Author: Bryan Housel

Hi Folks,
Well I can report that we received an inch of much needed precipitation last Thursday, but at quite a cost. The rain came in a torrential downpour mostly during a 15 minute period accompanied by fierce winds that toppled trees all over our area. We lost power for about 30 hours until midnight on Friday. I was returning from PA where I was picking up fertilizer and as I neared the farm I began to encounter branches in the roadway and the trees blocking one lane of the road. When I was 5 minutes from the farm I was stopped by a tree blocking the entire road. I finally arrived home about an hour later after repeated detours were also found to be impassable. (more…)

Hi Folks,
Fall is in the air! We’ve been waking up to some quite chilly mornings this past week. This cooler weather will make the lettuce and the mustard/brassica family happy, but production from the heat loving crops such as the tomatoes and peppers has begun to slow down. (more…)

Hi Folks,
Happy Labor Day! I hope you are all enjoying the picnics and family gatherings that are part of the holiday. And I hope you have been able to put to good use the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor in preparing dishes for your events. Here on the farm of course, we continue to labor because the veggies won’t wait! That’s not meant as a complaint, it’s just the reality of our business. There will be ample time to rest during the winter months. It does seem like an appropriate occasion to give praise and thanks to my crew. (more…)

Hi Folks,
With this week’s delivery we will have reached the mid-point of the season. I am quite content with what we have been able to provide you thus far, and I hope that all of you have been happy with your shares. (more…)

Hi Folks,
The weather has been copacetic: not to hot, a bit chilly at night perhaps, but all in all not bad for mid-August. It seems we will return to more typical August heat for a few days this week, but nothing too extreme. We’ll be hoping for a little rain sometime soon and there isn’t much forecast for the next ten days.  I am planting lots of seeds now as well as setting out thousands of transplants, so some moisture would be helpful. But dry is better than wet for the tomatoes and we can always employ the overhead irrigation for helping the seeds to sprout. (more…)

Hi Folks,
We received some very heavy rain this past week which has been very helpful for the rooting of the thousands of seedlings we have been transplanting and the germination of the hundreds of thousands of seeds I have recently planted. Spinach, arugula and radishes are already sprouting! (more…)

Hi Folks,
It’s been a glorious week of weather with mild temps, plenty of sun and just enough rain. It’s very unusual for early August to have such moderate daytime temperatures and chilly nights; it feels more like early September. It’s been very comfortable for me and the workers out in the field, but I suspect the heat loving crops are not quite as happy. Fortunately we got the melons in early and they have benefited from the July heat; we have the sweetest and most delicious melons ever and they are ripening prolifically. Tomatoes, as well, are ripening rapidly and you will see a larger quantity in this week’s share and even more by next week. (more…)

Hi Folks, We’ve been enjoying wonderful weather this past week and have gotten about 2 ½ inches of rain during that time. The rain was much appreciated as we were a bit on the dry side. I’ve been on a tear lately (figuratively and literally) plowing up large sections of field in preparation for our fall planting push. We were able to get some cauliflower and broccoli plants set out ahead of Sunday’s rain which will be a great benefit in helping them take root. (more…)