The Last Hurrah of Summer
Hello farm friends,
We’re back from a well-rested vacation in Cape May, and just like that… fall is here. Around the farm, we’re wrapping up planting for this season and already seeding for our overwintered crops (yes, we’re thinking about spring 2026 already!). We sow in late summer and early fall so our plants can grow strong roots under the soil all winter long, and wake up strong and early next spring.
While the new generation of crops is settling in, the field flowers are still having their big end-of-summer show. Zinnias, celosia, and dahlias are bursting on the scene right now, and they make it so easy to put together something cheerful for the table. I wanted to give you some DIY farmer-florist tips for making that perfect end-of-summer/ fall bouquet that you can enjoy at home.
DIY Bouquet Tip: Make Your Own Late Summer/ Fall Arrangement
Here’s a simple bouquet recipe you can try with end of summer flowers:
2-3 focal flowers (think showstoppers like sunflowers, dahlias, lillies, or asters)
A handful of supporting flowers (zinnia, strawflower, marigold, or rudbeckia)
Some wispy or floaty flowers filler (yarrow, gomphrena, ageratum, cosmos, or verbena)
Some spike flowers (Celosia, goldenrod, or gladiolus)
A splash of greenery (eucalyptus, nine bark, amaranth, sedum, scented geranium, basil or other delicious smelling herbs)
Pop them in a jar with fresh water, strip the leaves below the water line, give them a fresh snip every couple days, and voilà! You’ve got yourself a little jar of sunshine.
Here’s an example that we used recently:
🍅 Tomato Love: Easy Recipes for Peak Season
And of course, no August newsletter would be complete without talking about tomatoes. We are overflowing with tomatoes right now — big, little, green, stripey, sweet, tangy… the whole rainbow. If your kitchen is also full of tomatoes, here are some quick, no-stress ways to use them:
Tomato Toast – Slice a tomato, sprinkle with salt, good olive oil, and basil, and layer on good bread. Breakfast, lunch, snack, whatever.
No-Cook Pasta Sauce – Chop tomatoes, garlic, and herbs, toss with olive oil, and let it all mingle while you boil pasta. Summer in a bowl.
Fresh Salsa – Dice tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and peppers for an instant party dip.
BLT but Better – Try swapping in an heirloom tomato slice as thick as your toast. It’s the star, not the sidekick.
Freezer Saver – Got too many? Chop and freeze them flat in bags. Future-you will thank you on a cold January night.
As we shift from summer’s abundance into autumn’s coziness, we’re so grateful to share these moments with you — the jars of flowers, the baskets of tomatoes, and the promise of green things already sleeping beneath the soil.
With love from the farm,
Gaby + Liam
