Sprout Farm Newsletter June 27th 2026 open 9-5 daily sproutfarm.net

Hello Everyone,

The fireworks at the Mashpee Family Picnic are about to start any minute. This will be the first of many displays to take placed over the next few weeks. Let's hope the weather holds fine and not too windy. Speaking of wind, The Five Sisters Cup tall ship race from New York to Boston is scheduled to transit the Cape Cod Canal on July 10, 2026, as part of the Sail250 events. https://sail4th.org/ According to the Coast Guard, for the first time since 1976, Eagle and its sister ships – Gorch Fock (Germany), Sagres of Portugal) and Mircea (Romania) – will race each other for the Five Sisters Trophy. The race will take place between New York City and Boston starting July 9 off the coast of New York.   That is going to be quite a sight.

Back to the plants. Jay say, “We'd like to thank all of you who have taken advantage of our clearance sale. Beginning today, Sunday June 28th, all remaining items are 50% off. We hope this gets the remaining plants sold.” I haven't been 'out front' lately but when I am on the register I am delighted to see the choices people have made. Their gardens are going to be beautiful. Sometimes at the end of the season, I take that last sad looking perennial and plant it at the Mashpee Rotary where some friends of mine maintain an approach to the rotary. We cut the lawn, trim the hedges, plant flower bulbs and try to grow flowers through the summer without water. It's a little, 'give something back to the town' project. Last year I planted a sad looking gypsophila at the rotary. We grew two different kinds and I can't tell which one it is. I was pulling weeds today and looked over at this beautiful plant. I couldn't believe it. It had no attention all last year and this year it is beautiful. I have no idea what's planted in the garden plot but every year something sad goes in and we hope for the best. I don't recommend that degree of neglect but sometimes plants surprise you. If you have hardy hibiscus, look at the leaves. There is a bug that loves to eat hibiscus leaves. Captain Jack will take care of that nicely.

I was weeding onions this afternoon when I came upon the second planting of beets. I knew they were doing well but this was ridiculous. They were double the size of the first planting. How can that be? So Jay is harvesting from both plantings and I finished weeding the third planting this morning. I am so grateful that beets transplant well.

In the cooler we have: beets, sugar snap peas (they hate the heat and are going by quickly), lots of lettuce, Swiss Chard, kale, Broccoli, bulb fennel, pac-choi, garlic scapes, and cut herbs. Jay is starting to pick tomatoes, mini tomatoes and a few cukes from the greenhouse. They go out only in the morning. That's all the produce for now. We don't expect corn until the middle of July.

The kitten report: Wheezie is still getting chubby. It really shows up on her because she is so naturally thin. Twix has been making an appearance and if he was to get more chubby, you would never know. It would just blend in. The hunters have taken a break and there are no more surprises waiting for us in the morning. We give thanks. This week I glanced out at the back corner of the garden and saw a young deer. He was on the forest side of the deer fence so that was OK. Our greenery must look pretty succulent compared with forest growth. We do not run a salad bar for deer but as long as the fence stays up we will be fine.

That's all the news for now. Stop by the farm and see what we have growing for you,

Jay and Phyllis Sprout