This Week On The Farm – 9/27
The weather is cooling off and the warm season crops are starting to noticeably slow down. The peppers are especially slowing down in their maturation process.There are a lot of them out there on the plants, but they are taking a much longer time to grow and/or turn the correct color before they are ready to be harvested.
Some of the warm season crops are refusing to be slowed down by the cool weather. The cucumbers and patty pan squash are still producing fruit even though the plants themselves look awful. There is still a fair amount in the field, but not enough to put in the boxes. Check the stand if you are in the Rio area and you are craving cucumbers.
The cool season crops that we planted are taking off. The turnips are looking fantastic and we needed to thin them again they are growing so much. The arugula and spinach are not growing as quickly as we would like, but that is due to the fact there was no rain for a week and a half after the seed was planted. With the moisture that we gained this week they will hopefully take off and we might be able to have them in the last box or two.
The leeks are ready to be harvested. Hilling them a second time this season helped out a great deal and the varieties we planted are producing much better than last year’s leeks.
The Brussels sprouts are coming along, but they are probably the last thing that is ready. They have an exceptionally long growing season. We are going to try to remember to top the plants next year around the first of September because that is supposed to increase the rate of bud growth.
We are currently in the process of harvesting everything we can out of the fields; onions, gourds, and pumpkins are all on our list of crops to finish harvesting this week. At this point in the year they will keep better in more controlled conditions than in the field where moisture, temperature, and humidity can vary a great deal.
Coming soon we will be sending out an order form for the storage shares. They will be $35 for a tote full of potatoes, onions, leeks, and other fall produce. They will be delivered to the pick-up sites on either the 2nd or 3rd of November starting at the normal pick-up time. We are only going to make 20 available so be sure to get your form in to us as quickly as possible to reserve your share!
Also, attached to the newsletter this week is a short survey that we would like you to fill out. It will help us gauge how you feel we did this year and what we can do better for the coming years. Please be completely honest we want to hear the good, the bad, and the in between. We also have self-addressed stamped envelopes for you to use to send them back to us, that way you can remain anonymous if you wish.
We look forward to the remaining four weeks of the CSA season and more wonderful vegetables!