This monthly section will feature which fruits and vegetables are in season for Truckee/ Tahoe residents at Farmers Markets, CSA Boxes, or what you should see in Natural Food Cooperative Stores. I will also give suggested planting schedules for homeowners in our area, along with what we are growing at Sierra Valley Farms in Sierra Valley.
September: Sorry to say, summer is over in the mountains. If you haven’t had frost you will have soon.
Farmers Markets: Don’t forget to support your local farmers. You can still find them in:
• Truckee (Tuesdays thru Sept. 30),
• Tahoe City (Thursdays thru Oct. 16), and
• Reno (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays thru Oct. 7), at various locations – check out renotahoe.about.com/od/foodshopping/a/farmersmarkets.htm.
Now, what to look for? Tomatoes and peppers are in their prime…time for canning or making your salsas. Tomatillos and cilantro also can be found as a treat. Fall is the time for your favorite potatoes. Arugula and spinach should re-surface.
As for fruit, late-season peaches, such as Elberta and O’Henry, are in. September is the start of pears, and Asian pears.
What’s great about Asian pears is they last for four to five weeks in the fridge…and boy are they a treat cold! September is the beginning of local apples. All varieties of apples, everything from Gravenstein to Gala and red/yellow delicious to heirloom varieties, begin to appear. Strawberries and some late-season raspberries and blackberries will persist.
This month features all the varieties of bell and hot peppers, along with the fall crops of cabbage and broccoli. Sierra Valley features late-season carrots and beets as well.
CSA Boxes:
What’s coming up from the Foothills? Just a guess…you should start seeing the above fruits and vegetables. With the cooling temperatures you should also start seeing herbs; butternut, acorn and spaghetti squashes; and cool-season leafy greens like arugula, lettuces, collards, and kale. Potatoes should emerge soon, along with the Asian pears, and apples.
What You Won’t See:
The hot season crops are about gone: melons, corn, squash, blueberries and some varieties of blackberries, cucumbers (lemon and pickling), eggplant, and most zucchini, summer squash, and beans. Tomatoes are on their way out at the end of the month, along with late-season peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots.
Truckee/Tahoe Plantings
For those of you bold enough to tackle our climate, here’s some suggestions:
• Outdoors: Late September you can start planting your flower bulbs, seed your wildflowers, onions, and garlic. I like to seed my green onions and chives after Labor Day and let them emerge before winter and get established, they then go down for winter and emerge in the spring so you have a nice June crop. Garlic/ horseradish is best planted late September/ October and will emerge for a great Fourth of July harvest.
• Hoop Houses/ Greenhouse: If you have a hoop house or a greenhouse harvest and enjoy those tomatoes, peppers, and basil you’re growing, it’s time to plant 30-day crops before the big winter. Seed spinach, arugula, kale, collards, and lettuces along with establishing your starts of herbs like thyme, tarragon, oregano, mint etc.
~ Gary Romano owns Sierra Valley Farms, which sits on some of his family’s original 3,600-acre ranch in Beckwourth.
