Van Breaks Down
We had a nice day at the Ramsey Day Centennial Market on Saturday and got to meet quite a few of our Beth Haverim Shir Shalom members. The only downside was that our delivery van conked out on us as we were getting ready to leave Ramsey & head back to the farm. A call to AAA and they got us running but told us not to shut off the engine between there & home, as there was a problem with the fuel pump. Fortunately, Farmer Diane’s son is a mechanic and offered to fix it for us over the weekend, but just in case he couldn’t get it done for the delivery on Monday, Farmer Rich had to make alternate plans for delivering this week. Instead of loading the van with all the deliveries for Mon & Tues he was going to have to use our old S-10 pickup and make 2 trips; the first to Mahwah on Monday, return home & reload for drop off to Jersey City & Hoboken on Tuesday. Due to this complication, the delivery is a little lighter than it would have been as he could not harvest everything he had planned as there would not have been room for it even with making two trips. The delivery actually turned out to be nice overall despite our complications. We hope to make it up to you next week. One of the greatest things with working with other farmers is our network to help each other out. There would be no way that this repair would have been accomplished between 3:30 Saturday afternoon & Monday morning. Diane’s son Matt was able to order the parts, and get the job done all on a Sunday. He did take time away from helping Diane in her fields, but it all works out as when she needs help, we will be there.
From the Fields: The broccoli which was doing quite well last week, seems to be producing smaller heads that we had hoped. Farmer Rich doesn’t know why, it seems like they just stalled as they were heading up. Our crew planted some Oriental greens in the beds in the Franklin greenhouse. The field from our first week’s delivery of lettuce has all been replanted with another crop of broccoli which is doing well at this point. The peas which really didn’t produce very well were tilled up and that field will be replanted. The bed of New Zealand spinach was weeded and should be ready for harvest next week. As the Franklin greenhouse tomatoes ripen, we are filtering them into the different delivery sites on a staggered basis until there are enough to deliver to everyone. Just a quick taste test, the Franklin greenhouse tomatoes don’t seem to have the great flavor of our field tomatoes. Most likely cause is the minerals in the soil. Though still better than store-bought tomatoes, not what we usually think of as incredible flavor.
Weather Report: The heat & humidity have returned. Despite what seems to be a week with lots of rain, the actual amount has been quite insignificant. Farmer Rich had to turn on the irrigation system on Friday to keep the crops moist. The warmer evenings are allowing the warm weather crops to grow better, but hindering the lettuce which likes it cooler.
Animal report: The bunnies seem to be growing faster than some of the crops. Farmer Rich refers to them as a “monster” crop of baby rabbits. So far they are not creating too much havoc in the fields, just one or two have gotten through the fence. We still have a groundhog inside the fence, Farmer Rich refers to him as a “vegetable vacuum cleaner”, and he has eaten another 100 lettuces. We harvested the rest of the lettuce for this week’s delivery, so the groundhog will have to find a new crop to devour! We hope it won’t be the celery. On the positive side, the birds (which are our “air-force”) are eating bugs which are our natural way to control pests.
Farming Quote of the Week: On the farm I had learned how to meet realities without suffering either mentally or physically. My initiative had never been blunted. I had freedom to succeed—freedom to fail. Life on the farm produces a kind of toughness. - Bertha Van Hoosen
Greenhouse Pix: early tomatoes ripening Pick of the Week: click on the links below or to the right to bring you to the delivery specific to your pick-up location. Deliveries will be of similar variety & poundage, but may contain different items. This time of year we may have some crops ready but not enough to deliver to all our drop-off locations. What we do is start to filter them in each week to a different drop-off until there is enough to delivery to everyone.
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