Sprout Farm Newsletter Sept. 3rd 2022 sproutfarm.net open 9-5 daily except LABOR DAY!
Hello Everyone,
As you can see we are taking Labor Day off! Jay plans to spend it working in the garden. If the weather is descent I will take off and enjoy my e-bike, thank you James for the conversion work.
Garden news, There will be no tomatoes until Tuesday. The tomatoes in the field are ripening slowly and they are not nearly as productive as the tomato plants in the high tunnel. I'm going around with the leaf blower to pollinate the plants in the greenhouses. I hope this will produce some October tomatoes.
There are no cukes for the next few weeks and Jay says , "Who know if we will have any more this year."
We are still a little way from having butternut squash but it is coming. I think we will have butter and sugar corn through the end of Sept. but it looks like white corn if finished for the year. This is a sad year for peaches. Let's hope that we get a cold spell early this winter so the peach buds harden up properly. That long lingering fall does something to the peach buds so that they are vulnerable to cold snaps later on.
Last year we had no corn on Labor Day weekend and this year we are missing tomatoes and peaches.
When I asked Jay what was the biggest item in the garden he said, weeds'. I offer some sage advice from Bob Villa about weeds. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/pulling-weeds/ My favorite tool is the Push Pull Hoe from Hoss tools. Caution, sticker shock, but it is the best tool when weeding a bed with drip irrigation lines. https://hosstools.com/product/push-pull-hoe/ This similar but new sharper hoe from Skidger seems to be popular. One reviewer said to be careful or you could cut down your crops. https://skidger.com/ My theory is that you can't harvest what you can't find.
Jay brought out the first mums on Thursday and they have been very popular. A 9" mum pan is $5.67 and the 10" hanging basket is $10.99. There is no question they will sell out fast. Once they are gone, they are gone.
September is the best month here on the Cape. We've earned some R&R of our own.
Kitten report: Sunny is going to his new home on Monday. We are sad to see him go because he has been a joy to watch these last fifteen weeks. We have a friend who needs to find a home for his three year old female, fertile cat. She has a sweet disposition and would make a good pet for someone who wants an older cat and maybe kittens next year. She is an indoor/outdoor cat. This is the mother of those beautiful calico kittens from this spring. It turns out all those rescue places are not too keen on older pets. We love our older cats but they are still trying to figure out why we've had all these kittens. It turns out Jay likes the challenge of socializing kittens and finding new homes for them. I can hear our older cats thinking, "Find homes fast! Winter is coming and I want to curl up by the fire without interruptions.
Fall is the time to have the chimney sweep clean out the chimney of dangerous creasoat. While you are at it check out the latest in fire suppressants- the new fire extinguisher balls. I have never heard of this but we have heated out house with wood for over four decades and I think having these around wood stoves, chimneys and electrical panels, may be a good idea. https://thereviewdaily.com/best-fire-extinguisher-balls/
A note from the Mashpee Garden Club:
September 7th will be here soon ! Hopefully, bringing cooler temperatures, less
humidity and much needed RAIN !, as well as the MGC's first meeting of our
2022-2023 year. We will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 1:00 in the Event Room
of the MPL. Our presenter, Dr. Marsha Alibrandi, former college educator, author
and proud Master Gardener will share her popular program on creating Year-Round
Color in the Garden. It promises to be a very fine presentation.....please bring
questions for her to answer.
That's all the news for now. We hope you stop by and bring a friend. We still have the freshest corn on the Cape.
We'll see you soon,
Jay and Phyllis Sprout
September 7th will be here soon ! Hopefully, bringing cooler temperatures, less
humidity and much needed RAIN !, as well as the MGC's first meeting of our
2022-2023 year. We will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 1:00 in the Event Room
of the MPL. Our presenter, Dr. Marsha Alibrandi, former college educator, author
and proud Master Gardener will share her popular program on creating Year-Round
Color in the Garden. It promises to be a very fine presentation.....please bring
questions for her to answer.
September 7th will be here soon ! Hopefully, bringing cooler temperatures, less
humidity and much needed RAIN !, as well as the MGC's first meeting of our
2022-2023 year. We will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 1:00 in the Event Room
of the MPL. Our presenter, Dr. Marsha Alibrandi, former college educator, author
and proud Master Gardener will share her popular program on creating Year-Round
Color in the Garden. It promises to be a very fine presentation.....please bring
questions for her to answer.