Howdy Folks, 

I was pulled away from finishing the newsletter last week.  I apologize for it being short.

Farming can be very rewarding and difficult at the same time.  The rewards of a successful crop are not only monetary but also very emotional.  So, too, are the failures.  As farmers, we must be diverse in our approaches to raising plants we want to nourish our bodies.  Year to year we see huge differences in quantities and power of rainfall and storms, heat, sunlight, wind, etc.  Although some of the vegetables we grow are quite resilient, there are many that simply can’t handle the spikes in heat, then rain, then heat, then rain.  What follows is an intense heat that doesn’t dissipate in the night.  This certainly can stress vegetables that don’t love the heat, but on the other hand, it encourages the bacterial and fungal diseases we want to avoid.  

The result will be smaller heads of lettuce, diseased leaves of beets, early blights on the plants of tomatoes or broccoli that upon producing a beautiful huge head is spotted with black dots.  The list goes on and on in just how relatively extreme weather variations mess with all living being including plants.

This week I’d like to share some accomplishments and some failures we saw as a farm this year:

1. This is the longest we’ve ever offered tomatoes. With a few tweeks and lots of luck we had a heavy tomato season. We hope you enjoyed them.  

2. Due to greenhouse miscommunication, our fall spinach and broccoli are sparse.

3. Every worker on our farm received a raise this year.  The base hourly wage for new employees is $15.54.

4. We had marked improvements in the quality of the lettuces this year, as well as, strawberries, watermelon, herbs, carrots, and beets.

5. We offered an extra month of cucumbers this year than last year by protecting them in high tunnels early in the season.

6. We had a barely visible sweet pepper season due to the extreme heat during transplanting.  It was a severe stress that the plants couldn’t shake no matter what we did.  Its best to plant on an overcast day so the initial transplant shock isn’t so detrimental during the hot summer days.  It was across many farms that this experience was the same for various vegetables during June.

7. We doubled the amount of beans we gave you this year.

8. The sweet potato crop is incredible!!! We grew 3 varieties; white, purple skinned white flesh and orange.  Now that they are cured, we’ll be distributing them these next 2 final weeks of the CSA.

A quick tip on eating sweet winter radishes…

We like to shred them with equal parts apple and carrot.  We usually shred cabbage or cut lettuce fine to mix with that.  Add some salt and pepper and go to town!  This salad saves me every winter when my body is yearning for fresh vegetables.

If you’re interested in eating the freshest produce this fall, please don’t hesitate to sign up for the Fall CSA.  We know vegetable freshness is critical for maximum nutrition.  

We’ll be accepting approximately 100-150 more subscriptions so if you are interested please don’t hesitate.  It’s a quick process to sign up online.  If you are currently a member for the summer, this does not secure a spot for you to get a fall CSA, you must sign up online.  There is a link below.  A few new things, we have found a Morningside host and we will be including in the Fall CSA our infamous 25 oz jars of Simple Tomato Soup in the fall shares.  This is made from our delicious organic tomatoes, and the only things added are salt and citric acid (only added to assure proper acidity for canning.)

Thank You so much!!

Your Farmers,

Chris, Aeros and The Who Crew