The snowflakes that fell in April are still having a lasting effect on our summer produce schedule.  We always try and shoot for fresh sweet corn by the 4th of July, but this year we were about two weeks late and didn't start picking until the middle of July. The good news is that the corn right now is absolutely delicious and the size of the cobs has improved as well. One trick that we tell all of our employees and customers is to make sure you grab the cob by the top of the ear. If the corn is ripe and completely filled out you will be able to tell instantly by grabbing the top. If the corn is not ripe or just not completely filled out you will be able to feel the difference.

Our first peaches usually arrive by the end of July but this year we didn't get our first peaches off the tree until the first of August, however, the dry warm summer we have had since June has made the peaches nice and sweet. But, if you are planning on canning peaches this year be sure and give us a call to reserve yourself a box and find out when your favorite varieties will be arriving. The first free stone peaches (sun crest and Canadian harmony) will be hopefully arriving next week.

Also the green beans and beets are looking beautiful right now and we have them rinsed and packaged in 20lb bags that are perfect for canning. If you are looking for fresh berries to make jam then your time is running out quickly. We have a few Marions and Boysenberries left this week but that is about it on the berries. However, we do have all of your favorites frozen and they work just as good for making jam, pies, and cobblers, and you can do a little at a time if you don't want a whole bunch or just don't have the space.

Every year about this time we have customers arriving with baskets in their trunks or the back of their pickups and they can't understand what they have been doing wrong, but their petunia baskets just won't bloom. The basket is in the full sun, they water it everyday, and have fertilized it regularly, but it is all green and no blossoms. We know instantly what is going on and we take a trip out to the car to catch the culprit in the act.

If you look very closely at the foliage you will begin to see what looks like some of the green stems moving and after fixing your eyes on one of the stems you can see that it's not a stem but a green worm. The beautiful butterflies that have been gracefully floating through the air all summer have laid their eggs on the petunia baskets and their babies, little green worms, are now completely covering the baskets. Their favorite snack is the new flower buds that are just emerging. They will eat every bud off the basket until there are no blossoms left.

We just got in a new supply of ready to use sprays, including organic options, which will take care of these pests. You will want to take a close look at your petunia baskets and if you see holes in some of the flowers it means that they are there and you need to spray the basket immediately because within a week they can eat every bud off the basket. Please stop by the nursery and we can help set you up with the right option for you.

Our next cooking class is this Saturday at 1:00pm and for those of you who have not had a chance to meet Chef Dana I would encourage you to come out and take a walk by the class and see just how much fun everyone is having. Chef Dana has an amazing knowledge base and has found a way for even the pickiest eaters of the Bauman Family to step out of their comfort zone and try something new and the results have been amazing. Our entire family is participating in the class and each of us fight over the leftovers and beg for her to make some more. We are very excited about the class coming up on Saturday. You can see the entire menu by going to www.baumanfarms.com/cookingclasses.html, but the highlight of the class is going to be Chef Dana's homemade firecracker chicken and a delectable peach desert that she promises me will knock your socks off.

I always want to start with desert first, but the opening dishes for the classes sound very interesting. Chef Dana, will be making Apricots, stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and wrapped in prosscuito. Okay, so this is definitely something that I have never tried before and never something that I would have tried on my own but I think that this is exactly what makes the class so much fun. She hasn't let me down yet and I am so looking forward to seeing what she teaches us next.

I took my family to the Oregon Zoo this weekend and we had a blast. It was the perfect day with morning clouds and afternoon sunshine and the best part of the whole day was when we were in watching the trainer working with the pregnant elephant. He took a glass of water and pointed through the glass at Austin and asked him if he wanted some, he shook his head yes and the elephant sucked it up and sprayed it so hard at Austin he must have jumped 10 feet. He was so excited we talked about it the whole rest of the day. The whole trip made me realize just how fast October was approaching and that hopefully the families that come to the farm have as much fun and make as many great memories as we made on our trip to the zoo.

We have family meetings every Wednesday morning and we are always looking for new activities to have during the month of October. We have some great things planned already for this year and I will let you in on them a little later but we want to hear if you have anything that you would like us to do on the farm or maybe do something here that you have seen or done on another farm. Also, if you or someone you know would like to help out around the farm during October we would love for them to pick up an application because we can use all the help we can get. Please drop us a note in an e-mail or give us a call. We would love to hear what you have to say and we want to make sure that your family has the best possible time you can have on the farm.

Brian Bauman and The Bauman Family