Giving Up On Summer
Fall carries on at the farm. We are thrilled to have a summer-like weekend in the forecast. It truly feels like borrowed time. The average first date of frost for our farm is September 12th. We know it’s coming, but we are never ready. The frost kills all the tender summer plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, and if it’s cold enough all the broccoli, cabbage, radishes, lettuce and celery die too. With a little planning, we will still have plenty for CSA shares in storage and inside the high tunnels. While we’ve come to expect the frost wiping the life out of our plants, we’re just not ready to give them up after all the work it took to get here.
Delicata Winter Squash
Brusselini
Dark Red Beets
Mixed Potatoes
Red Butterhead Lettuce
Kohlrabi
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Garlic Bulb
Scallions
Basil
This week’s “people behind your food” features two newbies. Debbie and Jay both started the first week of June when it was hot. Really hot!! We had to transplant over two hundred zucchini plants without killing them or getting heat stroke ourselves. With lots of water, we managed to get the job done and done well. Thank these two if you’ve had your fill of zucchini this year.
Debbie was a CSA member last season and decided to up her game and come work on the farm this year to keep busy and help her stay active during retirement. She does a great job staying active! Debbie is never shy to jump right into a task hands-first and get the job done. She always asks “what’s next” as standing idle is not in her play book. We love having her on the farm on Monday mornings because of her getter-done attitude while some of us are still working on our cup of coffee.
Jay recently moved back to the area as part of his retirement as well. Being a neighbor of Tom’s, he was always hearing about our farm and decided to join the team and work in exchange for fresh, local veggies. Jay has his work cut out for him in the Monday pack shed filled with head strong women. He does exactly what he is told to do, of course! A lot of that being the heavy lifting, root washing, cutting tops, and most recently assisting with the rebuilding of our oldest high tunnel. And never so much as whispering a complaint. So far we haven’t found anything Jay can’t do. It has been great having them both on the farm this season.
Until next time,
