Here’s the dirt on what’s in our dirt

Our hope is that on this page you can get details about what we grow, lots of details about what it is, how we grow it, and (maybe) even what it looks like while it’s growing.

We’ll sort this page by season. Spring crops include lettuce, kale, radishes, beets, carrots, and herbs.

Summer crops may include many varieties of tomatoes, hot peppers, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, squash and zucchini, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, watermelons, and melons.

Fall crops include pumpkins and gourds, luffa, and back to cool weather crops like lettuce, kale, radishes, beets, and sumac.

We also have an orchard that might start producing market quantities in 2025. Our young orchard has dozens of trees that will yield: cherries, plums, paw paws, peaches, apples, and pears.

Across all fields and plants, we use regenerative agricultural practices and do not use herbicides, pesticides, or chemical / synthetic products.

Not all produce listed here will make it to market. Sometimes we find a new variety of seeds that we’re incredibly excited to grow in the hopes of getting it to market, only to fail for one (or more) of a variety of reasons. It happens.

Spring crops: what we’re growing at Highlands Farm in 2025

Green leaf lettuce: We grow several varieties of lettuce, including butterhead, merlot, and romaine.
Carrots: The bulk of our carrots are Glowstix, which come in purple, yellow, white, and orange varieties. We also grow standard orange and a purple hybrid carrot.
Scarlet Globe radish: this is a classic variety of radish, perfect for adding a crunch to salads or eating raw with a sprinkle of our habanero pepper salt!
French Breakfast Radish: another classic radish, the French Breakfast is long and skinny and boasts a white tip.

Summer crops: what we’re growing at Highlands Farm in 2024 & 2025

Onions: For 2025 we are planting sweet yellow onions and giant red onions that we hope to have available from June through November.
Hardneck garlic: We plant our garlic in November and over-winter outdoors. By mid- June we harvest and set them to dry. Find these delicious, all-natural garlic at the market from July until we sell out!
Cucumbers: In 2025 we will plant slicing cucumbers, but do not plan to have pickling cucumbers for the market again next year due to lack of interest.
Jalapeños! The classic all-purpose hot pepper that scores 2,500 to 5,000 scoville units.
Chipotles: Red jalepenos are vine-ripened from green. Smoke them and you get chipotle peppers! A richer, more complex flavor but no discernable heat difference than green jalepenos. The word “chipotle” comes from the Nahuatl word chīlpōctli, which means “smoked chile”.

Lemon Spice Jalepeno: Spice with a hint of lemon freshness. Introduced by the New Mexico State University NuMex agricultural labs, this bright yellow jalepeno adds a pop of color and flavor to salsas. We love it on fish tacos!
Orange Spice Jalepeno: More spice than a standard jalepeno with a bright, fruity citrus flavor profile.The orange color stands out in salsas, chili, pepper jellies, on tacos, and anywhere you want a pop of color and a blast of heat.
Carolina Reapers: The long-standing hottest pepper in the world at 2,200,000 on the Scoville scale. Beyond the heat, the reaper has a smoky flavor (or maybe that’s just what’s left of your taste buds)
Thai Dragons: these tiny peppers pack a punch, hitting a scorching 100,000 on the Scoville scale
Sugar Rush Peach Pepper: our favorite pepper that we grow on the farm. These land between 50,000 and 100,000 on the Scoville scale with a hint of sweetness and a depth of flavor.
Datil Pepper: This semi-sweet fruity pepper brings the heat at up to 300,000 Scoville units.
Habanero pepper: Classic hot pepper with a floral and sweet flavor. Up to 350,000 Scoville units.

Fall crops: what we’re growing at Highlands Farm in 2024