Sprout Farm Newsletter August 2nd 2025 sproutfarm.net open 9-5 daily

Hello Everyone,

Today's perfect weather has brought a wave of beach goers to our beloved Cape Cod shores and highways. A two mile trip from the camp grounds under the Bourne Bridge to the Duncan Donuts over the bridge took 45 minutes this afternoon. Those bridges were constructed in an era when the model A Ford was still popular. The scenery is pretty while waiting for your turn around the rotary but stay alert because our rotaries may be a new experience for some motorists.

August produce means butter and sugar corn. I pick it up every morning and it goes from the back of the farm truck to the bed of my truck. It can't be any fresher. We have no word on white corn yet. The blueberry season is over but we have peaches from Sauchuk Farm. Thank you Scott for planting peach and apple trees. This is the first year he has provided us with peaches so I don't know how long his season will last. We hope this beautiful weather will include some well timed rain showers because the corn needs rain to develop properly. Drip irrigation works well on a small operation but real farms need rain. Unfortunately, many days the showers in the Berkshire mountains dry up before they reach Southeastern Mass.

For the gardeners: harvest your produce frequently. Many crops will quit producing once they have gone to seed. Check your mulch layer to make sure it is conserving garden moisture. Shade tunnels work well to keep crops cool but they are difficult to find. We do not have lettuce starts at this time of year but you may be able to direct seed lettuce as long as you keep the soil moist. The bulb catalogs will soon be in your mailbox, tempting you with a promise of spring color. If you plan on naturalizing your landscape with spring bulbs you need to calculate the first time you mow your lawn and then plan backwards to have your bulbs complete their entire growth cycle before the blade cuts the leaves. Daffodils are definitely out of the question as their leaves hang around for months after the blooms are spent. They work well on woodland edges as they take advantage of our late leaf out tree canopy.

We've scouted the garden for signs of the woodchuck and so far the lettuce near the woods is safe from depredation. Sometimes when tools are in the wrong place, it doesn't compute. “Why is the spade in the middle of the summer squash row”? It turns out the groundhog has relocated his home from the wood chip pile in the woods to the summer squash row about 150' away. Man with spade against beast, who will win? We haven't seen the groundhog or any damage to the crops in the area. He's welcome to all the overgrown summer squash and zucchini he can eat. I asked Jay if pigs eat squash because if they do, we should find a way to hook up with someone who is raising pigs. It won't be anyone in Mashpee because the town passed a swine ordinance about 30 years ago. There was a dispute between two neighbors and one man was going to raise pigs just to annoy his neighbor. The Revenge of the Pigs came up at town meeting and now no one can raise pigs in Mashpee. Marijuana yes, pigs- no.

Jay saw one of his new koi in the pond. That's the first koi sighting in weeks. The poor things are about three inches long so it may be years before they're sighted again. The water lilies are doing very well this year now that they are no longer a salad bar for dozens of koi. Koi love to dine on water plant roots. The pond would be even more beautiful without the net but Jay is not taking any chances with his new koi.

The kitten report: They will be four weeks old in a few days and they are exploring their new location. They are now in the sun room at the end of the house and it's the perfect place for us to keep an eye on them. The upstairs storage area was too near the stairway and one of the kittens fell down a stair and was too small to get back up to his home. The time was right to bring them downstairs. They are sure to be huddled in a colorful kitten fur ball in the morning when the temperatures are chilly. Wheezie is very casual and checks up on them just long enough to feed them and give them a lick and a promise. When they want a little privacy they crawl under the treadmill and know that no one will bother them. The treadmill has been collecting dust for months. We were recently gifted with some dry cat food that all five cats love and we wish we knew what brand it is. If our benefactor is reading this, please let us know the name of the miracle food. Thank you.

That's all the news for now. Stop by and see us soon.

Jay and Phyllis Sprout