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

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 5–July 13, 2015

Rain Continues (again) !

We received more rain this week and Thursday was the worst of the week. The round  field, though we have had some losses, is doing ok and we are hoping for improved conditions. Last week we had to start the garlic harvest and this week it was the potatoes.  Since it is too wet to make new beds for planting we are going to plant in the garlic beds. The transplants were started during the week in the greenhouse on the rainiest day so we were able to at least get some work done.

On Monday the crew finished all of the garlic harvest while Farmer Rich was making deliveries to Bergen County.

While the plants are growing well with all the rain, the weeds have taken off as well. One of the projects this week will be to regain control from the weeds.

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  The eggplant and hot peppers are all doing great. The Oriental Green rotation is working out well and you will find them in your delivery this week. The radishes are coming along nicely and the arugula we think will be ready for harvest either next week or the week after. We are getting at least 1-2 items per week out of this greenhouse. The advantage of using this greenhouse during this time of year is the reduction in insect problems. Virtually all of our eggplant production will be coming from the Franklin greenhouse.

Weather Report:   Again more rain fell during the week. The week ended up on a positive note with no rain Friday through Sunday. At least 1 ½” fell during. Though it was too wet to do major field work, the crew was able to harvest some zucchini and work in the greenhouse. Dory was able to seed about 30 flats of veggies for field planting in two to three weeks. The crop rotations are working out well.

From the Fields: The seeded crops included lettuce, Oriental greens, broccoli and cauliflower. This was perfect timing as lettuce, escarole and cucumbers were transplanted just in time to make

room for these newly seeded flats in the greenhouse. The rotations from seeding to transplanting to field planting takes about 2-3 weeks depending on the vegetable variety.

Tokyo Bekana (Chinese Cabbage) recently transplanted & Zucchini rows (upper right)

The cucumber patch that got destroyed by the never ending pounding of rain was replaced with transplants (again). We do hope that it works out this time. The surviving plants are doing ok.

We seeded some favas for fava greens in the back fields. Cabbage, tomatoes & Brussel sprouts in the back field are really coming along great. The sunchokes patches are really enjoying the rain and are growing higher & higher every day.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No. 4–July 6, 2015

Garlic Harvest Begins

With more rain falling during the week we had to start the garlic harvest earlier than usual. We were at risk of losing some of it so it was better to harvest than lose it. The rain pounded the newly transplanted cucumbers in the back field and wiped out more than half of them. The Brussel sprouts and cabbage faired a bit better during these storms.

 

The crops are growing well except in the round field which is a little too wet. We had planted that field first in the spring when we were having too dry conditions and now things have changed.

 

During the garlic harvest Dory happen upon a hornets nest and was stung repeatedly. Though she felt ok during remainder of the day she did have to go to the hospital in the evening to receive some treatment for swelling and a fever. Fortunately she is back on track and no worse for the ordeal.

 

Both Lisa and Michael took some time off during the week and we welcomed back Ali for a few days to fill in. Lisa went away to a wedding and Michael to Boy Scout camp with his troop. He is both an Eagle Scout and a leader. He even took some strawberries and rhubarb and they made some strawberry/rhubarb pie over a campfire!

Field plantings this week included: Chinese cabbage, oriental greens, escarole, and broccoli raab. Since it is so wet we plan on planting into the harvested garlic beds as we cannot make new beds with the degree of mud that we have at the present time.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: The Oriental greens may be harvest next week. The eggplant and peppers are doing well though the buckwheat microgreens are not germinating well. This week we have another bed to turn over and more Oriental greens will be planted. The arugula is really coming along great and should be harvested next week.

Weather Report: Unfortunately more rain fell during the week which we didn’t need. There is more rain in the forecast for this week as well. A rough wind storm came close to the farm, just south of us. Many trees were uprooted and the roads were closed in about three places so it made a difficult trip home on Wednesday. On the 4^th of July, in the rain, we spent some time in the greenhouses.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 3–June 30, 2015

Rain Continues!

We continued to have more rain during the week. This helped out the newly planted crops though is not good for the crops in the wet areas.

 

We cleaned up the back field as some crops didn’t germinate such as ½ of the cucumbers and some beets. We planted to replace them by transplanting four different varieties. The beets that were lost were tilled up and we transplanted Brussel sprouts and cabbage (2 varieties) in their place.

 

Michael worked in the round field to maintain control over the weeds.  In our main field we were disappointed to find that the soybean seed never germinated as well as the Italian flat beans. The red noodle beans are growing nicely.

 

We have the following transplants ready to be planted this week:

• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Chinese greens
• Broccoli raab

We hope to seed this week as well. Seedings will include some more lettuce, cauliflower and oriental greens.

 

The garlic crop will start to be harvested in about two weeks. Though the bulbs appear small we are optimistic that the yields will be good. We interplanted potatoes among the garlic and they are all doing great. We will have some great blue, yellow and white varieties ready to be harvested.

 

Animal Report: Though our fence repairs have been working well to keep out the deer it appears that the rabbits are breaking in somehow

trellising tomatoes & tomatillos

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  All the beds are now turned over with new crops. The newly seeded arugula and radishes are already up. The tendergreen mustard in the delivery is thinnings from the greenhouse. We have seeded buckwheat for sprouts and they should be ready in about two weeks. The transplanted eggplant are doing really well and the fryer peppers are on track for harvesting in 2-3 weeks.

 

Weather Report:  About a 1 ¾” had already fallen during the week with more falling as the newsletter is being written. Our “wet” areas are now getting too wet. We are watching the garlic closely due to the wet conditions. If it gets too wet we will have to harvest early. The temperatures have been cool at night which is great for the lettuces, chard and kale. Though not so good for the peppers they are growing nicely.

 

From the Farmers’ Almanac https://farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

The Full Buck Moon occurs in July. July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 20 No 2–June 22, 2015

Rainy Week!

This week we continued transplanting into the fields to keep the crop rotations on target. We did have a rough start to the week when the rototiller broke down.

The tilling of the soil in some of our beds was delayed and this of course halted planting in those beds though we were able to plant elsewhere in the fields.

We were able to accomplish planting in the main field. Included in the plantings were: Delicata Squash, Butter Bush squash, 3 varieties of zucchini, thyme, oregano, hot peppers, broccoli, and more sweet peppers.

The Red Gold potatoes in the delivery are from tubers we bought from Johnny's selected Seed. They are an early variety and the light red skin wraps around deep yellow flesh. They are great for roasting, boiling or steaming. Just toss with some butter, salt and your favorite herb. Ummmmm....

 

Summer started on June 21st with the summer solstice, but a little know tidbit is that June 24th is referred to as Midsummer Day. According to the Farmer's Almanac Midsummer Day is midpoint of the growing season, halfway between planting and harvest.According to our planting schedule this year, which was late, "Midsummer Day" should actually come later!

Everything that was transplanted is doing well.  The crew put down 3 more rows of plastic and these rows are ready to be planted hopefully by mid-week.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  We rolled over the beds and seeded some Tendergreen mustard, spinach & transplanted eggplant. Michael installed a new irrigation system in Franklin and it is working great. All the beds now are getting consistent watering and this will improve productivity.

Weather Report:  Overall we had a rainy week. During these rainy days when field work is close to impossible the crew cleaned up the greenhouses. About 2.25" of rain fell during the past week which hampered some of our field work. The night temperatures were on the cool side which is great for the cool weather crops. Daytime temps were warmer and a bit on the muggy side.  Month to date precipitation has been 3.43' according to the Farming Forecast on weather.com.

Animal Report: There is a bumper crops of rabbits sneaking into the fields on a daily basis though not too much of a nuisance "yet". On Thursday a bear was sitting in the picnic area where we sort the harvests for each site, apparently looking for some "scraps" . The deer have been staying away from the fields and all of our fence repairs are working great.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 1–No 1–June 15, 2015

Lettuce Begin

Welcome to our 20^th year delivering fresh veggies from the farm to our CSA members in Mahwah, Hoboken, Franklin, Wantage and to the employee cafeteria at Valley Hospital & the Kraft Center in Ridgewood and Paramus respectively.

The crew is back - Lisa, Dory and Michael.Each spring seems to always bring a challenge and this year is not different. Our spring was all of too cold, too hot, too wet and too dry. In April we went from freezing weather to 95º+ all in the same week and many of our transplants for the field crops “cooked” in the greenhouse. All of these transplants were lost and had to be reseeded. This delayed our field planting by 2-3 weeks. In addition, we had no rain for a period of 26+ days in April-May. When the rain finally did come it was too much and the fields were just too wet to plant. To top off the end of May/early June our tractor broke which further delayed our initial plantings. We were able to plant the back & round field and luckily the Franklin greenhouse was fully planted.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: We planted Texas Super Sweet Onions instead of Texas Legend this year. They will be on the small side due to late planting and will start to appear in tonight’s delivery. This year we planted Red Gold potatoes and we should start harvesting them for next week’s delivery. The Chinese Greens, Radishes, Eggplant, Hot Peppers, and Cubanelle Peppers in the greenhouse are doing well and we have a really nice crop rotation plan in force. The replanted Rosemary that we lost last year survived this winter and is doing well. We have some great beds of basil growing nicely and we will be reseeding more Oriental Greens.

From the Fields: We are fortunate to finally have the round & back fields fully planted. The fava beans never got planted early enough due to the too cold, then too dry, then too wet periods we had so there won’t be any fava beans this spring though we will be able to harvest fava greens. In the round field we have tomatillos, cabbage, chard, zucchini, kale and summer savory all doing well. The back field is planted with multiple rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, chocolate mint, beets, dill, cilantro, sorrel, fava greens, sunchokes and chard all of which are also doing well. The main field has tomatoes, thyme, peppers (many sweet varieties), parsley, winter savory, purple basil, green basil, parcel, oregano and chives. We seeded soybeans (edamame) and transplanted more lettuce and collards. We have a great planting of red-noodle beans with anticipated harvest in about 1 month. The garlic that was planted last October is doing well and the garlic harvest will start in early July. We have already started snapping the garlic curls off of the hardneck varieties and you will have them in this week’s delivery.

Animal report: Over the winter the deer broke through our fencing with the help of them weakening from the winds and the heavy snow. We spent many hours fixing the fencing, though we were late in our repairs and one day Michael found a fawn hidden in the garlic patch.

Apparently it had become separated from its mother who was on the outside of our repaired fencing while the fawn was on the inside. Dory, pictured below, was able to rescue it and put it close to where its mother would be which is by our picnic area. They were reunited after several cries from the fawn. And they really do cry “Ma”!

Thank you for supporting our farm. It is only through the continued support of our members that our farm continues to be sustainable and we continue the practice of farming. We like to grow many interesting veggies, some of which you may have never tried before. We encourage you to try-it, you’ll like it!! We always provide you with recipes and have our Harvest Identifier online as well. The CSA deliveries are seasonal, so during the spring the deliveries will consist mostly of greens with perhaps 5-7 different items. As the season progresses, more variety will be included and the deliveries will become heavier. Weekly news and recipes will be included on the blog with links within the newsletter sent out to everyone. If you have some recipes to share, please feel free to forward them so that others may try them! It is our pleasure to welcome back many of you who have been supporting the farm for many of our 19 years and welcome many new members this year.

Community supported farm members soon become connected to each other as the weeks go by. We welcome you all and look forward to working with all of you.

13th Annual Heirloom Tomato & Veggie Plant Sale - Sussex

13th Annual Heirloom Tomato and Veggie Plant_Sale

Join us this weekend on Saturday and Sunday for our 13th Annual Heirloom Tomato & Veggie Plant Sale!   May 23rd & 24th - NEW LOCATION in Sussex County - Sussex County Farmers Market Building at the Fairgrounds (In the Red Barn)  37 Plains Rd., Barn Building, Augusta, NJ - 10 am - 4 pm  Both Days Sussex County Farmers Market Building  - close to the main entrance of the fairgrounds. Sussex Farmers Market @ the Fairgrounds We'll have a great selection of peppers (hot & sweet), eggplant, herbs, and other veggie plants as well! We will also have lettuce, chard & more......! As in year's past, you get 1 free plant for every 5 you buy, so 6 plants in 3" pots is $15.00 and 6 plants in 4 1/2" pots is $30.00.

Thanks and we hope to see you at the sale

Catalpa Ridge News–Vol 19 No 19–October 27, 2014

Freeze at the Farm !

We did have both frost and a freeze at the farm with a low of 30ºF. The warm weather crops were about done anyway so no unplanned weather events impacted the delivery.

We planted garlic with Michael’s Boy Scout Troop on Sunday and had a beautiful day to do so. All of the five beds that were prepared for planting were planted with about 10 different varieties .Our soft neck varieties did not do well this year due to the super cold winter we had last year. Three main varieties of soft neck garlics were planted (Ozark, French Red and Italian Purple) with the hope that the winter will not be as traumatic as last year and will produce a better yield. Additionally more than 7 different varieties of hard neck garlics were planted including NY White and Spanish Roja both of which are our favorites and good producers.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  We still have some peppers, lettuce and Oriental greens for the final week of the season (next week). Just a few eggplant remain as well as some hot peppers and these will be harvested for the last week of the season. The greenhouse will be cleaned out and prepared for winter. The stand of rosemary that was replanted is coming along with the hope that we will have a better winter. The prior stand had been destroyed during last year’s super cold winter. That stand had been in production for the last 7 years.

 

From the Fields: A tree fell into the back field and did take out part of the fence. This is on the list of things to fix during the off-season. The back field production was lost during the season due to the lack of water so the deer have been feasting on what was left in there now that the fence is down. Farmer Rich is getting the chain saw ready.

 

Weather Report: Aside from the cold mornings the temperatures have been pleasant for this time of year. We did get about 2” of rain during the week on Wednesday and Thursday leaving the crew to take off Wednesday and work in the Franklin greenhouse on Thursday.

Animal report – A raccoon is the culprit breaking in to the main greenhouse though not doing any damage just finding a nice place to rest for a while at night. The crew has to make sure that they don’t leave their donuts out!

Next Week–
LAST DELIVERY OF THE SEASON

• November 3^rd for Mahwah
  November 4^th for Hoboken
  November 5^th for Franklin and November 7^th for On-Farm pickup

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 18–October 20, 2014

Frost is Near!

Sorry there hasn’t been a newsletter the last two weeks but Sue’s Mom was admitted to the hospital then transferred to a health care center and there wasn’t time or energy left to get a newsletter done. Sue’s Mom is on the mend at 88 and we are all hoping for a speedy recovery to get her back home.

Surprisingly there hasn’t been a frost yet at the farm, though there was one in Franklin about 10 miles south. It usually is colder at the farm as we are up the mountain close to High Point. A freeze is predicted for Monday early morning but by then the harvest has been picked, sorted and loaded on the van for delivery!

Franklin Greenhouse Report:
The eggplant and pepper production is winding down. The transplanted greens have come along nicely and are doing well for the last few weeks of the season.

From the Fields:
All the transplanted crops are really doing well, mostly helped by the rain we have received over the last week. The upcoming crops over the next few weeks from our main field will include: Chicories, lettuces, Oriental greens, winter squash, leeks and green onions.

Weather Report:
We received two inches of rain and warmer temperatures during the week. We are long overdue for a frost though we know that it will be coming soon and perhaps right after I am writing this newsletter early on Sunday morning. The frost actually makes some of the cold weather crops sweeter such as the collards, lettuces, kale, Oriental greens – though too cold will make them toast! So far we are not at the point that we have to worry about a deep freeze.

Animal report – Either a raccoon or opossum decided to break into our main greenhouse, though not too hard to break in as the screening on the bottom of the door was missing.

Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)

From: www.vegparadise.com/highestperch26.html

The Jerusalem artichoke has no relatives in the artichoke family but is actually a member of the sunflower family. A native of North America, it grew in the wild along the eastern seaboard from Georgia to Nova Scotia. The explorer Samuel de Champlain first encountered sunchokes growing in an American Indian vegetable garden in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1605. In his opinion they tasted like artichokes, a name that he carried back to France. The American Indians called them sun roots and introduced these perennial tubers to the pilgrims who adopted them as a staple food.

STORAGE: Keep the tubers wrapped in plastic and refrigerate. They will keep up to two weeks, but it's always best eat them as fresh as possible for the best flavor and nutrition. Their sweetness is known to increase when refrigerated after harvesting. If you grow your own, refrigerate them for a day or two before consuming.

PREPARATION: Scrub the sunchokes clean with a vegetable brush. Since much of their nutrients are stored just under the skin, it's best not to peel them. Once cut, sunchokes discolor quickly, so it's best to cut them close to serving time, or cut and immerse them in water with lemon or vinegar to prevent oxidation. Cooking them with the skins on may cause a darkening of the skins because of their high iron content.

RAW:
Slice sunchokes and enjoy the crunch they add to your salad.
Slice and serve them along with crudites and dips.
Shred them into a slaw. Dice them into a chopped salad.
Slice, dice, or shred and marinate in a little extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice or rice vinegar. Coarsely chop sunchokes and add to the blender when preparing raw soups.

STIR FRY: Slice, dice, or shred and stir fry along with other fresh vegetables in a little extra virgin olive oil. They will become softened in about 4 to 6 minutes. For a tender crisp texture, stir fry about 2 to 4 minutes.

BAKED: Sunchokes can be baked whole or sliced. Toss them in a bowl with a little extra virgin olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Set the oven temperature at 375 and bake 30 to 45 minutes for whole, and 20 to 25 minutes for sliced, turning them half way through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

STEAMED: Coarsely chop the Jerusalem artichokes and put them into a steamer basket. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue at high heat and steam for 5 to 8 minutes. Test for softness. Remove and season to taste or mash like potatoes.

BOILED: Sunchokes can be boiled whole or cut as desired. Bring a covered saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add sunchokes and boil for 10 to 15 minutes for whole, and 5 to 8 minutes for cut up. Season as desired or mash like potatoes.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 17–October 13, 2014

 

Sorry no newsletter this week – Sue’s Mom was hospitalized and now in a PACU unit to get back on track and Sue hasn’t had the time to put a newsletter together. We appreciate you understanding.

Deliveries by Farmer Rich will be made as normal.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 16–October 6, 2014

 

Sorry no newsletter this week – Sue’s Mom is in the hospital.

Deliveries by Farmer Rich will be made as normal.

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 15–September 29, 2014

Colors Starting to Change !

The trees are starting to turn color so it is pretty time of year to be at the farm. According to AccuWeather.com; "Experts say the summer season has set the stage for potentially exceptional fall colors in the Northeast, though the weather through mid-October will ultimately determine how stellar of a display will emerge."

We have a lot of ash, oak and maple which does make a stunning display at peak foliage. Interestingly the Catalpa tree just turns black after a frost, which is the "ugliest" of all.

Michael and Farmer Rich expanded the picnic area by removing some brush, fallen trees and overgrown bushes on Wednesday. Farmer John brush hogged the upper field, which is an ongoing project. This will put that field back into hay production.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: Dory transplanted oriental greens and lettuce in the greenhouse. An additional 4-5 flats are set to be transplanted over the next week. We have the beds ready, just timing the planting for harvest later in the season.

All the prior transplants are doing really well and the lettuces that we planted a few weeks ago are already starting to show up in the deliveries.

 

From the Fields: 

With little field work to do as we are caught up, the crew cleaned garlic in the greenhouse. They were especially happy to be "inside" with these cooler days.

Harvesting was started on Saturday and was finished on Sunday, so on Monday we only have to sort it by delivery sites and head down to Ridgewood, Paramus and Mahwah for the Monday afternoon deliveries.

 

Weather Report: 

The low of the week was 38ºF with no rain. The daytime temps were great hovering around 80ºF with no humidity. We were in Saugerties on Saturday to pick up some new garlic varieties to plant for next year. All the garlic farmers we talked with stated how they are having basically the same dry weather that we have been having. Some of the western NY growers lost their crop due to the super cold temperatures over last winter. This included their garlic and shallot crops which was similar to us losing our perennial herbs of rosemary, oregano and sage.

 

Fruit report:

The apples this week are from Soons Orchards. There are different varieties being delivered to each of the CSA delivery sites.

 

Animal report - We decided to have an ice cream social with the crew on Friday with some pumpkin ice cream. While we were enjoying the cups a ground hog broke into the field and ate some lettuces. We can only assume it was mad at not being invited to the ice cream social and went looking to for other treats.

 

Upcoming Events

Garlic Gathering – Garlic Day at the Sussex Farmers Market
October 4^th 9 am – 2 pm (moved from Olde Lafayette Village location)

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival Celebrating the best in Sussex County and Northern NJ Agritourism, Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism October 11^th Sussex County Fairgrounds 10am-4pm

Annual Heirloom Garlic Festival – Hoboken Historical Museum – 1301 Hudson Street October 12^th 1-5 pm
Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce for sale as well.

September 29th - 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.

• Recipe Links
  Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
  Hoboken Midtown Delivery
  Hoboken West Delivery
  United Synagogue of Hoboken

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 14–September 22, 2014

Autumn is Here !

The autumnal equinox brings the fall season to the Northern Hemisphere on: September 22 at 10:29 P.M. EDT so Happy Autumn!

 

The little rain we received definitely helped. With the shorted days and cooler temperatures, the crops are not drying out as fast as they were in the dead of summer. We do have to irrigate some of the fields.

 

Franklin Greenhouse Report:

The last planting of lettuce and Oriental greens will be done this week. The eggplant and Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are still producing well. The replanted rosemary that we lost during the winter is coming along and hopefully will make it through this winter. A nice crop of lemon grass is almost ready to harvest.

 

From the Fields: 

Most of the summer zucchini and cucumber plants have been pulled up as they have stopped producing. These beds were replanted with Oriental greens. The

sunchoke crop (Jerusalem Artichokes is looking good and will probably start to be harvested in about two weeks. We should harvest some red cabbage for next week. The fields are looking good for the rest of the season and all the beds have been weeded. With the cooler temperatures approaching  we know that even a light frost won’t damage the cold weather crops such as kale, chard, celery, onions and the Oriental greens. A freeze would be a problem, but that should not occur until very late in the season or hopefully after the last delivery.

The back field which was abandoned a few weeks ago due to lack of production from the lack of rain was visited by some deer. They actually broke through the fence and devoured any remaining tomatoes as well as the tomato plants.

Weather Report: 

We received about ¼” of rain which definitely helped “fluff” up the crops, especially the transplanted fall crops. On Friday we pulled down the tomato plants in one field and it was “freezing” with everyone having to put on hats, jackets & gloves. We did have to take a few warm-up breaks by jumping into the truck and turning on the heat.

 

Fruit report:

The apples this week are from Soons Orchards. Jonamac is the variety and it is a nice all-purpose apple. Jonamac Apples were developed by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station from a cross between Jonathon and McIntosh apples. It was introduced 1972.

Upcoming Events

Garlic Gathering – Garlic Day at the Sussex Farmers Market
October 4^th 9 am – 2 pm (moved from Olde Lafayette Village location)

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival Celebrating the best in Sussex County and Northern NJ Agritourism, Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism October 11^th Sussex County Fairgrounds 10am-4pm

Annual Heirloom Garlic Festival – Hoboken Historical Museum – 1301 Hudson Street October 12^th 1-5 pm
Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce for sale as well.

September 22nd - 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.

• Recipe Links
  Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
  Hoboken Midtown Delivery
  Hoboken West Delivery
  United Synagogue of Hoboken

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19–No 13–September 15, 2014

Finally Some Rain !

The week started out on the dry side with some rain finally coming on Saturday. The field crops really benefited especially the newly transplanted plants. We were barely keeping them alive with our irrigation. Only about 1/4" of rain fell but all the crops definitely perked up.

Franklin Greenhouse Report:  Dory cleaned up some of the beds and we plan on more seedings and plantings for the last weeks of the season. The ginger crop never rebounded so unfortunately there won’t be any ginger this year. The eggplant have slowed up a bit but are still producing.

From the Fields: We managed to plant more lettuce plus some broccoli and sugarloaf chicory. We weeded the main field and most of the round field and pulled up two rows of tomatoes which had shut down production. Some Oriental greens will be planted and will try some cauliflower as well. The tomatoes are starting to stop producing but we hope to be able to continue the harvest until the first frost. The sweet peppers still continue to do well and should be around until it freezes. Farmer John is helping with brush-hogging the upper field so we can get that field back into hay production.

Weather Report:  We finally received some much needed rain. The temperatures are now in full autumn mode and the trees are just starting to change color. The crew has to start later in the morning as it is too dark at 6:00 am until we go back to Standard Time the beginning of November. The heater in the greenhouse is now beyond repair and Farmer Rich hopes to order a new one this week as with the colder mornings it is nice for the crew to be able to go into the heated greenhouse to warm up between harvesting in the field.

Fruit report:  The grapes in your CSA delivery are from Marjorie’s Vineyard in Wantage, NJ, just a few miles from the farm. This week’s variety is Vanessa. The Muskat’s may be coming soon! Soon we will be delivering apples from Hillcrest Farms in Frankford.

Shishito Peppers  The pepper is small and fingerling sized, slender, and thin-walled. Although it turns from green to red upon ripening, it is usually harvested while green. The name refers to the fact that the tip of the chili pepper looks like the head of a lion, and in Japanese it is often abbreviated as shishitō.

About one out of every ten peppers is spicy. The occurrence of pungent fruit is induced by such factors as illumination, and other stress may predispose the peppers to turn spicy.

Upcoming Events

Garlic Gathering – Garlic Day at the Sussex Farmers Market
October 4^th 9 am – 2 pm (moved from Olde Lafayette Village location)

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival Celebrating the best in Sussex County and Northern NJ Agritourism, Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism October 11^th Sussex County Fairgrounds 10am-4pm

Annual Heirloom Garlic Festival – Hoboken Historical Museum – 1301 Hudson Street October 12^th 1-5 pm
Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce for sale as well.

September 15th - 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.

• Recipe Links
  Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
  Hoboken Midtown Delivery
  Hoboken West Delivery
  United Synagogue of Hoboken

Catalpa Ridge News–Volume 19 No 12–September 8, 2014

Dry Weather Continues !

The dry weather continues, but we have had worse conditions in the past. We are not at a crisis point, yet. We are irrigating the main fields to keep the production up and the back field has been abandoned as it is not going to be productive even if we are able to get some water on it. We will start getting that field ready for next year by removing the plants and tilling it up to plant with a cover crop.

The tomato plants continue to be very productive and probably one of our best tomato years to date. It is just a matter of time before they start shutting down, though at least another few weeks of harvest should be on the agenda. The crew spent at least three hours harvesting just the cherry tomatoes this week.

The Sunchoke flowers (Jerusalem Artichoke) are in full bloom. We plan on delivering the sunchokes in October.

Franklin Greenhouse Report: Some Oriental greens were seeded and the crew transplanted our last planting of lettuce. These should be planted in the fields in about two weeks. The seeded carrots in the greenhouse may not work as it did get too dry, but that bed will be replanted arugula. The bed where the harvested Oriental greens from last week’s delivery will be reseeded with more greens for the fall. The hot peppers continue to mature and more eggplant will be harvested.

From the Fields:  The newly planted transplanted crops are all doing well for the fall deliveries. We think that at least 1000 plants (if not more) were planted with crops for the fall. Some of the previously transplanted did get “fried” in the hot weather but will be replaced this week. Aside from some broccoli, cauliflower and parsley root, all the fall transplants are in the ground. We did use up one of the garlic beds to plant some sugar chicory, broccoli and lettuce. The weeds are starting to get ahead of us between the beds and Farmer Rich weed wacked to improve the air flow around the crops.

Weather Report:  It was hot and humid most of the week and the glory days of the cool weather we were having is over. Due to the heat and humidity we started early in the morning and ended our days by lunch time. No real rain to speak of and the threatening severe thunderstorms predicted for Saturday never came (at least at the farm). Just 3/10” of rain fell on Saturday evening which actually helped!

Fruit report:  The grapes in your CSA delivery are from Marjorie’s Vineyard in Wantage, NJ, just a few miles from the farm. This week’s variety is Vanessa.

Upcoming Events

Garlic Gathering – Garlic Day at the Sussex Farmers Market
October 4^th 9 am – 2 pm (moved from Olde Lafayette Village location)

Sussex County Harvest, Honey & Garlic Festival Celebrating the best in Sussex County and Northern NJ Agritourism, Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism October 11^th Sussex County Fairgrounds 10am-4pm

Annual Heirloom Garlic Festival – Hoboken Historical Museum – 1301 Hudson Street October 12^th 1-5 pm
Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce for sale as well.

September 8th - 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.

• Recipe Links
  Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
  Hoboken Midtown Delivery
  Hoboken West Delivery
  United Synagogue of Hoboken