July 30, 2017
Enjoying U-Pick
By Linda Dansbury

I hope everyone is getting outside to do U-pick in this awesome weather. I did mine yesterday afternoon and it was so nice to be outside. I thought of a couple of things I wanted to share.

The cherry tomatoes are coming on strong now, and if Mother Nature/diseases are kind, we will be picking these delicious gems for about another month or so. The farm grows all delicious varieties that they have tested for years and found to be the best adapted to our area, with good harvests and of course, great taste. When picking, check to make sure you are picking ripe fruit - since they are different colors, just check near the bottom of the plants for the most ripe tomatoes - that will show you what color you need to pick for the most delicious taste. The first rows you come to is the prized Sun Gold variety - they are ripe when they turn orange, so even though they look really pretty when they are yellow, leave those to ripen for a few more days. Other tomatoes are red, but with varying shades, so just take your time and see which ones are most ripe. There is also the Black Cherry heirloom variety that is one of my favorites. It is dark, almost purple at the bottom but usually maintains green "shoulders", even when fully ripe. Yum!

The tomatillos are abundant right now. I picked my allotment in about 2 minutes and didn't move from a single spot - a few of the ones I picked were actually laying on the ground. Don't miss out on this delicious veggie - just search this site for ideas.