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.
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