Farm News – Oct 31, 2013

Hi Folks,

It was a cold week here on the farm. We’ve had frost every morning and temperatures dropped into the mid-twenties on several nights. Even some of the more hardy crops have sustained a little damage, but nothing substantial. The principal effect of the low temperatures is slow growth and maturation. We have thousands of broccoli and cauliflower just beginning to head up but they take a bit longer than normal to reach harvestable size. Those who received broccoli or cauliflower last week will likely get Napa cabbage this time around. For those who got cabbage we will do our best to send broccoli or cauliflower.

We are short on arugula and other mustards for now until the next planting grows a bit taller; hopefully by next week. We are still heavy on lettuce and since one of my coolers in on the fritz, we lack refrigerated storage space. We will again send 2 heads of lettuce this week.

I know that many of you have been anxiously awaiting news of the farm purchase and I apologize that I have been forgetting to keep you apprised of the progress. I have been waiting for the appraisal report for the last six weeks, so the truth is there was not much to report. I finally received it this past Wednesday and it was much lower than expected. The bank has agreed to finance at 80% and allow me to make up some of the difference in addition to my 20%. It was necessary to negotiate with the owner for a substantially lower selling price. On Sunday he informed me that he would accept the new lower amount, so we will be moving forward. I hope to be able to close by mid-November. I am very happy and excited, but still a bit nervous. I will feel a lot better when the deal is sealed!