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farm update #23, week 21, November 3 delivery

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Hello Everyone,

We are forecast to have mostly clear skies this week, though somewhat brisk temperatures. I am hoping that abundant sunshine, which has been lacking for most of the season, will speed the growth of many crops which have been developing rather slowly.

I am also hopeful that with a few rain-free days the ground will dry enough for us to finish digging the potato crop. There remains nearly half an acre of spuds to be harvested and constantly wet soil has made there recovery rather difficult. Drier conditions will also enable me to prepare beds for the garlic, which needs to go in ASAP.

The broccoli crop if finally heading up more extensively and there will be broccoli for those groups that have not received it during the previous 2 weeks. There will be cauliflower for those not getting broccoli.

The share for this week will be: Choice of escarole or green leaf lettuce, buttercup squash, red skinned potatoes, garlic, red turnips, multi-colored carrots, choice of spinach or Swiss chard, broccoli or cauliflower, choice of a mustard green (arugula, tatsoi, or green wave) and choice of an herb.

Enjoy!

Farmer John

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farm update #22, week 20, October 27th delivery

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(sorry for the late posting folks!)

Hi Folks,

We will be sending out the last few peppers as an extra this week, and
this marks the end of the summer crops. The cool weather crops are
thriving and look beautiful, although not always growing and maturing
as fast as I would like.

A case in point is the broccoli, which is big and beautiful, but still
heading up slowly and sporadically. We have planted nearly 7,000
broccoli plants; more than half of which were planted in early August
and so should be maturing.  We had enough last week to send broccoli
to a few groups and will have enough for several more groups this
week. Anyone who has not received broccoli after this week will
definitely get it next week and I expect to have enough for everyone
in the final regular season share.

Spinach is another crop which endures cold weather but yet grows very
slowly. I expect that the spinach will be large enough to bunch for
next week’s share. Also on the horizon is escarole and broccoli raab.
We have finished harvesting the sweet potatoes, and since I don’t have
great storage conditions for them, we will be shipping them out
immediately.

In the field, besides harvesting we are busy with clean up- removing
posts, trellising, plastic mulch and drip tape and preparing ground
for cover crops. We are also preparing beds for planting next season’s
garlic and shallot crop. And I am, as always working on fixing broken
equipment. This week’s project is the disc harrow which I need for
planting the cover crops.

The share for this week will be: sweet potatoes, yellow onions,
parsnips, acorn squash, radishes, choice of a mustard green- arugula
or tatsoi, red leaf lettuce, choice of endive or dandelion greens, and
choice of an herb.

Enjoy,
Farmer John

Farm News

All in a day’s work at the farm

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Farm update #18, week 16, September 29th delivery

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Hi Folks,

We’ve been taking advantage of the dry conditions during this past week to dig as many of the potatoes as possible. The potato digging machine that I own does not work well when the ground is wet and up until now we have been digging most of the potatoes by hand. This is not only a slow and laborious process but leaves some potatoes behind and many that are damaged by being speared by the pitchfork.

On Sunday I attended the Garlic Festival in Saugerties NY and purchased nearly 500 lbs. of seed garlic and 80 lbs of shallots to plant this fall for next years crop. Along with perhaps 100 lbs of our own crop that I have saved for planting this should be nearly twice the amount planted last year, and should provide ample quantities for next season’s shares.

We have ample quantities of lettuce planted to finish out the season and it is growing nicely. At present however it is all too small to cut. We should begin to have lettuce for the shares in another week or two. The string bean crop is coming along a bit slower than I had anticipated and won’t be ready until next week. The edamame soybeans are also filling out slowly and will need another week to size up. The Swiss chard is beginning to grow well again but is also still to small to cut. I have decided to buy some chard this week from another local organic farm.

I will be sending various extras in the deliveries this week to try to compensate for a slightly light share this week. I hope that everyone can find something that they enjoy amongst the choices.

The share for this week will be: Red skinned potatoes, Swiss chard, beets, red onions, peppers, ground cherries, delicata squash, and choice of an herb. The fruit share will be Spartan apples and Seckle pears

Enjoy!

Farmer John

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Farm Update #17, week 15, September 22nd delivery

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Hi Folks,

We continue to enjoy dry, but somewhat cool conditions here at the farm. This past Saturday night we came perilously close to having our first frost of the fall. But for now we have been spared and the temperatures are predicted to be more moderate for the next 10 days. The cool temps do cause plant growth to slow considerably especially for the warm season crops. The next planting of beans which I expected to be ready will have to wait until next week. The eggplant too has slowed down its production, although it is still flowering and has a considerable amount of small fruit. The cool weather crops, of course are love these conditions and are growing beautifully.

We finished transplanting the last few broccoli and collard plants this past Saturday night. This week I will be seeding the last beds of mustard greens, radishes and turnips for the season. The only major planting left for this year will be the garlic and shallots for next years crop, which will go in at the end of October. Next weekend I will be going up to Saugerties NY for the annual Garlic Festival. I will be shopping for about 500 lbs of seed stock to ensure that their will be an ample supply for next years deliveries.

The share for this week will be: Red leaf lettuce, yellow onions, garlic, kale, white potatoes, carrots, peppers, ground cherries, sweet corn (conventional) and choice of an herb.

The fruit share for this week will be nectarines and Devoe pears. These pears are unique to the NY state orchard where the fruit comes from and are reccomended as being delicous paired with cheddar cheese. They are a bit more expensive than other varieties, so their will be a smaller quantity.

Enjoy!

Farmer John

Farm News \ Farm News \ weekly update

Farm Update #16, week 14, september 15th delivery

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Hello Everyone,

We received a good steady rain last Friday and Saturday that was, for
a change, needed and appreciated. The fall brassicas crops are growing
nicely and the many rows of seed I sowed during the dry spell have
germinated well. In several weeks we will begin to have radishes and
the white salad turnips as well as arugula and other greens.

The ground cherries continue to fall abundantly and they will be in
the share again this week. The eggplant production has begun to slow
down and while the plants continue to flower they have dropped much of
their leaf. This is a consequence of the cooler weather we have had as
well as fungal diseases that have began to take their toll.  We will
take a week off from delivering eggplant and meanwhile I will spray
them with Neem oil, a natural fungicide, to try to sustain their
production for a few more weeks.

As previously mentioned the Rattlesnake bean production has dwindled
but the final planting of bush beans have begun to flower and should
be ready to harvest by next week. We also have edamame soybeans on the
way; probably in 2 weeks. We finally have an abundance of colored
peppers, so most of the peppers in this weeks share should be red,
orange, or my favorite, chocolate.

We are in the process of putting up a temporary fence around the
winter squash planting, as the deer have discovered them and are
beginning to destroy what is already a somewhat meager crop. Wet
conditions caused much of the young fruit to rot immediately after the
blossom dropped. There probably won’t be any pumpkins this year and
the other winter squash varieties will likely be a bit small.

The share for this week will be: Romaine lettuce, red-skinned
potatoes, red onions, beans, celery, summer squash, beets, ground
cherries, peppers, and choice of an herb.

The fruit share will be Gala apples and Bartlett pears. A few of the pears will have some slight hail damage from early in the season.
Enjoy!
Farmer John