Theda’s Farm Report – 10/6/19

Frost came this week and took the outside tomatoes and peppers. We had to harvest all the butternut squash. We welcomed Nat as a volunteer this week and he helped me pull all the Waldo butternut on Tuesday, maybe about 500 to 550 pounds. Cathy helped with the Waltham butternut on Saturday. Those squash were a bit bigger so probably 600 to 650 pounds. Now it all has to cure in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks to develop its sweet flavors. Last fall a call went out for winter squash to fill Thanksgiving baskets, we will look into the possibility of helping fill these baskets again this year.

A group of little people came on Thursday with their moms to help with harvesting and taste testing some carrots and radishes. They were very enthusiastic about harvesting and would have pulled everything if we had needed them too! Goat time and a woods walk were part of their time at the farm.

We also had three veterans come on Friday. They helped with harvesting and spreading compost on the soon to be garlic beds. We appreciated their help and hope to see them again soon, and they brought donuts!

Still sending out different 12 different varieties of vegetables to 15 different locations. With our greenhouse and tunnels, there will be tomatoes and peppers for a few more weeks. We will also be able to start harvesting and giving out more root vegetables. Our fall crop of spinach is beautiful and almost ready for picking. With all the intensive and continuous planting of cool weather crops, I think we will be still sending out food all month and hopefully into November. Everyone has been asking me when will we stop harvesting? My guess is when the snow falls.

Now is the push for clean-up of garden debris and topping off beds with compost to give the soil a protective layer. We have had numerous offers from new volunteers to help out, which will help a lot. Thanks to all who part of our team this week, it was cool and rainy but no one complained and just did what needed to be done.

Theda