Looks like the weather is continuing on a helpful track this coming week and the plants will get some sun and warmth after a bit of soaking rain. Should make for a bit more growth before the days get too short and cold – if we can get out of the fog early enough in the morning. Here’s what I think we’ll have in the shares next week: collards or kale, lettuce, carrots, leeks, sweet peppers, and salad turnips. Spinach is also a possibility but I’m not sure we’ll have enough so it might go as a farm stand option. The turnips are also a little questionable as the section of the field they’re in isn’t doing well and very possibly has some ongoing symphylan issues (a nasty little pest that eats the roots as the crops grow, stunting growth!) Tomatoes may hang on for another week, or we might just open them up for gleaning.
I’m also keeping my eye on the forecasted low temperatures this time of year. Any potential frost will modify the harvests a bit as we try to get the few remaining sensitive crops out of the fields – and look forward to the sweetening effect on most of the remaining crops. One crop that will definitely benefit from some colder weather and that looks like we might have on the farm stand in a week or two is radicchio. In addition to larger plantings for the shares that are planned for harvests later in October, we’ve planted a bunch of trial varieties in small quantities, including a couple of extra early types that are starting to form heads.
Yesterday we got the pack area back up and running and it was great to be back to our purpose build tables for cleaning, sorting and packing! We also managed a bit of time in the fields for the continued clean up of summer weeds and getting the drip tape out now that it’s been raining consistently. A bit of sun next week should help make more clean up easier, too!
Cully Neighborhood Farm 