In the middle of October, every year, we plant garlic. Garlic is an incredible crop for so many reasons, but one of the most wonderful things about it is that each clove is a seed. Each clove contains a universe of power that will eventually grow into a full bulb by next summer. There are not many crops where the seed is the actual food and vise-versa. Because the crop has the same care and growing method for both seed use and food use, garlic lends itself really well to saving your own seed. be⋅wild⋅er has saved garlic seed year after year, for 10 years! These seeds have grown with us and adapted with us for all that time.

Last Saturday we sowed next years garlic crop. We invited our work-traders and a few willing friends to join us in cracking open the largest garlic heads, breaking apart the cloves, and pushing them into the soil under a cozy layer of straw. We all know that many hands make light work, but it is always a relief and a surprise to see how true that is in real time! We were able to plant 50 lbs of garlic! This year we actually weighed it! We drank mulled cider and shared a meal around the fire, enjoying one of the last mild evenings of the fall, just before first frost, in gorgeous golden hour light. The garlic is all tucked in until next year, which is our signal to start tucking the rest of the farm in as well and setting ourselves up for a brief hibernation.

The window for getting the abundance of vegetables from our fields to you is dwindling! The online store will be open for about one more month, the last day to order is November 17. We will be at the final Bloomfield Farmers Market on November 21. Come say hi! If you have a pocket heavy with farm credits, please use them!

A note on Thursday order pickup: to start winding down, we will be reducing our pickup options and will no longer be delivering to Jackworth. If you typically go to Jackworth, we suggest shifting to Bantha Tea Bar.

The farm field is still providing us with major abundance! We are especially happy to have lots of salad mix, cabbage, fall radishes, carrots, herbs, and cooking greens. You might have noticed that we added a Farmer Share option to our product list - it contains a variety of vegetables that we grow - a combination of greens, roots, squash, herbs, and alliums. It’s a CSA style option and great if you are feeling decision fatigue.

Our partner producers at John-Paul’s Farm grew a massive amount of red potatoes and we are excited to be able to offer them. The potatoes are cured and set for winter storage, so don’t be afraid to load up! We have quantities up to 15 lbs listed, but send us a message if you are interested in larger bulk quantities. We still have plenty of frozen sausage and bacon from Blackberry Meadows and just a few whole chickens left from Mother Earth Farm. For a few more weeks, we have wonderful FRESH ginger and turmeric from Grow Pittsburgh. Fresh ginger is such a treat - we’re hoping to make a batch of fire cider soon for the winter. We also have a few delicious ColdCo staples, celery & radicchio, and as always, we will have eggs for sale through the end from Pittsburgh Pastures.

We hope you enjoy the crisp fall veg coming out of the fields in these last few weeks of this season, and hope to see you at the last market on November 21, before we shift fully into planning and preparing for next season.

-Adrienne

Fall Updates & Planting Seeds for Next Season