Farm Update 06-06-17

Well, I’m getting closer to the same old weekly schedule for updates as I did last year.  I guess there’s just a lot of extra work and coordination for the farm this year.

Despite my best efforts, and lots of attention given to the plants, the weather conditions are pushing me to delay the farm stand opening until the 23rd of June.  I am still not convinced to move the opening date, and the latter portion of this week will be the final determining factor, but even with near perfect weather until the 16th it would be tough to get the plants caught up to where I would want them.  And even if the daytime temps behave themselves, the overnights here on the mountaintop are still quite chilly.

So over the past week, I managed to get quite a bit of stuff planted.  More lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage was joined by the first few types of pumpkin plants.  I can’t remember if I made mention of it, but I have cleared a portion of the lower field area specifically for pumpkins and gourds.  The early planting of tomatoes are already setting flowers, which hopefully means there will be an early batch fruit.  The zucchini and pepper plants are also starting to show some flowers as well, though I’m expecting the cold conditions tonight, and from the week past to put a slowdown on the warm weather peppers.

In other news, I was contacted several weeks ago by Bonnie, who runs the Lexington Farm Market, about selling some of my produce.  I’m quite happy to, and so, in another couple of weeks you’ll be able to find select items of mine for sale at their market.  I was able to get over to the market this past Saturday and it was quite something, with a great festive atmosphere.  The market schedule for the rest of 2017 is as follows:

Lexington Farm Market
lexingtonnyfarmersmarket.com
(hours from 10 – 12)

June 17th
July 1st / 15th / 29th
August 12th / 26th
September 9th / 23rd
October 7th / 21st

The market is located on Rte 42 at the Lexington Municipal Building Pavilion.

Additionally, I am working with Kerns Nursery in hopes of having some produce for sale at their location on weekends starting shortly after I open the stand here.  I’m also trying to work out a small stand area over near Windham.  I’ll post more info on both of these as the details get hammered out.  Lastly on the issue of markets, the Hunter Foundation told me that they will be not running the weekly market in Tannersville, but instead found a party that will run it for them, so as of this time, I will not be providing any produce to that market.  There may also be a couple of restaurants that have some of my produce, but nothing is set up as of this point in time.

I suppose that’s about it for now.  Let’s all hope the weather improves, and that we have a nice, warm but not too hot remainder of spring and summer.