Hi all,

Just keep repeating to yourself “we need the rain to help our
vegatables grow, we need the rain to help our vegatables grow.”  Is it
helping?  No me neither.

There will be local honey available for purchase at Sabina’s site (189
Park Street) for $8 per jar.  Limited quantities, but will possibly
get more next week.

We’ve got Cortland and Macoun apples in this week’s fruit share.  The
weather forecast looks good for this Sunday’s apple festival at
Treelicious Orchards (Sunday, October 10th from 11 to 5 pm) and I’ve
posted on the Google group website their flier with details and
directions to the farm for those who are hoping to attend.  I know I
am.

The following weekend, Sunday, October 17th Starbrite Farm will be
hosting it’s fall farm visit from from 11 to 4pm .  It’s a potluck
picnic and farm tour.  After seeing David Schiller’s pictures I want
my children and me to see firsthand where all our wonderful vegetables
come from and to meet Farmer John himself.  This week’s vegetable
share will include:
Red Boston lettuce, kale(broccoli if you got kale last week) choice of
arugula, raab, or other mustard green, cippolini onions, radishes,
string beans, summer squash, peppers, choice of spinach or Swiss
chard, butternut squash and choice of an herb.

Finally, Havenwood Farm delivers today their pastured eggs, poultry,
jams, soaps, and cheeses for all those who ordered them.  In this kind
of weather, a roast chicken in the oven comes real close to heaven.
The soup I make the next day with any of the chicken leftovers and
Farmer John’s fresh vegetables and herbs confirms it.  Throw in an
apple pie from Ginger’s orchards…

Best,
Enid

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Starbrite Farm update # 19

Hello Everyone,

The dry spell has officially ended!  I knew all along, as I complained
about the lack of rain, that at some point it would begin to fall
again and likely in excessive amounts. Be careful what you wish for,
as they say!  I guess it’s too much to ask, to have a balance between
the sunshine and the rain and we have to accept the feast or famine
pattern that has become the norm.

Fortunately the fields here in Andover are very well drained and have
been able to absorb the 7” of water that fell last week with no
flooding. Perhaps the greatest challenge during long rainy stretches
is getting the harvesting done. We have been in the process of
bringing in the winter squash crop, a project that now becomes more
urgent as it will begin to rot in these wet conditions. We normally
clean it and pack it into boxes in the field. Under these
circumstances we have been quickly gathering as much as we can during
the interludes between downpours and bringing into the barn to clean
and pack. This double handling is not very efficient but is the only
way we can forge ahead.

Unfortunately this strategy doesn’t work with the greens and the root
vegetables which must be pulled and bunched in the field, so my
workers must endure working in the light rain and run for cover during
the downpours. We are looking at another rainy period ahead and with
cooler temperatures, so it will be another challenging week.

The downside for you, the consumers, of all this wet weather is dirty
vegetables. The rain splashes soil all over the leaves of the plant
and there is only so much that can be removed by washing after it is
bunched. I guess we all have our crosses to bear!

While fall is typically associated with apples and pumpkins it is also
the season of the Mustard family. This large and diverse group of
plants thrive in the cool, wet conditions common to autumn.  The
family includes the brassicas such as cabbage, cauliflower, kale and
of course broccoli, as well as root crops like radishes and turnips.
The list of varieties of  mustards with tender leaves is extensive and
includes Italian favorites, such as arugula (not a lettuce as some
seem to think) and broccoli raab as well as a plethora of Asian greens
like tatsoi, bok choi, hon tsai tai  and several types which make
small flower buds, similar to broccoli raab. These vegetables will
make up a sizeable portion of the shares during the final third of the
season.

We began cutting broccoli raab last week and I forgot to mention it in
the update. It is one of the trickier crops to grow, as it should be
cut with a flower bud, which turns rapidly into a yellow flower, even
after being cut and in storage. We will be offering it as a choice
along with other tender mustards over the next couple of weeks, so
watch out for it if it is a favorite.

After much deliberation we have decided to host a fall farm visit on
Sunday, October 17 from 11 AM til 4 PM.  I know there are many folks
who would like to visit the farm, but were unable to make it in the
spring. This will be similar to the spring event with a pot luck lunch
and a farm tour. This will be a rain or shine event, unless torrential
rain is predicted, in which case we will postpone until October 24. We
will have pumpkins available for kids to paint or for carving. I
apologize for the short notice and hope that many of you will be able
to attend.  I will send out a flyer with more details shortly.

The share for this week will be: Red Boston lettuce, kale(broccoli if
you got kale last week) choice of arugula, raab, or other mustard
green, cippolini onions, radishes, string beans, summer squash,
peppers, choice of spinach or Swiss chard, butternut squash and choice
of an herb.    Enjoy!   Farmer John

Howdy Folks,

Summer has officially ended and with it go the warm weather crops.
The tomatoes are definitely over for the season; the peppers should
continue producing for a few more weeks. The eggplants are full of
small fruit but they are sizing up very slowly. We will give them a
rest this week in hopes of getting one more large harvest of medium
size fruit for next week. The late summer squash planting peaked last
week and production will begin to decline rapidly. Many of the plants
already have powdery mildew issues and with wet weather coming will
probably fade quickly. We still have a good supply for the shares this
week.

We have a good winter squash crop which we are in the process of
harvesting. Next week we will begin the rotation of the various
varieties of winter squash; from acorn to spaghetti, which will take
us to the end of the season.  The first large broccoli planting is
heading up nicely and we should have sufficient quantities for
everyone this week. If we run short we will substitute kale and ship
broccoli to those groups next week.    We have put in nearly 10,000
plants so expect broccoli frequently during the remainder of the
season.  There are also thousands of cauliflower and cabbage plant
which will begin to mature during October. I expect to have lettuce in
the shares again by next week. We have some spinach which is large
enough to pick, principally a red stemmed variety. We need to harvest
this type first because it is more prone to bolting and also because
the deer have decided that they like it!

I just returned from the Garlic Festival in Saugerties NY where I went
in search of seed garlic for next year’s crop.  Garlic is grown from
individual cloves which we plant in late October.  It will begin to
grow some roots and then emerge in early spring as soon as the ground
thaws. Seed garlic is rather scarce at present and prices are high,
due to both increased demand for the richly flavored stiffneck
varieties as well as a recently discovered nematode problem in NY
State. Nematodes are microscopic worm -like creatures that attack the
roots of the plant and are spread on infected bulbs. One bulb can
contain as many as 50,000 organisms! This is a serious problem which
also affects onion crops, so those who have the problem have had their
crops quarantined. For many others testing is necessary to insure the
absence of these critters and prevent the spread of the plague.

Since I never seem to have as much garlic as I would like (or as you
would like!) to put in the shares, I was anxious to obtain a
substantial quantity for next season. I came back with my Subaru
loaded down with nearly 600 lbs. of several varieties that I am fairly
confidant do not harbor the pest. I spent $4000 on this haul.

Farming is like that, we are always reinvesting the profits in the
next crop or the next season. I look on it as money in the bank, only
a bank without FDIC insurance and that is subject to frequent
robberies!

The share for this week will be: Red skinned potatoes, yellow onions,
spinach or chard, summer squash, broccoli, string beans, peppers,
carrots, choice of arugula, tatsoi or other mustard greens, and choice
of an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John

Farm Update #17

Hello Everyone,

We received a bit more rain this past week from the storm that passed
through on Thursday. It wasn’t much, perhaps a quarter of an inch,
nothing like the downpour experienced in the eastern part of the state
and NYC. Fortunately we were also spared the high winds and hail that
accompanied the storm in these areas. We are still a little on the dry
side, but the fall crops look great and the most recent planting are
germinating nicely. The final summer squash patch is producing
abundantly, so expect lots of zucchini and summer squash for the next
few weeks. The beans too, are beginning to bear prolifically, although
they are a bit slower to size up now, as the days get shorter and the
nights cooler.  There weren’t enough to go around last week, so some
groups did not receive them.  Those who did got only a half pound. We
will try to compensate for the inequity this week, by sending larger
quantities to those who were skipped last week. Eggplant production
remains slow, so we are still in an every other week rotation. The
tomato harvest has slowed to a trickle; we will try to include a few
in the shares, but I can’t make any promises.

We have the wonderful Hakurei salad turnips available once again.
Remember that the tops are a good cooking green or can even be added
raw to salads.  The turnips can be cooked or eaten raw. Both the
greens and the roots are of better quality in the fall than those of
the early summer harvest.  The Swiss chard is absolutely gorgeous
right now and we will have spinach in the next week or two. The first
large planting of fall broccoli should be starting to head up soon, so
it should be in the shares within 2 weeks. The first of the fall
lettuce crop is also still about 2 weeks away from being ready.  Since
it’s been so many weeks without lettuce, I decided to buy some from
another local organic grower. Besides the corn, this will likely be
the only veggie not grown on the farm to be included in the share.

The share for this week will be: Boston lettuce, salad turnips, beans,
peppers, Swiss chard, fingerling potatoes, garlic, summer squash,
tomatoes?, eggplant?, and choice of an
herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John

Hi all,

Apparently last week’s fruit was gala and regular macintosh apples.
Did anyone notice?  My pallet couldn’t distinguish, but Ginger, our
true fruit connoisseur, explained that Macintoshes are a more tart
than Britemac’s and therefore better for baking.   All I know is that
they all taste good.  Anyway, this weeks fruit share will be gala and
britemac’s.  I’ve got one lone Macintosh leftover from last week so
I’m planning to set up a blind taste test this afternoon.  Macoons
will be ready (weather permitting) next week.

The cooler air and rain is making John down right cheerful.  Imagine
that.  A happy farmer.  Almost a oxymoron. The vegetable share this
week will be: Summer squash, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant,
shallots, white potatoes, radishes, celery, choice of arugula, tatsoi,
or other mustard greens and choice of an herb.    See his farm update
below.

Also, don’t forget to mark you calendars to visit our farms on Sunday,
October 10th (Columbus Day weekend).  Both Treelicious and Starbrite
Farms are hosting farm visits that day.  John says the two farms are
about 1/2 hour away from each other, so one could easily stop by both
and make quite a day of it.  More details to follow soon.

No Havenwood Farm delivery today.  I’ve got to remember to send in my
order form for September and October.   I remind you all and then
forget myself.  Ah well.

Best,
Enid

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Starbrite Farm Update #16

Hello Folks,

We had some light rain and drizzle here at the farm this past Sunday.
I don’t think it amounted to even a ¼ inch of precipitation. It will
help to germinate some of the recently planted seeds and will also
help the lettuce and some other newly transplanted broccoli and
kohlrabi starts. It really only wet the top 3 or 4 inches of soil and
was a lot less than what I had hoped for and what we really need.  I
guess we’ll be moving the sprinklers around a lot in the days to come
since currently there is no rain in the forecast for the next 10 days.

We will be sending celery in the shares this week.  This has once
again been a disappointing crop for us- growing slowly and never
really achieving good size.  I have dreams  of someday soon gaining
access to some of the black dirt or muck soils that we have nearby; I
am told that celery grows beautifully in this ground as do many crops.
It is rather unfortunate that these fields are used largely for sod
production and an inch or two of this rich soil is removed with each
harvest. The celery will be stronger in flavor that what you are used
to from the grocers, with only a few of the inner stalks being mild
and tender enough to be used in salads. The outer stalks are best used
cooked in soups or stir fries.

The tomato production has slowed way down, with mostly plum tomatoes
and heirlooms left with green fruit and a healthy plant. Despite the
dry weather and my efforts to control the blight, disease has once
again taken a heavy toll on the crop. We should still have some
tomatoes in the shares for the next few weeks, just not the large
quantities you have seen over the past 3 weeks.  The third planting of
summer squash is coming on strong despite grazing damage from the
deer.  I expect sufficient quantities for all groups this week and
larger amounts per share next week.  We are back in the bean business
as well, with green and wax beans in small quantities this week and
larger amounts over the next several weeks. We also have another
planting of edamame and some casoulet beans that will be ready in
about 3 weeks. The lettuce is beginning to grow nicely in the cooler
temperatures and we should see it in the shares again soon.

The share for this week will be: Summer squash, beans, tomatoes,
peppers, eggplant, shallots, white potatoes, radishes, celery, choice
of arugula, tatsoi, or other mustard greens and choice of an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John

Hi all,

Havenwood Farm delivers today.  Yum.

In a nod to Rosh Hashana and first day back at school for some of you,
today’s fruit share will be apples: Gala and Britemac.

The vegetable share for this week will be:  Tomatoes, peppers,
eggplant (maybe), red potatoes, yellow onions, carrots, string beans
or edamames, ground cherries or cherry tomatoes, arugula or mustard
greens and choice of an herb.

Best,
Enid

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Starbrite Farm Update #15

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a pleasant Labor Day weekend.  There’s no 3 day weekend
here at the farm of course, we’ve got to harvest your food!  For my
workers and I, today was just another day of labor. Besides
harvesting, the major project for Monday was to finish erecting a
temporary fence around 4 acres of field to keep the deer from
destroying the pumpkin and winter squash crop.  The vines are
beginning to die back and there are only a few more weeks before the
harvest, but the deer have already done a lot of damage.  We need to
protect it until it matures and we have a chance to bring it in out of
the field.

We are back in the greens business again, this week we have arugula or
other mustard greens, next week there will be tatsoi. A second
planting of chard is coming on and the first planting has been
renovated and is beginning to grow nicely again.  We should have
spinach and kale in 2 or 3 weeks.     Unfortunately lettuce is still a
few weeks away, but once it begins again we should have a steady
supply until the end of the season.   I haven’t griped about the
weather yet; a mandatory part of these updates, but I’ll keep it
brief.  It’s been beautiful of course, but very dry; we really need
some rain and there’s none in
sight.

Beans are a bit scarce at the moment, as we wait for the next planting
to start producing, which should be next week as they are flowering
heavily. The Rattlesnake beans have been almost completely defoliated
by the bean beetle, despite the release of thousand of parasitic
wasps.  The guys from the state insect lab have been making frequent
visits to scout and release the wasps to try to at least reduce the
population that will overwinter.  In the mean time I have to tolerate
the devastation.   Zucchini and summer squash will be making their
reprise soon, possibly by next week.  I’m sorry to say that the melons
are done, but at least we had a fairly good run.   Eggplant production
is still slow, so it’s a maybe for this week, if you got it last week,
a probably not.

The share for this week will be:  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant (maybe),
red potatoes, yellow onions, carrots, string beans or edamames, ground
cherries or cherry tomatoes, arugula or mustard greens and choice of
an herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John

Starbrite Farm Update #10

Hello Folks,

We’ve arrived at August, having survived a scorching July, and happy
for the more moderate temperatures we’ve enjoyed over the past week. A
few passing storms have brought us just enough rain to keep the crops
happy and to help germinate the many seeds I’ve sown during the week.

I’ve planted more beans, cucumbers and summer squash for a late
September harvest as well as beets and carrots for October. We have
also begun transplanting the brassica crops for the fall as well.
We’ve been busy in the greenhouse seeding escarole, radicchio and
lettuces to be transplanted out into the field in 2 or 3 weeks. We
have to work in the greenhouse on overcast days or during the early
morning hours before the heat becomes unbearable. We also have to
trick the lettuces into germinating by placing them on a cool concrete
floor in the barn for several days until they begin to emerge. Lettuce
seed has a trait known as heat dormancy by which, if exposed to high
temperatures and moisture it will refuse to germinate under any
circumstances for about a month. We have to watch them carefully
because they will quickly get too leggy if not moved into the light as
soon as they begin to emerge.

It’s not easy being (a) green, especially during a hot summer in New
Jersey.  The spinach and mustard greens are long gone and the kale is
laced with holes courtesy of 2 pests; the flea beetle and the
tarnished plant bug. I have sprayed it twice to try to control them
but they continue to migrate in from the broccoli and cabbage plants
which are finished and waiting to be plowed under. The Swiss chard has
been over-cut and needs time and cooler weather to recover. About the
only greens we have in abundance are the dandelion kind; not a big
favorite (the insects don’t seem to like it much either). We will
continue to send it as an extra for those who like it bitter. I am
planting spinach, arugula, and other mustard greens this week, so we
should start to have greens in the share again in September.

In the meantime, we will have to make do, with the summer crops-
peppers will begin this week, and eggplant the next. Tomatoes will
become more abundant with each passing week. The melon crop is looking
good and some fruit should begin to ripen in the next 2 weeks.

We are still experiencing a dearth of beans, but the pole beans have
begun to flower and the beleaguered bush beans are trying to produce a
second crop, so we should  be back in the bean business soon.

The share for this week will be: Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, summer
squash, white onions, carrots, red gold potatoes, and choice of an
herb.

Enjoy!
Farmer John