In the Northeast:

Now being picked: assorted salad greens, cucumbers, zucchini, string beans and Cherokee trail of tears pole beans. Melons, too: musk, cantaloupe, watermelon. Lots of flowers appearing on winter squash plants sown in late spring: on track for the October harvest.

Seeing early fruit on tomato plants and getting a sense for how the crop will turn out this year. On the lookout for early and middle stage insects and early blight that wilts leaves. Eyes still peeled for horn worms that can be a threat to tomatoes, and for flea beetles that chew tiny holes in lettuce.

Out at the farm stand, more and more visitors are stopping by as the height of the summer vacation season nears.

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Fresh eggs from Salisbury, Vermont. Established in 1946, Maple Meadow Farm is family owned and operated by George E. & Jackie Devoid, the second generation of Devoids, whose daughter Jen and son Niles are also part of the family farm.

 http://maplemeadowfarmeggs.com/

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

We’ve known David Blyn and Laura McKinney since 1990. Four different families have raised crops and milked cows on their land since colonial times. Today Riverbank Farm grows certified organic vegetables, cut flowers and hay. Nourished by the fertile soil of the Shepaug River, the farm uses no herbicides, synthetic fertilizers or synthetic pesticides.

http://www.riverbankfarm.com

Five Acre Farms. Positively Local.TM

Farmers play an important role in society as, among many other things, stewards of our land. Because their farming practices directly impact the quality of our drinking water, these practices are directly relevant to all of us.

For those of us living or working in Metro New York, the best example of this direct link may be that we rely on the upstate watershed, home to several hundred farmers, for our water supply. So, it’s easy to see how supporting farms that practice sustainable and therefore water-protective agriculture is important to all of us and the way we live.

The good news is that, as consumers, we can do something for ourselves and the health and well-being of our families while at the same time promoting the collective good – buying products that are made using sustainable farming practices.

Five Acre Farms – Positively Local