happen this year:

• Prune Plums
• Plum Jam
• Figs