Severe Weather Skips the Farm !
Twice during the week there were severe weather warnings for our area and fortunately we only received rain at the farm. Down the highway, Farmer Diane’s stand was partially blown over and in Franklin there was a big hail storm and another farmer lost most of his tomato plants. This was not too far from our Franklin greenhouse.
We have a few weeks before our tomato crop is ready, so the tomatoes this week are from Hilltop Farms and are greenhouse grown. We have always partnered with other farmers to get additional variety into the weekly deliveries especially when we have set backs or problems.
Farmer Rich has talked to Farmer Jim from Windy Brow Farm and the weekly deliveries of fruit will be starting soon. Last year the fruit was early, but this year is running a bit on the late side. The first delivery of fruit probably will be some delicious peaches. Some of the early fruit that we will be delivering from Windy Brow will include peaches, plums & nectarines.
From the Fields: Plantings in the field this week included two varieties of yard-long beans and fava greens. We also transplanted into the field: lettuce, more kale and eggplant which was a bit behind schedule, but better late than never. In the greenhouse lettuce, endive, chicory were planted for their next round and will be ready to go into the field in a few weeks. We will be seeding more crops this week to keep the crop rotations on schedule.
Weather Report: Due to the heavy rain on Friday evening, the broccoli crop was wiped out. The heavy rains have also affected certain sections of tomatoes. All in all, most of the fields are doing well. It was extra hot during the week so we schedule early-early morning starts so that the crew can leave earlier in the day and still be able to get the work done.
Animal report: The great blue heron has been seen “fishing” in our pond. If it is the same one, it has been around for years and is often seen soaring around the upper fields.
Since it has been so hot, the fawns are probably staying cool in the woods instead of patrolling the fields.
We seldom have break-ins into the fields when the weather is this wet as the wild animals have plenty to eat on the outside of the fences. It is only when we have drought conditions that they try to break in to feast on our lush rows of crops.
Trip to the Farm – Scheduled for Sunday – July 24th Want to help out at the Farm?? We like to schedule at least 2 work-days at the farm during the harvest season where CSA members can come up and help us with some projects. The first work-day is scheduled for July 24th starting at 11:00 am. Some projects planned will be to help with some mulching & transplanting. More details to come over the next few weeks. Please RSVP (by July 22nd ) so we can plan on lunch, refreshments & get you directions. Give us your contact # via phone or e-mail just in case the weather is iffy (it can be a whole different world at the farm) so we can give you a call if it will be a rainy day.
Upcoming Events -
- August 28th – 12th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting @ the Hoboken Historical Museum – 1 pm – 5 pm
- October 1st & 2nd 9th Annual Garlic Gathering @ Olde Lafayette Village 10 am - 4 pm Lafayette, NJ (Routes 94/15)
- October 16th 5th Annual Garlic Fest @ the Hoboken Historical Museum 1 pm - 5 pm 1301 Hudson Street – Hoboken, NJ
Week of July 11th - 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 at anytime during the season. Occasionally, some crops are ready to harvest 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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