Labor Day has come and gone, so I guess this means the end of summer is truly here. Of course, as usual, this does not mean the end of the farm season is here, as crops like Potatoes, Winter Squash, Apples, and the anticipated fall crop of Pumpkins are just ramping up. According to my calendar, the farm stand will be open for five more weekends, with the last weekend for the season being Columbus Day weekend, and the last day being Monday, October 10th.

Before we get to the end, however, we still have a bit of time and a whole bunch of stuff to get out of the field. Additionally, there are still chickens to raise, slaughter, and process, and loads of eggs to collect and box.

Back to this week though, and the good news is PEACHES. Yes, the wonderful Peaches from PA are still available along with Nectarines from the same orchard. There will be Local Blueberries and new additions of Local Bartlett Pears and Local Golden Supreme Apples. I was also able to find some nice looking Mango at the market this week.

Unfortunately, the Broiler Chicken have not yet come up to a suitable size. I weighed quite a few to see if I could process even a few of them, but they are just not big enough yet. There is still frozen chicken available, though the birds I currently have are on the larger side.

After a number of weeks, and a considerable amount of damage done, woodchuck #6 has met its end. Dealing with all of them this year has been quite difficult and rather challenging. Hopefully, that will be the last of them for the season. Of course, having dealt with the woodchuck menace it was rather inevitable, at least as these things go, that the Coyotes would return. There are at least 2 packs that have recently reappeared in the areas to the West, which is the opposite side of the property from where the farm stand is located. There were “encounters” earlier this season, but given the dwindling rabbit populations, the Coyotes may once again become a handful, or even, as was the case a number of years ago, a serious danger to life and limb.

Lastly, the flowers are all rapidly approaching, but not quite at the end for the season. The Gladiola, with the possible exception of a few, are otherwise done for this season, The rest of the flowers took a bit of a beating from the much needed rain, but should be pickable for a little while, which realistically means either when a frost happens or a windstorm blows through the area.

I think that’s everything I needed to cover this week. My thanks to all those who have come by and helped keep the farm going. Your support is greatly appreciated. Hope you all have a great week.