Week 16 

My in-laws arrived last night from Helena, Montana.  Helena and Montana in general have been plagued with wild fires and smokey skies for all of late summer.  The rain or snow is needed there, as well as here, but the looming rain put a little extra skip in our step last week.  We hauled in a good portion of the winter squash.  It can tolerate some rain, but we always like to get the varieties with corky stems out of the field while they are dry.  We worry about the soft stems absorbing moisture and the squash getting dirty.  A little mud isn't a big deal but wiping ten thousand pounds of squash can take a while.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and the spaghetti squash and butternuts will have to come out later this week.

We use to haul all our squash out in hand carried crates.  A couple years a go we started loading them into watermelon boxes, a real back saver.  We use a tractor to drive the boxes through the field tossing and catching the squash to fill the bins.  Then we use a tractor to load boxes in to vehicles, drive to our barn and also unload with a tractor.  The squash will cure there until we sort and sell it.  We do still crate and carry some squash but the forks and the watermelon boxes have been a game changer.

Squash Hauling

Pie Pumpkins

Lettuce
Radishes
Spinach - large this week, small next week
Potatoes - small this week, large next week
Choy
Carrots
Cherry Tomatoes
Sheep Nose Peppers - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only