The Weblog

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Onions and bears, oh my!


Greetings,

The tough weather continues, with lettuce and salad mix suffering the most. The heat causes the lettuce to bolt and the torrential rains either wash out the salad mix seed or prevent seeding in a timely manner. We should have more mix and arugula next week.

The Ailsa Craig onions are sizing up so we can offer some of those, as well as a few Tropeas.

We’re also offering Yellow Finn potatoes which are small to medium at this point.

There’s no limit on the carrots now.

The heat has pushed some crops ahead of schedule, so, for example, the purple peppers are starting to color up already which gives then a different appearance and a sweeter taste. The heat has also slowed the green peppers which don’t like to set fruit when temps get into the nineties.

And now for the good news. We’re seeing more Monarch butterflies than we have in a long time. We always leave milkweed unmowed for them and are seeing them lay their eggs on those plants, as well as seeing the caterpillars on the leaves.

And yesterday a bear appeared at the top of the field and made it’s way into the blueberries. It sat on it’s haunches and started eating and then got up and chose a different spot. When it spotted me it paused and after I said it was welcome to stay it decided instead to amble off into the woods.

It’s been a good year for barn swallows who return to the farm every spring. There were fifteen sitting in a row yesterday on a high cable that crosses from wall to wall in the barn. Their chattering, flying in and out of the barn, and swooping over the field are always a welcome part of the season.

Let’s hope for a change in the weather before the first frost!

Thanks for your orders.

Tim