If you drove through the farm this week, you might notice something that seems a little strange.

In one field, we’re picking tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, and flowers as fast as they ripen. Just a few rows away, we’re mowing down spent crops, covering beds with tarps, adding compost, and preparing ground that looks…empty.

It almost feels backwards.

But this is one of the great balancing acts of vegetable farming. While we’re enjoying the abundance of summer, we’re already laying the groundwork for the harvests of September, October, and beyond.

Over the next few weeks we’ll begin seeding thousands of feet of carrots, beets, turnips, spinach, kale, salad mix, Asian greens, and many other cool-season crops. Those fall vegetables don’t happen by accident; they begin in the hottest part of the year.

Right now our crew is mowing old crops, tarping beds to help break down residue and reduce weeds, spreading compost where it’s needed, and getting irrigation ready so those tiny fall seedlings have the best possible start. It’s a lot of work that won’t really be visible for another month or two, but that’s the nature of farming. Today’s preparation becomes tomorrow’s harvest.

At the same time, farming doesn’t pause while we prepare for what’s next.

Every week we’re still making succession plantings of lettuce, radishes, cilantro, dill, and scallions so that fresh bunches keep coming instead of arriving all at once. Those little plantings are easy to overlook, but they’re one of the keys to keeping your boxes diverse week after week.

One of the things I love about this season is how it reminds me that good farming is always lived in two seasons at once. We celebrate what’s ripe today while investing in what we hope to harvest tomorrow.

Thank you for making that possible. Your grocery subscription gives us the confidence to keep planting—not just for next week’s box, but for the months ahead. We can’t wait to share the abundance of fall with you.

—The Millsap Farms Crew

Help Us Grow Our Farm Family

If you’ve been enjoying your weekly grocery subscription, would you consider telling a friend? Most of our members hear about us from someone they trust, and we’re grateful every time one of you shares your experience.

Have them sign up at millsapfarms.com/subscriptions and use promo code FRIEND. They’ll receive $10 off their first purchase, and you’ll receive $10 in farm credit for every friend who joins—good on add-ons, eggs, bread, flowers, or anything else in the farm shop.

To make sure you receive credit, ask them to mention your name in the “How did you hear about us?” question during signup, or simply reply to your weekly email with their name and we’ll take care of the rest.