Author: Bryan Housel

Hello Folks, so we made it though the dry spell and the second (or was it the third?) heat wave of the season. And that season was spring – we are not even officially into summer yet. The first half inch of rain that broke the dry spell came with high winds that knocked out our power for 36 hours. We had to back-feed the electrical panel in the greenhouse with a portable generator to keep the ventilation fans running. The last two storms dropped a half inch and ¾ of an inch, without such dire consequences. We can take a brief pause in moving the sprinklers around the field and stretching out reused drip tape on the acres of winter squash that I have been planting. (more…)

Hi Folks! So here we are at the first week of the Circle Brook CSA season – lettuce begin! In the Ron Howard movie “Parenthood”, the roller coaster is used as a metaphor for the ups and downs of that endeavor. I think it is an apt one for farming as well. (more…)

Hello everyone, I apologize for not having written an update sooner. The first of my workers finally arrived on April 20th and a few more the next day. Since then, we have been working diligently to get caught up with the planting. My crew has been working 70 hour weeks, and I have been putting in even more hours, which is my excuse for not having written sooner. We are now mostly back on track, although there will still be some consequences to the late start. (more…)

Happy winter everyone! It is time to register for the 2026 CSA season!   Know your farmer. Know your food.

Our season is 24 weeks long, June-November.

Click here to register online!

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Hello Folks! So, we have come to the end of the line, for this season at least. Farming is never easy, but this year was a bit more challenging than most. It is the weather, of course, that primarily determines the extent and the nature of the challenges. This year, ten days straight of drizzle and overcast skies followed by a near 100-degree heat wave in June caused the premature demise of our pea crop. Fortunately, we did not have another scorcher of such intensity for the rest of the season. But we did have consistently dry conditions through the summer and into the fall, which kept us (and the well pumps) busy trying to keep the crops hydrated. The upside is that a dry season is better than an overly wet one. (more…)