Week of October 2, 2022

The main events of the 2022 harvest have culminated in 44 tons of Concord grapes delivered to the juice factory and 1030 pounds of Riesling grapes delivered to the winery. However, there are many more HARVEST activities going on at TAProots farm. Our 2 acre fallow field has been plowed and seeded with rutabaga seeds, now thick with plants with sizable taproots. We will plow them under as a strategy to break up the heavy clay soil with organic material. In the deer fence enclosure, a few vegetable plants were placed where gooseberry plants did not root. Four large blue cabbage heads were produced and shared with the neighbors. Five tomato plants produced sweet cherry and plum tomatoes. Eight Brussel’s sprouts were 2 feet tall with lots of sprouts emerging for picking later in the fall. Trays of both peaches and apples were picked from the late varieties, and were prepared and dehydrated yielding 10 cups of dried apples and 5 cups of dried peaches for our grandchildren. And finally, the jars of black currents and blackberries sitting in the kitchen window were decanted, mixed with simple syrup, and bottled in three 375 milliliter flasks and six 185 milliliter small bottles for Cassis, and four 375 milliliter flasks and six small bottles for blackberry liquor. They will age 6 months in the winecellar or until ready to taste them . So even with wet weather, there was a lot of creation during harvest time at TAProots, both inside and outside the Barn.