Sprout Farm Newsletter         June 20th 2026           sproutfarm.net            open 9-5 daily

Happy Father's Day. I got it right this time. It is also the longest daylight day of the year. If the weather continues to be dry and hot, head for the beach or the backyard bar-b-que. The whole world is discovering what a beautiful country we live in. The videos on YouTube of the Europeans are discovering how America is nothing like it is portrayed in their media. The TSA went so far as to caution international travelers to pack their Ranch Dressing in their checked baggage. They are showing their friends back home Wal-Mart, yellow school buses, Buckies and the massive stadiums we have, even at our high schools. Most of all they appreciate the warm welcome they are receiving from Americans and we get to see our country through fresh eyes. Thank you. They love the small towns especially in the south where southern flows like mother's milk. Well, Mashpee is small and we welcome old friends and love to make new ones. This is the transition season for us. The garden shop clearance is on so we can work our way from plants into the produce season. So Jay says...

Fall has arrived, well actually the mum plugs are here and slowly getting potted up. Our clearance sale has been very productive over the pass week and as such the selection is shrinking so to entice, further mark downs have been made.

Our vegetable offering are slowly expanding. We've started to pick a few tomatoes, bulb fennel is now available along with snap peas. Garlic scapes are all cut so we can look forward to about a month for fresh garlic. A planting of broccoli is beginning to form, the squash is flowering and the potato beetles are ravaging the plants. This is nothing new but the peas do not like this hot dry weather but the cut flowers do. I do not know what we would do without drip irrigation and a well.

We have lots of battery operated tools but batteries are expensive so a little caution is well rewarded. I was purchasing a new drill and wanted an upgrade from the ever present Ryobi lime green boxes but I know that the batteries will run out just about the time the warranty expires. It turns out the upgrade was in a small display for Ridgid Tools, the 'Craftsmen' upgrade I was looking for. Much to my surprise, as long as you register your purchase, the tools and batteries have a lifetime warranty. I had to ask twice. I thought I heard wrong. How can they do that?

It turns out that the Ridgid battery has a safety feature that uses the sensor inside the battery called a thermostat to tell the charger if it’s safe to charge or not. This feature will also kick in if your battery is too hot, so next time if you forget your battery outside under straight sunlight or overuse it, expect it to display a steady amber warning light. Just let the battery cool down until you can insert it into the charger without triggering the amber light. Neat right? You guys know all about this but I grew up going to fabric shops with my mother so this is new to me.

The kitten report: Wheezie is getting chubby again and I don't think it is from extra treats. I have no guess as to any date so we will wait for the day with patience. When we raised dairy goats we learned to gently run our hand along the backbone of the doe about to give birth. If we could feel a muscle that was parallel to the tailbone we knew it wasn't time yet. When that muscle thinned and everything near the tail was flexible you knew you had twenty-four hours to prepare for new arrivals, usually twins. I don't know if cats are built the same but I doubt Wheezie would let herself be examined like that. She is very particular how she likes to be touched and that area is off limits. So we wait and let mother nature take care of events. This cycle would end if we would get her spayed or trap Scruffy and get him fixed. We've done it before so strays beware!

That's all the news for now. Be sure to drop by and see what we have growing for you.

Jay and Phyllis Sprout