Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 20–October 25, 2016

Last Delivery of the Season

News from the Fields & Farm:  Tonight is the last delivery of the season. Thanks to all CSA members for supporting our farm.

 

The seasons always come with a fair share of frustration and this season was no different with the drought conditions during most of the harvest year. Our crew is the best and we thank them as well for their dedicated work ethic during the harvest year as well as their pre-season and post-season work. 

 

The fields will be cleaned up by the crew starting next week and we have them work until it gets too cold to work outside.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

We always like to save several items to the end of the season protected in the greenhouse as we never know what the weather will be like for the final week. This worked out perfectly this year as the chard, beets & peppers were harvested from the greenhouse.

 

Weather report: We did have a mild frost at the farm. Last year around this time we had a low of 21 degrees. Most of the farms in the area did suffer crop losses, though we were not severely affected. Perhaps it is our altitude that helps us out. Saturday was very cold, rainy and windy. It was difficult to start to put the delivery together.

 

We received about ½” of rain during the week and we hope it is enough to get the ground wet enough to till up the beds to plant garlic.

Sunday morning was still cold and the winds did diminish so the crew went to the fields to harvest what was left for the last delivery of the season.

 

Garlic Planting in November:

We are planning a trip to the farm to plant garlic for next year. The date will be in November (date to be set) we will start 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 planting. 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 finished, we plan on having a late picnic lunch.

 

If you are interested, just send us an email and we will send you directions and of course the date.

 

Thank you for your support!

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 19–October 18, 2016

Frost at the Farm !

News from the Fields & Farm:  We had a low of 29 degrees at the farm and two of the fields were covered with a heavy frost. Fortunately most of the tomatoes were already harvested and the peppers were covered in the field.

 

Most of next week’s delivery will come out of the Franklin Greenhouse and any of the cold-hardy crops still in the field. We plan on also delivering butternut squash. We should also have some green onions and baby leeks. We hope to also be able to harvest the beet greens.

 

The crew cleared out the back field and harvested the sunchokes. That area was noticeably dry as most of the season has been in drought mode.

 

Weather report: The frost did come over the weekend. This week they are predicting 80 degree weather! Interestingly, in looking at the weather history in Sussex, the record high was 84-degreens in 1963 and the record low of 20-degrees in 1978 on the 18^th of October. We had a trace of rain during the week.

 

Retro Picture! Michael & his brother Kevin in 2002:

It was taken after garlic planting at the farm and It was snowing that day.

 

Jersalem Artichoke (Sunhoke) Wikipedia notes: The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America. Jerusalem artichokes were first cultivated by the Native Americans long before the arrival of the Europeans; this extensive cultivation obscures the exact native range of the species.[2] The French explorer Samuel de Champlain found domestically grown plants at Cape Cod in 1605.

The tubers are sometimes used as a substitute for potatoes:[13] they have a similar consistency, and in their raw form have a similar texture, but a sweeter, nuttier flavor; raw and sliced thinly, they are fit for a salad. Their inulin form of carbohydrates give the tubers a tendency to become soft and mushy if boiled, but they retain their texture better when steamed.

Storage tips for your Sunchokes: Best stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area away from light. We prefer to store them in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator; wrapped in paper towels and sealed in a plastic bag.

 

Last Delivery of the Season Next Week October 25^th.

Catalpa Ridge News - Volume 21 No 18–October 11, 2016

 

Fresh Ginger !

 

News from the Fields & Farm:  We had some nice weather over the end of last week then it turned cold and rainy on Sunday. This was just in time to harvest the delivery.

 

The Sussex Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival was great and the attendance surpassed prior years. We did get to meet some of our local members.

 

You will be receiving some fresh Ginger, just harvested from the Franklin Greenhouse. Overall we were pleased with the outcome. We have to start the ginger in February/March and it takes about 8 months to get to the point it is ready to harvest. It does have to be grown in the heated greenhouse and goes through a few different stages during the early planting cycle.

 

Some Culinary tips for using your fresh ginger:   Grate ginger for stir-frys, sauces & dressings.

 

Slice into “coins”, then whack each coin to break up the fibers and release the ginger essence, heat oil in your sauce pan or wok and let ginger stir-fry for 30 seconds (stir-fry longer for a stronger ginger flavor, but do not allow to burn) – add your GARLIC and you have a start to a classic Oriental stir-fry.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel paper-thin slices of the ginger root, then slice thinly and add as a condiment to soups, dumplings, fresh vegetable dishes.

Make homemade Ginger Ale!

 

Believe it or not, the tomatoes and peppers continue to produce in the fields. In speaking with some of our members and customers from our Spring Heirloom Plant sales, their tomato and pepper production has been exception this year as well.

 

Here are some peppers in the lower field:

 

A few Green Zebra tomatoes on the vine:

 

Weather report: A frost advisory has been issued for Sussex County from Monday evening through Tuesday morning. Hopefully our fields will be unaffected.

 

Last Delivery of the Season will be the last Tuesday of October; October 25^th.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 17–October 4, 2016

 

Garlic Fest Saturday in Sussex!

 

News from the Fields & Farm:  We had a rainy, cool week. The tomato harvest continues which is great to have heirlooms this late in the season. The tomato plants are close to shutting down now that the cooler shorter days are here. We are hoping for another week.

 

We had the second new moon in one month with the “Black Moon” appearing on Sept 30^th. A black moon is opposite of a blue moon (a second full moon in the same calendar month).

 

We headed up to Saugerties, NY to the annual Garlic Festival on Saturday. We like to pick up some new varieties to try in the fields for next year. We were surprised that there wasn’t too much color change in the fall foliage up there yet (Saugerties is about 90 miles away). Many are speculating that the drought the area has been having (along with Northern NJ) will mute the autumn foliage colors. The leaves may actually turn brown and fall off the trees before they reach their peak color.

 

Garlic bed preparation will begin soon. We have to select an area that has loose, good draining soil and check the soil nutrition. Garlic grows best in nitrogen rich soil. Once the beds are ready we can start to plant. Here is a look at how we plant the garlic:

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report: Status quo at the Franklin Greenhouse. The only new item that we will be harvesting from this greenhouse are the Diakon Radishes. We are holding off harvesting the beets in the greenhouse with the hopes that they will size up better. Otherwise, the beet greens are gorgeous.

 

Weather report: About ½” of rain feel during the week. Though the fields are wet, the rain really hasn’t helped with the overall drought conditions.

 

Kabocha Squash – Interesting information from Wikipedia: “Portuguese sailors introduced the kabocha to Japan in 1541, bringing it with them from Cambodia. The Portuguese name for the squash Cambodia abóbora (カンボジャ・アボボラ), was shortened by the Japanese to kabocha.”

 

Upcoming Event Saturday 10 am – 4 pm: 

 

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival – October 8 – 10 am – 4 pm Sussex Fair Grounds – Augusta, NJ.

 

Make a trip to Sussex County on Saturday and enjoy a “Stinkin Day” of Fun!

 

The Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival will celebrate the agri‑ecotourism, arts & heritage of New Jersey's great northwest with displays & info about northern NJ's open spaces. We will have garlic at this event!

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 16–September 27, 2016

Zucchini Surprise !

 

News from the Fields & Farm: 

All of a sudden our late planting of zucchini came to life! They got away from us and most are rather large but excellent this time of year for baking up into zucchini bread, stuffed zukes, etc. It is probably the latest in the season that we have delivered zukes. Farmer Rich says the plants still look good so we may actually be able to harvest another crop.

 

 

The rain we received early in the week has helped with the field crops. With the shorter days, the moisture is holding better in the soil.

 

The sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes) are close to harvest, perhaps in about two weeks. The tomato crop continues to produce which is quite late in the season.

 

We planned on harvesting kale for tonight’s delivery but the plants were not harvestable. There was an overnight attack of cabbage worms that destroyed most of the crop.

The autumnal equinox came on September 22^nd and now the days are getting shorter and the temperatures are starting to drop. We had a low of 37^◦ on Sunday morning when the crew started harvesting. It wasn’t as cold as anticipated, but still cool enough for gloves and flannel shirts.

 

The first of the pumpkins are being delivered this week. Variety Name is Sugar Pumpkin. You can cook it up for a nice soup or simply use for seasonal decoration.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report: Nothing new is going on at the Franklin Greenhouse. The tomatoes and peppers plants are still producing. We plan on harvesting beets next week.

 

Weather report: We received about ½” of rain fell during the week. The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn color so we are a few weeks away from really ideal fall foliage colors.

 

Upcoming Event:  

 

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival – October 8 – 10 am – 4 pm Sussex Fair Grounds – Augusta, NJ. The Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival will celebrate the agri‑ecotourism, arts & heritage of New Jersey's great northwest with displays & info about northern NJ's open spaces. We will have garlic at this event!

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 15–September 20, 2016

 

Harvest Moon !

 

News from the Fields & Farm: 

The Harvest Moon came on the 16^th. It is followed by the Hunter's Moon, the Beaver Moon and the Cold Moon to round out the year. We had a super cool morning on the 16^th, and 17^th – about 42◦. Then the days warmed up with the morning temps around 70◦ on Sunday. The Autumn Equinox is on the 22^nd and the days will then become shorter. We have already seen some of the trees starting to change color.

 

The crew is starting to map out where the garlic beds will be for planting in October. We plan on preparing a number of beds for both hard and soft neck garlic varieties to be planted mid to late October. We do like to rotate the beds each year to avoid problems with a combination of nutrients and soil borne diseases.

 

We will attempt to replant the greenhouse on the farm with more salad greens.

 

Lucille Fryer Peppers in the field:

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report: We are still harvesting from the greenhouse; tomatoes, chard, hot peppers

and the eggplant plants have shut down. With only 5 more weeks after this week we will not be replanting into this greenhouse but will continue weekly harvests.

 

Weather report: We managed to get some rain this past week; probably about 1/2'”. We generally remain in drought conditions along with the rest of northern NJ. The northern NJ district reservoirs are only about 60% full. This is about 10% below the 1962-2010 average for the same time period. This year we had the 9^th driest August since records were kept back to 1895 as noted on the Rutgers chart below:

 

We did have a brief rainstorm on Sunday just as the crew was finishing the delivery.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 14–September 13, 2016

 

Hot Weather Returns!

News from the Fields & Farm: 

It is now early September and we are having record high temperatures. We have had to cut back on the hours as it is too hot to work by late morning. The crew is working diligently between 7 am -  11 am each day.

 

It appears we have an abundance of butternut squash this year. We anticipate starting to deliver them next week. We are still good with tomatoes as most of the plants are still producing. The cucumber plants have shut down but we do have a new planting going in.

 

Newly transplanted beets & escarole:

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report: The chard is almost ready to harvest and the beets should be ready in a few weeks. We also have some Daikon radishes doing well. We are trying some South American Sunchokes in the greenhouse. They usually don’t get harvested until very late in the season. This variety is called Oca (originally grown by the Incas).

Cipollini’s curing in the greenhouse:

 

Weather report: In addition to the heat reported earlier, we are also having another dry spell. We were fortunate to receive about ½” of rain during the week. This was both good and bad. The good is that the general crops perked up and the bad was that many of the heirlooms and cherry tomatoes split on the vine after receiving the rain. Since it was so dry and then the switch to the rain they take a lot of water in and split or as we like to say, we have “salsa in the field”. It is unfortunate that this affected the cherry tomatoes this week. Luckily the heirlooms on today’s delivery were harvested prior to the rain.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 13–September 6, 2016

No Hermine!

News from the Fields & Farm: 

Hermine was nowhere in site! We surely could use the rain but we didn’t want the high winds that would have come with Hermine. So instead of an ugly day we had cooler temps and not a cloud in the sky.

 

The days are getting shorter so we have moved our start time up to 7 am instead of 6. No one wanted to wear the mining hats with the lamps on them!!!

 

The crew took to the field and did some planting. An additional planting of beets, escarole, lettuce and a very late planting of cucumbers.

 

They also performed some maintenance such as stringing up the asparagus beans.

 

The tomatoes continue to produce, probably our most productive year in quite a while.

 

The potato crop is all harvested and will be filtered into the deliveries over the next week or two. Some of the varieties of onions are not holding up as well as they have in the past. It appears that the middle is softening on some and we have already have had to toss out a multiple number of them. They just are not holding up. The Cipollini variety is holding up better than the round yellows and reds. We are screening them but some may slip into the deliveries.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

 

Nothing new in Franklin and all the crops seem to be coming along nicely.

 

 

Weather report: Little to no rain during the week. The irrigation system continues in full swing, though the back field is suffering.

 

 

Asparagus Beans – Yard Long!

Asparagus Yardlong beans have a delicious nutty flavor and are great steamed, sautéed or in a stir fry. Some hints from: http://www.harvesttotable.com/2008/08/long_beans/

Prepare. Trim away the stem end and slice into desired lengths on the diagonal or straight across. Long beans are best trimmed before stir frying.

Cook. Long beans can be stir-fried, stewed, braised, sautéed, shallow fried, and deep fried. With cooking, the long bean’s bean flavor intensifies.

• Stir fry until just tender crunchy.
• Steam or for 3-7 minutes until just tender.
• Braise for 20 minutes with other vegetables and meats, best in a garlicky or oniony braising liquid.

Serve. Long beans can be served raw in salads or added to soups or stir-fried dishes.

Flavor partners. Long beans have a flavor affinity for pork, ginger, nuts, fermented black beans, garlic, strong herbs, soy and fish sauce, chili peppers, sausages, oil and vinegar.

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 21 No 12–August 30, 2016

Great Day in Hoboken

News from the Fields & Farm: 

It was a great day in Hoboken at the Annual Heirloom Tomato Festival. It was perhaps our largest selection of heirloom tomatoes that we had available for the tasting. We had over 30 varieties for tasting. Each of the tomatoes has their own distinct flavor and everyone who came to event was able to taste each of them in addition to some apples, garlic & peaches.

 

Farmer Rich manning the tomato table:

 

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

 

We transplanted some additional lettuce and escarole in the field. The rest of the week was spent getting ready for the event and the crew harvesting for the Monday/Tuesday deliveries.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: No real changes from last week in Franklin. The radishes are doing well and the beets should be ready to harvest next week. The sweet peppers (orange, yellow, red, white, lavender etc) should be ready for harvest next week as well. The CSA delivery next week should include a nice selection of different colored peppers.

Weather report: We have gone back to being too dry. We have had Michael fixing some of the irrigation lines due. Again the hot temperatures have come. We are looking forward to the shorter days which usually brings on the cooler temperatures.

 

Sun Crisp Apple: a great baking apple. More tart than sweet when picked, it becomes sweeter and develops a complex, spicy flavor in storage. It is especially good for cooking.

Suncrisp was developed in the 1990s by Dr. Frederick Hough at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in New Brunswick.

Upcoming Event: Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival – October 8 – 10 am – 4 pm Sussex Fair Grounds – Augusta, NJ. The Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival will celebrate the agri‑ecotourism, arts & heritage of New Jersey's great northwest with displays & info about northern NJ's open spaces. We will have garlic at this event.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 11–August 23, 2016

Cooler Temps!

News from the Fields & Farm: 

We worked in the fields on the off-harvest days to weed. We also cleaned up some beds and planted lettuce (2 plantings). We will reseed some arugula that was lost last week. Farmer Rich admitted he should have waited to plant the arugula a little later as the cooler temps in September would have prevented bug infestation and loss of that crop.

 

Tomatoes on the vine (in various levels of ripening)

 

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

The radishes are all up and about a month from harvest. We have a planting of beets ready for harvest over the next 2 weeks. The sweet peppers continue to do well. Unfortunately, it appears that the eggplant plants are not doing as well as past years. We will continue to monitor their status. For seed source for next year, we left a few of the red lettuce plants to go to seed and Farmer Rich saved the seed from those plants. We often will do this for other veggies as well, as this makes a great resource for seeds during the year when we like a specific crop and it does well, we know exactly where the seed is coming from.

 

Weather report: Temperatures are now milder which makes it pleasant to work in the fields. We did receive a timely rainfall of about 1” over the past week. The days are getting shorter and that is making our 6 am start time abit on the dark side as the sun hasn’t fully risen. We will have to adapt pretty soon to a new start time or simply have a few cups of coffee!!

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 21 No 10–August 16, 2016

Excessive Heat

News from the Fields & Farm: 

The Heirloom Tomatoes are coming along nicely. We were able to transplant lettuce in a shady part of the main field toward the end of last week. The round field is not looking good due to poor it being baked in the sun, though we do have irrigation running. The crew is calling it “death valley” at this point. The plants are fortunately are doing well since we did receive some rain.

 

It was brutally hot and humid this week and very difficult to work in the fields. We do start early but that didn’t seem to help. On one day we actually “lost” a worker to heat stress. We emphasize safety and when it is too hot we encourage sitting the shade, drinking lots of water and Gatorade and don’t expect anyone to return to work until feeling better. The worker was being abit stubborn and passed out though recovered in a short period of time.

 

Sampling some items from the delivery for lunch at the Farm on Sunday!

 

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

Tiffany cleaned it up last week and Michael planted into the beds this week. Two varieties of radishes were planted as well a few other items.

The greenhouse tomatoes are starting to slow in their production which is just in time for the accelerated production of the field tomatoes (mostly heirlooms).

Weather report: Excessive heat for the better part of the week. The crew started early to be able to work before it got too stressful with the high  humidity. We did receive about 3” of rain during the week, spread out over 3 different thunderstorms.

Michael – 2nd Place @ Open Vegetable Show

Lisa Showing her ribbons for Exhibiting her Livestock

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 21 No 9–August 9, 2016

 

Blue Ribbons for Michael !

 

News from the Fields & Farm:  Michael placed 2^nd place overall at the Open Vegetable Show at the Sussex Farm & Horse Show. He received 49 blue ribbons overall with 3 Best-in-Show exhibits. Congratulations Michael.

 

We spent the week cleaning up between the rows in the field. It is amazing how when the rains came the weeds grew 10xs faster than the veggie plants. We now have full control back.

 

The transplants in the greenhouse will be going into the field this week. We did plant cucumbers, a little late, but they should work by the early fall. Virtually all of the potatoes have been harvested and will be showing up in the deliveries starting next week.

 

The winter squash are coming along really nicely. We probably will start the harvest in about 2-3 weeks. We have spaghetti, butternut, acorn, buttercup just to name a few.

 

The onions are almost cured in the greenhouse and they will be in next week’s deliver along with the start of the cured garlic.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report: All of the peppers in this week’s delivery are from the Franklin greenhouse. The Oriental greens and radishes did not germinate well and those that did are suboptimal for harvest. The beds have been cleaned out and we will replant this week.

 

Weather report: More rain fell during the week. Fortunately, no hail came with the severe thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon. We will probably have to run some irrigation this week upon returning from the deliveries as there is no rain in the forecast.  

 

Upcoming Events:  

New Jersey State Fair/Sussex Farm & Horse Show – August 5 – AUGUST 14, 2016 - 37 Plains Road, Augusta, NJ. MAIN FAIR HOURS Friday, August 5 – Saturday to August 13 — 10 am – 10 pm Sunday, August 14 — 10 am – 5 pm

Heirloom Tomato Tasting –An Annual Taste of Summer at the Hoboken Historical Museum – August 28 - 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.

 

Motto when we are stressed: