Hi everybody. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and got to enjoy the near perfect weather. Since it is now past Labor Day, let’s just touch on what the schedule for the farm stand will be going into the Fall. As is usually the case, I commit to being open until at least Columbus Day weekend (10/9 – 10/11). If the weather stays decent and I still have Pumpkins to sell, then I would stay open until around Halloween (10/30 – 11/1). If there are still a lot of people around at that point, then I would consider staying open until the weekend before Thanksgiving (11/20 – 11/22). So as of now, there is still about a month of time that I will be open. Hope this clears up any confusion about the schedule going forward.

Next, I would like to just touch on an issue for which I have been contacted numerous times over the last couple of weeks. The farm has no dealings with, or ties to the Hunter Foundation. When I first opened the farm stand 5 years ago I did sell produce to the Hunter Foundation for their popup market for one season. Since then, and also a couple of years ago, I sold produce from the stand, the same as I would to any other customer, to the chef at the Deer Mountain Inn. That is the extent of my dealings with not only the Hunter Foundation, but also it associated entities. I trust from this point forward I will no longer need to re-answer this question.

Back to the farm itself, things are moving quickly into Fall. Aside from the leaves turning and the geese flying south, the deer have decided to take it upon themselves to mow down everything still growing in the field. Not only did they eat ALL of the Gladiolus, they continue to eat the Tomatoes and have now also taken to eating the Pumpkin and Zucchini leaves. If their behavior is any indicator, it’s going to be a bad Winter. I am still harvesting what I can, and filling in where I can with what I can find at the wholesale market. No peaches this week, though I as able to get a couple of flats of both Blueberries and Strawberries. Local Tomatoes are getting scarce, and it looks like quite a bit of other Local stuff is also ending. Good news, though. Local Apples are in good supply, with regular Macintosh joining the selection this week.

The layer Chickens are doing fine, and laying a good supply of larger sized eggs. I’m curious to see if the demand is still as high for them this week. I also processed more meat Chickens this week, so I will have them fresh over the weekend.

In the bad news department, the coyotes have decided to return. Just last night, as it was getting dark, they started howling a short ways inside the treeline behind the house. While I had been hearing them for the last couple of weeks, this is the closest they’ve been since I previously ran them off. I suspect I will soon be having encounters with them again, so if for some reason you come to the farm after sunset you can expect to find me carrying a weapon.

Besides all that, things continue apace. I will be making more preserves as I can, since I am again near selling out of a couple of types. I will also be processing meat Chickens for the next couple of weeks before the next gap between groups happens.

I guess that’s about it for this week. I sincerely appreciate and am very thankful for all the support of the farm. Have a great week.