Last night we had another first here at Fresh Earth Farms. But before I get to that I need to mention a few things.
The Garlic Planting Gala will be held Saturday, October 6th from 2:00 PM until it is complete. Following the planting we will have a bonfire and dinner. There are plenty of tasks for those who are less able to stoop and bend. Of course there are plenty of tasks for those who are able to stoop and bend. So whether you are a stooper, a bender or neither, there will be something for you to do. Kids can help too! They are generally closer to the ground which helps with the stooping and bending. Please let me know if you are planning to come and how many people will be with you. If you would like to help with the after-planting festivities please contact me, we could use assistance.
We are now accepting orders for the 2013 season. As an incentive to get you to join now and save us the trouble of harassing you all winter we are giving you this year’s prices for next year’s produce – as long as you join by the end of October. What a deal! All it takes is $100 down to reserve your spot. See order form for more details.
Also, we are selling Winter FruitShare, MeatShare, and CheeseShare. The price for FruitShare has not yet been determined. MeatShare and CheeseShare prices are on the order form. This is a great way to support small farms and local and/or organic producers. If you have any questions about any of these items do not hesitate to contact me.
Now on to the first!
For those of you who follow the weather there was a threat of – I hate to use the f-word but here it comes – frost last night. The forecasters called for “patchy frost” in the Twin Cities. And as we all know, if you are in the patch it isn’t patchy; it is frost.
We happen to farm in a patchy area. We are at the bottom of a couple hills. Cold air tends to settle upon us. I’ve seen temperatures 10 degrees colder on our farm than five miles up the road. On a calm fall day you can feel the temperature change as you walk down our driveway. There can be a five degree difference between the top of the hill up the street and the bottom of our farm. So when the weather folks say patchy frost they are really saying Fresh Earth Frost.
Now for the first (or maybe I should say “Now for the Fresh Earth First”): This is the first time in the history of the farm that we did not receive frost when the forecast called for patchy frost. There have been quite a few times when there was no forecast for frost yet we got it. But this time it was the exact opposite. And our beans couldn’t be happier. Of course this doesn’t mean there won’t be frost tonight or the next night or sometime soon. But at least we get to enjoy the beans and tomatoes for one more day.
Speaking of tomatoes, when we hear about patchy frost we automatically go into harvest mode. We harvest as much of everything that is frost sensitive as we can. Usually this means tomatoes. So yesterday we picked close to 1200 pounds of tomatoes – half of which were green. Expect to find a lot of tomatoes in your shares this week!
Speaking of potatoes (who was speaking of potatoes? I said tomatoes), we discovered the last batch of potatoes had problems. We think we know the cause of the problem and we are changing procedures here at the farm in hopes that we solve the issue. To rule out problems with wet potatoes we are not washing this week’s batch. With the ground as dry as it is there isn’t much dirt sticking to them anyway. If the problem doesn’t go away we will have to figure out if the potatoes have a disease. Please let me know if you have any problems with potatoes you receive THIS week.
Speaking of this week, what will we have this week? Well, the aforementioned potatoes and tomatoes. Plus peppers, garlic, onions, beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers, beets, maybe winter squash and I’m sure a few other things I have forgotten. Looks like the transition to fall crops will have to wait a bit.
We have FruitShare arriving this week. A mixed box of honeycrisp apples, Bartlett pears, grapes, avocados and nectarines.
We have CoffeeShare this week.
CheeseShare arrives on Friday.
We will check the flowers for FlowerShare. They were winding down last week but if we have some available we will continue to make bouquets.
As always do not hesitate to send in your jokes, puzzlers, brain teasers, questions, comments, etc.