I have been banging posts for the fence and that is a tedious job but moving forward. "Still on the fence?" you ask. Just to give you a number for reference; the perimeter fence is 12,450' and the interior fence is 7,975'. That doesn't feel like much unless you are banging the posts. Add to the mix cutting the second batch of seed potatoes, mulching the asparagus beds, field prep tillage, general cleaning and you get the idea.

Oh yes, as if that wasn't enough, Rt 206 is being resurfaced in several stretches over a 10 mile length. That's all night work and doesn't really create a problem. Never being one to miss an opportunity, on the first night of work I went out and found the Project Superintendent. I made arrangements to connect with him again about the possibility of getting millings from the job. In New Jersey now, instead of just adding a layer of material to the road, large milling machines with huge burr wheels mill off the surface to a consistent depth and then the new material is re laid. A certain percentage of the material is required to be added to the new asphalt to meet recycling demands and the rest is disposed of in the field. So the second time I met with the Super on day 5 of the project I made arrangements for material to be dumped on our lane. When you have time ask me for the whole story. Suffice it to say that I got 20 overloaded truck loads of material, somewhere between 500 and 600 tons of material. To spread this I rented a bulldozer which, along with supplying coffee break for the crew, was the sole expense for the material.

If you have never been to the farm, you won't know that we have over 1/2 mile of private lane and driveway among my three neighbors and I. Most of that length is the lane. As the latins said Carpe Diem, (seize the day) and so we did, or the night and days. I'm still working the material and hope to be substantially finished by Thursday of this week.

Planting is ongoing and the Red Baron onion sets all went in yesterday. The potatoes from Fedco are Purple Viking, Red Norland, Sangre, German Butterball and Kennebec. The onion and shallots are Stuttgarter[ylo onion], Red Baron[red onion], Shallots, Red Sun Shallots, and a new first ever trial of 3# of "Potato Onions". When I was a little boy we used to have a 45 record with a song called Onions and Potatoes. The lyric I can remember goes, " onions and potatoes, everybody here knows, he who peels, is sure of his meals, onions and potatoes: Work, work, and everything works out alright, work builds a healthy appetite.

Hope you are getting hungry for the great food like we are. I can't wait!

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