October 2023
The liminal space between harvest and rest.
Find us at the Farmers Market
I love October on the farm - the weather is cooler, our greens are thriving (my favorite veggies to grow), and the colors sparkle in the thick morning dew.
This month we’re bringing arugula, radishes, mustard greens, garlic, kale, microgreens, dried flower wreaths, and more to the markets at:
Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market: Saturdays, until October 14, 9:00am-1:00pm in Academy Park on Center Street.
Lewiston Winter Market: Saturday, October 28, 9:00am-1:00pm at First Presbyterian Church, 505 Cayuga Street
Fall Festival @ Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market
Join us and about 60 other vendors for your weekly farmers market jaunt on October 7 from 9am-1pm in Academy Park. In addition to the vendors (like us!) that are a market staple, there will be many other artisan and food vendors sharing their crafts and a multitude of children’s activities (pony rides, pumpkin painting, face painting, etc.) All of the details can be found on the Facebook event page, (including a listing of vendors).
Winter Market in Lewiston
We are SO EXCITED to share that there will be a winter market in Lewiston this season and that we will be there! This is the first time this is happening and we are thrilled to be able to extend the season with you.
In addition to our lettuce, greens, and other cold-hardy veggies, we’ll have microgreens, jams and jellies, breads, granola, evergreen holiday arrangements, and dried flower wreaths and arrangements available.
Save the image below for the dates and details! See you on October 28 for the start of the season.
Growing Together
This month we will be planting our annual garlic crop. Planted in October, the garlic slumbers over the winter under in a blanket of straw before its green tops begin emerging in the spring. In June, she attempts to release her seeds (we enjoy them as a tasty garlic scape) and the bulb is pulled from the ground in July, before being dried for 3 weeks. It’s about a 9 month process from seeding to eating. It’s so worth it and satisfying though!
If you are interested in growing garlic yourself, we recommend Hudson Valley Seed Company or Fruition Seed Company. We ordered Chesnok Red Garlic from Hudson Valley Seed and the results have been incredible.
Earth Stewardship
Each summer and early fall we plant cover crops on areas of our fields that we’re done using in vegetable or flower production. Primarily we use a combination of oats and field peas. The oats provide quick, weed-suppressing biomass and take up excess soil nutrients. Field peas add loads of nitrogen to the soil. Planting cover crops keeps the soil covered throughout fall and winter, decreasing the risk of erosion throughout the winter snows and spring rains. We use field peas and oats because they also winter kill during heavy freeze cycles, so we don’t have to till them under in the spring in order to utilize the bed they’re growing in. Utilizing cover crops is just one of the techniques we use on our regenerative one-acre farm to improve and protect our farm’s soil.
On the Blog
While we haven’t written anything for the blog since February (whoops!/farming with a baby is exhausting/I’ll put that on the winter to-do list), we have a post about how to use veggie scraps in your kitchen. Since it is soup season (hooray!) I wanted to share the simple way I make vegetable stock using scraps from cooking. Give it a read!
