Not much time to write so first a couple of announcements then some other stuff.
We are taking orders for 2018! Thank you to everyone who signed up so far. We appreciate your support! To reserve your spot for 2018 (we turned a few people away this season due to being sold out) simply put down a deposit of $100 — either cash or check. Or if you prefer to use a credit card you will have to go through our online store and pay the whole amount. Also for those savvy enough to know how to use PayPal you can send your down payment to my email address.
WinterShares are being distributed. The first pick-up/delivery will be the garlic, onions, shallots and squash. Next week the rest of the shares (which is potatoes) will be available.
Speaking of next week, that will be the final week of the season! Please make a note of it.
Last chance for syrup. Stock up for the winter! Purchase in the tent or we can send it out in your delivery box.
Due to untimely rain we still have not planted the garlic. Stay tuned as we figure out what we will do.
It looks like a beautiful week for farming. If anyone is interested in helping out please contact me. We have a couple of projects that could use a “many hands make light work” approach.
Farm News
As I mentioned last week we had a frost on Monday night. It killed the warm season crops and even scorched some of the cool season crops. But we managed to harvest everything we wanted. It took us longer than we hoped. The sweet potatoes didn’t get harvested until Wednesday and Thursday but they don’t seem any worse for the wear. We have a pretty good crop of them. They currently reside in our greenhouse “curing”. When we first dig the potatoes the skins are quite delicate and easily scarred. By heating them to around 85 degrees for some number of days we can heal the scars and toughen the skin. Curing also helps sweeten the potatoes. So we are waiting until next week to hand them out to give them a chance to cure.
Speaking of putting things in the greenhouse. This time of year involves a lot of moving of heavy produce. Not only do the sweet potatoes need curing but also the winter squash. So much of our energy is in moving heavy things into and out of the greenhouse, then washing them, then packing them for later distribution. Way too much moving around. There are a few things we can do to improve the flow but there would still be a need to move lots of heavy things too many times. It becomes obvious why large scale producers have so many fork trucks. Hydraulics are a wonderful thing if.
So if you see me and I look a little shorter or one arm seems a little longer you now know the cause — lots of heavy lifting.
What will we have this week? Rutabagas! Ok, maybe that didn’t really need an exclamation point. Lots of carrots. The rest of the peppers (there are still quite a few). Some leeks and onions. Garlic. Tomatoes from the hoop house. Brussels Sprouts! Maybe another place where an exclamation point isn’t necessary? Some kohlrabi, some cabbage, some beets and some other things. Oh and of course winter squash and pumpkins! Don’t miss next week since it is the last week and there will be sweet potatoes!
FlowerShare gets gourds this week.
The final CoffeeShare is this week.
SeafoodShare and SalmonShare are next week.
All other shares are done for the season.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, volunteer offers, etc.