Wondering what the news is around Essex Farm? Hear the update from Kristin Kimball below:

The heat made for happy plants this week. The kids and I were away for most of it. Coming home to the farm after a few days mid-summer is like not seeing a small child for six months: you can’t believe how fast it changes. The corn had a big growth spurt. Since we have so little of it planted, we really poured the resources into it. We spread the field heavily with compost and then dressed the corn with purchased organic fertilizer after planting. All that nitrogen, plus good weed control and drainage, made for a gorgeous, even, deep green stand. It does my heart good to see it.

Tomatoes Race Against Blights

In the northern section of Superjoy, the tomatoes are beginning to ripen. Now it’s a race against blights. Early blight is already here, creeping up slowly from the bottom of the plants, but we are used to that. We still get a tomato harvest with early blight. Late blight is the one we worry about. It is wending its way across the state, carried on the wind. Cross your fingers for bright dry weather and ask the wind to blow the spores away from us. We’ll do the same, plus spray copper, the organic prophylactic treatment for blight.

Hay Situation Serious

The big story of the week was hay. As you know, readers, the hay situation is serious. We need to bring in six months’ worth of decent hay for beef cattle, good hay for horses, and excellent hay for the dairy herd, plus a lot of material for bedding…” (Continue reading this Essex Farm Note.)

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