I’d like to start off by thanking everyone, and I mean EVERYONE who came by on Saturday (as well as everyone who came by on the other days). You made it the best, busiest day I’ve ever had, and by quite a large margin. I would like to also apologize for not having more picked for last Saturday, but I had no idea just how busy it was going to be for the day.

I’ve since been trying to get caught up with field work, harvesting, and making more preserves. Thank goodness there are some family members who are able to pick up and deliver the fruit to me so I can make more.

Now let’s get back to the farm itself. The past week saw the weather continue its relentless string of rain and wet conditions. Coupling that with the temperature drops into the mid-40’s and it’s not a happy time. These conditions are continuing to cause multiple problems, with certain crops being more adversely affected than others. Cucumbers and Zucchini are still being impacted the worst, and are followed very closely by Pumpkins and Winter Squash. As of right now, I have no idea what the final effect will be on the latter two crops as we move into the Fall.

I’ve managed, by spraying far more than I would like, to keep most of the plants alive through the crazy conditions we’ve been having. For those concerned that with all the spraying, what I can tell you to allay your fears, is that, even with all that spraying, I currently have more frogs living in the field than I ever have before. They are everywhere. Being some of the most sensitive animals to toxin exposure, their ongoing abundant presence in the field reassures me that I am well within the bounds of safe pesticide/fungicide use.

There is one other issue that is becoming apparent this season. Some of the plants are already beginning to behave as though it’s mid-to-late September. I’ve changed some of the fertilizer mixes to try and compensate for the slowed growth, with little effect so far, though I will be making further changes to see if I can get them back on track. I’m not sure why they would be behaving this way, but given the way this season has played out, not a whole lot is in any way surprising to me anymore.

On a positive note, it looks like there will be some Cherry/Grape and Yellow Pear Tomatoes this week. These were in the section that suffered the blight-like fungal infection earlier on in the season. Though not directly affected by the blight, they failed to grow properly and have remained stunted. Overall, the infection spread through or otherwise affected the Cherry, Yellow Pear, Roma, and San Marzano Tomatoes.

Also, with some luck I will be pulling Radish this week. They are just about big enough, and I know that quite a few people have been looking for them at the stand.

I suppose that’s about it for the update this week. Please be sure to check out the What’s Available page to see what’s currently being picked.

Thanks again for the great week and supporting the farm.