TOM THUMB

tom thumb is the name of the heirloom variety of the lettuce pictured above. the heads are smaller than average at maturity, only about the size of apples. this is the first year we have grown them. in the tray, they are hypnotizing with their swirly centers. i love trying different varieties and crops that we have never grown before. it is just one of the things that keeps farming fresh... romantic.

yesterday was a big greenhouse day for me. i started potting up peppers... 300 so far and about 250 more to go. it is striking how vigorous some varieties are compared to others at this stage. one of the most notable, the carmen pepper. this sweet red pepper proved to be an outstanding new variety a few years ago. the production, flavor and market popularity are all reasons why it is becoming one of our new favorites. until recently, the lipstick pepper always held a special place on the market stand and in my heart. aside from its sassy name, the lipstick peppers are small, thick, sweet and taper to a blunt point. however, i find they get anthracnose fruit rot and the branches break easily during harvest. i didn't plant any this year and now i am having second thoughts... maybe it is not too late?

aside from working on potting up the peppers and eggplant, i also potted up cherry tomatoes. we have scaled down from 60 cherry tomato plants to just 25 this year since we don't have a market to sell flats of them like we did in burlington. 25 cherry tomato plants are still a lot of work. the 9 varieties create a beautiful mix of shape, color and size that make them irresistible at the farmers market.

tomorrow is our first big transplanting day with over 2,500 onion sets in addition to our spring brassicas and lettuce. it will be another beautiful day for field work. and we might even have an extra helping hand tomorrow!