October 2025 Newsletter: Bulk Orders & Last Day of the Farmstand

We were all recently told by an (apparently) unimpeachable authority that climate change is a hoax. Perhaps so, but the thoroughness with which this hoax is being perpetrated continues to impress, with the long stretch of August-like weather in early October we just enjoyed as a recent example—very convincing, but then I’m a gullible farmer. Frost will arrive nonetheless, perhaps one day soon, with the unseasonal heat fleeing unimpeded through a cloudless night sky, leaving the dew to congeal and crystallize on the drought-stricken grass and the tidy rows of crops still yet to mature: a not unexpected occurrence this time of year. With under a month to go until we close our doors for the season, we find ourselves with a bounty of certain crops, and a dearth of others. Although this year’s dry weather was largely responsible for the unprecedentedly immaculate appearance of most of our apple crop, and for the persistence of our tomato crop into October, it also had negative consequences for some, primarily those which are problematic germinators under the best of circumstances. To compound our difficulties, we had some issues with labor attraction, with the result that several of our carrot and beet plantings were disasters, half of our parsnip crop got smothered by weeds, and certain other crops (ahem, celery) were total failures. And yet, stubborn as ever, we persist—we will have carrots (perhaps sporadically) for this last month, but not enough to offer our traditional bulk deal. Beets and parsnips will likewise be in evidence, but not abundant. Thankfully, our potato crop is much more robust than last year’s, but because of size and appearance issues, we have decided not to have the usual sign up for bulk 50lb bags. We will, however, likely have unwashed bagged options (5, 10, 20, and maybe some 50 lb) available in the stand first come first serve during the last weeks we’re open. There were big wins too – the winter squash crop looks amazing, our apple crop quality is incredible, and have you seen the size of the rutabagas this year?! Our sweet potato crop thrived in the hot, dry weather (with the help of constant drip irrigation of course), so we have decided to have sign ups for bulk 20 lb bags as we have done for the past couple years—reserved sweet potato bags will be available for pickup during our last week, please see this link for sign ups: HERE (And please remember we fill bulk order requests in the order in which they were received – if you are lower on our list there is less of a chance we will be able to fulfill your request.) The farmstand will close for the season on Saturday November 1st at 5pm. Overall, despite the weather challenges, we had a good year and that is due to our fantastic staff, and to you, our wonderful customers! We will continue to keep the “what’s at the stand” tab on our website as accurate as we can as we head into the final weeks, and we hope to see you one last time (or multiple times!) before cold settles in to enjoy our fall crop bounty. Happy October, -Brian, Liza and the Hutchins Farm Crew