Last Call for Summer
It’s here, the last weekend of summer. On Monday the sun will pack her bags and cross the celestial equator heading south for the winter, much like the Canadian Geese who have been traveling en masse the same direction, a sure sign of changing seasons.Farmers tend to have a heightened awareness to the impending shift as we witness up close and personal daily changes in the natural world. Livestock farmers notice their animals’ winter coats begin to thicken as the lighter summer coats shed out. Feathers fly as laying hens molt and slow down on their job as the days become shorter. Produce growers are now focusing on fall and winter crops as their summer vegetable plants lose their lushness to a picked-over spindliness. Melons have been replaced with collards in the CSA shares.As a Central Farm Markets customer, you’ll be seeing seasonal changes, too.Although some liken it to their displeasure of finding Christmas displays prior to Halloween, vendors who will have turkeys for Thanksgiving have begun advertising for reservations. Farmers want to know that they have as many as possible sold prior to delivery days for holiday birds so if you’re planning on a local turkey gracing your family table, be a dear and let your farmer know as soon as possible instead of waiting until the last minute.While turkey for Thanksgiving is a given, similarly, if you want a special cut for any of the fall or winter holidays, it’s best to start discussing your plans now with vendors. Large cuts and premium roasts aren’t something that are routinely kept in stock throughout the year. We must have our cut lists ready for our processors when animals are scheduled in the fall. Telling your farmer the week prior that you need a standing prime rib roast that will feed a dozen people is not going to happen.As the hot days wind down into cool mornings, you know what else is winding down? Seasonal markets. This means those customers are going to start seeking out longer running seasonal markets (Pike and Westfield go until November 23rd) and year-round markets like Bethesda and NoVa. The dead give-away for this is when every last leaf of Young Harvests’ salad greens has been snapped up before noon, they’ve broken down their stand and gone out to breakfast to wait for the official close of market to leave.Consider this a friendly nudge if you want to jar up some sauce before tomato and pepper season is over. There’s still time left to make spirit-soaked stone fruit for holiday hostess gifts. The influx of regional market aficionados has yet to begin. For me, it’s time to dig out pants and long-sleeve shirts, jackets, scarves and of course, to begin getting my Halloween costume together.