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Monday, September 04, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 14 - Week of September 4th

No sun for a week….
and the farmer has wet feet!
Last week we were so happy to report that we finally had rain, but it rained for a week. Looks like a total of 5 ¾" fell at the farm. Luckily we didn't get one of the tracks of the storm that they were predicting as that would have dumped over 1' of rain and would have definitely destroyed more crops. Two weeks ago we didn't have enough rain, now we have too much! The rain did heavy damaged to the tomato crop as any tomatoes on the vine popped & cracked with the rain storm. If it rains after an extended drought & the tomatoes are green they will crack and heal, but have the "cat-face" appearance. If they are ripening on the vine, they too will crack but cannot be saved at this point and are thus lost to the weather.

Tomato Tasting in Ramsey on September 9th. We have the help of volunteers from The Woman's Club of Ramsey to cut up the tomatoes for tasting and we we'll have some farm fresh produce for sale from ours as well as about 5 other farmers. It has been a very difficult growing season so far for all the farmers that we know. We hope to have sufficient tomatoes for the tasting on Saturday.

From the Fields: Unfortunately we have had to lay-off our farm helper Leslie. We had hoped to keep her to the end of the season, but with the crop losses and not enough to harvest we had no choice. She has been an invaluable asset to the farm this year and we hope to have her return next season.


Weather Report:The official weather report for the last two weeks is a high of 92˚, a low of 50˚ and 5 ¾" of rain. We keep track of the weather for submission to the New Jersey Farmer as official "weather watchers". Rich has always kept a record of weather at the farm anyway, but always nice to see your name in print!

Animal Report: The groundhog problem continues. It sneaks in and eats parsley, kale, beet leaves and carrot tops. Seems that the voles & field mice are fattening themselves up for the coming winter. They have been enjoying sweet peppers, chard & beets as well as a few tomatoes.

Fruit Report: This week we have nectarines from Windy Brow farm.

Upcoming Events:
· Tomato Tasting - September 9th - Ramsey Day (raindate September 10th)
· Garlic Gathering - October 7-8 -Olde Lafayette Village - Lafayette, NJ
· Garlic Day @ Arboretum - October 22nd - Frelinghuysen Arboretum - Morristown, NJ

Creature of the Week:

deer2.jpg


Just Watching……



Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

Click here for the Recipes of the Week

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