CSA summer wind down, NEW products, fruit and corn, annual Art’s festival.
This is it… this is the final week of the Summer CSA pickup on 9/15, 16, 17. OPEN Thu, and Fri 10 AM-5 PM, and Sat 10 AM-2 PM. Don’t forget next week… JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL ART’S FESTIVAL! Saturday 9/24, 10AM-3PM. Local artists, pottery, demos, food, drink, LIVE music.
THE HARVEST. Tomatoes - red, orange AND a few green - if fried green tomatoes are your thing! Zucchini, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Arugula, Winter squash - Butternut is in! Kabocha and Spaghetti too. Onions, Leeks, Garlic, Carrots, Flowers and Herbs. Get your flowers from a farmer:) As a thank you for your support - your choice - BONUS apples and corn! Details in Farm Shop. APPLES, CORN AND PEACHES… available for purchase too.
NEW PRODUCTS! Stock up. Beer - The Seed Brewery on-farm Thu and Sat; Ravioli’s - chicken/broccoli rabe, roasted mushroom and grilled veggie - pair with our own tomato sauce; Chicken Sausage - white wine/parsley and chicken apple; POTPIE’S - chicken, veggie and beef Shepard’s; Hot dogs and Burgers; farmer Bill’s Cheeses, Yogurts and Sheepsicles; And more from our other farmer friends… Mushrooms, Microgreens and Eggs.
*** End of Summer Farmer Report ***
Highlights and Challenges
HIGHLIGHTS. Strawberries… epic quality and bounty! Many months of labor throughout the spring, summer and fall go into managing this crop for 4 short weeks of strawberries. They are the best, got to have them! Onions - who cares, right? It’s an onion, but to a farmer who strives for large, sweet onions with good storage ability, we nailed it! Other notes… throughout the season, we expanded our Farm shop and High Tunnel production to increase our reach, services and farm fresh options in the community. Thanks to the high tunnels, we had our best tomato season and extended harvest to date! We also incorporated more cover cropping, mulching and bees for better yields and crop health. And we continue to grow our farmer training program and strive to make it possible for younger, beginner farmers to have successful careers in agriculture.
CHALLENGES. Heat and Drought. Hottest and driest season yet. We irrigated constantly. The weather continued to push back planting schedules and will delay our fall CSA harvest (reopening mid Oct). Despite some losses, we have replanted and look forward to cooler temperatures and big heads of broccoli:) Unable to change the weather, our well-seasoned farmer crew are healthy, have positive attitudes and overcome tough days to get the work done. We are tested daily, some more than others! Raspberries… limited quantities for many reasons, including weather, but we keep working at it. My advice would be don’t grow raspberries! Tractor issues - behind the scenes, we were down for several weeks without our most used work horse. We did a lot by hand (our backs were not happy), or pushed off work until we could get it back up and running. Thanks to a great farm team, planning and management, we make the best of it and work through it.
As the sun sets on another crazy farming season, we give thanks to everyone who makes this farm dream work, from our amazing staff and support organizations, to the customers whom are all the backbone of this farm’s success. We are passionate about growing and supporting the next generation of farmers, and committed to creating and sustaining a viable food system. Thank you for following us on this journey and being a part of the local food movement.
Please take a few moments to take our survey and let us know how we can improve your farm experience! Your responses are anonymous. Take a screen shot of your completed survey page, or print it out and get 3 free sunflowers:) We appreciate your input.
Much love to our partners and farm friends… Hammerbacher Kitchen, The Seed Brewery, Pastore Orchard, Nichols Orchard, Cycle Farms, Misty Meadow Sheep Dairy, Fulper Farm, Sicklers Circle View Farm, Griggstown Farm, Faith Flower Farm, First Field, Bee Cool Pollination, Mill Creek Apiary, Smith Poultry, CROPS, our local artist’s network, and Folk Across the Street musicians network. AND to our friends and family - thank you for standing by us!