Our latest Newsletter

From our latest newsletter (Hutchinson Farm News Vol. 14 No. 5 Sunday June 27, 2010):

Hot cold hot cold wet dry wet dry. That pretty much sums up this past spring. As a result the strawberries bloomed all at once, which makes them ripen all at once, so the season was much shorter than normal. We've been talking to the cherry growers at market, and it's the same thing -the cherry season will be short. And the weeds, they're coming on all at once too! Yes, Mother Nature sure makes farming, shall we say, "interesting!"

    * Raspberries
      "David, I have never seen a better looking patch of raspberries" said our crop consultant a few days ago. It sure was nice to have good news about a berry crop this year, we knew the raspberries were looking fantastic, but our consultant has seen a lot of different raspberry patches over the years, so that really means something. The canes are absolutely loaded with berries. Right now we've got enough berries for a steady supply of "ready pick" berries at our store.

    * Pick-Your-Own
      We are all set to have a fantastic pick-your-own raspberry season, and it will begin in a few days -depending on the weather of course. We're checking the patch each day, and as soon as there are lots of ripe berries for easy picking, we'll open up the patch for the pick-your-own. The best picking will be over the next two to three weeks. Please note, picking starts at 9:00 in the morning this year, an hour later than other years. In the photo, Rebecca is enjoying an evening walk through the patch -what a great dessert! By the way, the currants are ready to pick right now.

    * Seascape Strawberries
      If you missed out on the main season of strawberries, don't worry, you can still enjoy our "day neutral" summer strawberries. This is experimental for us this year, so we only planted four short rows, so that we can learn how to grow them best. They are just starting to ripen, and we like them -the flavour is very good. We'll be picking them every Sunday (we don't have enough for every day). We had our first taste last week, they were good, tasted just like strawberries should, but it was an unusual harvest. We picked a few from the field, but most of them came from the hanging baskets and small pots that we had planted up!

    * World Cup Fever
Did you notice Rebecca's jersey? With four Mexicans living on our farm, we are, of course, rooting for the Mexican team. As I write this early on Sunday morning, I'm looking forward with great anticipation (and trepidation?) to this afternoon's game against Argentina. Any sensible fan would just close the farm so that we all can watch the game without any interruptions, and you customers would be out of luck. But we are also devoted to providing you with that "just picked" freshness, so of course we will be open, and we're recording the game. As it turns out we won't be able to watch the game until Monday night, and we want to watch it without knowing the outcome. This is where you come in: If you are coming to the farm Sunday afternoon or on Monday, please please please don't mention the game! Thanks!

You'll be seeing more summer crops coming in over the next few weeks, everything is growing very well, and I'm keeping a close eye on those heirloom tomatoes. We'll do our best to keep ahead of the weeds!

Bye for now,

The first pint

It's their irresistible smell that makes them so wonderful. In our farm store this morning, we had a table full of strawberries, and in came the very first tray of raspberries for the season. All you could do was smell raspberries as their bouquet enveloped the area, overpowering everything else. What a delight, I had to nibble a few right away, then run for the camera before I ate too many!

So the raspberry season has begun! We now have a steady supply of raspberries (hopefully until the end of July). We will have lots of pick-your-own raspberries soon.

Crop of the Century?

Raspberries Raspberries Raspberries

We have never seen the canes so loaded! Fifty years from now you'll be telling your great grand children how back in 2010 you picked two six quart baskets of raspberries without moving your feet (what's wrong with a little exaggeration?). Our crop consultant says he has never seen a better crop of raspberries anywhere in his entire 40 year career.

We have picked the very first red rasps (they went straight into the mouth). We'll have some for sale next week, and the famous 2010 pick-your-own by the end of June into mid July.

Hutchinson Farm News Vol.14 No.4

Our latest newsletter:

What a month it has been! We've gone from short pants in April, to ice on the strawberries in mid May, followed up by a record breaking heat wave. Just a few days ago we were struggling to keep everything watered, and believe me it was a battle, thank goodness we've sold all the lobelia -it needed watering three times a day in our hot greenhouses! Oh, well, at least we finally got some rain, so we can give the irrigation pump a rest! It is hard to believe that a mere three weeks ago, we had gale force winds, temperatures barely above freezing, and customers purchasing flowers dressed in winter coats, hats and mittens. Wow, that's just not right!

• Berry Update
  An almost snow-less winter, mid-winter thaws, an early spring, a dry spring, three nights of late frost, and a heat wave. It's a strawberry farmer's nightmare. The season will be short. Yield will be down, maybe not enough berries for pick-your-own. That's the bad news out of the way. We do have good news: The first strawberries will be picked very soon (this weekend?), the raspberries will be early, and they look excellent, as do the currants. Look for raspberries towards the end of June.
  
  
• Flowers Update
  We still have a great selection of flowers, you could even say there is still too much choice! Certainly we have sold lots of things (including Pretty Much Picasso), but as I look down our list to the right, there are only a handful of flowers that we're completely sold out of. Maybe I'm getting better at predicting how things will sell? Maybe not: Black Magic Ivy Geraniums, White Superbells Calibrachoa, and Tidal Wave Petunias. Three flowers I can't figure out why we still have so many of them left.
  
  
• Milton Market Don't forget there is no Milton market Saturday June 5th. The downtown businesses decided to have some kind of street festival, and booted the market off the street so that they could have lots of time to set up. The lack of support for the market by these businesses and the town council (who supported the closing of the market) leaves me speechless. If you're unhappy with the market being closed, the downtown merchants are who you need to talk to. We'll be at the Saturday Burlington Farmers Market as usual. Check it out, it's never canceled!
  
  
• Not everything makes the newsletter: The first rhubarb, a big kiss, a scary beetle... posted on our FaceBook page and our Blog
  

As I was writing this newsletter, I kept thinking that there was something else I had been meaning to mention, but it wouldn't come to me, even though his sharp teeth were gnawing on my toes! Yes, we got our new pup a few days ago, so we now have two Chocolate Labs in the family, so far so good, he's managing to pee outside most of the time, but you may see me wearing some tattered shoes!