“BORN TIRED, RAISED LAZY.”  That’s what folks used to say about people who act like Zorro.  But we know better these days.  After all, who can say what wild energies and frenetic cogitations are banging around in a big, beautiful brain like Zorro’s?  No one can say.  Perhaps not even Zorro.

“Snow on the roof, fire in the hearth.”  Maybe that’s closer to the truth.  Beneath Zorro’s placid, wintry fluff rattles a neural abacus that’s calculating full supernova 22 hours a day.  He hasn’t won any science prizes, but not for lack of innovation or sheer knowledge production.  In fact his theory on pumpkin collisions damn near beat the gravity wave people to it.  And he wasn’t even really trying.

Zorro theorized that when pumpkins collide, infinitesimal undulations reverberate through the fabric of spacetime.  Indeed, confirmation of the very same phemomenon in black hole collisions earned 3 physicists the 2017 Nobel Prize last week.  Those first gravitational waves observed on earth took 1.3 billion years to arrive from the collision point.  Zorro is cosmic eons ahead of his time.

In celebration of Zorro’s tireless pursuit of the truth, we are having a $20 All-You-Can-Cram Pumpkin Sale.  Stuff a ‘Creeksack full of pumpkins for only $20 — and get the reusable bag FREE!  This one held over 28 pounds!  You can also buy pumpkins onesie-twosie, but that would not honor Zorro’s ingenious suggestion to cram multiple pumpkins into a single bag.  Total mindbender.

Did you know that 5,000 New York farms have been paved over since the 1980s?  That’s 3 farms a week.  You can help save farmland and open spaces right here in the Finger Lakes region by picking Brussels sprouts now.  All you have to do is cut your own stalks and pay at the stand!  From each stalk ($6), we will donate $3 to the Finger Lakes Land Trust, a trusted local conservation organization that protects farmland and creates public nature preserves.  You might already love to hike some of their preserves:  Lick Brook Gorge and Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve as seen on the Land Trust’s new outdoor recreation site Go Finger Lakes.

Did you know that Indian Creek is protected forever by an agricultural conservation easement?  It cannot be paved over for a strip mall or mini-mart.  This is productive and scenic agricultural land and it will be permanently.  You can help the Land Trust protect other farms in our region by simply coming out to pick sprouts!  We want to raise $500.  That’s 167 stalks.  Help us now through Sunday!

Over 20,000 acres of farmlands, forests, wetlands, lakeshores and gorges have been conserved forever by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.  Please come out this weekend to lop your own sprouts and help save more priceless open spaces in our beautiful corner of New York.  GO SPROUTING!

“Like the Incredible Hulk, Mutsu is huge, green, and strangely lovable.”  Apples of Uncommon Character further explains that Mutsu apples are reliably great, “a joyous crunch fest filled with Golden Delicious-style honey aromas.”  Bleeding edge Farmketeers have already made a dent in the Mutsu crop; now the rest of you can jump in before they are gone.  Pick for fresh eating; also some of the best bakers you can get.

Northern Spy apples in the Vintage Orchard.  Find the red ribbons which have turn pinked with years of sun.  Aficionados hold the Northern Spy in highest regard.  People write to us from all over asking if we have them.  You’ve picked all the spies in the Dwarf Orchard, but there are still some to be picked on the big old trees of the Vintage Orchard.  These are delicious, firm, acidic dessert apples which also make brilliant pies.  Remember, “spies make pies.”

Good old Red Delicious.  Farmer Steve’s all-time flavorite.  Possibly the most popular apple in America by the volumes moved in grocery stores.  You can pick them here in the Vintage Orchard right off trees that are almost as old as the variety itself, introduced at Peru, Iowa, in 1881.  If you reach for an apple on a blue-ribboned tree, it’s Red Delicious… or Rome Beauty.  We used blue ribbons on both types, just to keep you guessing.  Or maybe because we ran out of ribbbon colors 8 years ago and, you know, change is hard.  The Romes look like Christmas balls.  The Reds look like grocery stores.  Either way, good picking right now on the Reds and Romes.

Fresh pressed Orchard Ambrosia.  Unpasteurized.  We squeeze the fruit.  That’s all.  You’re basically drinking the sweet nectar of trees.  Important announcement:  When we run out of apples, we can’t make cider.  This could happen soon.  Stock up if you love it.  It freezes beautifully.

Drop off your carboys now.  Do not wait.  When apples are gone, no more booze-making juice.  Leave your bottles at the farm stand inside the wooden doors that say “Do Not Enter, Employees Only.”  Write your name and phone on the bottle.  We will call you after next pressing.  Price is $8/gal which drops to $7/gal when you order more than 5 gallons.

Donuts, too, are made with apple cider.  So ya better come get em while we still have cider.  Serving Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM.  Chase them with a cider slushee or hot cider or cold cider.  All 3 forms are available every day.

Veggie lovers, if you’re picking the last veggies of the year, try Indian Creek “Salsa 1-2-3” from previous Farmketeer of the Week Jamie Kemmerer.  (1) Pick tomatillos, tomatoes, and peppers, mixing poblano, jalapeño, and serrano to meet your need for heat; (2) Roast on the grill with an onion until the peppers are charred, the garlic is soft, and the tomatillos are bubbly; (3) Combine in a food processor, season with cilantro and salt.  That’s all it takes to enjoy the freshest, most delicious salsa you’ll ever have!

Farmketeer of the Week (FOW):  Aquillah of the Apples & Sprouts!  This is a first.  An FOW who has never set foot on the farm.  Yet!  We couldn’t resist upon seeing Aquila’s fabulous headbands at the Finger Lakes Land Trust office.  Showing big time farm country spirit with apples on her head!

Who wears Brussels sprouts to work?!  Aquillah!  If any of you ‘Creekniks wears sprouts to work, well that’s just groovy.  You deserve to be in some small farm’s newsletter.

Farmketeers, time to put up or shut up.  Put up apple sauce, apple butter, dried apple rings, frozen apple cider.  This is possibly last call for abundant apple picking.  We are here every day 8 AM til a half-hour before dark.  Which is getting earlier.  Won’t you help us finish the apple harvest strong and pick sprouts to save more land?  GO SPROUTING!  Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.