$&^*#@^!

Has anyone seen Toto? Where is Auntie Em? This weather pattern is really getting hard to take. The wind and heavy rain hit our farm yesterday and damaged some of our crops. Ed Jr. noticed the damage in the broad leaf tobacco and will be out this morning checking it out after more heavy rain late last night! Whew! Nice to see sunshine this morning (though it won't last). Good thing that some of the veggies for today were already picked and safely stored in the veggie shack. Ever wonder why farmers keep farming after such weather? It only takes getting back out the next day and looking out over their land. Seeing the sun come up over the trees or watching the cows shake off the rain or knowing today will be better keeps them going. It’s nice knowing today is a new start.

Have you noticed holes in your veggies and outside plants? This may be bug damage. The Farmer’s Almanac has a recipe for helping prevent this damage or at least get it under control. Mix: 1 teaspoon lemon dish soap, 1 cup vegetable oil and 1 gallon warm water. Put into spray bottle and spray infected areas. Spray the tops of the leaves only or you will seal off the leaf and it won’t be able to take in nutrients.

Chris


The two gardens seem to have been undamaged.....muddy, but the plants are okay. One of our tobacco fields wasn't so fortunate. (These pics were taken after the storm and the air was calm)


The heavy rain combined with severe winds bruised and broke leaves along with laying the plants over.





The dark spots on the leaves are bruises which makes the leaves worthless.



The rain also washed through the field taking some of the plants out, while burying others.


Enough with these storms!!
BTW...this is the same field as yesterday's post. Can we go back in time???(Looked much better yesterday)

Gene

Daily News 7-7-09

Ed Jr. has been out side dressing the tobacco crop.



This adds some more fertilizer to the growing plants.



After the fertilizer is added, it must then be cultivated to incorporate the fertilizer into the soil.


Gene


July 7 is the time of the Full Buck Moon as described by the Algonquin Indians to tell when the bucks antlers would start to grow. The Indians often used the moons to tell certain weather patterns and growing seasons. It was sometimes called the Thunder Moon. The latter seems to fit our growing season again this year. With more possible wet weather today in surrounding areas..

This wet weather has sure made our bees unhappy. They cannot go out and gather pollen and nectar because their wings would get wet and they would not be able to fly back to the hives. Ed Jr. and Chris took their beekeeping classes last February at UCONN. After the classes we were in the field with master beekeeper Adam Fuller for additional instruction. A good friend of Chris and Jean, John Howe from Willington has mentored Chris and Ed Jr. in the care of beekeeping this season. John and wife, Linda have been beekeepers for over 20 years and are much appreciated. The farm decided that having bees on the farm could help greatly with the pollination of our vegetables. There has been much to learn about beekeeping. We have two hives set way back on the farm so as not to be in the way of visitors or farm work. We set them to face the rising sun in hopes that they will produce some honey this year. The wet weather may delay that until next year. All queens are different as we found out. One hive is buzzin’ and we have put several supers on. The other is just so so. A queen can lay 2000 or so eggs per day! Now that is a busy bee! The workers are all females and take very good care of the queen. The drones (males) are there for a short while but not really necessary as the queen is already mated when you set up your hive. Soon into the warm season the worker bees will push them out for good. Our bees are Italian bred so they are mild in nature.

Chris

Daily News 7-6-09

Another day with some sunshine! Dare we hope for more days like this. We now start our second week of veggies and will soon begin to use the bins. We so appreciate the "heads up" for those of you that will be on vacation and have others pick up your share. When you are not able to pick up please let us know as the vegetables we set out for you could go to someone else. Some are already taking advantage of the buddy system so they only have to pick up every other week. Someone in your area would make a great "buddy" to share the pickups. There is a dry wipe board by the scale in the Veggie Shack so you can leave us a note anytime. One of us is in the Veggie Shack daily. Please remember that we would love your recipes, hints and other feed back on the CSA or farm.

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Thankyou,
Chris

Some Sad News

Ed Jr.'s dog, Buddy, quietly past away yesterday afternoon in the repair shop. He will be missed by everyone that knew him.

Rest in Peace Buddy

Gene

Happy Independence Day!!!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

Daily News 7-3-09

Yesterday's severe weather passed just south of us. More rain is expected for this afternoon...where's the sun?!!



The home garden




Onions and Beets




Peas and Green Beans




Squash




Cukes




Tomatoes




Potatoes


Rain, rain, go away....Come 0n Sunshine!!!!!!

Gene

The Rothe Family

Ed Jr.

Ed Jr, with his “wonder dog” Buddy, live in the main house and Ed is our Farm Manager. He determines where the crops are planted, and reports to the Farm Service Agency when and where the crops are on the farm. He is tireless and works very hard to see that all of your pick-ups are stress free and available for you. He sits on the back of the setter for tobacco and veggies as well. He makes sure your veggies are well taken care of and picks them so they are fresh and ready for you to enjoy. He is a master mechanic for the Farmall equipment (we only have “red” tractors) on our farm. And he has been known to help out other farmers as well with repairs and/or suggestions.




Gene

Gene, with his “little pup” Diesel, live on Hayes Ave with his Dad Jean. Diesel is the Great Furry Hunter of the farm he has tried to train Buddy in the fine art; but Buddy just likes to tag along. Gene is the master behind the Blog and all computer related issues as well as master mechanic of the tractors or other equipment. Anything that cannot be coaxed into running with a little elbow grease and oil, he works his magic! He has made “to scale” models of machinery for his nephew’s riding tractor. Just recently we found out he can take on Bobby Flay anytime with his BBQing!




Jane

Married to Ed Sr. and lives to the right of the Main Farm House, she takes care of the Farm Stand. Jane makes the Farm Stand shine with all the veggies in-between working in the garden and taking care of her grandkids. She bakes and puts up jams and jellies. She has also been known to put up tomato sauce and fill bags of corn for the freezer. Her talents also include her artistic ability. She has made many lovely water color and acrylic paintings for friends and family.




Ed Sr.

Ed is still working for Gerber during the daytime and then heads out to the farm to finish out his evenings. Whether driving tractor or sitting on the back of the setter; grass does not grow under his feet. Also a machinist by trade (do you see a trend here?) he works with the others to make sure our Farmalls continue to perform to their expected calling. He is the caregiver to the cows (Herefords) and makes sure they are fed corn each evening. He has been seen on the back of the setter and driving the tractor for the wiggley hoe.




Jean

Jean lives on Hayes Avenue with Chris, his wife. Retired from Gerber and fulltime farmhand now. He is tractor driver for setting, hand hoer of crops, bank representative, farm history keeper, and main person to set up repairs with shops for items not repairable at the farm. He is Chris’s support person for setting up pick-up bins. He has a wonderful sense of humor unless you are the one being tricked (which Chris usually ends up being the one). He is the one that runs interference between the others and Chris for accounting purposes.




Chris

The main task for Chris is to see that the CSA runs smoothly. She sets up applications, and some of the info for the blog. She also does the accounting for the farm. She can occasionally be found on the back of the setter when someone else is missing or unavailable. She along with Ed Jr. are the beekeepers for the farm. She has been known to hand hoe or pick veggies on occasion and will set up events at the farm for the shareholders or other interested visitors.





Buddy




Diesel