from Jeanne and Steve
We had a lovely time at our Harvest Fair and Pumpkin Patch last Saturday. Thank you to all those of you who were able to come, as well as all of our wonderful volunteers. The weather was perfect, the cider press was a big hit, as was the music, the food, the face painting, the crafts, the hayrides, and the bunnies, ducks, goats, cows, horses, and bees. Some pictures below; plus, Chef Andrew has written up recipes for all of the great fair food that we had to offer at the event.
This week we are BUSY! Steve and the crew are preparing the field where next year’s strawberries will be planted in the next few weeks. We’re planting cover crops through large portions of the farm. We’re getting crops planted for the winter CSA, and hauling the cured winter squash out of the fields and into storage for the fall and winter.
Ironically, even though we have officially entered fall, last Monday and Tuesday were the hottest days of the year by far. We had the water going all day at the three locations we farm on in an attempt to keep plants from getting stressed. Most everything came through alright with the exception of the tomatoes which became soft more quickly than we could keep up with them, and the strawberries which basically cooked in the field. The unripe strawberries came through OK, and although production is way down, we’ll still have some until the first heavy rain—they’ll probably go in the boxes as a mystery item for the next few weeks.
It was quite a relief when the fog rolled in on the third day and cooled things off dramatically. Over the next few boxes you will notice the transition from summer crops into those we grow more for fall and winter. We are cleaning the overripe tomatoes off the plants and should have nice quality fruit for another couple of weeks, and we should have various types of beans for at least that long. Meanwhile, the winter squashes, cauliflower, bunched greens, carrots, beets, leeks and cabbage that are more associated with fall and winter will make up more of your boxes.
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