| The curtain begins to fall on a tumultuous 2020 season—still billowing with summery breezes, though frosty mornings have burned back sensitive crops several times now, and hopes of a late season rally of green beans or tomatoes seem now foreclosed. From a very precarious and uncertain start, our faithful customers and stalwart field crew have carried us through another successful season, adapting to new and difficult situations with patience, good humor and loyalty. Evidence of our crew’s good work can be found all over the farmstand, from piles of spinach, to mountains of brussels sprouts, to pounds of cauliflower. After such a difficult season it is gratifying to see such diversity and abundance of produce fill out the farmstand. The usual challenges that confront the farmer—unfavorable weather, insect and disease pressure, destructive vertebrate pests—this year were, of course, compounded, even eclipsed in some ways by the constant nebulous presence and threat of the coronavirus. But the continued patronage of our customers and the efforts and enthusiasm of our workers roused us from our bewilderment and indecision, repeatedly setting us back on course. The effect of this season’s distinctive challenges on our situation has been considerable, and so, as we near the end of the season, we wanted to relay some information to curious customers. We will close the farmstand on November 1st at 4:30pm (sunset – thanks daylight savings time). Unfortunately, some combination of increased sales and decreased supply have conspired against our having our usual bulk bags of potatoes and carrots. There will be no sign-ups this year, though there may be substantial bulk purchase discounts for items that we do have in abundance during the last week, possibly including storage cabbage, parsnips, leeks, squash, rutabagas, and turnips. After the stand closes, we expect to offer produce on the farmstand porch with our honor system self-serve set up as usual. We will of course try to update our website with what’s out there as much as possible. If we still have adequate supplies around Thanksgiving, we may open up our internet sales page so people can order and pick up produce at the stand – but that will be pretty weather dependent! Please check our website for updates. The Cambridge Central Square Farmers Market and the Somerville Union Square Farmers Market continue until the Saturday and Monday before Thanksgiving, and we expect to attend until they close. We hope to see you before we close – thank you all for your good cheer and patience this season! -Brian Cramer, Liza Bemis, and the rest of the Hutchins Team |
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| A brief rain on September 30th – we’ve barely seen rain clouds all season! |
Farmstand Closing Day: October 2020 Newsletter