Monthly Archive: August 2016

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 29, 2016

Hello Everyone!  This week marks the beginning of the second half of the season (time flies when you’re eating well!).  We still have three more weeks of summer officially and we hope for at least a few more of warm, frost free weather.  We are also hoping for some rain (but not too much) as we have slipped back into a dry weather pattern.  Our early planting of tomatoes has mostly succumbed to disease, but we have second and third plantings that will continue to produce for a while yet.  Peppers and eggplant will continue for at least another 6 weeks.  Unfortunately, the second and third planting of summer squash have not fared so well, so we will probably not have much zucchini for you until a fourth planting begins to produce in a few weeks.  We do have another planting of cucumbers beginning to come in, so we hope to have some cukes for you in the coming weeks. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 22, 2016

Hello Everyone!  So we have finally gotten some relief from the heat!  The cold front brought us a small amount of rain as it moved in, a little more would have been welcome but at least there was no severe weather.  The heat wave took a toll on our lettuce production, causing many varieties to bolt prematurely.  We had to cut many heads at a very small size or lose them.  You will receive 2 or possibly even 3 small heads of lettuce this week.  The rest of the share is similar to recent weeks – lots of tomatoes, beans, peppers and eggplant. (more…)

Heirloom Vegetables

Heirloom Vegetables

Farmer John loves to experiment with heirloom vegetables and we get to enjoy the results!  But what exactly is an “heirloom” vegetable, and how does it differ from a “regular” vegetable? According to Wikipedia, “An heirloom vegetable is a cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings.” (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 15, 2016

Hi Folks!  It is my firm belief (or perhaps my desperate hope) that we are over the worse of the heat wave.  It’s been a tough couple of weeks!  I thought that it was forecast to break on Tuesday with some rain followed by more tolerable temperatures but now it seems the temps will climb toward the upper eighties later in the week with no real relief in sight until early next week.  The good news is that we received nearly 3 “of rain during the week a huge benefit to the fall crops that we have been seeding and transplanting. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 8, 2016

Hello Everyone!  We received about 2/10 of an inch of rain on Saturday from a brief downpour.  It appears we will have multiple chances of precipitation during the week ahead and dry spell is over for now; I only hope it doesn’t start to rain too much.  The tomato crop is coming in heavy now, but many of the vines are succumbing to disease, and wet conditions serve to exacerbate the problem.  The squash crop is also quite prone to diseases such as powdery mildew, that are promoted by warm, wet conditions. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 1, 2016

Hi Everyone! So we finally got some rain, a bit over 2 inches with a little more expected overnight.  We are very fortunate not to have been deluged.  I have heard that some NJ farmers were hit with 6” or more; and then there are those poor folks in Maryland.  Wow!  That seems to be the way it is these days – feast or famine, as they say. (more…)