Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 20–October 26, 2015

Last Delivery of the Season!

It was unfortunate that we had a severe freeze (21-degrees) at the farm last week on Sunday the 18th, as the rest of the week was in the 70's. It did turn cold again for the weekend of the 24th and 25th and surely the growing season is at an end.

We fortunately had some crops that survived the freeze and the greenhouse crops sustained little damage. This will be the last delivery of the season.

The crew has diligently prepared the garlic beds for planting garlic for next year. John plowed, tilled and wrapped the beds in plastic. It was a bit on the hectic side as the weather was uncertain for this task. If it was too wet, we would have not been able prepare the beds nor wrap them in the plastic. This was a problem early in the season when some beds were not able to be wrapped for planting.

We are planning a trip to the farm to plant garlic for next year.The date will be November 7^th starting around 11 am. It is a great family activity as well. We start by “popping” the garlic. This is simply separating the garlic bulbs into their individual cloves. Then we head to the field for the planting. Since the beds are all prepared we simply have to poke each clove into the soil and have our spacing boards to ensure the right spacing between each clove. The final step is to spread straw over the planted garlic to help protect them from the winter weather. In just an hour or two with the extra help we can plant thousands of cloves. When we are done we plan on having a late picnic lunch.

Apple Picking in Sussex -Hillcrest Farms has Pick-Your-Own-Apples on Saturdays in Sundays throughout October. They are located at the corner of Plains Road & Davis Road. You can also visit their dairy cows, take a scenic hayride and they have great fresh apple cider & cider donuts. For more information, call: 973.703.5148.

Weather Report:We had some low temperatures again on the weekend, though not as cold as the freeze on the 18^th. There was a trace of rain. The autumn leaves in the surrounding forest appear to be past-peak.

Upcoming Trip to the Farm - Trip to the Farm - Garlic Planting
November 7^th- starting at 11:00 am

Please RSVP  if you plan on attending so we may plan on refreshments and send you directions.

LAST DELIVERY OF THE SEASON

Thank you for your support!

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 19–October 19, 2015

 

Freeze at the Farm!

Sorry for the abbreviated newsletter, but Farmer Sue is still in Arizona. I brought my Mom out for her grandson's wedding (my nephew) and we have been enjoying 80+ degree weather and when we landed last Wednesday it was 100!
I am flying back this afternoon so you won't get the normal newsletter, but in keeping in contact with Farmer Rich, your picks of the week are listed below.

We have had a severe freeze at the farm with a low of 21-degrees. This has severely impacted the field crops and the final delivery of the season will be next week.

Final Delivery NEXT WEEK

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 20 No 18–October 12, 2015

Garlic !

What a beautiful weekend to have a few garlic fests! First we participated at the Annual Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival on Saturday. Then on Sunday was the Annual Garlic Festival at the Hoboken Historical Museum. At both events we had a garlic tasting which introduces people to the different flavors that the varieties of garlic have. We also met some CSA members who stopped by as well as those new to wanting to plant garlic in their own gardens.

 

We are planning a trip to the farm to plant garlic for next year. The tentative date will be November 7^th starting around 11 am. It is a great family activity as well. We start by “popping” the garlic. This is simply separating the garlic bulbs into their individual cloves. Then we head to the field for the planting. Since the beds are all prepared we simply have to poke each clove into the soil and have our spacing boards to ensure the right spacing between each clove. The final step is to spread straw over the planted garlic to help protect them from the winter weather. In just an hour or two with the extra help we can plant thousands of cloves. We also have a great cookout to complete the day.

 

Apple Picking in Sussex - Hillcrest Farms has Pick-Your-Own-Apples on Saturdays in Sundays throughout October. They are located at the corner of Plains Road & Davis Road. You can also visit their dairy cows, take a scenic hayride and they have great fresh apple cider & cider donuts. For more information, call: 973.703.5148.

 

Weather Report: There was a heavy frost warning in Sussex County for Saturday & Sunday. We were fortunate that it didn’t hit at the farm, though Lisa’s house about 5 miles away got hit. It appears that this weekend everyone will be getting a frost in our area.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 17–October 6, 2015

Soggy Weekend

Though Hurricane Joaquin went out to sea (fortunately) we did receive a fair amount of rain at the farm. About 3” fell on Saturday. The crew was able to work on garlic in the greenhouse out of the rain.

As no more plantings are being done in the fields, we will be spending the next few weeks cleaning up the fallow fields. This involves pulling up the plastic and general field maintenance.

 

Garlic Time of Year: It is that time of year when all things turn to thinking garlic! On Saturday, October 10^th, we will be at the Annual Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival and then on Sunday, October 11^th we will be at the Garlic Fest at the Hoboken Historical Museum (see upcoming events for times).

 

At the Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival at the fairgrounds we will also have some educational displays that help home gardeners learn more about the varieties of garlic as well as how to plant garlic in their home gardens.

 

We are also planning a trip of the farm to plant garlic for next year. In just a few hours we can plan thousands of cloves of garlic. It is a fun day at the farm and a great family activity as well. We even have a nice bbq to complete the day.

 

Also, if you are in the area for the Harvest, Honey & Garlic Fest at the fairgrounds, stop by Hillcrest Farm to pick apples. Hillcrest Farms is in Frankford Township has Pick-Your-Own-Apples on Saturdays in Sundays throughout October. They are located at the corner of Plains Road & Davis Road. You can also visit their dairy cows, take a scenic hayride and they have great fresh apple cider & cider donuts. For more information call: 973.703.5148.

 

Weather Report: Rainy Saturday as noted above and it was much colder with a low of 43⁰F and a windchill as low as 37⁰F. Sunday was cold early then turned into a beautiful sunny day.

 

Annual Wooly Bear Caterpillar Report: 

 

Preliminary Wooly Bear Caterpillar Report at the farm shows the center stripe longer than the end stripes and according to folklore we should have a mild winter. Only time will tell!

Some fun reading on this subject can be found at: http://www.almanac.com/content/predicting-winter-weather-woolly-bear-caterpillars . In the article they mention that there was The Original Society of the Friends of the Woolly Bear as well as a Wooly Worm Festival in North Carolina.

 

Upcoming Events
	Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival Celebrating the best in Sussex County and Northern NJ Agritourism, Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism October 10th Sussex County Fairgrounds 10am-4pm
	Annual Heirloom Garlic Festival – Hoboken Historical Museum – 1301 Hudson Street October 11th 1-5 pm Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce for sale as well.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 16–September 29, 2015

Autumn is here !

Autumn arrived on September 23^rd with the autumnal equinox at 4:22 am.

 

The harvest went very well on Sunday as it was perfect weather. The cooler temperatures are almost hinting at an early frost, though we should be ok for awhile. Most of the warm weather crops are now gone-by and the cold weather crops are enjoying these cooler temperatures.

 

The autumn colors are just starting at the farm, though we are a few weeks off from “peak”.

 

We ventured to Saugerties on Saturday to pick up some new garlic varieties at the annual Garlic Fest. We noticed that the garlic bulb sizes were smaller than in years past and this is similar to what we have this year as well. In speaking with other garlic farmers they all had similar growing conditions with the early dry, then too wet, then too dry. We have Turkish Red in the delivery this week and this was a new variety that we picked up last year. It is a fairly spicy garlic and you should enjoy it.

 

We are trying to merge two fields into one large field. This we have been planning for a number of years and we started on this project this week. The round field will be merged with the main field and the hill will become another contained field. The hill will be ideal for a fruit crop such as blueberries or paw-paws (custard apples).

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  We are happy that the eggplant continues to produce even with our shorter days. The seeded greens are up and growing well and will be harvestable within a few weeks. The hot pepper plants also continue do well. There still are about 6-7 different varieties still producing.

 

From the Fields: The sweet peppers are planned on being harvested next week and we may actually have a few more harvests before it gets too cold. It all depends on the weather. The spaghetti squash went well and they are in your delivery this week. We plan on delivering Kabocha squash next week. Other winter squash varieties will include butternut, delicate and acorn.

 

Weather Report: It has been dry all week and we anticipate some rain this week as long as the weather reports hold true. We have been irrigating the fall crops and they have responded well. Rain is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. This mid-week rain will be perfect. 

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 15–September 21, 2015

Harvest Moon Coming !

The temperatures are trending lower and the fields are not drying out as quickly as they had been. We were fortunate to receive some rain last week and that had helped out tremendously. We are irrigating the back field. The cabbage crop are doing well and almost ready for harvest.

 

We have decided where to plant the garlic for next year and we did spend some time preparing the beds. We first have to remove the plastic, then till up the soil with certain soil amendments and fertilizer then lay down new plastic.

 

Our fallow field was brush-hogged and this field will not be tilled up until the spring for planting.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

 

Oriental Greens in the Franklin Greenhouse

 

The Oriental greens, Daikon radishes and peppers continue to produce. The rosemary will probably will be harvested in a few weeks and the eggplant production continues to slow down with these cooler temperatures and shorter days. The radishes that were seeded by Michael have sprouted. We hope that they will be ready for harvest by the end of the season.

Daikon Radishes in the Franklin Greenhouse

 

From the Fields: The tomato production is down and the zucchini and cucumber plants show just some spotty production and are really at the end of their production cycle. The winter squash harvest is beginning this week with butternut squash. The sweet pepper crop has continued though most of the warm weather crops are now “gone by”. A good tip for peppers is to freeze them for using later. We clean them up by slicing and removing the seeds and then store in the freezer in a ziplock freezer bag into portions we would use for a meal.

 

The potatoes will be harvested in the next week or two and onions are curing in the greenhouse. They will be filtered into the deliveries over the next few weeks.

 

Weather Report: Look for the Harvest Moon (the full moon nearest the September equinox) on the night of September 27^th-28^th.  This year it is not just any Harvest Moon it is also a “supermoon” that is staging a Blood Moon eclipse (due to the red appearance of the moon during the eclipse). We will have a total eclipse of the moon and it happens to be the closest supermoon of 2015. The total lunar eclipse will be visible in our area after sunset on September 27^th. It is also occurring during the Jewish holiday Sukot or the Feast of Tabernacles.

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 20 No 14–September 15, 2015

Finally some Rain !

We received at least 3.5” of rain at the end of the week. This should end the “drought” conditions. We have been working on an area to plant the garlic for next season. We usually like to plant by the middle of October.

 

The temperatures have stayed seasonably cool both during the day and at night. The rest of the week should again bring low temperatures and may even be too cold in the early am hours. The crew will be wearing their flannel shirts and gloves for sure. We do start about 6:30 am now as it is just too dark at 6:00 to start working in the fields. We don’t want to have to go out with miner’s hats on!!

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:   

The newly seeded Oriental greens are coming along and the eggplant are starting to slow down on their production. The hot peppers continue to do well. We have 4 beds replanted and another one to be cleaned up and replanted this week. These new plantings include White Hailstone radishes, Oriental greens and Daikon radishes. The basil crop has dropped off both in the greenhouse and in the fields.

From the Fields: We are still able to harvest some tomatoes though the plants are shutting down. The cucumbers are pretty much shut down with only a few plants left producing. This is not unusual as the cooler temperatures and shorter days are the main reason that the hot weather crops start to shut down. The red noodle beans have returned to the harvest with excellent production this year. We have an excellent winter squash harvest this year. The first ones to be delivered will be butternut squash next week. We also have more potatoes coming up in the next week or two.

 

The sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) crop looks extra good this year and we plan on starting the harvest in October. They are now in full bloom and this is a sign that they are ready to “choke” up. The sunchoke are native plants to North American and used extensively by Native Americans LONG before the Europeans arrived on the continent. They have a “nutty” flavor  and cooked like potatoes or may be eaten raw. They will not brown during cooking as there is no sugar in them. They are a favorite with diabetics.

Weather Report: Autumn is approaching and some of the trees are starting to show their colors. The color change being earlier than usual is mostly due to the dry conditions along with the cooler temperatures.

Dory and the corn harvest

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 13–September 8, 2015

Shorter Days – Cooler Nights !

We had a busy week catching up before Michael left to go back to college. He will still be working at least one day per week for the rest of the harvest year. Lisa and Dory continue to work during the week and on the critical weekends for harvest.

Farmer Rich harvesting the peppers

Farmer Rich is contemplating where to plant the garlic for next season. In addition to a heavy harvest schedule this weekend we were able to perform some field maintenance during the week. Our cucumber, zucchini and tomato plants are starting to shut down as evidenced by the decreased harvest this week. Though some plants still remain, their production is suffering mostly due to lack of rain. The Jelly Bean Grape tomatoes were doing well and all sites will be receiving them this week. They were the “winner” of the Heirloom Tomato Tasting last weekend!

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:   

The eggplants are still producing, but like the field crops of cukes and zukes their production is now about half of what it was a week ago. This is due to the shorter days and cooler nights. The eggplant production overall produced much better in the greenhouse this year than any field plantings in the past. Tonight’s harvest of escarole came out of the Franklin greenhouse. This will free up a bed to plant another crop for a late season delivery. This will probably be planted with arugula.

Escarole in Franklin – just before harvest

 

Coming along are some Oriental greens and Daikon radishes. These were all seeded by Michael about 3 weeks ago.

From the Fields: We are starting to harvest the winter squash varieties. Some butternut squash, onions and potatoes should be on the agenda for delivery next week. The cool weather crops; chard, kale and cabbage continue to do well. We also have Brussel Sprout plants doing well and we hope to get them into a future delivery. In season’s past we haven’t had good luck with them, but this year we are going to be optimistic that they will produce on schedule.

 

Weather Report: We still haven’t had any rain and it does not look like any in the forecast for the week. The local water utility made homeowner phone calls last week stating that the area reservoirs were less than 50% full and requested all homeowners and businesses cut back on water consumption.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 12–August 31, 2015

Great Day in Hoboken !

The annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting was on Sunday and we had over 20 varieties for tasting. The winner this year was Jelly Bean, a grape variety. This variety we have shipped to all the CSA drop-offs this season, so we hope that you have enjoyed them as much as the tasters did in Hoboken. The second place finisher was Striped German. This is one of the bi-color yellow/red tomatoes that we have been delivering as well.  Another favorite that is similar is Pineapple. The third place finisher was John Bear a more classic red variety. Each of the tomatoes has their own distinct flavor and everyone who came remarked about the great variety and taste.  There is nothing like a fresh harvest Heirloom tomatoes!

 

This event is also a great way to meet many of our CSA members in Hoboken.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:   

Three beds from the previous harvest were cleaned up and re-seeded with Oriental greens for the late autumn harvests. The eggplant continue to do well. The basil plants have started to shut down so that bed will be re-seeded with fall crops. We should have some greens for next week’s harvest from the Franklin greenhouse and those beds will then be seeded and planted for the fall.

 

From the Fields: A few of the beds that we seeded about one month ago have not done well. The beets are doing well and should start showing up in the next week or two. The zucchini and cumber plants are both starting to shut down so the harvest of these will start to drop off.

 

We are looking at the sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichokes) plants and they are looking extra good this year. We anticipate harvesting them in about one month.

 

Quite a few of the tomato plants are starting to shut down but we should be ok for the foreseeable future as we grow so many varieties  and have extensive plantings over different locations in the fields.

 

The cabbage, chard, kale and lettuce are all doing OK. We have a nice harvest of winter squash coming in. Varieties will include Butternut, Spaghetti, Kabocha, Delicata and Acorn.

 

Weather Report: We have had to irrigate over the last two weeks due to lack of rain. Temperatures have varied from very cool to too hot to too cool! Oh, the joys of farming. It appears we are trending for a hot week this week.

 

PS – Thanks to all who sent me an email regarding my Mom. She is doing better and is home from the hospital! – Sue

Catalpa Ridge News -Volume 20 No 11 –August 24, 2015

 

Sorry No Newsletter this week !

Sorry no newsletter this week. My Mom was hospitalized. Your picks of the week are below. Thank you for understanding --- Farmer Sue

Upcoming Events: Heirloom Tomato Tasting
-An Annual Taste of Summer at the Hoboken Historical Museum - August 30th - 1-5 pm 1301 Hudson Street. Join us for an afternoon of tasting a few dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes and farm fresh produce will be available as well from many local farms to us. It is a great afternoon in Hoboken.

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 20 No 10–August 17, 2015

Maintenance Week !

We are trying to catch up on maintenance of the fields as well as transitioning from summer to fall crop planting.

Our direct seeding into the old garlic beds is not working as planned as the plants just seem to not want to produce as well as we had hoped for. The exception is the beets which are doing well. At least ½ bed of cilantro is also coming along nicely.

 

During the week during a maintenance day, Farmer Rich was brush hogging between the rows and low and behold a coil section of hose was twisted around the blades. Now we have to add the brush-hog repair to our list of things to do!

Franklin Greenhouse Report: 

We have not rolled over the beds yet in the greenhouse though we hope we can this week. The eggplant continue to produce well and are more productive this year than last. The hot peppers are doing well except for the ghost pepper plants. We have a variety of sweet pepper (Blushing Beauty) that we have been saving the seed since the seed went out of commercial production over the last few year. These plants are doing great and we anticipate have our own great seed source for full production in the future.

 

We had tried Peppinos (an eggplant relative, often referred to as garden eggs) and okra in the Franklin greenhouse but they both are lacking production. We are always trying to come up with something new and sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t.

 

From the Fields: The Heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers are producing on schedule and the tomatillos will be ready soon. The variety we have this year is “extra large” so all you salsa makers will be very happy.

 

The back field’s cabbage and Brussels sprouts are looking good mostly due to Michael tweaking the irrigation system. The cukes, chard, cherry tomatoes, new plantings and the sunchokes all have benefited from the irrigation system change. Our lettuce beds should be ready to harvest for next week and the winter squash should start coming in in about two weeks.

 

Weather Report: We did receive about ¾” of rain Saturday night and some fell previously in the week as well. We are still irrigating to keep all the crops happy!

 

The days have been super-hot and humid and during these days we stop field work early in the day. The crew then goes to the shaded picnic area to clean garlic for delivery.

 

Upcoming Events:  

Heirloom Tomato Tasting –An Annual Taste of Summer at the Hoboken Historical Museum – August 30 - 1-5 pm 1301 Hudson Street. Join us for an afternoon of tasting a few dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes and farm fresh produce will be available as well.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 9–August 10, 2015

Dry Weather Continues !

We are back at full strength at the farm now that the Sussex Farm & Horse Show is over. Both Lisa and Michael spent time at the fair working on exhibits and volunteering as well. Now that the crew is back on track we have a lot of work ahead for transitioning from the summer to autumn crops.

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

All the eggplants are coming out of the Franklin greenhouse for the deliveries. We have six different varieties in all and they are still producing. We look forward to continued production through October. We also have harvested the radishes and Sen Posi. Unfortunately the arugula hasn’t grown well and we have to roll over the bed to plant another crop for the fall. We feel that perhaps the pH of the soil was off for this variety of arugula and it just isn’t harvestable.

From the Fields: We have had a bumper zucchini crop so far this year. The plants are looking like they are starting to shut down. The future crops of winter squash and trombocino squash are coming along nicely. The cucumbers in the back field are finally producing and Michael and Farmer Rich spent Thursday getting that field back in order; weeding and clipping up the plants on the trellis. The Heirloom tomatoes are actually starting their production on a positive note.

The round field is scheduled for maintenance on Monday. The crew will be getting the work done while Farmer Rich starts his delivery rounds to Bergen County.

Animal Report: Unfortunately it appears that a field shrew broke into the greenhouse and destroyed the newly seeded flats of lettuce and cauliflower. What they do is dig up the soil in the flat but don’t eat anything. Needless to say we have to go back to square one to get these flats back on track. We brushed-hogged an area of the main field which had weeded up and it apparently great cover for the rabbits. After clearing the area it is now too exposed and the rabbits had to find a new home, hopefully outside the fence.

Weather Report: The nights are getting cooler and we actually have had drier weather over the past few weeks. We are running water from our irrigation system on all the beds. Dory has hand watered Michael’s seedling beds to ensure the proper amount of water to keep them starting well. These seedlings include radishes, beets, turnips, cilantro, kale and Oriental greens.

Upcoming Events:

Heirloom Tomato Tasting –An Annual Taste of Summer at the Hoboken Historical Museum – August 30 - 1-5 pm 1301 Hudson Street. Join us for an afternoon of tasting a few dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes and farm fresh produce will be available as well.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 8–August 3, 2015

Blue Ribbons for Michael !

The Sussex Farm and Horse Show started on Friday and will run to August 9th. Over 900 entries were taken in at the Vegetable Show on Friday and Saturday and almost 100 exhibitors. We are proud to announce that Michael placed 2^nd overall in the Open Vegetable Show for his entries that included 22 Blue Ribbons. He also won Best-in-Show for Liliac Sweet Peppers, Chinese 5 Color Hot Peppers, Adirondack Blue Potatoes, and Schimmeig Striped Hollow Heirloom Tomatoes. Though Farmer Rich was a judge, the entries are judged anonymously and there are three judges in all so there is no partiality!

 

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  The eggplants are producing some nice sized fruits and the hot peppers are also doing well. Some of the hot peppers entered by Michael won Best-In-Show at the Sussex Farm & Horse Show. He also won a few blue ribbons for some of the eggplants he has grown in the greenhouse.

 

From the Fields: The cucumbers are producing well though the zucchini plants are getting a bit tired. We are debating whether to start more zucchini plants for the fall as we will start running out of time as they need to be in the ground about now. It takes about 2 months from seed. While we have a lot of zukes now the plants are starting to shut down. We have a really nice planting of Trombocino Squash (an Italian Heirloom), sometimes referred to as a Trompetto or Trompette. They look like a trumpet or trombone and taste great. This should fill in between the current crops and the projected ones for October.

The crew spent some time weeding the rows and also performed some general field work such a clipping up the tomatoes & cucumbers on the trellis.

The heirloom tomatoes are finally starting to produce and will be in the delivery tonight. Some of the ones we harvested include: Brandywine, some Black types, and various striped varieties.

Weather Report: After all our complaining of too much rain we are now in a too-dry period and have had to run the irrigation on all of our fields. It is hard to believe that after all the rain that we had it dries out so quickly! These are the true joys of farming – going from too wet to too dry in a manner of weeks! Though we had a few hot/humid days, overall the weather has been nice to work in the fields.

Current Events:

New Jersey State Fair/Sussex Farm & Horse Show – The 75^th Anniversary Year. JULY 31 – AUGUST 9, 2015 - 37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ.
MAIN FAIR HOURS
Friday, July 31 – Saturday, August 8 — 10 am – 10 pm
Sunday, August 9 — 10 am – 5 pm

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 7–July 27, 2015

Sussex Farm & Horse Show starts on Friday

The Sussex Farm & Horse Show starts on Friday and runs through Sunday, August 9^th. The trip up to the fairgrounds is worth the trip with many agriculture events ongoing throughout the week. The Vegetable Show is judged on Saturday, August 1^st and Farmer Rich is a judge again this year. We will even have a “meet the judges” after the show is judged so the exhibitors can ask questions and learn how to submit better entries in the future.

 

The week was rather uneventful. We had a good growing week for a change. The zucchini are producing exceptionally well at the current time. This can change in a flash so we will keep picking them hard while the plants are holding up.

 

Just a fraction of the zucchini harvest!

 

 

The last garlic bed that was harvested has finally been replanted with Oriental greens. This is a bit on the early side. The Tokyo Bekana tonight does show some tiny holes due to some minor insect damage by being outside in the field.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: The plantings are doing well and the crew will probably be seeding spinach or Oriental greens on Monday in the last bed to be turned over. Michael’s irrigation system in the greenhouse is definitely making a big difference in increasing production.

From the Fields: The crew worked diligently during the week and fertilized all the field crops and they really perked up after being washed out with the excessive rain we had been having. We fertilize with Fertrell 4-2-4 which is an OMRI approved organic fertilizer. We have been using this for years and find it the most effective fertilizer.

The beds that Michael seeded with radishes, chard, and beets are all doing well. The Red Russian Kale hasn’t really taken off and the cilantro is just starting to take.

We clipped up the cucumber plants on the trellising system in the back field to help improve production. We also weeded most of the beds in both the main field and back field.

Upcoming Events:
New Jersey State Fair/Sussex Farm & Horse Show – The 75^th Anniversary Year. JULY 31 – AUGUST 9, 2015 - 37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ.
MAIN FAIR HOURS
Friday, July 31 – Saturday, August 8 — 10 am – 10 pm
Sunday, August 9 — 10 am – 5 pm

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 6–July 20, 2015

More Rain, but we not going to mention it!

We are tired talking about the rain we have been receiving! Though we received more rain we aren’t going to tell you about it!

 

Michael was able to seed in some beds in the main field. A few varieties of beets, cilantro, turnips, chard and some Chinese cabbage were all seeded during the week. Meanwhile this week’s delivery of Tokyo Bekana and turnips greens were in the greenhouse and we needed to start their harvesting to avoid a growing aphid problem.

 

The back field that was looking great last week after the weeding patrol, turned back into a jungle after some rain (which we aren’t going to mention).

 

The seedings that Dory started two weeks ago are doing well except for a few varieties of lettuce and fennel. These just didn’t germinate and probably due to bad seed.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  The eggplant are starting to make it into the deliveries and will be delivered to all sites over the next few weeks. A few of you will be getting some this week. One bed has been rolled over with escarole. The arugula and sen posi will be harvested next week and those beds will be replanted. The new planting of radishes should be ready to harvest in about two weeks.

 

From the Fields: The second planting of zucchini are starting to show up in the deliveries this week.

The sweet peppers and cucumbers are also starting to be delivered and will make it into all the delivery sites over the next few week. The heirloom tomatoes are coming along, but seem abit slow this year, perhaps set back by all the rain have been getting (but we aren’t going to mention)!

 

We were fortunate to have planted potatoes between the garlic rows and when we dug up the potatoes with the potato digger, it actually created trenches which helped drain the 3” of rain that we aren’t

going to mention. This enabled the crew to clean up the beds and Michael was able to do some seeding.

Tokyo Bekana (Chinese Cabbage) & Zucchini rows (upper right) just one week later

 

Upcoming Events:   

New Jersey State Fair/Sussex Farm & Horse Show – The 75^th Anniversary Year. JULY 31 – AUGUST 9, 2015 - 37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ.
MAIN FAIR HOURS
Friday, July 31 – Saturday, August 8 — 10 am – 10 pm
Sunday, August 9 — 10 am – 5 pm