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Sunday, October 25, 2015

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.

John Preparing the beds

We are planning a trip to the farm to plant garlic for next year.The date will be November 7th 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.

Wrapped Beds 2015

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 18th. 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 7th- 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

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Thank you for your support!

Monday, October 19, 2015

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

 

Freeze at the Farm!

Freeze1 Oct2015

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.

Freeze2 Oct2015

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

Monday, October 12, 2015

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

Garlic !

HobokenGarlicFest15What 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 7th 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.

Monday, October 05, 2015

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 10th, we will be at the Annual Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival and then on Sunday, October 11th 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: 

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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

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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.