Expected Harvest | August 13, 2023 Way of Watermelon by Farmer Derek
Edamame should be plentiful for a while! Picking edamame can take a while, we recommend getting comfortable on the ground and clearing the pods from each plant from a sitting position (if the ground isn't too soggy).
Harvest #15 (Week A) should include potatoes, watermelon, carrots, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, onions, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, edamame, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
Edamame should be plentiful for a while! Picking edamame can take a while, we recommend getting comfortable on the ground and clearing the pods from each plant from a sitting position (if the ground isn't too soggy).
Harvest #15 (Week A) should include potatoes, watermelon, carrots, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, onions, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, edamame, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
August 13, 2023
August 13, 2023 Workshifts for the Week of August 14th by Farmer Derek
Spreading our cover crop mix of oats and buckwheat where this year's strawberries grew.
This week's workshift schedule:
Wednesday 8/16 10am-12pm (could be potato harvesting if dry enough)
Wednesday 8/16 6-8pm (could be potato harvesting if dry enough)
Sunday 8/20 8-10am (could be potato harvesting if dry enough)
Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!
We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.
Notes From The Field | August 13, 2023 August August by Farmer Derek
Sunflower, a benefit to many creatures, including pollinating insects, seed eating birds, and beauty smitten humans.
Thank you, August, for being so kind so far! We're already halfway through the month and haven't suffered a 90-degree day yet. Humidity has also mostly been low and tolerable. Rainfall has been moderate and quickly absorbed, allowing us to stay on schedule with transplanting and harvesting. This is one of my favorite times of the year.
Last week we embarked on the potato harvest, finishing Yukon Gem on Wednesday, with the help of CSA members. This is the variety that ripened first for us this year. We are growing four varieties over almost 10,000 bed feet. Four hundred pounds of seed potatoes were planted for each variety. Because the seed potatoes vary in size quite considerably, the amount of feet devoted to each variety is different. Yukon Gem yielded approximately 1,700 pounds total from those 400 pounds, which is not a stellar yield but good enough for us. Dormant seed potatoes were planted in mid-April, or around the time dandelion blooms. From the 'eyes' of the potatoes grow shoots that turn into foliage that looks similar to tomato plants. The seed potato breaks down and decomposes in the soil while new roots/tubers develop around it. When these are mature the foliage begins to die back. Fragile 'new' potatoes can be harvested at this stage, but we like to wait a few more weeks while the potatoes' skins thicken and allow for longer storage potential. Next up, hopefully this coming week, will be Dark Red Norland, a red-skinned white-fleshed variety.
Sunflower, a benefit to many creatures, including pollinating insects, seed eating birds, and beauty smitten humans.
Thank you, August, for being so kind so far! We're already halfway through the month and haven't suffered a 90-degree day yet. Humidity has also mostly been low and tolerable. Rainfall has been moderate and quickly absorbed, allowing us to stay on schedule with transplanting and harvesting. This is one of my favorite times of the year.
Last week we embarked on the potato harvest, finishing Yukon Gem on Wednesday, with the help of CSA members. This is the variety that ripened first for us this year. We are growing four varieties over almost 10,000 bed feet. Four hundred pounds of seed potatoes were planted for each variety. Because the seed potatoes vary in size quite considerably, the amount of feet devoted to each variety is different. Yukon Gem yielded approximately 1,700 pounds total from those 400 pounds, which is not a stellar yield but good enough for us. Dormant seed potatoes were planted in mid-April, or around the time dandelion blooms. From the 'eyes' of the potatoes grow shoots that turn into foliage that looks similar to tomato plants. The seed potato breaks down and decomposes in the soil while new roots/tubers develop around it. When these are mature the foliage begins to die back. Fragile 'new' potatoes can be harvested at this stage, but we like to wait a few more weeks while the potatoes' skins thicken and allow for longer storage potential. Next up, hopefully this coming week, will be Dark Red Norland, a red-skinned white-fleshed variety.
August 13, 2023
August 13, 2023 Potluck Sunday 8/20 5-7pm by Farmer Dana
Some things to look forward to on the farm.
Farm Potluck, Sunday 8/20, 5-7 pm
Join us for a relaxed evening on the farm, munching shared dishes and catching the beginning of a firefly light show. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and beverages. Hope to see you there! (shared dishes do not have to incorporate farm produce)
Expected Harvest | August 6, 2023 Welcome Edamame! by Farmer Derek
U-pick flower patch - make sure to take some time to pick a bouquet and/or watch all of the happy insects who also enjoy the prolific blooms.
Harvest #14 (Week B) should include watermelon, carrots, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, onions, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, snap/string/green beans, edamame, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
U-pick flower patch - make sure to take some time to pick a bouquet and/or watch all of the happy insects who also enjoy the prolific blooms.
Harvest #14 (Week B) should include watermelon, carrots, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, onions, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, snap/string/green beans, edamame, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
August 6, 2023
August 6, 2023 Workshifts for the Week of August 7th by Farmer Derek
Farmers Adeline, Gabby, and Connor getting ready to battle weeds with wheel and oscillating/stirrup hoes.
This week's workshift schedule:
Wednesday 8/9 10am-12pm
Wednesday 8/9 6-8pm
Sunday 8/13 8-10am
Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!
We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.
Notes From The Field | August 6, 2023 Halftime Preparations by Farmer Derek
Eastern tiger swallowtail sampling the goods from a Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) blossom.
We're just about halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. There are probably a few fancy names for this time, but none come to mind. This August has been kind to us so far (we'll see what tomorrow's storms have in store). After the heat and humidity and excessive rainfall of July, August has been a dream. I'm sure we'll have a few more days in the 90s, but this weather is sure a wake up call to incoming autumn.
We're always planning ahead and thinking down the road because crops need to break dormancy and germinate months before they're consumed, and ground needs to be prepared for their homes. It's a bit strange to visualize harvests for October and November right now, but this must happen now in order to harvest then. Plant growth varies significantly throughout the year (obviously), thanks to daylength and temperature, and I find it more difficult to change gears and prepare for the slow down after summer compared to dealing with the increased growth rate in late spring and through summer.
For fall harvests, there's a fine line between starting crops too early, where quick growth results in too-early maturity and susceptibility to later cold, compared to starting crops too late, when they don't have enough time to mature before the harvest season ends or cold and darkness put the breaks on their rate of growth. Because we added two additional weeks to the Main Season CSA, we'll be harvesting a bit later in November for a larger group than we've had with the Late Fall CSA.
In November my preference is to harvest most crops in tunnels where we don't have to deal with frost and random too-cold nights like we do for outside crops (and where our fingers stay a bit warmer while harvesting). It's probably impossible to pinpoint an exactly perfect time to start all the crops for all of the tunnels for the final four weeks of the season due to wildly fluctuating temperatures. To deal with this we simply grow many different crops in multiple successions. It's easy to overthink it all, but it's also good to strive for perfection a little bit, then know when to put the breaks on that thought process.
Preparing to spread our favorite late summer cover crop mix, oats and buckwheat.
Eastern tiger swallowtail sampling the goods from a Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) blossom.
We're just about halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. There are probably a few fancy names for this time, but none come to mind. This August has been kind to us so far (we'll see what tomorrow's storms have in store). After the heat and humidity and excessive rainfall of July, August has been a dream. I'm sure we'll have a few more days in the 90s, but this weather is sure a wake up call to incoming autumn.
We're always planning ahead and thinking down the road because crops need to break dormancy and germinate months before they're consumed, and ground needs to be prepared for their homes. It's a bit strange to visualize harvests for October and November right now, but this must happen now in order to harvest then. Plant growth varies significantly throughout the year (obviously), thanks to daylength and temperature, and I find it more difficult to change gears and prepare for the slow down after summer compared to dealing with the increased growth rate in late spring and through summer.
For fall harvests, there's a fine line between starting crops too early, where quick growth results in too-early maturity and susceptibility to later cold, compared to starting crops too late, when they don't have enough time to mature before the harvest season ends or cold and darkness put the breaks on their rate of growth. Because we added two additional weeks to the Main Season CSA, we'll be harvesting a bit later in November for a larger group than we've had with the Late Fall CSA.
In November my preference is to harvest most crops in tunnels where we don't have to deal with frost and random too-cold nights like we do for outside crops (and where our fingers stay a bit warmer while harvesting). It's probably impossible to pinpoint an exactly perfect time to start all the crops for all of the tunnels for the final four weeks of the season due to wildly fluctuating temperatures. To deal with this we simply grow many different crops in multiple successions. It's easy to overthink it all, but it's also good to strive for perfection a little bit, then know when to put the breaks on that thought process.
Preparing to spread our favorite late summer cover crop mix, oats and buckwheat.
August 6, 2023
August 6, 2023 Upcoming Events by Farmer Dana
Some things to look forward to on the farm.
Spicebush swallowtail joins the party.
Medicinal Garden Tour with Amanda Crooke from Locust Light Farm, Tuesday 8/8, 6-7 pm!
Join Amanda Crooke of Locust Light Farm for a medicinal tour of our herb garden. Amanda will walk you through the herbs, demonstrate how to harvest them, describe their medicinal qualities, and give you tips for storing and using them. You'll leave feeling inspired to visit the herb garden at every pickup. Amanda is an engaging speaker, host to an incredible wealth of knowledge of all things herbal. We are fortunate to have her share her wisdom and hope you'll join us for this fun and enriching event!
Join us for a relaxed evening on the farm, munching shared dishes and catching the beginning of a firefly light show. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and beverages. Hope to see you there! (shared dishes do not have to incorporate farm produce)
Expected Harvest | July 30, 2023 In Time For August by Farmer Derek
First watermelon haul of 2023 heads to the barn.
Harvest #13 (Week A) should include watermelon, carrots, celery, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, snap/string/green beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
Harvest #13 (Week A) should include watermelon, carrots, celery, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, snap/string/green beans, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.
July 30, 2023
July 30, 2023 Workshifts for the Week of July 31st by Farmer Derek
Late evening strawbale shenanigans.
This week's workshift schedule:
Wednesday 8/2 10am-12pm
Wednesday 8/2 6-8pm
Sunday 8/6 7-9am (special early bird shift)
Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!
We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.
