Hill Creek Farm

10/18/2026

Frost.

I hate row cover.

(This is not terrible right now, but it is annoying)

Lemon Verbena--and its flowers--may have pulled through.

Frost again tonight.

We'll see if the Lemon Verbena stays lucky.

Back to row cover.

10/18/2026

Photo 1: Trailing Nasturtium Leaves; seriously, the biggest ever.

Photo 2: The South High Tunnel with 'Felix' chicory, the Trailing Nasturtiums, Long Island Cheese Squash in storage with various mustard greens in the far rows.

Photos by Cara Forke

And so we wait, on this the first frost of the season which ends summer, sidesteps fall and puts us on the road to winter.

Nasturtiums aren't really considered a winter crop but one fall they were too nice to let go so we spread row cover over them and they survived most of that winter. A new winter crop is thus discovered!

Spent much of today pulling out row cover (according to Chris Field & Jessi Okamoto , no farmer likes row cover and I have yet to find a farmer that would disagree with that statement!) and spreading it over the crops that straddle fall and winter without really wanting to commit to both (thus, the disliked row cover). We wait, we stress with the cloudless sky and tomorrow we walk the devastation and we hope for more life than we expect.

10/14/2026

Barb Barbara Bailey holds today's harvested Broccoletti di Sezzese, an ancient green from the Sezze region of Italy.

Our dear friend Francesco Di Gioia from Puglia, who loves Italian heirlooms as much as we love Pennsylvania ones, gave us the authentic Sezze seed because he thought our customers would enjoy it.

While Italy has a proud tradition of plant breeding, it takes just as much pride in not just preserving, but regularly consuming the original, foundational plants of their cuisine. It's a long road from Broccoletti di Sezzese to Novantina Rapini, but Italians believe it is important to not only have both plants, but to eat them all. It's an appreciation for plant breeding and the resulting produce we can all learn from.

10/09/2026

The only non-Long Island Cheese Squash Pumpkin grown at Hill Creek Farm this year!

The First Tenerumi Field of each growing season is made up of donated leftover pumpkins from local residents after Halloween. Everyone wants green foods in early Spring, so we cut back this field hard; unlike the Long Island Cheese Squash Tenerumi of Summer and Fall, few pumpkins form in this field.

The best pumpkin of each year's First Tenerumi Field goes to Chef Jen of Bella Trattoria sc who truly loves tenerumi more than anyone. If Ari Miller continues his affection for the green, I am going to have to give him the 2nd best pumpkin next year!

Enjoy the winter squash season and remember to bring your leftover pumpkins here after Halloween!

10/09/2026

Join East Coventry Advocacy at The Gem in Spring City for OUR "Eagles in London" game and brunch on Sunday, 10/11.

Link to buy tickets in the comments.

Local bars and restaurants are offering early game-day festivities, with breakfast specials, drink deals, and giveaways planned for Sunday's 9:30 a.m. kickoff.

10/08/2026

Check out the Long Island Cheese Squash at Kiddo !

Don't they look festive? :-)

You, too, can be festive! And make tasty pies and soup after the festivities!

DM me to purchase many Long Island Cheese Squash! :-D

10/06/2026

Last day of Tomato Season at Hill Creek Farm as the North High Tunnel is cleared out in preparation for winter greens.

Between the Back Field and the North High Tunnel, we harvested 475.51 # green tomatoes for Spotted Horse Provisions

Our record still remains at 500 # but there is always next year.

Patchy frost tonight so just in time!