Fall is a busy time on the farm. The last of summer harvest and the weekly Middletown Farmers Market are finished.

Late fall activity has turned to winter vegetable planting of spinach, Swiss chard, arugula, garlic, and lettuce blends in SHF vegetable hoop houses. While these will not be grown for market, residents of the farm will have fresh produce available for their own use.

SHF wants to thank its growing list of supporters who come to the Middletown market to especially buy SHF produce and flowers. The community support has been amazing as has the interest in farm activities been gratifying.

Late fall is also a time of planning ahead for next spring. Seed ordering and bed preparation are well under way in anticipation of seed planting in late winter. The goal is to broaden the selection of seedlings planted so that there is a succession of vegetable produce throughout the year. To support this, SHF received a generous donation to purchase and build a Hydroponics operation for the Farm.

This will allow an expansion of the year-round growing season. Winter 2020 will be the initiation of the hydroponics initiative. The plan is to continue the weekly farmers market in Middletown and to add a produce retail store at SHF as well. Stay tuned for more details about this new operation.