Farm News- September 8, 2011

Hello Everyone,

I know you are all anxious to know how the farm fared with Hurricane Irene. I have not been able to write until now because we were without power until Saturday. While we sustained some damage, it could have been much worse, and in deed it was worse for many farms in NJ and especially for New England farmers. We had almost no damage from wind as I had expected. The field where almost all of the fall brassicas are planted is low lying and adjacent to a creek. The creek overflowed its banks and formed a lake in a portion of this field which took several days to subside. I was hopeful immediately after the water receded because the plants seemed okay, but a day or two later, those which had been underwater wilted and died. We lost several thousand plants including broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, kale and kohlrabi. We still have thousands of brassicas in good condition and we have been trying to replant to replace our losses to the extent that we can given the late date.

This update will serve as a makeup for last week’s missed one and I will try to write another soon to apprise you more completely of the state of the farm. I am short on time at present as I have plans for a much needed afternoon off. We were busy this morning trying to harvest potatoes and other items for this week’s share ahead of the 3 days and 3 inches of rain that is forecast. Egads! It could be time to start building an ark.

The share for this week will be:
Romaine lettuce, carrots, beans, tomatoes, white onions, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and ground cherries.

Enjoy!
Farmer John