Dear CSA members,
The days are getting noticeably shorter and this morning almost felt like fall but we are sure to get more hot days. We have been getting enough rain so that we have hardly had to irrigate. Hadley and Abby have been hard at work getting all the fall planting done. Fields have been mowed and several cleared to cover crop for the fall.
Beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and eggplants are producing well. Peppers are coming along, but another week away from coming into higher production. Tomatoes have fruited well, but are not ripening quickly and we have suffered from some rabbit damage that has diminished initial output of low lying fruits. We have enough to put some into shares this week, but we don’t expect better output for another week or two.
The winter squash production looks really good so far, we have good fruiting on the Delicata, Acorn and Butternut squash. We are starting to harvest many of our potatoes, expect to see more of them soon.
Our kale has been struggling with flea beetles. They are the worst we have ever seen them on the farm. We are experimenting with an organic control that seems to be working. Flea beetles should start to die out soon as part of their life cycle, so we hope to have kale back in shares soon. We also have planted several other varieties under Agribon (a light weight fabric we use to exclude insects) that you will see in shares later in September. We are always experimenting and trying to learn from what nature throws at us! We trialed two varieties of lettuce that made it through the heat of July, we will put some into shares next week. It always pays in farming to try new varieties and plant diversity to buffer against variability.
We have Chimney Swifts nesting in our chimney! You can sometimes hear them chattering when you enter the barn. We have been fun watching them fly into the chimney to feed their young and when they roost for the evening. They are amazing to watch fly around the farm and are very happy that they decided to nest here.