Who can resist a smile like this one, huh? Angelo and his sister Winnie, Mom Robin, and Aunt Ginny were out to visit the farm a couple of weeks ago, and we're just now seeing some of the great pics from their trip. These kids are a couple of carrot monsters, and I really had a hard time finding a few good ones as the carrots were only starting to size up (they didn't seem to mind!). It was a great visit - and we simply couldn't resist a farm happening with this cute new model for our shirts!
July and August are the busiest months of the year for us (well, probably September too), so we're still working like mad. But we are starting to recognize that we'll be slowing down in some aspects as we reach that critical point in the season where there's no longer time to grow certain crops. For instance, this week we seeded our fall carrots - the final big seeding of carrots that will be our bulk storage carrots. We've also seeded our last beet and scallions seedlings as well. So while big tasks are looming (i.e. potato, garlic, onion harvests) at least we're also finishing with certain other ones.
As expected, we did start harvesting our cherry tomatoes and cucumbers this week, so we'll have a VERY few of those things at the market, and we'll be getting them into your boxes as soon as we can! The newly pruned tomatoes are growing fast and we're already needing to 'lower and lean' some of the taller cherry tomatoes in one tunnel as they're pushing into the plastic of the roof! Lower and lean is a technique we use to keep the production zone of cherry tomatoes at a reasonable height. At our farm and in our season, our cherry tomatoes can grow to 10+ feet, and thought they're good they're not worth risking harvesting on stilts (trust us, Bonnie tried it, not safe at all!). We prune up the lower leaves, let out some of the tomato's trellis string, and sag the plant onto the ground coiling the stem. In that way, the main part of the plant that is growing and producing is lowered.
Looking forward to seeing you all at pick up this week. It's looking to be a hot day tomorrow at the market, so be prepared to grab something cool and refreshing while you're there!
Cheers,
Bonnie & Rudy
