October 2026 Newsletter: Bulk Orders & Closing Day at the Farmstand

The sultry, heady tomato- and blueberry-soaked days of high summer are past, the bracing weather of fall has begun, albeit in fits and starts. Our first frost officially fell on Wednesday morning, a light touch that damaged some tender crops, but did no damage to the hardier crops that we count on to carry us through the end of the season. The season thus far has been a qualified success (much preferable to an unmitigated disaster), with a few unfortunate exceptions. As has become customary, a promising pea season, buoyed by a cool May, was cut short by a succession of days in the 90s in early June. This early heat wave caused some other long-term issues with certain crops—early fruit set in eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes was negatively impacted, resulting in a slow start to these crops’ seasons. Beans were likewise affected, heat limiting the fruit set, and an unusually heavy leafhopper infestation took its toll on several succeeding bean plantings. This same insect (a much smaller relative of the notorious Spotted Lanternfly, and more properly known as Potato Leafhopper) had a limiting effect on potato yields—we had a decent crop, but not large enough to offer 50 lb bags at the end of the season, so there won’t be sign-ups for bulk potatoes this year. Carrots and other slow-germinating crops also proved problematic—an unprecedentedly parched spring went unquenched until quite recently. Rainfall all summer was sparse and scarce; seeds that require weeks of moist soil to emerge strongly struggled despite our (inadequate) efforts to keep them hydrated—the result: failed plantings of carrots, beets, cilantro and others. Of course these are crops that we plant many times over the course of the season, and certainly not all failed, but they have been more scarce than we would have wished. Our very last seeding of carrots, seeded weeks after our “official” last seeding was pronounced a failure, germinated strongly in the cooler, wetter soil that resulted from the tardy rains of late summer. Unfortunately, these were seeded late enough that they may not mature in time for the end of the season, but if they do size up in time, we may have enough carrots to offer 25 lb bags toward the end of the month or possibly in November—stay tuned! Other storage crops are abundant (more or less) except, inexplicably, Purple Top Turnip, which is usually a cinch. Sweet potatoes did quite well over the hot, dry summer (with some intense irrigation) and we will be offering 20lb bulk bags of sweet potatoes to pick up during the last week of October. The sweet potatoes have significant scarring from the feeding of the grubs of Asiatic Garden Beetles (for which we have no remedy). The scarring is almost entirely cosmetic, so the quality and storage life of the roots isn’t compromised. Sign-ups are here following this link- remember signing up isn’t a guarantee of a bag, we will go down the list in order and fill until we run out. Please wait for a confirmation email that your bag got filled before coming in to pick up! Fall success have been numerous – our apples, which over the past ten years have been on an every other year cycle, produced their greatest crop on an even numbered year in literally over a decade! Cabbage is large and plentiful, hot and sweet peppers continue to come in, eggplant is still hanging on, and all the leafy greens continue to impress. And maybe the greatest pumpkin harvest we have ever had?! Jack-o-Lanterns abound! But of course, the farmstand season is coming to an end. The Farmstand will close for the season on Sunday November 1st at 4pm (an hour earlier than usual for a Sunday) We hope you have enjoyed another season of growing with us, and we hope to see you before we close our doors for the winter – the stand is loaded these days with both tender and storage vegetables and fruits. As always please check out the “what’s at the stand” tab on our website for the latest listing of what is available.  We hope to see you soon! -Brian, Liza, and the rest of the Hutchins Farm Crew