Getting the farm ready for winter; visitors mob the farmstand; pumpkins, squash & sweet potatoes; Farm Tots & Pumpkin Farm Tours

Another week has sped past. Last weekend was quite intense - two record breaking days for the farmstand.Monday & Tuesday were mostly office days - catching up on records. Yesterday was rainy but we still had quite a few visitors to the farm. Today feels more wintery. The big fall & winter rains are still holding off, so we can still work in all the fields.

The field crew is now spending much of their time readying the farm for winter. They cleared out the two cucumber hoophouses and pulled all the field tomato stakes. They have been pulling up the weed-barrier plastic and the dripline. Enrique had been tilling the pumpkin and squash fields with the rototiller, but was having trouble with the vines winding themselves around the tiller, so we switched to using the spading machine. The spader chops through the vines, but it does leave a rougher surface. Our winter rye grain seed came Wednesday. I found a source of organic rye seed (Albert Lea Seed House) that is not hugely more expensive than conventional seed, even including delivery from Minnesota.

We are falling behind on our cover crop seeding schedule – the extra day the farmstand is open has been taking up an extra morning each week. I’m hoping to put a big dent into the cover cropping this week. We are still ripening up some tomatoes and eggplant, but the amounts are less each day. We have harvested some Brussels sprouts, but they take a considerable time to harvest – I doubt I’ll grow them again for a while. The storage greenhouse is emptying out. We brought to the farmstand the last of many of the winter squashes, all of the mini pumpkins, and the gourds.

Some of our distinctive pumpkins. From the left: Cinderella (Rouge Vf D’Etampes), Galeux D’Eysines, Lumina, and Red Warty Thing. The Jarrahdale and Marina di Chioggia pumpkins are not in the photo.

The crew dug most of the remaining sweet potatoes. Carol cooked some and mashed them with butter and sage – definitely a recipe to repeat. I still haven't tasted the Winter Luxury Pie pumpkins, but I have gotten great reports from several people.

x

Our first crop of Sammamish Valley Sweet Potatoes.

The third weekend in October is usually the biggest weekend of our season. Saturday and Sunday were both beautiful days, which really brought out the farm visitors. The farmstand staff all worked like heroes to keep the lines as short as possible.

Saturday’s kettle corn crew.  Left to right: Carole, Carol, Meg, and Christina

This is also the biggest week for our Pumpkin Farm group tours. This year we have had only one really rainy morning – even then it only rained on the first two tour groups. I’ve been saying goodbye for the season to the Farm Tots on the wagon ride. Tomorrow will be the last day. We have been passing out a little survey about the Farm Tot program and have gotten back a reasonable number, with some good comments.

Our Flashlight Nights at the farm have been attracting groups of various ages, but I have also been pleased to see quite a few families with small children going through the maze at night. We will be open Halloween eve - should be fun.

Only one more weekend in the 2006 season! We have a dozen tons or so of pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. I’m hoping for a lot of last-weekend Jack O’ Lantern shoppers. There is still weeks of field work preparation for winter.

What's playing in the Jeep CD player today? Wicked Tinkers - Loud