October is here, and this is a great time to put your onion, garlic, and shallot seeds into the ground.  These crops are extremely cold-tolerant and perform well even with a few feet of snow on them springing forth once the snow has melted.  Sow your shallot and garlic seeds at proper spacing according to directions, but seed your onions heavily and simply thin them for green onions as they grow, bringing them to the proper 3-4 inch spacing.  If you are going to grow from small bulbs or purchased transplants, you can start as late as January.   Onions come in three different categories for growing based on the region of the United States.  We grow intermediate day onions at Moonstruck Farms, but we have had success with short day, too.  Dixondale Farms is a supplier of onion transplants, and they have a growing guide available plus information on their website explaining the bulbing process for each category of onions.  

At Moonstruck Farms the summer season is coming to a close as usual with beautiful Fall temperatures to help the tomatoes finish ripening. We are turning down the irrigation in the fields to encourage them to finish before the cold returns.  On the upside, we need it to get a little colder for our Mums to be happy and put out beautiful blooms.  While we begin to clear the fields, the first of the tulip bulbs have arrived and are being cooled in the cool room to ensure that they receive the proper 12 to 16 weeks of 55 or below temperatures that they require for proper rooting.  Here at Moonstruck, we get close to the 12 weeks; but feel safer either purchasing them precooled or cooling them ourselves to ensure our tulips have gorgeous healthy roots to provide those 12-18″ tulips we all love to see at market.  We do have paperwhite bulbs arriving in addition for the holidays, so stay tuned on our Facebook or Instagram pages to see when they will be ready and what else we have up our sleeves for the holiday season.  Feel free to sign up for our electronic newsletter on our Facebook page under “More” for updates sent directly to your email inbox.   

Sometime in the month of October, based on temperatures and daylight, the Wrightwood Certified Farmers Market will move inside the community center for the duration of the Fall and Winter. Within the next week or two, the market will run from 4pm to 6:30pm on Fridays, closing early enough to allow the vendors to pack up with some light.  The Phelan Certified Farmers Market will remain outside until November and then move partially inside the Phelan Community Center and in the Phelan Community Center parking lot, providing more light and shelter for the Winter.  The market will remain open until 6pm until mid-October and then close at 5:30pm for the last half of October.  Beginning the first week in November and for the remainder of the Winter, run 2pm to 5pm every Monday with the exception of a few holidays.  Thank you for your grand support of your local farmers markets, but remember our growth is based on your participation…the more you support…the more we can attract more farms and vendors.