A Note from Layton | October is a Liminal Time at Quail Hill Farm

October is a liminal time at Quail Hill Farm, when we are grasping at the last days’ worth of summer crops, while the autumn crops bask in the cooler days and wetter weather.

Summer buckwheat cover crops have flowered and set a seed, and the cover crops of Leonard oats and Austrian winter pea peek out of the silt loam, theirs a vibrant green against the golden late October light.

This weekend, we close out the Summer CSA harvest season with a proverbial bang: cauliflower, cabbages and broccolis in their prime, succulent state; sweet leafy kale, piquant tatsoi and broccoli rabe, savory parsley, dill and cilantro will all be ready for you in the fields. At the stand, we will bring out sweet potatoes (which, after having cured in our greenhouse for the week, should be cloyingly sweet and suitable for storage), potatoes, carrots, beets and winter squash from our fields afar.

With the conclusion of the summer share, you are WELCOME to come and glean from the abundant rows on Birch Hill — but please, keep gates closed! We will no longer stock the stand on harvest days, but hope you and your family will enjoy the bounty of the Hill well into the late autumn.

After Saturday, we only have four short weeks until the beginning of our famous Winter Share!

Our first pick-up, the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 22-23), will include dozens of fresh and storage crops from our fields. In addition to common storage crops, we also have preserved a panoply of summer treats for the deep winter: roasted sweet peppers and tomatoes, dry beans, wheatberries, and of course smoked and dried hot peppers.

Please join us! You can learn more by calling us at the farm shop: 631.267.8492.

Thanks for another great summer season, and we’ll see you in the fields!

Layton