Our Bonus Box event was so much fun!

STORIES & UPDATES

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This weekend we welcomed 85 families to our farm to our "Bonus Box" harvesting event! Every year when we open enrollment for the following season's subscription program, we offer an early bird special period of time. If you enroll during that early bird period, it comes along with bonus offers. One offer has been to come to the farm on a Saturday in September and harvest your own bonus box.

It was a beautiful day, and so positive to spend time with community members. If this is something that interests you in the future, look out for our 2026 subscription program information next week - we'll offer the same promotion again!

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This past week we spent a lot of time harvesting fall crops: pumpkins, gourds, and even ornamental corn. This week, we'll be peeling back the husks of the ornamental corn and letting it dry out. Afterward, we hope to offer our bundle-your-own-corn promotion we've held in prior years. Fingers crossed that the corn looks healthy underneath the husks!

We also relieved tons of Randy's stress by finishing our fall beet weeding project and doing the very last of the seeding and planting. We always aim to finish by September 15th, and we met our goal. Can you guess what the final seeding of the season is?

It's fall greens! Arugula, Tokyo bekana, Asian greens, and radishes will carry us into early December.

On deck this week, we hope to begin harvesting the winter squash that's ready, although it'll entail wading through the plants to find ones that are ripe. Since we had to reseed them so many times due to birds, there are a lot of unripes ones still. See how this spaghetti squash is still a little green?

Whatever we harvest, we'll put into storage until after the first frost. For now, we continue to eat and enjoy our warm weather crops with a sprinkle of cool weather crops that are ready. Since the squash will store, we believe it's important to embrace seasonality and enjoy what we're still able to produce currently.

This week, we'll also attempt to dig up some sweet potatoes to see how they're doing. We'll also mass harvest the peppers, including blemished ones, to keep the plants producing nice ones for another month or so.

We thought about making another batch of Sunday Sauce with a thousand pounds of tomatoes we harvested last week. They're all cracked due to the rain we had one of the days. However, our processor is booked until September 26th! We'll try to find another use for them in the meantime. Members will be offered a bonus tomato this week!

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If you have a student in Shelton Public Schools, ask them if they tried husk cherries this week. Chances are, they probably already have at the farm. But what a cool opportunity to be able to share that experience with other children who haven't!

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A note about the plum tomatoes: Our crop has been incredibly underwhelming this season. We understand how frustrating this is for everyone, especially because we can't pinpoint availability. They continue to ripen slowly and we pack boxes as they become available. We don't reserve boxes and we can't notify individually. The best bet is to follow us on social media @laurelglenfarmllc when we will post in real time if we are able to pack any boxes. In order to avoid disappointment, it may be in your best interest to locate another source for your plum tomatoes.

However, we are able to pack boxes of tomato "seconds" almost every day. These are $36.99. Walk in and ask, and we'll pack it for you. Regular tomatoes have a higher water content, so it will simply require more simmering time.

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Mums are now available in 5 colors: red, orange, yellow, pink, and white. They're not blooming yet, so you can enjoy them for the duration of the fall. This variety blooms in early October. Mum pots are $10 each or 2 for $18 (+ tax).

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Save the date for Sunday, October 12th at 7 a.m. for Enrollment Day! This is when you can start to sign up for next year's subscription program. Many more details to come in the weeks ahead, including our early enrollment special offers.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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• Pick-your-own has concluded for the 2025 season. Thank you for making beautiful memories with us at The Fields at Laurel Glen Farm!

  
  

• The Shelton Farmers' Market runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 100 Canal Street.

• The Monroe Farmers' Market runs every Friday from 3 to 6 p.m at 7 Fan Hill Road.

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STORE INFORMATION

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Here is the fresh produce we plan to have in stock while supplies last (through Friday, September 19th):

• Arugula

• Basil

• Bell peppers

• Carrots

• Collard greens

• Cucumbers (slicing and pickling)

• Eggplant

• Garlic

• Grape/cherry tomatoes

• Green & wax beans

• Hot peppers (assorted)

• Husk cherries

• Kale

• Kohlrabi

• Lunchbox peppers

• Napa cabbage

• Onions

• Parsley

• Scallions

• Shishito peppers

• Tomatillos

• Tomatoes

• Yellow squash

• Zucchini

CURRENT STORE HOURS:

Monday: 10:30 to 4 p.m.

Tuesday: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Wednesday: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Thursday: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

​​Saturday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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VEGETABLE SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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MAIN SEASON WEEK 15 of 20

(Tuesday, September 16th through Saturday, September 20th)

Share Contents (Listed approximately from shortest shelf life to longest)

Large:

• 1 eggplant

• 1 1/2 lbs. of tomatoes

• 1/2 lb. of green beans

• 1 head of Napa cabbage

• 1 lb. of bell peppers

• 1 kohlrabi

• 2 small free choice items: TBD

  
  

Small:

• 1 eggplant

• 1 lb. of tomatoes

• 1/2 lb. of green beans

• 1 head of Napa cabbage

• 1 kohlrabi

• 1 small free choice item: TBD

Storage tips and recipes for all of the vegetables in this week's share can be located on our website, here.

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Vegetable Subscription Pickup Policies

• All pickups must take place within store operating hours. For many reasons, we can't leave shares outside the store. Pickup days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

• If you need to skip your share for the week, or change your pickup day, you must provide us with 48 hours' notice for any of the options below. This is because we pack shares the day before pickup. Once your share has been harvested and packed, we can not change or cancel your pickup.

• For Tuesday pickups being changed, we need to know by Sunday.

• Wednesday pickups, we need to know by Monday.

• Saturday pickups, we need to know by Thursday.

• You have the option to choose another pickup day in a given week: we offer share pickup on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday only.

• You can skip a pickup and receive a double the following week.

• If you miss your pickup, we will hold your share for 24 hours after your pickup day, and then it will be donated to a local food pantry. With more members than ever before, we don't have the cooler space to hold onto shares longer than this. This is a great option if you accidentally miss your pickup - just come the next day.

• You can always send a guest to pick up in your place by simply notifying us of their name.

• Please send us an email to laurelglenfarm@gmail.com 48 hours before your anticipated pickup in order to make a change. You must submit your request in writing in order to leave a paper trail. This allows you to show proof to our store staff at pickup in the event that we need clarification.

• If a share is picked up outside of your scheduled time (aside from an approved change) or the 24 hour holding period, you will be billed for an additional share.