Sprout farm newsletter August 22nd 2026 sproutfarm.net open 9-5 daily

Hello Everyone,

We've turned another corner into a little summer. That's the time when the Falmouth Road Race is over and the college students leave to get ready to return to classes. Life slows down just a little bit from the hectic July days. Even the public schools are starting before Labor Day and it just seems wrong to look at yellow school buses before the holiday. Sunset on August 31st is around 7:30.

Did we ever make a decision about staying on Daylight savings time? I remember when we tried it back in the late 70's. I lasted just until the little kids were getting on the school buses in total darkness then the parents made their choice loud and clear. Standard time was good for early classes and buses.

Jay is making the trek in early ours of the day to The Big Apple and we now have, in addition to the best peaches in New England, apples. Paula Reds and Gravenstein are the first tart apples to come off the trees. We have some cukes and other staples from the Big Apple. I'm glad they know ow to grow a late summer garden. We find it a challenge. Jay like the garden neat and tidy. Pick a row of beans a couple of time, turn it under and plant something for fall. I take a different approach. Pick the row clean, wait for the new flowers to set and keep picking beans over and over again. There is one raggedy row of beans that we started picking on July 9th and I pulled a 5 gallon bucket of beans out of it this morning. There are still flowers on the plants so I will continue to defend it from the tines of the tractor. Ken is keeping busy picking tomatoes and lettuce. Thank goodness Sandra is keeping up with the flower bouquet. I just don't have the energy to do that chore. More than the energy, I don't have her eye for color and form. The shallots from the garden are finally dried and are on the stand.

The chrysanthemums are starting to crack color so they are coming out of the greenhouses. We have some yellow and bronze/orange coloring up a little earlier than expected. He set the price a $5.99/9” pot. He doesn't want them to linger here. They are looking good with generous and tight branching. We have five or six varieties of perennials that are potted up in the seeding house that are for sale. There is some lupine, delphinium, helianthus, swamp milkweed,cone flower. We have some work to do on the milkweed before it is ready for prime time. Here's an article about aphid control on milkweed. There are some very unusual ideas here. That's just what we need.

https://monarchbutterflygarden.net/control-aphids-milkweed-plants/

The perennials are staying in the seeding house because the automatic watering system does the job better than we could at this time of year. We thought we would try starting perennials from seed and we are pleasantly surprised to see how many of them did well. Now they have to go into ground and chill out for a winter season, or vernalize, so they will bloom in the spring.

The kitten report: The little explorers are climbing up Jay's legs and he always wears shorts. They have an all consuming interest in shoes and boots; the smellier the better. They sniff them, climb over them, dive into them head first and play with any loose laces. Wheezie is very patient. Here tail never stops swishing so the kittens always have something to pounce on.

We're keeping the gold kitten. He's a chub. They've started climbing the drapes, right on schedule. Kittens climbing drapes is our entertainment and the drapes were a super bargain so we don't worry about them.

 

The kittens have been moved from our bedroom to the sun room/living room. They hangout in back of a big chair on a soft blanket. They're cute when the sleep and they more cute when they wake up. I have to be careful not to let those moments interfere with chores or driving. Wheezie claims the house her territory and defends it from our other older cats while she is caring for kittens. She takes exception to Cat-a-chino at all times and he's terrified of her. He can go from the kitchen, down the cellar stairs and out the cat door in the basement in less than four seconds. He may be older but she's meaner.

That's all the news for now. Be sure to stop by and see what we have growing for you.

Jay and Phyllis Sprout