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.
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.
- Hoboken Midtown Drop -Off
- Hoboken West Drop-Off
- Jersey City Hamilton Park Drop-Off
- Beth Haverim Drop-off
- Click here for theRecipes of the Week
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