Pages

Monday, October 29, 2007

Vol 12 No 22 - Week of October 29th

Final Delivery of the Season
Thanks to all CSA members for your continued support. We hope you enjoyed the variety offered throughout the season. Every year presents new challenges and this year was no different. First it was too wet, and then it was too dry during the early part of the season. To end the season it was too dry again and Farmer Rich had to irrigate in October! Our Farmhand Leslie had some medical problems during the harvest season so Farmer Rich was left with intermittent help during that time. This year we changed our farming system, expanding the fields to be tractor friendly and used black plastic with drip-tape irrigation which presented a whole new set of problems. Weeds were difficult to control on each side of the plastic and it seemed that not enough water was getting on the beds. That equated to a reduction in yields, though the season was much better than last year. Over the winter, Farmer Rich will be revamping ideas on the growing systems in the new larger fields so hopefully we won’t have this problem again. Comments are always welcome, so feel free to drop us an e-mail or give us a call with suggestions for next season. From the Fields: We have a Work-Day scheduled on November 3rd to plant garlic & we hope that many of you will be able to come & help. Farmer Rich was starting to prepare the fields & low & behold the tractor wouldn’t start. A mechanic friend is checking it out. Either way we’ll have the field ready for garlic planting on the 3rd. Fruit Report – Enterprise Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Work Day @ the Farm: It Garlic Time! Come out for a stinkin’ day of fun at the farm: · Work Day at the Farm – Saturday NOVEMBER 3rd 11 am to ??– Garlic planting day · (this also happens to be Farmer Rich’s birthday – so we’ll have a birthday cake) · Please RSVP so we can plan a nice seasonal lunch · Dress in layers – you never know what the weather will be · Projects include garlic popping (preparing the bulbs into individual cloves · Garlic planting · Mulching · In just a few hours we can plant hundreds of cloves · A great family fun day! Prepared Garlic Treats! We can offer members some prepared garlic products from August’s Harvest: Pickled Garlic Crunch Pickled Garlic Flowers Red Pepper Garlic Dipping Sauce More info on http://www.jerseygrown.com/ – they make nice gifts for the holiday season. Just e-mail us your order & we’ll e-mail you an invoice to pay via credit card! Annual End of Season December 1st – 7:00 pm @ the Hoboken Historical Museum 1301 Hudson Street in Hoboken (a parking garage is close by). All CSA members are invited from all our drop-off locations – Mahwah, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West, Jersey City & On-Farm Pick-up! Please RSVP to Nancy Jessup & let her know what you will be bringing to the potluck. Please sned her your name & callback number just incase she needs to make any changes to the menu. Click here to send an e-mail

Thank you for your support!

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.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Vol 12 No 21 - Week of October 22nd

Last delivery next week
As the season winds down (just 1 more delivery) we are harvesting aggressively. Looking forward to next season as we actually starting working towards next season just as this season ends. This includes cleaning up the fields, re-arranging our perennial crops, take down the trellises for the tomatoes & cucumbers and replace about 150’ of fence. Farmer Rich also has to repair all the greenhouses, from recovering the greenhouse plastic to reframing the heated greenhouse. As we don’t use any treated lumbar the base of the heated greenhouse is in a state of desperate repair. We still have potatoes in the ground as we did not get enough help to pick them, despite reaching out to all the members to assist. If we can’t get them out by next week, they will be used for seed for next year. A Garlic planting trip to the farm is scheduled for November 3rd and we hope that many of your will come up to help! From the Fields: The bugs are on a rampage in the fields, probably due to the warmer weather this past week. We usually don’t have a problem this time of year. They wiped out most of the shanghai cabbage, most of the collards and they are producing most of the wholly greens you are seeing tonight. Animal Report: Another quiet week at the farm. No action other than sparrows chasing the blue birds again. Fruit Report – Empire Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Work Day @ the Farm: It Garlic Time! Come out for a stinkin’ day of fun at the farm: · Work Day at the Farm – Saturday NOVEMBER 3rd 11 am to ??– Garlic planting day · (this also happens to be Farmer Rich’s birthday – so we’ll have a birthday cake) · Please RSVP so we can plan a nice seasonal lunch · Dress in layers – you never know what the weather will be · Projects include garlic popping (preparing the bulbs into individual cloves · Garlic planting · Mulching · In just a few hours we can plant hundreds of cloves · A great family fun day! Prepared Garlic Treats! We can offer members some prepared garlic products from August’s Harvest: Pickled Garlic Crunch Pickled Garlic Flowers Red Pepper Garlic Dipping Sauce More info on www.jerseygrown.com – they make nice gifts for the holiday season. Just e-mail us your order & we’ll e-mail you an invoice to pay via credit card! LAST DELIVERY of the SEASON– NEXT WEEK 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.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Vol 12 No 20 - Week of October 15th

When it Rains - It Pours!
Finally some rain fell at the farm. We received 5” total between two back to back storms during the week. We also had severe high winds at the farm on Friday while we were loading the truck for the Garlic Fest in Hoboken. All of a sudden about 5 trees blew down just on the line between us & our neighbors. Luckily no structures were damaged as they fell into the neighbor’s driveway. COOOOOOOLer temperatures arrive. A low of 28ºF and luckily only spotty frost damage on the plants. There would be a dead pepper plant surrounded by live ones, so there must have been just enough wind to save most of the greens in the field. A neighboring farm lost all of their basil & pepper plants. From the Fields: Just two more weeks to deliver, as long as we don’t get a freeze. We still need to harvest 8 rows of potatoes & hope to get that done this weekend so we can deliver them. More greens will be coming in your deliveries over the next two weeks. Animal Report: “The Twins” – our resident twin fawns came back to visit on Thursday as well as a visit by a quite a few blue birds. The neighborhood sparrows did not like the blue birds visiting at all as there was a ruckus in the field. Fruit ReportKeepsake Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Windy Brow does have apple picking at their farm this time of year. Their phone # is 973.579.9157 so you can call for directions & dates & times they are open. It is a nice day out in the country! Work Day @ the Farm: It Garlic Time! Come out for a stinkin’ day of fun at the farm: · Work Day at the Farm – Saturday NOVEMBER 3rd 11 am to ??– Garlic planting day · (this also happens to be Farmer Rich’s birthday – so we’ll have a birthday cake) · Please RSVP so we can plan a nice seasonal lunch · Dress in layers – you never know what the weather will be · Projects include garlic popping (preparing the bulbs into individual cloves · Garlic planting · Mulching · In just a few hours we can plant hundreds of cloves · A great family fun day! Prepared Garlic Treats! We can offer members some prepared garlic products from August’s Harvest:
  • Pickled Garlic Crunch
  • Pickled Garlic Flowers
  • Red Pepper Garlic Dipping Sauce

More info on www.jerseygrown.com – they make nice gifts for the holiday season. Just e-mail us your order & we’ll e-mail you an invoice to pay via credit card!

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.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Vol 12 No 19 - Week of October 8th

Garlic Fest - Saturday
Saturday from 1-5 pm we’ll be at the first Garlic Festival @ the Hoboken Historical Museum. We’ll have many different varieties of garlic for tasting as well as dips, pesto, salsa, garlic honey, garlic vinegar, pickled garlic and more….. We’ll have on display over 100 different varieties of garlic as well as some educational displays. Seasonal produce will also be available for sale. Stop by and we hope to have stinkin’ day. Weather Report: Again no rain and Farmer Rich continues to irrigate due to the planting of late season crops. It is very unusual to have to irrigate in October, but necessary as there are another few weeks left to deliver. From the Fields: With three more deliveries to go the harvest will be on getting everything that is deliverable off of the fields. We will be getting fields ready for garlic planting soon and will be scheduling a work-day at the farm probably either on the 20/21st or 27/28th. We’ll keep you posted & hope to have many of you come to the farm to help. Since we have been watering we do have nice greens but fell behind harvesting this week due to our 2-day event at Olde Lafayette Village and not able to harvest on Sunday. We’ll make it up next week!! We still have potatoes in the field yet to be dug and if we don’t get them out in the next few weeks our first newsletter next year will read “potatoes are already planted.” We have a nice delivery of tomatoes tonight, but may have to skip delivering them next wee as they are slowing down. Animal Report: We were counting on another delivery of cabbage, but the gourmet groundhog had decided to devour it. Farmer Rich was finally able to find where the “gourmet” groundhog was coming in & fixed the problem. Probably a little to late, but with 3 weeks to go we hpe it won’t find a new way to break into the fence. Fruit Report – Luwcious variety of Pears–Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Windy Brow does have apple picking at their farm this time of year. Their phone # is 973.579.9157 so you can call for directions & dates & times they are open. It is a nice day out in the country! Upcoming Events: It Garlic Time! Come out for a stinkin’ day of fun at the following event: · October 13th – 1st Annual Garlic Festival @ the Hoboken Historical Museum Hoboken, NJ · Work Day at the Farm to be planned – we’ll keep you posted for a garlic planting day by the end of the month. · Sorry no recipes this week – not enough time 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.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Vol 12 No 18 - Week of October 1st

Dry - Very Dry

Super dry conditions continue. While we did have 1/10” of rain during a roving thunderstorm, Farmer Rich continues to have to irrigate. Normally this late in the season when the days are shorter, any water will usually linger in the soil longer than usual. But is it so dry out there, any watering just seems to disappear. The autumn colors are starting around the farm so peak autumn leaves should be coming soon. While the temperatures were very summerish the last week plus, the mornings are very seasonally cool. Weather Report: During that roving thunderstorm, Farmer Rich was concerned that there was a possibility of hail. Hail is possible anytime during the year when there is a severe thunderstorm, but with only a few weeks to go we would hate to loose our field crops, especially the leafy greens such as chard, kale & lettuces. From the Fields: The fava greens, mustards, radishes and oriental greens are all doing well. Our latest planting of carrots is coming along. The warmer weather crops; tomatoes, eggplant, peppers & summer squash, are all but shutdown. Animal Report: No sign of the gourmet groundhog this past week and seems like all the other wild animals are taking a break. We didn’t see any deer either. A quiet week all in all, but for a lone cat cruising the fields for mice. Fruit ReportGolden Delicious Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Excellent for eating fresh, pies & salads; Very good for baking & apple sauce. Windy Brow does have apple picking at their farm this time of year. Their phone # is 973.579.9157 so you can call for directions & dates & times they are open. It is a nice day out in the country! Upcoming Events: It Garlic Time! Come out for a few stinkin’ days of fun at the following events: · October 6th & 7th – 6th Annual Garlic Gathering @ Olde Lafayette Village – Lafayette, NJ · October 13th – 1st Annual Garlic Festival @ the Hoboken Historical Museum Hoboken, NJ CORRECTION – last week I had the wrong date listed. This event will be held on the Saturday the 13th.

Here's looking @ You:

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.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Vol 12 No 17 - Week of September 24th

Warm Snap

Last week we had our first frost warning and a low of 35º and this week we have had 4 days of 80º+ weather! Sometime Farmer Sue & Farmer Rich harvested the mustard greens & more potatoes on Sunday. There are another 4-6 rows of potatoes yet to be dug. It was noted that in digging up the potatoes the ground is dry-as-a bone due to the lack of rain for at least a week now.

Weather Report: There was no rain during the week at the farm. Farmer Rich continues to irrigate the crops in the field. The shorter days & cooler nights, lack of water is not as big as a problem as it would be in July when the ground just totally dries out.

What’s Up & Growing: The fall greens are all coming along nicely, being mustards, white radishes, bekamaru, shanghai cabbage & Torazorah. The yellow celery is also up & doing well. The fava greens should be ready to harvest within the next week or two.

Animal Report: The gourmet groundhog continues to munch in the fields. He liked the cabbage this week and Farmer Rich cannot find where he is getting in through the fence. Perhaps he has tunneled in.

From the Fields: Tonight is the autumn delivery of decorative gourds & mini pumpkins. Farmer Rich has to prepare fields for garlic planting in October and we will be scheduling a trip to the farm for members to come up & help with this project. In just a few hours hundreds of cloves of garlic can be planted. He was able to find some time to take down some old fencing that was in the middle of our newly expanded fields, so this area will be ready to be worked for next season. With the cool temperatures last week, the cucumber plants just shut down.

Fruit Report – Empire Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. They were developed in 1966 at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva as a cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh. Empire Apples have a sweet-tart taste that is ideal for eating and salads but also great for sauce, baking, pies and freezing. Windy Brow does have apple picking at their farm this time of year. Their phone # is 973.579.9157 so you can call for directions & dates & times they are open. It is a nice day out in the country!

SAVE NJ FARMS UPDATE ! Shale Hills Farm in Wantage continues to take the lead on getting out information to fellow farmers regarding the proposed “land-grab” by the DEP who proposes to limit use of farm land within a 300’ area of a C1 stream. As noted in prior newsletters, this would in essence make our farm no longer viable as we could not farm the land. As a matter of fact, the potatoes we just harvested and the ones already delivered to you are no more than 10’ from the stream! More information can be found at www.saveruralwantage.com and of course we encourage you to write letters to Secy of Agriculture Charles Kuperus at: charles.kuperus@ag.state.nj.us. THANKS!!!!! We need ALL of you to do this. We believe that e-mails coming from Bergen & Hudson counties will definitely make an impact.

Upcoming Events: · October 6th & 7th –6th Annual Garlic Gathering @ Olde Lafayette Village – Lafayette, NJ · October 14th – 1st Annual Garlic Festival @ the Hoboken Historical Museum Hoboken, NJ

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.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Vol 12 No 16 - Week of September 17th

Frost Warning
We had our first frost warning issued here in Sussex County. As you will read below, it was issued far earlier than usual. We did have a low of 35ºF so luckily no frost as there are tomatoes to be harvested. The tomatoes in the field are slowing down due to the short days & cooler temperatures. Once is freezes at the farm the warm crops will be gone but the cold crops will continue. These include mustards, chard, kale, fava greens, and onions. The late plantings of tomatoes have thousands of flowers but have not set tomatoes. Seems Farmer Rich made a mistake on the varieties he chose for this planting. Weather Report: Some rain fell on Sunday morning, but that was it for the week. There also was a frost warning early on Sunday in Sussex County. The usually fall frost date for Sussex county is 10/2 so 9/16 is a little early. As per the Farmer’s Almanac: Tender plants will die back during a frost (temperature range: 29-32ºF). The next level, classified as a moderate freeze (25-28ºF) will have a widely destructive effect on most vegetation. What’s Up & Growing: The favas are up for the fava greens and the turnips have gone ballistic as have the mustards. You should start seeing them in your deliveries soon. We did have problem with the Torazorah, but they seem to have come back o.k. Our last planting of Chinese cabbage is struggling; seems to have been slow to germinate. They should start to “pop” soon. Animal Report: Very quiet this week. I guess the cooler temperatures have slowed down even the gourmet groundhog. There are a lot of Monarch butterflies around. Perhaps we are on their migration path south. From the Fields: Hopefully we can get the potatoes out of the ground this coming weekend. The horseradish is doing well and we hope to start to harvest it soon. This will be our first season growing horseradish for deliveries and we have experimented at home with some immature roots so should have a few recipes for delivery time. With the cooler temperatures it is time to start winter squash and you will have Acorn squash in your delivery tonight. Pumpkins & gourds are on the horizon. Reminder – if you haven’t read last week’s newsletter regarding the proposed changes by the DEP to limit use of land within 300’ of streams – please do. NJ Farms ARE AT RISK if this goes through. We must plead to the NJ DEP & NJ Dept of Agriculture to exempt 100% of farmland from this proposal and we encourage letters be sent to Secy of Agriculural, Charles Kuperus at: charles.kuperus@ag.state.nj.us . So far only a handful of you have let us know that you have written to Secy Kuperus so we are reaching out to you again to help save not only our farm but NJ Farms! Fruit Report – Harrow Pears –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Originated in Harrow, Ontario, Canada @ the University of Ontario. If you like to cook pears, this variety cooks into a lovely pear sauce or butter. 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.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Vol 12 No 15 - Week of September 10th

Urgent Plea
NJ Farms at Risk – We have been receiving e-mails from fellow farms raising extreme concern about the latest NJ DEP proposal to limit any activity within 300’ feet of a C1 stream. This would have a disastrous effect on most NJ farms as most farms are located close to water due to necessity for crops & animals. This is of extreme importance! If this proposal becomes law, we would no longer be able to farm on our property as our growing areas are within probably only 100-200’ of a seasonal brook! Basically, the farm would become worthless and be part of the latest “land-grab” by government bureaucrats, all without compensation. We have a very successful farm, all due to the support of you, our community supported farm members. It is important to you to know who is growing your food and where it is coming from. What will happen if most of our local farms are lost? The Dept of Agriculture is proposing to shrink the 300’ buffer to 150’ – but there should not be any compromise to this proposal. Agricultural land should be exempt! There is still a lot of confusion regarding the proposed rules and an administrative analyst for the DEP is quoted as saying “If you have an existing agricultural use within buffer you would be allowed to continue,” Minch said. “If you are pasturing animals you would be allowed to continue and if you are cropping you also would be allowed to continue, “The department is seeking additional clarification of the rules and trying hard to get the message to potentially affected farmers,” If this were true then why would there be a need for additional clarification of the rules? Also in reviewing the legalese of the proposed rules, there is no mention of “existing agriculture use”. Looks like typical double talk from the bureaucrats. Would it allow for new crop areas to be cleared on our 15 acres that we currently do not have in crops now? I guess it is o.k. to have major highways & roads right next to waterways where the salt & chemicals are washed into them during the winter, but not o.k. for a farmer to raise his crops or pasture his animals! Where are the government bureaucrats when wet lands are filled in to for malls, sports arenas & large developments? Wow and I thought we lived in America, not Amerika! We must plead to the NJ DEP & NJ Dept of Agriculture to exempt 100% of farmland from this proposal and we encourage letters be sent to Secy of Agriculural, Charles Kuperus at: charles.kuperus@ag.state.nj.us . There is a story in our local newspaper for more information: http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2007/09/06/advertiser_news/news/17.txt . We are continuing to research and will pass along more information as it becomes available. Now onto our farm news…… Weather Report: Again no rain for the week. We think the lack of rain contributed to the corn not being very good this past week. Also some of the crops such as tomatillos, and tomatoes are getting smaller. What’s Up & Growing: The turnips are doing well though we were not able to get any water on them all week. They are behind but luckily coming along. The newly seeded radishes outside the greenhouse are up and the mustard greens are ready to be thinned. Our last seeding was Tokyo Bekana (a Looseleaf Chinese Cabbage) and that is up. We planted a late planting of fava beans for fava greens. Our seeded Italian arugula is MIA. It appears to seed did not germinate well. Animal Report: The gourmet groundhog continues to break in. It does not each much of anything, but continues to sample many different crops. The latest being the cabbages & some tomatoes. From the Fields: More potatoes need to be harvested and we hope to be able to get them out of the ground within the next week. Luckily the skins set nicely while in the ground, so they will not be lost. We do have some pototoes set aside from our last harvest which will be filtered into the deliveries soon. The tomato patch is winding down as we are unsure if the plants will continue to produce with the cooler nights. As of today & next week we’ll have lots of tomatoes. We usually like to try to deliver them through the end of the season. Fruit Report – Mixed Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. 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.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Vol 12 No 14 - Week of September 3rd

Ramsey Day - Saturday The 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting is Saturday @ Ramsey Day! We’ll be set up across the street from the High School with the tomato tasting & farm-fresh produce and hope to meet many Mahwah/Ramsey members there. The Tomato Tasting is a fund raiser for the Woman’s Club of Ramsey to raise money for their charitable work. Ramsey Day is always a fun event where customers can taste over 20 varieties of tomatoes and sample some peppers, cucumbers & more. We also make up some salsas, dips & pestos with recipes to hand out. Everyone just loves to be able to taste so many varieties of tomatoes in one spot. Weather Report: We did not receive any rain this week. Farmer Rich has been irrigating. The days & nights are cooler and Sometime Farmer Sue saw the first wooly bear caterpillar of the season on Sunday. It has been very pleasant to work in the fields all week as those super hot days seem to have “gone by”. What’s Up & Growing: Finally the turnips look they will be a reality. Shanghai cabbage & chard are almost ready for harvest. The late tomato plants are “late” and are just flowering now. We hope that they will bear fruit to extend the season. The carrot planting also looks good aside from missing some leaves to the gourmet groundhog. The white carrots are up and the mustards are coming along well too. The planting of leeks failed as they split at the stems. We have a very happy patch of horseradish which will be harvested probably in October. Animal Report: Seems to have been a quiet week for the animals. The only animals Sometime Farmer Sue saw on Sunday was a gaggle of turkeys and a lot of leopard frogs in the potato patch. From the Fields: Finally, some of our potatoes are in your delivery tonight. We did have a few trips to the farm scheduled so members could come up & help with the harvest, but only a few came so the harvest took longer than we had hoped. Farmer Rich & Sue harvested another 4 rows of red potatoes on Sunday and there are another 12 rows yet to harvest. We hope to get them out of the ground over the next few weeks. Corn Report: Sweet corn from Green Valley Farm is in tonight’s delivery. Fruit Report – Mollies Delicous Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Mollies are a nice summer apple, not to be confused with Red Delicious. Attractive fruit with unique slightly conic shape. Good very distinctive flavor. Introduced in 1966 by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Upcoming Events: · September 8th – 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Ramsey Day · September 15th – 3rd Annual Garlic Day @ the Arboretum-Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Morristown, NJ · October 6th & 7th – 6th Annual Garlic Gathering @ Olde Lafayette Village – Lafayette, NJ · October 14th – 1st Annual Garlic Festival @ the Hoboken Historical Museum Hoboken, NJ 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.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Vol 12 No 13 - Week of August 27th

Tasting Day
We had a great day at the 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting @ the Hoboken Historical Museum on SUNDAY. It was also great to meet many CSF members there. Thanks to all the members who helped at the tasting table, Valerie & Eric who helped me at the checkout and to Holly & Bob for all their hard work! We had a trying end of the day Saturday and start to the morning on Sunday. Our delivery van was leaking by the rear axle and we were on borrowed time for a possible problem with the differential (we think), so luckily we got to Hoboken a-o-k, but had to gear ourselves for getting the van dropped off to our mechanic in Midland Park. With no way to get back to the farm from Midland Park I fortunately was able to borrow my parent’s car in Ramsey to get back to Wantage. We were able to get back to the farm & pick up Farmer Rich’s S-10 pickup so he could make the CSF deliveries on Monday & Tuesday while the van is being fixed. We finally arrived at the farm at 9:30pm. Even though there was a full-moon, I was able to identify a number of constellations (no street lights at the farm). We had a beautiful end to a very long day by seeing some shooting stars! Weather Report: We had 2 ½” of rain on Tuesday which wrecked a lot the heirloom tomatoes. Not only our tomatoes were affected but many of the farmers who we planned on getting some varieties for the tomato tasting. What happened is that there was a long period of time without rain, and the excessive rain cracked the tomatoes and they were not shippable. This was not very good news when were the a few days away from the Tomato Tasting & a week away from CSF deliveries. We didn’t do too badly all in all. Some farmers we know in Warren County had a severe hail storm which whipped out entire crops and one group had to cancel their annual tomato tasting and another lost over 1 million mums! What’s Up & Growing: Looks like the turnips are finally coming up. The red mustard as well as green mustard is doing nicely. The lettuce that was to be transplanted bolted so that failed. The late planting of tomatoes in the greenhouse were staked up & are in flower, so we should be able to deliver tomatoes to the end of the season, barring some disaster or another. These tomatoes are resistant to frost as they are under cover. Animal Report: We had a nice stand of kale until our “gourmet” groundhog decided to eat most of it by the time we left on Saturday. While we were loading the van on Saturday for the Tomato Tasting, twin fawns decided to watch us sorting & loading the truck. One of the twins was definitely curious and I was able to get pretty close to them before they bolted. I was wondering if perhaps the one twin was the same fawn I found in the cattails some weeks back. It was almost like she recognized me! Corn Report: Sweet corn from Green Valley farm is in tonight’s delivery. Green Valley is just down the road from our farm. Fruit Report – Gravenstein Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Upcoming Events: · September 8th – 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Ramsey Day · September 15th – 3rd Annual Garlic Day @ the Arboretum-Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Morristown, NJ 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.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Vol 12 No 12 - Week of August 20th

Hoboken Tomato Tasting - Sunday
The 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting @ the Hoboken Historical Museum is SUNDAY. We’ll have over 30+ varieties to taste as well as farm-fresh produce for sale. Hope to see many members there. It is always great to meet CSF members we have never met before as well as see many of you we have been seeing for years. Always a fun event! The tasting is from 1-5 pm. It was a beautiful day to harvest potatoes on Sunday– and harvest we did! We harvested blue potatoes with the help of CSF members. Last harvest we dug with pitchforks in hand and this time we attached a small plow to the back of our small tractor to break up the soil and then harvested the potatoes. This turned out to be very efficient and saved a lot of time. Thanks to the members who helped! Weather Report: After the last rain, the fields turned up very dry. We had to run irrigation to keep the turnips going. Looks like it will be raining all week this week – which is needed. The temperatures have turned very cool which will slow up the warm weather crops such as tomatoes & eggplant. Not unusual for this time of year, as it is approaching the end of August! What’s Up & Growing: The red mustard and some tender green mustard is sprouting. The white carrots have not germinated yet, but they do have some time. The next planting of beets has just started to sprout. We hope they will come up with the coming rain. More lettuce & Chinese cabbage is slated to be planted this week. From the Fields: We lost a delivery of spinach as it bolted. As you notice in tonight’s delivery the heirloom tomatoes are more plentiful. There are some problems, but overall the remainder of the season looks good. The new planting of zucchini is coming along. Animal Report: It looks like we have a gourmet groundhog who is selectively sampling many of the crops. This week he hate the red amaranth, the rest of the broccoli he didn’t finish last week and appears he is developing a taste for heirloom tomatoes. Farmer Rich can’t find where he is breaking in. There must be some area of fencing in need of fixing. Corn Report: The sweet corn in tonight’s delivery is from a neighboring farm – Green Valley Farm. They use IPM technique and only spray when necessary. Farmer Adam’s corn (which was no-spray) was lost to striped cucumber beetles eating the tassels of the corn, therefore it could not pollinate so we could not delivery any of his corn. Fruit Report – Nectarines –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Upcoming Events: · August 26th – 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Hoboken Historical Museum · September 8th – 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Ramsey Day · September 15th – 3rd Annual Garlic Day @ the Arboretum-Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Morristown, NJ 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.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Vol 12 No 11 - Week of August 13th

A little too much rain! We always hope for the perfect season but it never happens. This year we started in a drought and how this past week as brought a little too much rain. The crops are generally doing well except or some spotty areas that are too wet. Next Trip to the Farm - Sunday – Aug 19th More potatoes to be harvested - Just let us know that you plan on coming up so we can plan on lunch & refreshments and send you directions. Spend the day or just come for a few hours. Weather Report: Rain-Rain & more rain. We received 2+ inches the beginning of the week and another 2+ inches on Friday. We unfortunately have a few sections of the field that are swamped out and some crops will be lost. On Friday, Rich & Leslie were able to work in the large greenhouse due to the heavy rain and were able to weed it. This was good as it was overdue. After the rain stopped the temperature nose-dived into the low 50’s. By the time they left, Leslie turned on the heat in the truck! The day before it was almost too hot to work. What’s Up & Growing: We replanted turnips for the 3rd time. If they don’t do well this time, we guess it is time to throw in the trowel on them. The recently seeded spinach probably will have to be replanted as it is not sprouting. One area that needs to be replanted is too wet to work. White radishes, Oriental greens, tender green mustard were planted this week. The Red mustard planted a few weeks ago is finally up. The other two plantings of potatoes are close to harvest time, which is perfect timing for the trip to the farm on Sunday. From the Fields: The cucumbers continue to produce well. We are getting some blight on some of the plantings of tomatoes. This unfortunately means those plants will die. Two greenhouse plantings and two field plantings so far are o.k. (these plantings amount to about 300 plants). The last plantings are carrots are growing well and so far the ground hog has not found them! The heavy rains put our beets turnips & radishes in jeopardy. Hopefully the fields were drain well. The summer squash are starting to taper off. Fruit Report – Tydeman Apples –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. Tydeman’s descended from McIntosh in 1945 by virtue of a crossing with the little known Worcester Permain at the British East Malling Research Station. Beneath the thin, slick-feeling skin is a near-white, fine-textured flesh bearing a mild, enticing flavor. Upcoming Events:
  • August 26th – 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Hoboken Historical Museum
  • September 8th – 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Ramsey Day
  • September 15th – 3rd Annual Garlic Day @ the Arboretum-Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Morristown, NJ

Who’s eating the tomatoes? A tomato horn worm !

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.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Vol 12 No 10 - Week of August 6th

The New Jersey State Fair started on Friday and the Open Vegetable Show was on Saturday. We won Best in Show for both hardneck & softneck garlic, with 10 blue ribbons in garlic overall and a blue ribbon for our only tomato submission, the Ramapo tomato. It is always fun to exhibit! The fair runs to August 12th in Augusta, NJ. If you want to check out events at the fair, visit: http://www.njstatefair.org/ . Fun for the kids to see farm animals, see the exhibits and they also have a carnival too. Our Farm Hand Leslie won 13 blue ribbons for her submission of vegetables, herbs & garlic. She was very excited and also won Best in Show for Anise Hyssop & Bee Balm!
Next Trip to the Farm - Sunday – Aug 19th More potatoes to be harvested - Just let us know that you plan on coming up so we can plan on lunch & refreshments and send you directions. Spend the day or just come for a few hours.
Weather Report: While it rained on Friday night the ground is dry. While Rich should have been watering on Saturday, he was at the State Fair but was able to water the spinach on Sunday. The re-seeded, re-seeded turnip crop needs to be tilled under & replanted with another crop. There were reports of hail with that storm, but luckily did not hit us, as the chard in the field was undamaged.
What’s Up & Growing: Leslie transplanted lettuce from seedlings into cells in the greenhouse to be transplanted in the field. Chinese cabbage is almost ready to be planted in beds along the side of the greenhouse. The cilantro is up and eggplants are going better despite a slow start.
From the Fields: The lettuce which was transplanted in the greenhouse & the field should be ready in another week or two. The turnips & black Spanish radishes are coming along slow, but should be ready soon. The tomatoes are doing well. We have scattered plantings so hopefully are immune to any disaster. We have about 5 different varieties of cucumbers also doing well. There are some failings of cucumber plants to “the wilt”, but luckily have planted enough plants to off-set this.
Fruit ReportRaritan Rose Peaches –Freshly picked from Windy Brow Farm. This heirloom variety was developed by the NJ Agricultural Experiment Station. It was introduced in 1936. This variety would be considered by many to be equivalent to the Rutgers Tomato in the Peach world.
Upcoming Events: • August 26th – 8th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Hoboken Historical Museum • September 8th – 6th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting – Ramsey Day • September 15th – 3rd Annual Garlic Day @ the Arboretum – Frelinghuysen Arboretum – Morristown, NJ
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.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Vol 12 No 9 - Week of July 30th

Awash with Squash!
Wow - this week we are awash with squash!!! So there will be a lot of squash recipes in the newsletter. There will be mixed varieties in your delivery this week.

We started to harvest potatoes with the help of CSF member Lisa from Mahwah. The weather was threatening to rain most of the day which prevented some from making the trip up, but luckily the it only sprinkled off & on during the day. We had a great on-farm barbecue with fried up blue potatoes just picked minutes before.

Next Trip to the Farm - Sunday - August 19th
More potatoes to be harvested - We started to harvest the blue potatoes, but in a few weeks the red skinned potatoes will be ready for harvest. If the potatoes aren't ready, we have plenty of other projects we need help with, such as mulching.
Sunday -August 19th 11 am to ??
Just let us know that you plan on coming up so we can plan on lunch & refreshments and send you directions. Spend the day or just come for a few hours.


Weather Report: We received about 1 1/2 " of rain during the past week. This helped immensely, and the veggies are nice & happy all fluffed up! Seems like overnight the weeds started overtaking areas which were recently weeded, but this will be a project to re-weed during the week. The weather was mostly cloudy, hot & sticky which is typical for this time of year.

What's Up & Growing: The seeded lettuce and Chinese cabbage in the greenhouse are ready to be transplanted in the field. The cucumbers, peppers & eggplant are all doing very well. Looks like the sorrel & chard will be ready for delivery for next week. The newly seeded fennel & cauliflower are unfortunately growing poorly. The last planting of carrots are finally up. This week dill, cilantro, turnips & spinach were seeded and celery was transplanted.


From the Fields: The area were we harvested the onions has be tilled up & should be tilled again prior to planting some autumn greens. Our squash patch is scheduled to be replanted due to weeding up. Hate to say it but - our last planting of squash is up. Last year we did not have hardly any green zucchini and there were quite "rare" among our neighboring farmers. This year there is an over abundance of squash. But that is farming. Seems what was a bumper crop last year did poorly this year and poor yields last year are over abundant this year! Oh the joys of farming.

Fruit Report - Shiro Plums are in this week's delivery. This is a yellow Japanese plum variety. Freshly picked from Windy Brown Farm in Newton. Excellent for fresh eating, cooking, canning, preserves and desserts.


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.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Vol 12 No 8 - Week of July 23rd

Trip to the Farm-Sunday

Farmer Rich arrived at the farm early on Saturday morning and was surprised to see the front gate open. Upon investigating, he found footprints from 2 deer (1 adult & 1 baby) that made the rounds. It looks like they ate some beets, Spanish radish greens and some weeds. Either Farmer Rich forgot to close the gate Friday night or the deer figured out how to untie the gate wires!! Farmer Rich is convinced that they untied the gate! Trip to the Farm - Sunday - July 29th Want to harvest potatoes? PotatoClip.gifWe planted 100 pounds of potatoes in the spring, so it is time to start harvesting them. We have yielded about 3-4x in the past and may yield up to 10x, so that is a lot of potatoes. Fun for all ages!!!! Sunday - July 29th 11 am to ?? Just let us know that you plan on coming up so we can plan on lunch & refreshments and send you directions. Spend the day or just come for a few hours.

Weather Report: Cooler weather came during the week along with some rain on Wednesday. About ½" of rain fell at the farm, which was quite different from the torrential rain fall that fell further south in Bergen, Passaic & Essex counties. It was just the right amount.

What's Up & Growing:The turnips, black Spanish radishes are doing well. The cabbages are a little spotty in the fields, but should start showing up in your deliveries in the next week or two. The tomatoes, peppers & eggplants will be starting in the deliveries real soon. Our late planting of tomatoes are doing well also. We always try to get a late planting in so as to be able to deliver tomatoes late in the harvest year.

From the Fields:The garlic harvest is finally over. It took Farmer Rich 3 days to finish the harvest. The garlic bulbs are a little on the small side, mostly due to the drought conditions we had early in the season. The first run of blue potatoes looks really good. The onions are almost ready to be harvested. Once the tops have died down they will be ready for storage. Farmer Adam's corn (probably the best corn ever!!) will be ready in about 2-3 weeks, as long as the bear or deer don't eat it. It is starting to tassel-up! There is another delayed planting right behind it, so we hope to be able to deliver some great corn soon.

Fruit Report- Red Heart Plums are in this week's delivery. This is a Japanese plum variety.

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.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Vol 12 No 7 - Week of July 16tth

Heat Stroke

We surely had a few hot days last week and last Monday, Farm Hand Leslie suffered from heat exhaustion in the field and Farmer Rich had to get her into the shade. Luckily with the air conditioner turned on in the truck & a few packets of salt later, she recovered and did not need medical attention. Sorry for the 1 hour delay in delivering on Monday afternoon, but it was unavoidable due to the circumstances. Heat exhaustion can happen to anybody and it seems just to creep up on you.

From the Fields:The fava beans have been tilled under & the patch has been planted with turnips & kale. Celery is also going to be planted in this section. The garlic harvest has started. The garlic you are receiving is "fresh" garlic as it has not yet been cured. The flavor will be milder than cured garlic, but definitely more flavorful than supermarket garlic. Dill and sweet peppers were planted in the greenhouse this week.

Weather Report: Super hot the beginning of the week and luckily transitioned to cooler weather thereafter. About ¼" of rain fell on Sunday afternoon, which was the only rain we received all week. Farmer Rich continues to irrigate the fields to make up for the lack of rain. We finally have been seeing a drought report on the news channels, though we have been complaining about it for weeks now.

What's Up & Growing: The new planting of carrots and zucchini are both up. The crows have been picking at the seedlings, pulling them out of the ground. Farmer Rich assesses that the start of the tomato season should begin in about 2 weeks. The peppers are a little behind, but are on their way. A nice crop of avocado squash & cucumbers are also coming along nicely. BabyRabbit.jpg

Animal Report: The baby rabbits are still about, and some are staying out of the fields. They are content to stay in the shade by the picnic area. A few others have gotten inside the fence but luckily have not feasted on much so far.

Fruit Report - This week the fruit deliveries start. We do not grow our own fruit but have partnered with Windy Brow Farm in Newton to supply the tree fruit to the members. This week we have delivered Flaming Fury Peaches. A freestone peach; meaning the flesh comes off the pit easily. A firmer peach that keeps well. Delicious yellow flesh with a taste like the Loring. This peach is not very fuzzy making for a great eating peach. This peach is great for any type of cooking as well.

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.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Vol 12 No 6 - Week of July 9th

New Crop!

Fawn.jpgA new crop discovered this week - A fawn & baby rabbit were both roaming around the farm on Sunday (luckily outside the fences). Many people ask us do we have animals at the farm, such as cows, pigs, horses or chickens. Our answer is always only the "wild animals" such as deer, bear, rabbits & groundhogs. Once in awhile we'll be visited by a coyote. We have bass in our pond & very, very large snapping turtles! You won't want to go swimming in our pond if you do come up & visit. [Sometime Farmer Sue was walking past the cattails & heard some rustling - low & behold there was a baby fawn just ambling about. It can't be more that a 1 week or 2 old. A quick run to the truck for the camera to get a few nice shots!]

From the Fields: The garlic harvest probably will begin during the week. Hopefully next week we will have fava beans for the members who have not received them yet. The first fava bean patch has been mowed and we hope to get more fava greens from these beds. If not, that area will be replanted with mustards & dicon radishes. We are leery about putting lettuces in that spot since we had such a problem with the animals. Lettuces were transplanted during the week in the large greenhouse & the round field. While Farmer Rich was delivering last week, Farm-Hand Leslie finished trellising the tomatoes & cucumbers.

Weather Report: There was a tiny bit of rain during the week, and then we got hit with the 95˚F + days over the weekend. Luckily we always seem to have a nice breeze blowing at the farm so it wasn't too unbearable and we arrived super early on Sunday to start the chard harvest.

What's Up & Growing: The turnips & black Spanish radishes are doing well. The dill is small, but we hope to deliver it in a week or two. The cilantro & other herbs are doing quite well. The new beets are spotty, but Farmer Rich is keeping an eye on them. Carrots were seeded and Leslie transplanted more tomatoes in the greenhouse for a late crop of Beefsteak tomatoes. The Oriental Greens have become "buggy", and since we don't spray we may end up delivering them with the holes rather than throw them out. They will still taste good, but not look so great. The Strawberry spinach that we thought was flooded out during that very heavy rain, may not have been totally lost. Looks like some of the plants are making a comeback.

Animal Report: Not only did Sometime Farmer Sue catch the fawn in the cattails, she also got a few shots of a baby rabbit in our picnic area (photo next week). Other than these two surprises on Sunday, the week was relatively quiet except for a groundhog that Farmer Rich had to relocate so preserve the crops in the field from being devoured!

NEW FEATURE-Sometime Farmer Sue has put together weekly Harvest Delivery Tips Sheets. She likes to call it the Harvest Identifier. It will include photos & tips for the veggies included in your delivery. A link to it will be e-mailed each week along with your Pick-of-the-Week email that she sends early in the morning on delivery day. Let us know how you like it.

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.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Vo 12 No 5 - Week of July 5th

Happy 4th of July

July4thClip.jpgThe corn plants in the fields at the surrounding farms are "knee-high" by the 4th of July! We had some wonderful corn from Farmers Adam & Diane last year. We hope that the continued good weather will lead to a great crop of corn this year.

From the Fields: The fava bean crop this year is very poor. We probably will have to split the deliveries from the harvests this week & next between the delivery sites. Last year we had a bumper crop of favas (we actually delivered 3 weeks in a row) and this year we hope to at least deliver some to each site. The tomato plants are trellised up as well as the cucumber plants. Just a few more rows to go and all the trellising will be done. Farmer Rich spent alot of time in the garlic fields on Friday investigating their maturity. They should be ready for harvest soon.

Weather Report:We received some more rain this week - actually just a little too much on the 27th & 28th. Actually 4 ½" of rain fell on those two days. It was so intense during a short time, that it washed out part of the driveway and the runoff ran into the lower field and the big greenhouse. Some tomatoes & winter squash were washed away. Farmer Rich repaired the driveway with gravel from our on-site gravel pile with the large tractor. Tuesday & Wednesday were very hot, but the rest of the week the temperatures were ideal to work in and Sunday was just perfect.

What's Up & Growing: The radishes are up that were seeded last week. The rain helped the turnips, beets, cucumbers & herbs. Two beds are prepared and ready to be planted this week. Leslie transplanted peppers, eggplant, arugula & kale during the week. More transplanting will be done this week as the seedlings in the greenhouse are ready to go into the field. The celery & celeriac seem to be slow to start. Don't know why as they usually pop by now. They are up but seem to have stalled in the last week. The first planting of potatoes are flowering & Farmer Rich cultivated the second planting on Sunday. The plants look great we so hope to get a good crop of blue & white potatoes.

Animal Report: A rabbit ate the entire row of kohlrabi, right down to the bottom stalks. Not that anyone really goes wild for kohlrabi, but we planted it & hoped to delivery it in a few weeks. Luckily, no other animal invaders have created havoc in the fields this past week and we hope it will stay that way.

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.





Monday, June 25, 2007

Vol 12 No 4 - Week of June 25th

Summer Arrived

Summer arrived during the week and so did some much needed rain. The rain definitely perked up the crops. We received about 1/3" of rain each day between the 19th & 21st. Farmer Rich & Leslie worked hard all week working on irrigation and replanting beds. Farmer Rich plowed up a new section to finish transplanting peppers & eggplant. With the new drip irrigation system and long rows of plastic, Farmer Rich was finding it difficult to keep the weeds from invading between the rows. He spent the better part of Thursday cultivating long rows with the rototiller (so he could find the plants).

From the Fields: The fava bean crop is not "beaning" up as they should. Mostly likely cause is the late planting due to severe cold weather we had through April. They are usually planted around March 15th, but at that time the ground was still frozen and Farmer Rich couldn't plant until April. Another crop has been planted for the newest "gourmet" crop of the year - fava greens! You'll get your first taste of fava greens in tonight's delivery. Tuesday, Leslie transplanted into cells lettuce & broccoli to be planted into the fields in about 2 weeks. More tomatoes, 7 varieties of sweet peppers & some hot peppers were also transplanted. Red amaranth, basil, cucumbers, kale & arugula were also planted into the fields.

Weather Report: Despite the rain, the ground remains quite dry. Farmer Rich is diligently irrigating the crops. The hot weather to come definitely will impact the cooler weather crops which are now being replaced by the warm weather crops. Lettuces & greens start to bolt and want to go to seed.

What's Up & Growing: The gai lan crop has failed and was replaced on Sunday by radishes. The tomato crop is coming along overall very well. The chard, sorrell, collards & kale are all coming along nicely and you should start seeing them in your deliveries in the coming weeks. Our squash isn't doing well, but with our neighboring farmers Diane & Shawna we should start having squash soon. On target are the onions & garlic, and green onions probably will be delivered next week. The garlic bulbs are bulbing up now and the harvest will start in July.

Animal Report: Looks like the culprits who have been eating the lettuces are a few baby rabbits. Instead of eating a few whole heads, they have been enjoying munching on many heads as they move down the row. I guess they are sampling the varieties. Farmer Rich RabbitintheField.jpginterplanted green & red lettuce, so it must have looked like quite a layout for the rabbits!

Rabbit in the Field - Sometime Farmer Sue caught this rabbit up by the pond last week. It's probably not the one eating your lettuces, as it was outside the fence.


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.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Vol 12 No 3 - Week of June 18th

Trials & Tribulations!

Oh - what an interesting year! Last week we had employee problems on harvest day and this week Farmer Rich was in the Emergency Room at our local hospital for 5 ½ hours on Saturday! Friday he came home early with severe pain close to the site of his hernia surgery this past January, but of course thought it would pass. He slept for 12 hours and went back to the farm with his farm helper Leslie on Saturday morning but only lasted until 10:00 am at which time he called me that he just couldn't function anymore. I told him to bring Leslie home & I would bring him up to the ER, and he agreed! Being married to Farmer Rich for the past 28 years I knew that if he agreed to go to the ER it must have been pretty bad. We were there for all afternoon and they did a lot of tests, found the problem and he is now back on track. Luckily it was nothing major, though we thought it could have been. I went up & helped him harvest on Sunday morning so the deliveries are just waiting for the last minute additions on Monday morning.

From the Fields: The large greenhouse was turned over with radishes & oriental greens which are already sprouting. We transplanted more tomatoes & cucumbers into the fields. Arugula, kale & fuzzy gourds are slated to be seeded this week. Meanwhile on delivery day, Leslie will be working at the farm and seeding some beans & squash & also transplanting lettuce & broccoli. The potatoes are doing well, as the mulching is helping them hold more water.

Weather Report:We finally received some much needed rain. About ½" fell on Saturday night. The garlic crop looks like it is suffering from lack of water, so the garlic bulbs may be small this year. Some of our farmer friends that hay their fields actually got damaged by the rain that helped us. The rain ruined their cut hay so what would have been good feed hay is now only good for mulching. Just the other end of farming & how rain might help us but hurt another farm - oh the yin & yang of things!

What's Up & Growing: The seeded turnips, beets, radishes & dill are all up & growing. They look good despite the dry conditions most of the week. Some of the squash plants don't seem to the "squashing-up" as they should. It may be because of an area that became too wet with the irrigation.

Animal Report: Something is breaking in & eating the lettuce. We believe it may have been a groundhog that ate an entire delivery of lettuce during the week. The lettuce in your delivery this week was harvested a few days prior to what we normally like to so the groundhog wouldn't get it. Farmer Rich & Leslie went through the field on Friday & harvested the lettuce like Sherman went through Atlanta!. They got it all into the cooler and it has held up very well for the extra few days.

A Friendly Visit! Bears.jpg












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.