Patchy frost is in the forecast for tonight so we’re preparing the fields for our first real cold of the season. The tomatoes have been suffering from the chilly weather all week and early blight for the last month. They are happy to call an end to the season. The peppers are just picking up steam though, we harvested the first few colored peppers last week, and a few more this week. I’ll cover them tonight and hope to protect them from the cold so we can enjoy a few more with the warmer temps during the coming week. We will likely be looking for potato diggers next week, and bean pickers soon. Keep warm tonight with cream of tomato soup and whole wheat biscuits. The beginning of fall veggies and beef pot roast next week.

Pullets Wandering

Keep an eye out for the young pullets in the barnyard tonight. Our older birds are still out in the pasture leaving the new girls the indoor winter coop. With no snow on the ground or cold wind to keep them in the barn, they’ve quickly learned how to go over and where to sneak under the fences, allowing them to pretty much free range around the barnyard. They are rewarded with lots of tasty green vegetation and all of the insects they can manage. The horses haven’t quite gotten accustomed. They spend most of the day eyeing the activity around them, stamping the ground if anyone gets too close.

Bring Back Jars

Please remember to bring glass jars back to the farm. They should be exchanged each week when you take new ones. Breakage happens, but please don’t keep jars to store your other household goods in. They are a costly part of our very tight budget, and we rely on returns to make ends meet.

In the Farm Shares

In the veggie share: Cauliflower, green beans, watermelon and cantaloupe, tomatoes, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, lettuce mix, mesclun mix, fingerling potatoes, garlic, sweet summer onions, red and white cooking onions, scallions, cucumbers, summer squash, green, red and savoy cabbage, carrots, beets, kale, chard, fresh cut herbs, u-cut flowers and sungolds, wheat berries, whole wheat flour. Next week: spinach, leeks, potatoes and winter squash. Soon: giant halloween pumpkins and decorative gourds.

In the meat share: Scrapple samples at pick up tonight! Beef, pork and broiler chickens in the freezer. We have beef stock, chicken organs and lard available as well. We are planning fresh beef for next week’s share. Pork in early October.

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