Hi Folks,
So after 3 days of overcast and drizzly weather we received about a quarter of an inch of total precipitation. It was good for germinating the seeds I recently planted but not nearly what I would like for the acres of brassica crops I have growing. This family which includes broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, needs a lot of moisture to make large heads.
We did not quite complete the broccoli rotation last week, but nevertheless we will be starting ...another round. If you have not had broccoli yet this fall you will this week. Cauliflower is beginning to head but grow slowly with the shorter days and cooler nights. We have radishes and salad turnips this time around and vice versa. We have decided to take a break from white potatoes this week and go sweet on you. The first variety that is ready is a white one; they are really sweet but a bit drier than the orange types. With the cooler temps and a little bit of rain the kale crop has recovered and we can begin harvesting it again. We are still in a gap in our lettuce production but should have it again next week. We also have a small amount of edamame soybeans this week. For those not familiar, these are typically boiled in the pod then when sufficiently cooled the beans are slipped from the pod with the teeth. Enjoy! Farmer John

Farmer John's Newsletter...
Hi Folks,
So the nights are getting quite chilly now up here in the hills of Northwest NJ. We came quite close to having a frost on Sunday night. Just down the road in a low lying field where another farm has some pumpkins planted I noticed that many of the vines had been blackened by the cold. It’s warming up again so we should have another 2 weeks at least before the next round of cold air descends upon us. We have been getting some rain, wit...h more in the forecast over the next few days. So now I will be worried that it will rain too much! Such is the life of a farmer-always something weather related to fret about.
We are getting close to finishing the winter squash/pumpkin harvest, thanks in part to some great volunteers to came out on Sunday and filled a couple of large bins. Thank you! We will be sending out some acorn squash this week some of which is an heirloom white type. I think they are quite nice; I find them a little less stringy than the green variety. They are a bit larger than the green, so that will be your reward for trying something different. We still have lots of peppers and eggplant but the tomatoes are coming to an end. We will try to get all of you a few more over the next 2 weeks.
We are still heavy on green beans, so expect large quantities again this week. These are easy to freeze if you are overwhelmed- just blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, then chill in cold water to stop the cooking process. Toss them in Ziploc bags and into the freezer. Voila!
We also have fresh Lima beans as an extra, so if you are a fan watch out for them. We are finishing up the 3 week broccoli rotation this week, so if you have not gotten any yet, you will this week.
We are out of lettuce for the moment but we are shipping Napa (aka Chinese) cabbage which makes a nice surrogate. We have beautiful arugula now which we will offer as a choice with spinach in order to stretch both of these crops until the next planting matures. We also have radishes this week and the Hakurei salad turnips.

Here is our order for tomorrow's Big and Basic Baskets (as usual, if we run short on an item, we will substitute):

Fruit - Basic, Big, & Fruit
- cantaloupe
- apples...
- strawberries
- asian pears

Farmer John's Newsletter...
Hey Folks,
So after another mercifully brief heat wave it has cooled off again. Unfortunately the rain that generally accompanies these temperature changes did not materialize. We were also missed by the scattered storms that moved through on Friday. So it’s dust bowl days here on the farm again! I am trying to prepare beds for the last round of transplants and direct seeded crops as well as 50 acres of ground to be planted in oats and ry...e as cover crop. I ride over my fields enveloped in clouds of dust. We are moving the sprinklers around constantly to get newly planted seeds to germinate, wilting transplants to perk up and mature crops to produce or continue producing. It seems that we have lost the final planting of cucumbers; we just could get water on them in time and they have more or less burned up. We have a couple of shots at the wet stuff in the week ahead, so keep your finger crossed.
In spite of it all we have great produce for you this week. We are starting the winter squash category this week with spaghetti squash, since we have lots of plum tomatoes to give you, should you choose to cook them to use with the squash. We also have carrots, red cabbage and beautiful colored peppers. Most of the beans that we have now are heirloom types-Rattlesnake, a flat type with purple streaking and Dragon Langerie-a wax bean also streaked with purple. A bounty of color (or perhaps a colorful bounty!).