Thorpe’s Farm Newsletter September 3

* It seems we have plenty of rain now…….. When it is not raining, there are loads of things to pick!
* There are red and black raspberries, string beans, tomatoes, and there will be PYO potatoes soon! Keep reading for u-pick info.

* The PYO string beans are gorgeous and loaded with tender green, yellow or purple beans. Stop at the stand for directions. They are just behind the store in the field behind and below the flowers. We recommend bringing bags to pick into, something that ties around your waist so you can pick with both hands. Don’t wait too long to pick, or you will miss them. They are perfect now!! String beans are $2/lb, except if you have a large CSA share, in which case they are included in your share!

* The fall crop of red raspberries are in great shape now, with two out of three varieties ready. When picking- gently lift up the canes and you’ll find many hidden berries! They are $8/lb. The raspberries will continue to ripen until we get the first frost, usually in mid-October. Please bring your own containers to pick into and have them weighed at the stand, or you can purchase quart baskets at the stand.

* The fall crop of black raspberries are ready too! They are $8/lb. They are only for rugged pickers, as I never finished pruning them, but they are nice if you don’t mind weeds and wild berry canes…… they freeze well and they make a delicious jam.

* Starting Thursday September 3, we’ll have a limited amount of zucchini and summer squash available for free, for small and large CSA customers. They may still be available Friday and Saturday, depending on how many people grab them. They will be first come, first served and we are not able to set any aside so come and get em’ if you want. Here’s a recipe for zucchini bread!

* Tomato PYO is now open to everyone, during store hours. This will not be a bumper crop year, due to a lot of rain lately which is tough on ripening tomatoes, but there are tomatoes out there! There are all sorts of organic tomato types and varieties: paste, cherry, heirlooms like Brandywine and Striped German, and regular round red ones.

*u-pick price per lb. for organic tomatoes is $.50/lb.

* At this time, we are not able to take already picked tomato orders. We will update you all if we’re able to take orders as the season goes on. We will have small amounts of tomatoes for sale on the farm stand this week and next, but no canning quantities yet.

* Please do not pick when wet, like after a heavy dew or rain.
* The tomatoes are diagonally across the road from the farm store. We have a tomato sign up by the 2nd gas line orange marker post coming from our farm (if you’re heading to the tomatoes from our farm driveway, turn RIGHT out of the driveway and the field will be on your left 7 telephone poles down from the farm. Please pull into the driveway without the mailbox- look for the tomato sign!)
* Please stop at the stand first for directions and a map showing where each kind of tomato is.
* Every 8 rows there is a mowed section.
* There will be a fluorescent streamer dividing the field. You may pick any tomatoes on your side of the streamer.
  * The tomatoes for us to pick for the stand will be the ones on the farther side of that streamer, so please do not pick there.
  * There will be a mowed parking area, but the driveway is just a dirt farm driveway, so your car might object if it’s rained heavily recently.
  * Please bring your own picking containers.
  *Please “tiptoe” carefully between plants, vines, and tomatoes. It’s a bit like the game of “Twister”. Many times you may feel like a doctor, removing good fruit for yourselves and gently tossing bad fruit out to the mowed areas so they do not spoil the continued harvest. The abundant rain is causing some fruit to crack and spoil if not used right away. Of course, please take care not to lambast other pickers with those tomatoes…….
  * Please do not pick when wet, like after a heavy dew or rain.
  * The heirloom varieties are delicious, but if you leave them on the vine until ripe, they tend to crack easily and spoil. The best solution is to pick them just as their color barely starts to turn, then lay them out and let them turn color on their own in a safe place at your house.

* The flowers are open for PYO during store hours, now until the first hard frost.

For organic produce this week, we have the following:
Sweet corn
Green beans (already picked and u-pick)
Red and gold potatoes
Garlic
Sweet, cooking, and green onions
Swiss chard
Beets
Tomatillos
Tomatoes (no canning quantities yet, smaller amounts of u-pick)
Eggplant
Basil
Cilantro
Dill
Bell peppers
Hot banana peppers (mild coming soon)
Summer squash and zucchini
Carrots
Raspberries (red and black, u-pick)
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Non-organic produce:
Peaches (yellow and white)
Plums
Nectarines
Apples
Coming soon:
Winter squash/pumpkins

Thank you for reading! We all look forward to are to seeing you at the stand and in the fields!

The Thorpe Family and Crew