*UPDATE* Pick up @ Perk Coffee will look different today: I, Janet, will be there in person from 2:30-4:30 and will assemble shares for members who pick up during that window of time. After 4:30 any remaining shares will be bagged and labeled for those that pick up later. (No green boxes today...it will make sense when you get there. I look forward to seeing some of you in person!)
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Labor Day AND a burst of fall-like weather? We are loving this blast of cool, crisp air. We often joke "It's not the heat - it's the humidity!" Humidity really is oppressive, but a break from the heat is also glorious. Fall will arrive again! (It's sometimes hard to believe that during months of summer on the farm.)
Right on schedule (we treasure the chance to say that in farming!), fall Kale harvest began last week, on September 1st. We also have the first few Radishes and Sweet Salad Turnips ready to harvest. Salad Mix is back! These and more Fall crops will be increasing in quantity and diversity over the coming weeks (even though it's still technically Summer). Tomatoes are still producing but they are past their prime. Peppers and Eggplants and Okra are still growing and we'll keep harvesting for the next few weeks.
Other crop (and pest) updates: If you've been reading along in recent weeks you'll remember that we have had deer getting into our farm (through our deer fence somehow!) and eating hundreds of cucumber plants. We may have found where they have been getting into our fence - a low spot under the fence that was hidden by vegetation seems like a possibility. We have filled that spot in and are monitoring the situation. However, the predation in the Lettuce and Brassicas (broccoli, kale, cabbage, etc.) has been getting worse - approximately 700 plants have been eaten in the past two weeks by what we thought were rabbits. But in a moment of farm drama last week we got confirmation of a worse pest: Groundhogs have found our farm. We now think it may be groundhog(s) that has been devouring the Lettuces and Brassicas. We've been farming here for 10 years now and hoping the whole time to stay off the radar of groundhogs, and apparently our time for that is over. Groundhogs are notoriously pesky for vegetable farms - they cause a lot of damage very fast, and they are quite elusive, ie: hard to trap or get rid of. Wish us luck! If anyone has any helpful experience with this, please let us know. We promise to work our very hardest to protect the vegetables you trust us to grow!
The farm kittens are now 5 weeks old and are healthy, happy, and right on track for the developmental milestones that we've read about. They have the signature kitten-blue-eyes right now and will change soon. We're now researching how to train them to hunt or at least scare off groundhogs once they are big, strong farm cats. Please let us keep dreaming this. We know they look anything but ferocious hunters right now. :)
Blessings on your meals, and keep masking up and washing your hands ~
