Testing, testing, 1…2…3! Time to fire up your Jacks-o-Lantern! Got to make sure things are just right for Fright Night – only one week away.

What? You haven’t secured your pumpkins yet? Okay, Tardy McTardyson. You don’t have to be the neighbor with all the fun flags and lawn gnomes and garden balls. But at some point your pumpkin procrastination will border on downright impertinence. Like, now!

Luckily we can tell you where to get pumpkins and other fall goodies – including raspberries, squash, plums, peppers, onions, garlic, and even duck eggs!

Same place you can get a NINE POUND jug of cider. Aww haw. Nine pounds, fresh-pressed, pure fruit. Here on the farm, of course.

There aren’t many apples on the trees any more – but we’ve picked bushels and bushels, meaning the cider will keep on flowing.

You can still get apples at the farm stand, and have a free taste of Orchard Ambrosia. The presses are getting crisper and tastier as the late-season varieties are blended in.

What else is fresh this week? We let the farmhands out of the coop! They are playing a show at Da Westy in downtown Ithaca tonight. You can listen to real farmers play original “Americoustic” tunes at 7 PM under the name Riputa Pirjelli. (We’re not sure what it means, either, but these fellers can sing!)

Anything else? Oh yeah, there’s the small matter of us BUILDING A BARN! A farm without a barn is like a horseman without a head. Just plain WRONG!

We’re fixing to fix that. Over the next few weeks you’ll see us playing in the dirt like a bunch of yahoos with overgrown Tonka Toys. Next spring you’ll see a barn.

The big idea is to create a place to store equipment and vehicles out of the harsh elements. A place to repair machines and work through the winter. A place to store 30,000 baby fruit trees!

We were most thankful and humbled to receive offers of volunteer help from fans on our Facebook page. Just like an old-time barnraising. As you can see from the photo, we have everything under control, nothing to worry about!

Back to the Crop Alert. This week we have even MORE dead flowers than we did last week! Perfect for your costume if you’re some kind of wicked gnarly evil undead zombie. Pumpkins and costumes, all in one visit.

See you at the ‘Creep, er, Creek!