With the number of leaves I see falling each day and increasing number of trees that are changing color, I’m pretty sure we’re past summer. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet last Saturday night and did not have a frost. That would have been quite bad. The longer range forecasts are also not currently showing low enough lows for a frost, but I think we all know that that could be changed at any moment.

AROUND THE FARM
Work is progressing on the next poly-tunnel greenhouse, with the frame now mostly built. A few more hours of work should finish that, and then it just needs to be skinned with plastic and have the equipment added.

Besides the greenhouses, Fall work is moving along. There is always quite a bit of maintenance and clean up this time of year, and it’s no different this year.

IN THE FIELD
Generally the crops that are in the ground are doing well. I’m still not seeing any Green Peppers, along with very few full-sized Eggplant. For some reason this year, they did not want to produce fruit, though the plants are large and healthy.

I know people are starting to think about the Fall crops. Once again, the Pumpkin situation is not happy. As much as I don’t want to, I am looking into bringing in Pumpkins again this year. Winter Squash seem to be fairing a bit better, with the exception of Spaghetti Squash, which were drowned by the rains in late July and early August (I’ll be working on contouring the land to keep that from happening again). The late season Cabbage and Carrots are growing, though not as quickly as I’d like. And last on the list are Potatoes, which aside from being unable to dig on a regular basis due to the wet weather, are fairing pretty well.

The Gladiolus are still in bloom, though they have been knocked about a bit by the weather. There should be solid availability this week, with the supply starting to fade after that.

Peaches will be available again this week, though the supply on the trees is dwindling rapidly. I’d think they’ll be completely done by next week. For those who are wondering, the Peaches have been fantastic this year, so get ’em while you can.

Remember, it is Fall so crop availability will be changing rapidly. Please be sure to check the What’s Available page from time to time to keep current.

FROM THE COOP
Knock on wood, things are going pretty well. The bald eagle decided to make several passes by the coop last week. The chickens thankfully know that they can retreat into their enclosed pen for safety, and did so as soon as they saw the eagle coming.

A flock of wild Turkey decided to pay the chickens a visit and see what was what on Monday. Neither group seemed to know what to make of the other, and eventually the chickens decided to start shouting for me to come and get rid of the bigger birds. By the way, it’s nice to see Turkey back around. The local flocks had taken quite beating at the hands of the Coyotes over the past few years. The flock that has been around the farm used to be 17 adult birds, but was reduced to 1 as of two years ago. The ones that paid a visit recent were 3 adult hens and 3 turklets (yes, I know they are called poults, but I prefer turklets).

OTHER GENERAL INFO

The latest batch of Strawberry-Rhubarb Preserves is now available. For those wondering, I have no plans to make more jam for at least the next 3 weeks, as I have too many other Fall projects to complete.

The schedule for this week is the same as the last:

9/13 – 9/16
Thurs – Sat: 10 – 6
Sun: 10 – 4

However, in order to get the work done that I need to, as we head quickly into Fall, I’ve decided to cut the hours back earlier than usual this year. The schedule for the following weeks will be:

9/17 and beyond
Fri & Sat: 10 – 6
Sun: 10 – 4

I apologize for the short notice on the schedule change, but I had been trying to figure out a way to stay open on Thursdays.

Keep an eye out for other changes and crop availability.

That’s it for now. Hope to see you all at the farm soon. Have a great week.