LOYAL ‘CREEKNIKS:  ‘Tis the time of the Nightshade, for the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers are ready to pick.  ‘Tis the time of the Dayshade, too, for the sun will be darkened and not a soul in the heavens or principalities can stop it.  The last time we saw a cosmic convergence of this magnitude was 5 years ago this month.  It had never happened before, but as soon as Veggiestock ignited, it seemed so inevitable.  So right.

Tomatoes are ready!  Cherries, beefsteaks, and assorted heirlooms are ready for u-pickers.  Romas and San Marzanos are not ready yet.  Please come load up on your first tomato haul of the year.  To get motivated for a mindbending vegetable picking experience, jump back in time to VEGGIESTOCK!

Eggplants are ready.  Come pick your own Italian, Japanese, and fairy tale eggplants.  To get inspired for the task of picking, revisit the unexpected exuberance of EGGPLANTAPALOOZA!

Peppers are ready.  Pick your own green and purple bells, sweet Italian fryers, poblanos, jalapeños, habaneros, serranos, cayennes, Thai chilis, and others we are forgetting.  The hots will still be in their green dresses.  Red dresses – and true heat – will come later, as you will recall from the fireworks at PEPPEROO!

Peaches are picking.  The second wave has ripened after a stretch of sunny days.  Did you get the inside tip a couple days ago?  Follow our special farm Facebook page.  It’s the BEST way to score midweek intelligence leaks.

First apple cider of the year!   We will press the first batch on Friday so you can get it in gallons and half-gallons on the weekend and probably Friday afternoon if the crew has a good morning.  This is “Orchard Ambrosia,” nectar of the OMGawds – our locally somewhat famous unpasteurized beverage containing only fruit.  No added sugar.  We squeeeeze fruit with water pressure and out drips ‘Brosia.

Dusky’s sweet corn is an OMGawdsend.  Just absolutely crushing it with this first-time corn crop for The ‘Creek.  Eat it right outta the pot or, like these juveniles of the farmer species, right offa the stalk cavewoman style.  Zero butter and even less salt than that.  (But try Old Bay Seasoning!)

Emily’s lettuce continues to delight.  Another rookie crop, and it’s as tender as the tenderfoot’s uncalloused hands.  Two varieties in stock, Red Sail and Romaine.

Williams’ Pride is the name of the apples you can pick.  On your way to Row 10 in the Dwarf Orchard you can fight about whether it is properly Williams’, William’s, or Williams.  When you get there, you will finally pick your first apples of the year, because these are RED APPLES which seems to be what you Farmketeers have been holding out for.  The yellow and green apples which kicked off the season were treated with precisely the contempt we have come to expect.  Sigh.

Donuts got their earliest start ever this year.  They roll off the “L’il Orbits” machine every Saturday and Sunday 10 to 8.  Purists, go home.  Everyone else, sprinkle with our totally original cinnamon sugar mix.

Apparently some of us farmers are roadtripping to Tennessee for the apocalypse, er, eclipse.  Whoever’s left will be moping at the chess table and/or hanging around to help you at the farm stand.

Look at these pancakes.  Our Farmketeer-of-the-Week, Kelly, worked a really long time to perfect the shape and work out the peach-to-blueberry ratio.

Okay she didn’t win for the cakes.  But the grilled peaches…  Old family recipe calls for cutting in half, slapping on grill, sprinkling with feta (classical cheese of the OMGawds), then drizzling with balsamic reduction.  Who’s gonna lock up next week’s prize?  Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.