It’s official- last Friday morning we got our first frost of the fall, followed by another on Monday morning. While first frosts are frequently fairly light, both so far this year have been quite heavy frosts, not clearing until well into the morning. While this marks the end of the “summer” season, plenty of crops still grow through and even benefit from early fall frosts. Brassicas in particular have a unique way of protecting themselves from freezing. As the temperatures drop, these plants increase the sugar content in the water inside the plant, which acts like antifreeze to lower the temperature at which the water inside the plants freeze. This survival technique has a tasty benefit for us, in that crops in the brassica familiar will get sweeter once the fall frosts set in. These crops include kale, collards, turnips, arugula, kohlrabi, and bok choi. So make sure to pick some of these up and enjoy the benefits of cooler weather!
Check out our full harvest list below and we’ll see you this weekend! Also note that this Sunday will be our last at the Urbana market. Thank you to all of our customers there. It was a great year! We will continue to be at Burke on Saturdays until early December.
Farmers Katie & Mike
This week at the market:
- Salad mix
- Head lettuce
- Baby kale
- Arugula
- Winter salad mix
- Spinach
- Radishes
- Beets
- Purple-top turnips
- Bok Choi
- Escarole
- Salad turnips
- Kohlrabi
- Rainbow chard
- Kale
- Collard greens
- Sweet peppers
- Onions
- Potatoes
Comments
lynn brownell
October 25, 2018I remember when you first told me about how the plants increase their sugar to protect themselves against
freezing; so cool. Plants are awesome. Looking forward to tasting abit of sweetness this next week. Must be
a relief to be into a less demanding season. Hope your leaves are coloring up nicely. Happy Halloween!
Barbara Grogan
October 27, 2018What a great fall report. Just love your insights into how the crops grow and change with each season. Good luck with your last Urbana market–and congrats!