Merry Heart Farm

Many transplants have been set out and the plants have been sprayed with seaweed fertilizer. I sprayed extra calcium on the squash and cucumbers and the broccoli and other cole crops. They seem to have had a boost too with the drop in temperature, the broccoli plants are a foot tall, but no heads yet. Many plants are setting fruit due to the cooler weather like the zucchini and tomatoes. We have several green cherry tomatoes on the vine and we may have some next week or the week after.   Our field sown seeds have been germinating much better also, we have set out carrots, beets, and spinach and the tiny leaves are looking GOOD!!! These plants will mostly be available in the early Winter share, but we will still try to have some thinnings and baby types at the end of this season.  There are dill and cilantro, and diakon radishes coming your way also.  The first fennel is almost ready and we will have corn next week and sweet potatoes after that. We set out onion bulbs for yellow and white varieties and as we pull up each bed of beans and peas we will be planting more carrots, beets and spinach. One variety I am real happy with is the new cucumber from Johnny'c called "Harmonie".  These are the best cukes we have ever had and they have a great flavor.  Arugula will be back soon, it's a favorite. There are some nice butternut squash growing and I'll let you know how they turn out. I am not sure about the spaghetti squash, but the plants are growing, just no fruit yet. 

It has been real nice to get to know all of you and your families. Please know that we are thrilled to be able to share this farm with you.  One member's daughter has shared with her class about her farmer and Farmer Jen went to a first grade class in Clermont and brought chickens, a bunny and zipper peas.  Iris and Garett both spoke to the class. I read in a magazine called Edibles about local farming and was excited about all that is going on in our state, but one person stated that, " we need to be realistic", and think of local as the whole state not just in our area.  I agree, that we are not prepared to find all of our produce in Florida within 50 miles, but I disagree that we should be encouraged to settle and not attempt to find and support the local farmers in your area. Each dollar you spend, extra mile you drive and time you spend will create the food system that we want. The money that was spent on the magazine was not spent on producing you food and that is the real tragedy. Funds are being flooded into our land to MARKET and to create MARKETS not to support the producers.  The producers are warned about the hazards and regulated, surveyed and asked to be insured against losing everything. I believe we will lose everything if we don't begin to make small changes when we can, with what we can.  Learn all you can and keep a watchful eye and ear about what you support.  Even the Long and Scott Farm in our area is a better place than a road side stand to spend your dollars because they produce SOME of the food that they sell in their market. I encourage you to shop there for the things that I am not able to grow yet. They are not an organic farm, but they do practice many safe biological practices that I agree with. 

See you all Tuesday

Smiles,

Farmer Jen

The chill in the air feels soooo good. It is energizing and refreshing. I am loving being able to work out side this time of year. An effort to protect the last corn for the season has been accomplished. Oil with Bt was applied to each ear tassle, so we are hoping for less damage in this planting. I have been vigilant with spraying the squash for bugs, and even though the plants look a bit worse for wear, they are still producing.  I am looking forward to Tuesday's  5th share pick up and I believe our decision to wait one week was a wise one. This break will provide those with a full share a more mature selection and longer harvest. We started almost a month early this year and the financial support allowed the farm to be better prepared for the entire fall/winter planting and I believe the food that we were able to produce for the first four share weeks has been tasty and of good quality.  One thing that I would do differently would be to have more lettuces planted earlier.   I had all of the seed trays full of things that we'll be eating throughout the months and I was unprepared for how quickly we had to replace the lettuces due to the heat causing them to bolt. Most of my tomatoe plants that were started from seed did not make it through the early days.  I purchased some lettuces, and bannana pepper plants and roma tomatos to make up for some things that did not do well from seed.

Your farmer was getting a bit frazzled by the bugs, drought and the adjustment to the earlier weeks, but I feel that it was a step we were ready to take and next fall we will have a better understanding of the challenges of production in September. I will be sharing more information in my next message about the timing of our Winter shares and when to sign up. I will also be asking for feed back about the amount of food and how the size of the shares has met your families needs and about the actual amount versus what you anticipated. I have recieved positive feedback that folks are eating through everything, so I am happy that we have not overwhelmed you and I have not heard of any concerns. Please know that you are welcome to share needs and concerns  so that I can help you figure out a better way to use or store your produce, and if it is something we can do our our end I will happily look into making it better.

See you Soon,

Farmer Jen