I hope everyone is really enjoying this wonderful change in the weather. Brittany and I were ill-prepared for this morning's temperatures at the farm. When I awoke at 5 the wind chill was down to 40 degrees F. We were both wearing long sleeved tops and pants and I even broke out the wool cap! What a difference a hurricane makes. This is what I was talking about last week when it was 98+ degrees F and I was considering that a frost could happen anytime. Supposed to be 40 tonight I hear. We picked the tomatoes pretty hard today. You might have received some tomatoes in this week's share that need to sit a bit on the windowsill. The same message from last week applies. Please go through the tomatoes and get them dried out. I actually rinsed the cherries today because they were cracking so much. Brittany and I did a very good job of avoiding the cracked ones but the weather change is really messing with things. They are so fragile!
Here is a shot of me trying a new idea. We get a lot of fertility off the farm from municipal leaf collections from the town of Newport and Brewer. I don't really like the time it takes or the fact that I have to drive all the way to Brewer with a very large truck to get the leaves. I have done some research and other alternative farmers use the fertility from their own farms as much as possible. It turns out that hay can really increase fertility in the garden. I am trying it and I hope to report good results.
I also want to mention one of the problems we've had in the garden this season. Even in a 'perfect' growing season we can experience problems. I must confess that these problems are mostly of my own making. You've noticed I'm sure that we haven't had many cucumbers. I tried something new this year by growing cucumbers among the corn after reading that cucurbits can be grown that way to keep raccoons off the corn. It turns out that it only works with certain types of squash. Cucumbers aren't quite hardy enough to cope with the shade from the corn. Lesson learned, never experiment without growing the crop the regular way. I apologize to everyone who was really expecting cukes this year and hope we've been able to make up for it with other stuff (i.e. tomatoes...and more tomatoes and tons of other stuff).
Keuka Gold potatoes. This week's potatoes are Keuka Gold. A wonderful potato! Here is a link describing why I purchased this seed originally http://www.fedcoseeds.com/moose/MooseItem.php?id=7280&MooseName=keuka gold&descKey=7800. I have talked to several small farmers who actually don't like them. I cannot figure out why. I love these potatoes. They are great for making mashed potatoes and good for baking too.
Also, the Kohlrabi is in for the rest of the shares who didn't get it last time. We offered the first of it to about half of you this summer. But that left a few of you who didn't get it. I hope you enjoy it. Here is a link about Kohlrabi http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-to-use-kohlrabi.html# but you can learn a bit about it from a google search.
The rest of the share holds the usual fare. We are also saving lots of seeds this year, as much as we can anyway. Below are some beautiful beans. The color is amazing and I can't wait to harvest the majority of them. They are even more beautiful when they are fully dried.
I will be getting in touch with all of you in the coming weeks about some of our future plans for next season and your thoughts on this season. I hope everyone is enjoying the share. 
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