August
August is here and the Summer is in full swing! Read more to see which flowers and vegetables are emerging this time of year.
Reminder, our website is now MaitriNY.com
Flower Update:
New month, new crop! Check out the bodacious blooms we got coming your way:
Dahlias - CROWD FAVORITE
Asters
Sun Ball
Hyacinth Runner Bean
Hibiscus
Amaranth
We are still patiently waiting for the lovely Lisianthus, however we expect to see them the first full week of August.
This is a gentle reminder that there is still time to sign up for our Dahlia CSA. This CSA begins the week of Aug 21st and you can sign up here!
The Dahlia CSA is the last of our warm weather blooms and they truly close out the season with a bang. We hope these gorgeous flowers find their way into your home.
Also, Bulk Blooms are available for purchase through our website linked here. Bulk Blooms are buckets of our dazzling flowers that contain a bountiful number of stems so you have a lot of blooms to work with. They are a great option for those of you looking to host a special event and want to express your own floral, artistic vision. Additionally, this can be a more cost effective way of decorating your celebration than hiring a florist while still having top tier blooms (I’m looking at you, fall wedding DIY queen)
And finally…
You can find our flowers weekly at..
Big Rock Market - Stanfordville
& MAITRI FRIDAY FARM STAND =) 143 Amenia Union RD 1-6 PM
Kent Flower Market
Come join us Saturday, August 12th to see what beautiful flowers we have in store for ya! Alisa won’t be there but our flowers will be!
We also have flowers available at Big Rock Market weekly, find our flowers at their location:
6031 NY-82, Stanfordville, NY 12581
Update from the flower field: we’re in the weeds….After all of the heavy rain & warm humid weather the weed pressure has been a little out of hand. Our goal every year is to minimize the weeds so we have been tweaking field plans & exploring new methods. Farming is a constant learning curve because as soon as you find a method that works for you, circumstances change and you have to be ready to adapt in an instant. Ironically we often deal with the polar opposite end of an issue (too dry, becoming too wet, super cold winters vs mild, early spring, etc.) but such is life. We are thankful to our dedicated crew who painstakingly try to control the annoying little guys that pop up in and around our fields.
Retail Options for Maitri Farm
Maitri Farm has re-vamped our website to include a retail page that includes everything Maitri Farm as to offer. Whether you are looking for a box of organic veggies, home-spun honey from our very own bees or a fresh bouquet, you can find everything Maitri when you go to https://www.maitriny.com/
Friday Farmstand (and Sometimes Saturday)
Summer means you can come down to the farm every Friday for fresh, organic vegetables and herbs from Mairi Farm! We have veggies, flowers, honey, and more! We will be open Fridays 1-6 PM and the first and third Saturday of the month in the mornings, 9-12 (that’s this Saturday and 8/19) come on down for a variety of peppers (we have hot and sweet!) tomatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, green onions, cucumbers, garlic, summer squash and fresh herbs like sage, dill, fennel, chives and cilantro. Come check it out!
Farmstand Dates this month:
August 4 August 18
August 5 August 19
August 11 August 25
Vegetable Update:
The struggles on the farm are feeling especially real this past month. The unusual weather has been creating some havoc in the fields: crops have been blown over in the wind and pounded by the rain which sends us out into the soggy fields for damage control in the form of hastily installed stakes and twine to trellis flowers up off of the ground; the still, humid air has Jenn out in the tomato tunnels early in the morning to prune off leaves and string up vines so that fans can circulate air around ripening fruit; the wet ground makes it difficult to mow or weed and the grass in the paths gets tall and holds in the water, making it hard to move without sloshing and tripping. And don't even get me started on the mosquitos! But the afternoon thunderstorms have been magnificent and we haven't even had to turn on our new irrigation system or spend the time to get lines and a pump set up to irrigate the orchard. This time last year we were scrambling to get water out onto the fields and this year we can't get away from it.
Good news from the veggie fields is that the crops that do like the heat, like the peppers and the sweet corn, are loving it right now. The baby ears of corn are still two weeks or so from being ready, but today's test revealed a nice shaped little ear with pollinated kernels all to the end, so I am cautiously optimistic. New varieties of veggies are ripening for CSA and the Friday Farmstand and this week we started harvesting jalapenos and lunchbox bell peppers, which look like those little snack peppers you buy at the grocery, only these taste good. Our carrots are also loving the weather and the rain soft ground makes them much easier to pick, but harder to get clean.
We've been down a farm vehicle for the past week or so. Our Kawasaki mule, which we used for pretty much everything, decided to give up the ghost so we're beginning the process to get it replaced. Certainly not the end of the world but annoying, as we have to coordinate a bit more to move products out of the field. We often work in two teams, in various areas around the farm, and we do a bit more coordinating so whoever has the truck on harvest mornings can also make a sweep to pick everyone else's hauls.
Thank you to everyone who has managed to make it to the end of our long driveway on Friday afternoons to visit and support our Friday Farm Stand. As those of you who have visited know, the stand is set up on an Honor System - we just don't have enough staff to have it manned - and we've been very lucky and had great success with everything. And thanks to our CSA members who wrestle open our walk-in cooler door to find their weekly share of flowers or veggies. We hope you enjoy the "Farm A/C"
Stay cool out there and take care
It’s CORN!
August means the return of many people’s favorite summer veggie. Corn is a special crop that is full of nostalgia and sweetness. Nothing says summer quite like barefoot afternoons shucking corn husks and sharing stories. Whether you toss it on the grill and slather it in butter or use it to make corn meal for a plethora of cooking and baking options, corn is a diverse, delicious crowd favorite.
Ask a Farmer:
One of the wonderful things about working on a farm is the knowledge of how to care for the land and the plants that grow here. We believe strongly in sharing this knowledge with you and would like to encourage everyone receiving this newsletter to write in with questions for us. These questions can range anywhere from best practices for planting herbs to fertilization to watering and more. We are going to include questions and answers on a designated segment of our website so that everyone can see what is being asked and the information that might be helpful to them. Please email info@maitriny.com to submit questions to us.
We love hearing from you!
