New Field Farm – Temple, New Hampshire

Squash was added

Hi,

I added 10 lbs of zucchini and 11 lbs. of yellow squash to the site.

If you want some and already ordered you can order again and the site will add the squash to your total.

Thanks,
Tim

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

U-PICK BLUEBERRIES update

Hi,

I said yesterday in the weekly email that blueberry picking was good, but I picked yesterday and found it to be fair. I got about 4 lbs. in a half hour or so, avoiding a lot of overripe berries.

So if you do come you’ll find berries, but the picking is on the slow side.

The price is now $2/lb. and Sunday August 5 is the last day for u-pick.

Thanks,
Tim

The 8th week of harvest!

Greetings,

This Friday will mark the eighth week of the harvest season, with 12 more to go, nature permitting. July has been a challenging month for various crops. Lettuce and salad mix, favorite crops, haven’t always been too happy so the offerings have been erratic. Maybe the heat and humidity will back off a bit in August. And maybe not! On we go, in any case.

This is the last week for u-pick blueberries. They’re winding down, but the picking is still good. We’re done harvesting for the CSA.

Ask for squash again this week. We were able to provide to everyone who asked last week.

Field tomatoes are a mix of varieties, both heirloom (actually growing in the hoophouse) and conventional. There’s a description in the market link.

Garlic is now available by the each. The bulbs are still curing in the barn, but are ready to eat. Grown from our own stock for over a quarter century!

Thank you for your orders and Happy August.

Tim

To those who ordered blueberries

Hi,

If you got blueberries you may have already noticed that they may be wet, more or less. You could spread them out on a tray/paper towel to dry out some and then return them to the fridge. It would help the berries last longer, though they should probably be eaten sooner than later, in any case.

The only chance to pick was Friday morning, but the fruit was still often damp by mid-morning. I figured better damp berries than none, but if you have a problem with spoilage in the next couple of days let me know and I can credit your account.

Thanks,
Tim

ASK FOR SQUASH and other matters

Greetings,

The weather this week is as bad as the political climate. Hopefully, both will change sooner than later as they each make it hard to do what needs to get done. On the farm that means weeding and planting, while we hope to avoid diseases that love these warm, humid conditions.

Meanwhile, please ask for squash this week. It’s too hard to predict yield, but we’ll no doubt have some.

Pea season is over. It was a good one for shell peas, despite the heat. We’ll probably start harvesting the garlic this week to avoid it being continually soaked in the ground. Hopefully, we’ll be able to begin offering it next week.

The mini broccoli is new to me so I don’t know how long we’ll have it. The plant sends up shoots; last week quite a few, this week not so many. As with most items, if we’re sold out you should ask for it in the comment section.

Lettuce is slim this week. It can be hard to coax plants that are subject to so many variables to mature on schedule, but we keep planting away and hope for the best.

Thank you for your orders and, as always, if you have any questions or comments let me know.

Tim

Carrots and potatoes

Greetings,

We’re adding carrots, potatoes, and mini broccoli this week.

We’ll pick blueberries if we have time.

Lettuce is back in decent quantity and we have salad mix again.

Here’s to a soaking rain today that doesn’t do much damage and brings an end to the humidity!

Off to work – so much to do!

Tim

My mistake ! Blueberries are available online

Hi again,

I failed to add blueberries to the site so they appeared to be sold out. If you already ordered and want some just place another order and they will be added to your first one.

Thanks,
Tim

U-PICK BLUEBERRIES!

Greetings,

We’re now open for u-pick blueberries Wed. – Sun. 8-5. The price is $2.55/lb. ($3.00/ lb. for non-members). Bring your own containers or we can provide.

Last week’s heat was brutal, needless to say. One casualty was the snap peas, as well as a lot of overripe Sakura cherry tomatoes and bolted basil in the greenhouse. And wilted farmers. I hope you found your produce to be all right, despite the heat.

PLEASE NOTE – There’s a one pint limit per order for blueberries. Blueberries take a long time to pick and there’s a lot of other veggies to harvest. COME PICK YOUR OWN! FRESH AIR, EXERCISE, AND CHEAPER PRICE!

There’s also a one pint limit for Sakuras. The Sakuras are popular so we want to spread them around. I planted more of them this year, but they’re not producing a lot more than last season.

For both of them, if you want more than one pint please ask in the comment section as usual and we’ll see what we can do.

No salad mix this week, a rare occurence. The heat plus a previous torrential rain that washed away a lot of seed are the reasons.

I hope you all survived the heat okay. Just think how cold we were in the winter!

Thanks as ever for your orders.

Tim

Peas and more.

Greetings,

You may not be tempted to think about eating, let alone cooking, in this heat, but it’s supposed to be in the 70s on Saturday so try to imagine cooler weather when you order this week.

This is challenging weather for plants as well as people, but the crops are hanging in there so far. Three more days to go! Here’s a partial update.

Peas – Shell peas are abundant and of great quality this year. I picked almost 2 bushels this morning. I’ll pick again for Friday.* If you want peas today or tomorrow just email (or call 878-2063) the amount you want and when you would pick them up (at the farm, no drop off at Union Mill mid-week)). Price is $4/lb. OR $3/lb. for 10 lbs. or more.

Snap peas – These are also doing well and we should have some for Friday as long as they hang in there through the heat.

Squash – This is not cranking out like you think it would in the heat (too hot?) so ask for it and we’ll probably be able to provide some.

Peppers – These are starting to ripen in the greenhouse and are slowly sizing up in the field.

Tomatoes – The greenhouse tomatoes are also beginning to ripen so we should have some of those this week.

Blueberries – The berries are beginning to turn and we’ll be open next Wednesday for u-pick. Hours will be Wed. to Sun. 8 – 5 for the season.

Eggplant – We should be able to begin offering these next week.

Lettuce – This is still recovering from the deer damage so the offering is limited, but we sow every ten days so more is on the way.

Garlic – This looks much better than last year when it grew in mud for much of the spring. Harvest is about a month away.

Onions – Will these be as big and abundant as last year? They look good so far.

Ginger – This is a very slow growing crop, but between the heat and frequent irrigation at least it may think it’s still in Hawaii where the seed plants came from.

I hope everyone is coping with the heat. This, too, shall pass!

Thank you for your orders.

Tim