SELLMEYER FARM NEWSLETTER

We had around 5 inches of rain Saturday & Sunday! Not good! We have been trying to get all our winter squash and pumpkins picked. We had about half of it done before the rain, and the ground was very soft then. The tractor and wagons sinking in pretty good. We went out yesterday evening to pick another load and boy was it muddy. I just went barefoot, was easier and sunk up to my ankles in places and we haven't even made it to the wet end! But boy are we having a bumper crop! We have butternut squash galore, and they are big! We also planted the long neck kind and have plenty of those, plus acorn, spaghetti and several new varieties. There are lots of decorative gourds and several cushaws! The only thing that didn't do well was the pumpkins. We have some little pie pumpkins and some new warty pumpkins, but not much of the regular pumpkins.

We've also been busy drying apples, lots and lots of apples! I think we've done around 7 bushel so far?! But we are having problems with our dehydrator. The motor was having problems, and Greg replaced that, now the heater is giving him fits. So he is waiting on getting a price for that so he can get it ordered! He has also been trying to find a 5 foot disc. Has been to a couple of auctions, but so far no luck, will probably just have to get a new one. He now is working on getting some shelves made for the pickup so he can go pick up all the strawberry plugs that will be arriving in a few days! I just hope it dries up enough so we can use the new transplant machine we got last winter that we haven't been able to use yet because it was too wet this Spring! Three thousand strawberries would go much faster and better on my body if I was sitting on the back of a machine than on my hands and knees!!