Thorpe’s Newsletter June 1, 2026

* Annabelle enjoying a fine spring day

Farm News- June 1, 2026

  * Full steam ahead! We are planting and weeding like wild now that we have a good stretch of sun and no rain.

   * We got all of the tomatoes planted last week, as well as tomatillos and husk cherries.
* We have also been weeding and cultivating, as well as harvesting the early vegetables, such as spinach, chard, green garlic, lettuce, and especially the asparagus, which is yielding well now! All are available in the porch fridge at the farm store. The fridge is open 24/7, so feel free to stop by anytime outside our normal store hours.

    * All of the 25,000 baby strawberry plants for next year are in and growing, and cultivating is going well in them as well as the onions and garlic. The first planting of peas is up and we just planted the second planting yesterday.
* The strawberry crop for this year should start sometime in the next week- stay tuned and watch our instagram for updates! We will post strawberry information including hours and pricing on our website as soon as the berries are ready. We will have u-pick and already picked available once the season starts.
* We will be looking for strawberry pickers soon, If you are interested, contact Naomi @ 716-341-3272 (text preferred) We always say it’s a great way to get exercise and a suntan, as well as a bit of spending money! Pickers must have reliable transportation and attention to detail.

* The field grains are also getting in the ground, with a lot of grain corn planted and tine weeded.

* Tine weeding is a form of cultivating we use first, ahead of the cultivator. It breaks up the crusty soil and kills the little weeds while they are in the threading stage, before they ever see the light of day. This is part of how organic farmers kill weeds without chemicals.

* Hannah does a lot of the tine weeding, with little baby River supervising. All of our children and now many of our grandchildren are frequently in the fields, learning “weed science” and helping with planting from a young age on up. It gives me such joy to see them out there, this group of Thorpe cousins, all helping according to their age and abilities.

For organic produce this week, we have the following:
-asparagus
-lettuce heads (butterheads and romaine)
-swiss chard
-green garlic
-green onions
-fresh herbs
-mushrooms (from our friends at “From This Valley Mushrooms”)
-rhubarb

We look forward to seeing you at the farm!

The Thorpe Family and Crew