North Star Orchard Blog

It’s been a very wet summer here on the farm. In June, it seemed like it rained almost every single day! All this water makes it really hard to be a farmer. It hasn’t hurt the fruit much (thank goodness!) but it isn’t good for the vegetables. Everything that touches the ground can’t get dry, and so it rots — even the cucumbers and the squash! Some of our lettuce plantings have been a mess, and it was terrible for the arugula and the spinach in spring. I don’t know who’s had it worse, the people in the field who have to pick it, or the people in the washroom who have to clean it up and sort it!

With names like Cherokee Purple and Malachite Box, heirloom tomatoes certainly fit the bill for being true weirdos. Plus, check out that skin! Those aren’t unripe tomatoes folks, but the natural hue for these funky fruits. Some of those purpley red Cherokees do have some slightly unripe green shoulders, but they catch up with the rest of the ripe tomato in nearly no time.

‘Round here we love our cabbage. The humble cousin to showy kale and versatile broccoli, cabbage is mega good for you, and delicious to boot. Not weird enough you say? Cabbage is higher in vitamin C content than oranges, how’s that for weird! So no need to fear a deficiency in the form of scurvy next time you head out for a months-long pirate adventure. Just pack some sauerkraut and you’ll be golden!