What’s happening on the farm this past week and this week? I forget. Maybe this newsletter will have the answers. But first these brief messages:
We are sold out for 2020! Yay! Thank you to everyone who spread the word. You can stop spreading now. We have started a list for people who have missed the sign-up but would like to be reminded for the 2021 season. Let me know if you want to be on this list.
We are still taking orders for Fruit, Coffee, and Eggs. These are great add-ons to your veggies. If you consume any of these items please consider getting them from us. By buying from us you not only support the farm but you also support other small, environmentally sustainable businesses here in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. We deliver them to all drop locations with your veggie share. Of course on-farm pick-ups will get them here at the farm.
We are still looking for help this summer. If you like getting dirty and growing delicious food contact me! A more detailed description can be found here.
Annual Herb and Vegetable six packs will be available starting Wednesday at 9:00 am. Why then? Because the forecast calls for the overnight temperature tonight around 40 degrees — a bit cool for plants just emerging from the warmth of the greenhouse. By tomorrow night the low temp is back into the 50s. We will put them on a table in the usual pick-up tent location. Go around the circle driveway in a counter-clockwise fashion and you will see them. It is west of the yellow building with the solar panels. No need to be here at 9:00. You can come whenever is convenient for you. The plants will be sitting around waiting for you. Oh, and they are marked with your last name on them.
Farm News
The older I get the faster time flies. Based on the fact that this summer seemed to go by in seconds I must be getting really old! I feel like it was just Spring and we were planting all the produce out in the field. Then suddenly it is fall with the cold winds and spritzes of frozen rain. I can’t even recall harvesting anything this year! I must be both old and feeble minded. Well I certainly hope you enjoyed the season. I think I did but really can’t remember.
Wait, I’ve been told that in fact the season is not over and that this cold spell is just typical Spring weather in Minnesota and that there is still lots of planting and weeding and harvesting and washing and packing and all those other things we do all summer long. Huh. I’m not sure how I didn’t figure this out on my own. Must be that feeble minded thing.
Anyway, for the most part the farm has escaped harm caused by these cold temperatures. Other than the first planting of corn, we have not transplanted any warm season vegetables out in the field. We did transplant the tomatoes into the hoop house but we took precautions and covered them with not one but two layers of row covers. Why two layers? Because the row cover was wide enough to fold in half lengthwise, no other reason. The tomatoes have survived. They aren’t growing very fast but they are still alive.
The corn on the other hand isn’t looking so good. In theory it should survive. The growth point of corn at this stage lies below ground. If the cold wasn’t enough to freeze the below ground part of the plant it should recover. It will take a little longer to produce and the ears may be smaller than expected but it should survive. We plant three rounds of corn so if this one doesn’t survive we still have a couple more to fill our summer corn cravings.
This week it looks like we are slowly ramping up to more seasonable temperatures. If the trend continues by Friday’s forecast for next week we will start transplanting the warm season crops out in the field. If we see another cold snap on the horizon we will have to build a bigger greenhouse to hold all the plants! Lets hope this is the last of the cold weather until sometime in November or December or January. A guy can dream can’t he?
As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, brain-teasers or lorem ipsum feel free to send them my way! I’m already out of topic to cover and the harvest season hasn’t even started yet.