The end is near...

Could he be any cuter?

The peak of our tomato harvest.

Part of the last Wednesday pickup.

More items...

A last burst of summer color.

We had our last Wednesday CSA pickup today and this was my message to our subscribers...

Well, the end of the season has arrived and it is definitely bittersweet. While I am getting very anxious to wrap up things in the garden and get the nursery ready, I sure am going to miss picking fresh produce for supper. That is why, even though it is the end of the season, we have been thinking of next year for some time now.

We have some exciting new ideas already. First, we are planning on expanding—especially our squash and gourds plot. Our dream this year was to have a sprawling display of various types of squash and gourds. Our hungry mouse definitely cut down on the variety and we realized we need a bit more space than we allotted this year for these sprawling vines. We have also applied for a hoop house grant and are getting a refrigerated storage trailer this coming week. Finally, we are going over our mistakes made this year and figuring out ways to make sure we do not make the same mistakes next year—though we always expect different mistakes.

We would like to take this time to thank our CSA members for being so loyal, honest, and patient during our first year. We are happy to announce that we will not only be continuing our CSA next year, but we will also be offering more shares. We are however, going to make some changes. We will still be offering full shares for $500. We will still be offering half shares, but it will be in the form of a full share on a bi-weekly basis for $250. I promise to offer detailed storage information so that your produce will last you through the two weeks if possible. We will also only have one pick up day, on the farm. We feel this will give all of our CSA members a closer connection to the farm, and a chance to enjoy the progress o the growing season. It is quite amazing to watch the garden go from a plowed piece of ground into a living, growing, and ever changing productive farm space. We also have plans for a flower cutting garden that will be reserved for subscribers to cut your own flowers for a small fee. The format will be a self-serve station with an element of choice in some of the weekly items, as well as an opportunity for exchange. For example, an early spring pickup may go something like this. You will arrive at the farm and there will be a table of items with a list of what you may take. The list might say:

Take 1 bag of nettles.

Take a 1 lb bag of lettuce mix.

Take 1 bunch of radishes.

Take 12 garlic scapes.

Take either a bag of snow peas or bag of shell peas.

Take either a bag of collard greens or a bag of mustard greens.

Take either a bag of spinach or a bag of arugula.

There will be a box at the end of the table where you may place items that you do not care for in exchange for another item.

We will also be offering homemade jams, jellies, eggs, and poultry for sale. We may partner with other local producers to offer honey and baked goods.

I know these modifications change things for some of you. If you do decide you would like a share next year, we would love to have you back and just ask that you let us know by January 1 if you will be returning. I will be giving out a more detailed brochure and registration form in the near future. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or recommendations to help us with the next year we would love to hear any and all of them. Again, thank you for making this season so rewarding, We could not have done it without your support!

Fall is Here!

As always, the farm has been a busy place. We are picking often and trying to preserve the harvest as much as possible. That means pickling, canning, freezing, and making baby food. There is an old wives tale that claims if you can when you are pregnant the contents will spoil. While we usually disregard such claims as folklore, the year I canned while pregnant, the contents did indeed spoil. That year, Mom and I even canned together, and she has never had any spoilage in over 40 years. Lucky for me, this is one myth we are not trying to bust this year. So mom is busy preserving the harvest. I would love to say I am picking up the slack by picking more often in the garden, but because I tip over 10% of the time while trying to pick tomatoes, and closely resemble a ripening tomatillo bursting out of its husk, my duties are mainly inside the house. However, the cooler weather does motivate me to be in the garden a bit more. Today, it was a perfect fall day, and I spent a little time cleaning up the tomato beds. We have quite a few canners and a lot of tomatoes for the chickens. Their yolks are going to be very yellow for the next couple of weeks.

It seems like we leapt in to fall overnight. The leaves on Delong Rd are falling off the tress and the weather has taken a dramatic turn. I know we are in for some more steamy days but I can not help but think fall is on its way. The locusts have been gracing us with their music for about two weeks, and the old timers say three weeks after the locusts start crowing, fall will be here.

Our pumpkin patch is a sea of orange and cream. The two varieties I planted the most of were Long Island Cheese and Howden. Long Island Cheese resembles a cream cheese wheel and is highly suitable for pies and soups and Howden is our carving pumpkin. I am hoping to be able to have a few Howden's store long enough to use for Halloween. I have also never had the pleasure of eating a pumpkin pie made with a home grown pumpkin--until now. I am thinking that one pumpkin will be enough to make a pie, soup, and some baby food.

We are down to 8 turkeys, one of which has gotten some illness and had to be treated with antibiotics, (which we clearly marked). I think we will still have a few antibiotic free turkeys left for Thanksgiving dinner, if anyone is interested. We have not yet figured out how to catch the bobcat eating chicken without also catching our resident farm cats as well. Relatively speaking, this was not a great poultry year for us, but once again, we are writing down our mistakes in order to not repeat them again, which is perhaps our greatest accomplishment.