Sprout Farm Newsletter July 25, 2026 sproutfarm.net open 9-5 daily

Hello Everyone,

We've turned the corner and mid summer is just around the corner. I think I saw the first Halloween candy display going up in a supermarket off Cape. This is a sugar conspiracy, I'm sure of it. They can't sell candy and decorations for Labor day so they just skip it and move onto the next holiday.

Now for a better diet, you've come to the right place. The first flush of summer is over, that means we are between the tomato house and High tunnel #1. Translation: we don't have many tomatoes right now because we are waiting for those in the high tunnel to ripen up. We hope the zucchini and summer squash hold up until the second planting starts to produce and Jay spends a lot of time hunting for cukes. I get home from the corn run, grab a bucket and head out to pick beans. Life is very predictable around here. The corn is grown in Plympton, just west of Plymouth. August is coming and we heard from The Big Apple that the peach crop is bountiful. So, someone is going to be getting up nice and early to go to Wrentham pretty soon. There are too many crops to list them all but we sure you'll find something tasty, especially if you stop by in the morning.

Flowers-cut. Our first planting of sunflowers has been cut and are resting in the cooler. From what I see, this will be the best planting of the year so if you have a thing about sunflowers, now is the time to indulge yourself. Sandra is doing a remarkable job pulling bouquets together. The plants are healthy, we just have to be patient on some of them, like asters that have this internal clock that says, “We will bloom when autumn is near.” Thanks. We will do fine.

I have an update on the tomato horn worm saga. The black light flashlight arrived and last week I waited until dark and went out to the tomato house. That's the one where the plants grow up 8-10 feet tall. The horn worms like to start feasting at the tender tips on the top of the plants and work their way down. The ladder was in the center of the row and it was easy to climb up and search for worms, find them, pry them off the branch, put them in a bag. Climb down the ladder, move it four feet and repeat the drill. The black light made the foliage look reddish-purple and the worms stood out as bright turquoise. I couldn't believe the contrast! I could have searched for hours, which I did, and I would not have seen a single one of those worms in bright daylight. At night, with a black light flashlight, those worms glowed and were were toast. There is something deeply troubling about pulling those worms off their branch. They cling, stubbornly, and feel dry and squishy and just icky. Lesson #1, wear gloves to separate you from the worm. It helps somewhat but it is still icky. That first hunt yielded around two dozen huge worms. It was sad to get up close to see the damage they had done. It was good to see the black light showed up tiny worms as well as their big brothers. I went out a week later and did the same drill and only found three worms so that's a big improvement without chemicals.

The kitten report: We have kittens! Rather Wheezie has five new kittens and one is orange. James is happy to finally have an orange kitten. She had them last Sunday under our bed, as usual. So far all has been quiet. She gets us up at 4:55 am just to make sure we keep a strict schedule. She gets fed first, then Jay feed the rest of the clowder or whoever shows up, then I just get up slowly and feed her again. Everyone is on KP duty and she is not shy about letting us know when it is chow time. I will remember their birthday if I call one of them FIFA because they were born on the final day of the World Cup. Four of the kittens are black, gray, white, striped and blotched. I think the kitten list is finished at this time. We just have to keep everyone healthy so they can go to good homes. Chino, our tuxedo cat, showed up tonight for the first time in many weeks. I don't know where he's been but he is hungry and deeply suspicious of the other cats. He's in my face and in front of my screen. I expect to hear fur fly and Chino head for the door as soon as Wheezie catches sight of him. If he's smart, he will lay low and get breakfast tomorrow morning like a proper cat.

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

Jay and Phyllis Sprout