Week 10: Halfway point and so many tomatoes

The summer is in full swing as we see the bounties of fruits such as tomatoes, peppers, melons and the return of lettuce this week after a brief hiatus with the heat that has rolled through in the last two months. Lettuce HATES heat and turns bitter and nasty just before it flowers into tall rocket shaped trees- we do our best and plant heat and 'bolt' resistant varieties but even those aren't able to withstand temps of over 95. New plantings are starting to size up with all the rain we've had.
We sent out first round of tomatoes to be processed into our delicious puree last week. It is so exciting to arrive at the kitchen with the pickup filled with sauce tomatoes and seconds and know that they are going to be made into gorgeous jars of pureed tomatoes for the store! We grew extra rows of sauce tomatoes this year especially for puree and they include a blend of heirloom sauce such as Northampton Italian and orange banana and hybrids such as Granadero.
 Even as we are harvesting these summer fruits, our farmer eyes are looking towards the fall and winter harvest as we plan, seed and plant for October, November and December harvests. Fall beets, broccolis, cabbages, roots and greens went into the ground last week and more seed was ordered to fill in some additional beds with cold hardy veg that will be perfect come October's crisper days and cold nights.
The goats are back from their hiatus at Weir River and Moose Hill Farm, looking fat and sleek. They will probably be here for a couple of weeks until farmers are back from a little vacation and they are ready for the flock on the Vineyard. I swear these will be the most cultured and well-traveled goats of all.
Our second farm dinner was sold out again and a great time was had by all. Destin had his telescopes out on the hill as the dusk came down and my daughters reported viewings of Mars &Venus. He will also be here for the September dinner and the night sky is a real treat. Don't miss out on September's dinner- tickets are going pretty fast and this dinner will sell out.
What's in Your Share this week (maybe):
Kale
Summer Squash & Zukes
Cukes
Fresh Onions
Scallions
Musk melons
Carrots (appleton)
Lettuce
Tomatoes

PYO:
Beans
Cherry tomatoes
flowers
herbs-parsley, basil
Chili peppers: Jalapenos, Czech blacks, hungarian hot wax are marked, but there are also long red cayenne and serranos out there as well. Shishitos will be marked when they are ready.
Okra

What's new in the farmstand:
So our fridge gave out on Tuesday morning (So sorry if you have gotten a milk that went sour too quickly!!! We keep an eye on the temperature, but it only takes a couple of hours at above 40 degrees to make the milk go bad faster than its sell by date.) Repair will take a day or so, until then, if you are looking for egg/cheese they are in our walk in and we are happy to assist you.
Our pickled beet are on the shelf!!!!! They are tasty and beautiful....!
We have a new coffee flavor on the shelf this week from Dean's Beans- Mexican Chiapas French Roast- it is described as a smooth, full-bodied cup with notes of bittersweet cocoa. We also now have ground coffee in two of our most popular flavors: Ring of Fire (a Sumatran, Timor and Papua new Guinea blend of dark smokiness) and Moka Sumatra (a medium blend of Nicaraguan and Sumatran for silky, dry cocoa flavors).