Farm News

All in a day’s work at the farm

Wanted to share some photo’s from the effort to cover the greenhouse on Saturday–hope it is weathering today’s winds ok. My wife Jackie and I enjoyed our day with the group and we got a sense of how much work is involved in what you do. Wanted to let you know we appreciate your efforts. Best-Dave R

Covering the greenhouse at Starbrite Farm
Covering the greenhouse at Starbrite Farm

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Farm update #21, week 19, October 20th delivery

We have only four more weeks of vegetable deliveries, including this
week’s, during our regular season. The vegetable share for this week
will be: Boston lettuce, peppers, white potatoes, red onions, choice
of arugula or tatsoi, butternut squash, baby white salad turnips, and
choice of an herb.  John should let us know soon what the extra winter
share should look like (how many weeks, what types of vegetables, and
what it will cost) so members can decide if they would like to sign
up.

This is the 12th and sadly, final fruit share delivery. The fruit
share for this week will be Empire apples and Bosc pears.

Hi Folks,

We have gone very quickly from our first frost to our first snowfall,
with about a half an inch of heavy wet snow blanketed the farm this
past Thursday. While there was no concern about damage to the
remaining crops from the snow by virtue of the temperature, I was a
bit worried about damage to some plants, especially the lettuces from
the weight of the snow and its potential to break off leaves and
branches. Fortunately this did not occur and we were spared a second
round of snow that was predicted for Sunday.

With warmer temperatures expected this week I expect that many of the
crops that have been growing very slowly will have a chance to size up
this week. The broccoli is still heading up rather sporadically, so
although I had promised broccoli in the shares this week, it seems we
will have to wait one more week. We have harvested what was left of
the peppers in the field before they could be damaged by the frosts.
We will be distributing them over the next 2 weeks provided they are
holding up. We also have hot peppers which we will be sending as an
extra.

The share for this week will be: Boston lettuce, peppers, white
potatoes, red onions, choice of arugula or tatsoi, butternut squash,
baby white salad turnips, and choice of an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John

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Farm update #20, week 18, October 13th delivery

Hello Everyone,

We had our first frost of the season this past Saturday night. I must confess that it caught me by surprise. I had last checked the weather websites on Friday and they were calling for a low of 37 degrees, giving a safe margin of error. I was expecting a frost this Tuesday and was planning to cover a few crops and do some final harvesting on others. It was a bit of a shock to see the fields blanketed in white when I awoke at dawn on Sunday to head off to market. It was a very light frost but it burned the beans and the peppers slightly and finished off the winter squash vines that were still growing. It was repeated again on Sunday night and I expect we will have frost again on Tuesday, and apparently there is a possibility of snow flurries this Thursday evening.

I had been hoping for a mild fall with no frost until late October, but we just don’t seem to be catching any breaks this season. It really isn’t a major catastrophe except for the fact that I’ve been promising beans for the past 3 weeks and now there won’t be much of a crop. We are attempting to harvest the few beans on each plant that have achieved reasonable size, but it is a painfully slow process. Hopefully we can pick enough for a small share for everyone and I can guarantee they will be the thinnest beans you have ever seen.

The sweet potatoes on the other hand are mostly quite large, with one monster weighing in at 5.25 lbs. As previously mentioned broccoli is beginning to head up, but unfortunately not in sufficient quantities for distribution this week.

The share for this week will be: Sweet potatoes, Choice of green leaf lettuce or endive, yellow onions, mustard greens, carnival squash (similar to acorn), red potatoes, choice of string beans or edamame, peppers, radishes, and choice of an herb.The fruit share will be fuji apples and bartlett pears.

Enjoy!

Farmer John

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Farm Update #19, week 17, October 6 delivery

Hello Everyone,

It was an unusually cool September, although the weather is so strange anymore it’s hard to say what is normal. I know I have been promising string beans for the past couple of weeks, but they have been growing slower than I’ve ever experienced in the past. The week ahead is predicted to be relatively warm with abundant sunshine so we should be able to begin harvesting beans next week. We do have edamame soybeans for this week.

I have a large planting of broccoli that I noticed was beginning to head last week and I had hoped it would be ready for this week. But after a walk though last evening it appears we will have to wait another week on this crop as well. All of the brassicas are growing beautifully and I expect to have lots of broccoli, as well as cauliflower and cabbage in the final weeks of the regular season. The sweet potato crop looks good and we should begin to dig these tasty treats for delivery in the next 2 weeks.

The share for this week will be: Leeks, white potatoes, peppers, spaghetti squash, arugula, kale, multi-colored carrots, choice of lettuce, edamame soybeans, choice of shallots or cippolini onions, and choice of an herb.

The tranmission went on my truck last week. Because I was uncertain how long I would be without it, I decided to take a break on the fruit shares. I am also waiting for different apples and Bosc pears to become available. There were no Kiwi berries avilable this season. The fruit share for this week will be a half share of Concord grapes.

Enjoy!

Farmer John