What’s up on the farm?
Precipitation in the past month: Rain: 0.3"
Welcome to our October newsletter. We'll publish these once a month until the start of the CSA season in early June. Our goal is to give our members, customers and friends a quick peek into our world on the "back-side" of the seasonal farm calendar. So grab a tasty beverage, sit back and join us for a little tour of the farm this month.
We had a couple of big harvests this month, the biggest of which was getting the popcorn in. Despite quite a bit of the plants being blown down in various wind events over the growing season it looks to be a pretty good harvest. The ears are now all crated up and under cover to finish drying. I suspect they will be ready to shell in the next week or so. This is one of my favorite crops that we grow and being the popcorn snob that I am, I think it's pretty tasty stuff.
The second big season-end harvest is the dahlias. We significantly expanded our dahlia crop this year and it made for a heck of a lot of digging this week. The tubers are now all out of the field, washed and we have started on dividing the tuber clumps. Then each individual tuber is labeled and stored in boxes of vermiculite in our walk-in cooler for the winter. It's a good thing that the blooms give us so much joy during the growing season because they are a LOT of work in the fall!
Not nearly as much fun as harvesting crops, once they are done we have to clear all the spent plant material from the beds. We're about half way through the bed clean-up. It takes quite a bit of time as any beds with fabric mulch have to be cleared by hand. Some of the bigger beds without fabric can just be mowed down, which goes much faster.
Not all of our crops are done for the year. We still have a full slate of fall crops in the field. These are all cold-hardy crops like leafy greens, cabbage, broccoli and root crops like carrots. These crops we protect with fabric row cover to keep them from freezing in low temperatures. Many years we can harvest from these beds into December if the weather cooperates. The wind makes this method of season extension more challenging but we've developed a system that mostly works well for us. Earlier this month I decided to take a photo of the row covered beds during the full moon. I was delighted to discover when I looked at the photos later that night that I had also captured the comet over the tops of the trees! Thank you nature for inspiring surprises!
We also have a large number of crops growing in the high tunnels. These are the crops that we will be harvesting throughout the winter. As the weather gets colder we will add fabric row cover to each bed to give them even more protection. The row cover makes harvesting more tedious and time consuming, but without them both in the field and in the tunnels, we wouldn't be able to deliver fresh produce year round.
VegEmail deliveries have now switched over to our winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at SingleSpeed Brewing, in Knoxville at the Grand Theater or on farm. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May. Our next delivery is Tuesday, 11/5 and the order form will go out on 10/30 at 5pm. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up
CSA 2025: Big Announcement!We are excited to announce that in honor of our 20th Anniversary in 2025, we are rebranding our CSA program. Introducing the BGF Bounty Box! Never fear, CSA veterans, the program itself isn't changing, we are still committed to 20 weeks of high quality, chemical-free food you can feel good about. We simply want the name to better reflect the expectations and experience for our members. Sign up for the 2025 season will open first to our veteran members in early December, with any remaining spots made available to the public in the New Year. Keep an eye on your email for more details to come. If you haven't been a CSA member before and are interested in joining us for the 2025 season just email us and we'll add you to the waiting list.
All the activities and craziness aside, we are thankful for the privilege of living here on this beautiful farm, raising tasty, healthful produce alongside our fabulous farm crew. We couldn't do it without our amazing family, customers, members and community supporters. So we are thankful for you!
We also have a large number of crops growing in the high tunnels. These are the crops that we will be harvesting throughout the winter. As the weather gets colder we will add fabric row cover to each bed to give them even more protection. The row cover makes harvesting more tedious and time consuming, but without them both in the field and in the tunnels, we wouldn't be able to deliver fresh produce year round.
Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.
That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.Best from the farm,Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)
That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)
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