Sprout Farm Newsletter Oct. 3, 2026 sproutfarm.net open 9-5 daily

until Halloween

Hello Everyone,

Finally a beautiful fall Saturday. The festivals, corn mazes and apple picking jaunts got the perfect weather they were hoping for. In Sept of 26 we saw nearly 9 inches of rain, and most of it fell on weekends. We don't control the weather, we just wait it out.

I just checked my notes. Jay say tell everyone, “It's not a rumor. We are retiring.” I asked him , “Is that the question you're getting?” He said it was. We all know he's going to be board in less than a year but he is looking forward to no obligations to the business.

Next. We will not be selling corn stalks or straw bales this year. It is just a few things more Jay is cutting down on. He said he told me earlier but I don't remember him saying that. I do not miss driving out into the corn field while the guys toss bundled corn stalks into the back of the truck. They would promise that they wouldn't shift on the way home to the Cape and I would regret not paying attention to instructions on knot tying while I was in the scouts many decades ago. It just wasn't a skill you'd use every day or every year. When we did try to tie down the stalks it was a guess as to what any knot did to hold anything down. My concern was reasonable. Once when driving back from Wilson's in Lexington, some of the small Christmas trees piled onto the back of the truck, blew off in the middle of Rte 2, just before Rte 128. Somehow I stopped and picked them up, went back to Wilson Farm and made them tie down everything. That's when I learned it was their company policy not to tie anything down. When I got home I used the damaged trees for brush for Christmas projects. It all ended well but I don't have the energy to deal with that type of problem so now I make sure everything is secure before I drive away.

Jay says we have nine varieties of apples but we have to wait for Monday to resupply the shelf with Macouns. Yes, our apple prices are VERY reasonable compared to some farms. I get to see them all. C.N. Smith Farm in East Bridgewater has set up their Halloween train room display. The small train goes around a large table filled with Halloween village miniatures and the big goblins and ghosts are around the edges. The room is off to the side of the farm stand and after Halloween is over, they will tear it down, pack it away and set the room up with an equally impressive Christmas train village display. It's all free to visit and the children love it. We get our cider there and I will be going back soon for more.

We are still planting lettuce so we will have that right up to closing. The tomatoes are slower to ripen now that we have less daylight and less heat. If you purchase them and they are a little pink, be assured that they will ripen up at room temperature in a few days. Summer fruits require organizational skills in autumn. We do not have onions but we still have some shallots. It's too bad we took so long to figure out how to grow them. Some of the bunching onions grew to three feet tall but that was due to not having the time to harvest them. They were turned into compost. Most of the local farms have a labor shortage problem and they solve it in their own way. Sauchuk Farm goes through a service and brings in young men from around the world, for a specific amount of time and he trains them to do each chore, his way. They are always nice, at 7:45 am after picking bags and bags of corn and their English is very good. They will be going home soon and will undoubtedly welcome the warmth instead of our gathering cold.

The kitten report: Wheezie went through her operation just fine and Jay is good about getting her medicine into her with almost no scratches. Goldie is still nursing and Scruffy is hanging around but he is out of luck this time. I suggested we get him 'fixed' but no one could figure out how to catch him on a schedule for a vet appointment. He will probably be a full functioning Tom all his life. Goldie is curious about the outdoors and we are taking her out on supervised excursions. She's never far from the front steps but the tall grass and weeds are a whole new world for her. I can't wait for her to discover the maple tree in the front yard. She's lost interest in climbing the living room drapes so the next step is for her to learn to climb trees. It's up to Wheezie to teach her that skill along with a host of others. Things are winding down but we're still here.

Stop by and see what we have growing for you,

Jay and Phyllis Sprout