Ailts Acres

05/17/2026

The tomato season began late March, seeds were planted and sprouted inside the cozy comfort of Threshing Table Farm greenhouse.

Yesterday they were transplanted into their raised bed permanent home. Similar to sweet corn, we’re racing to get fruit to maturity as quickly as possible. For years, we’ve grown a tomato variety called “4th of July”. Aptly named, and if done right, that’s when we’ll harvest the first tomato.

Upper right photo shows first blossom. We’re well on our way to harvest!

Bottom right is a view of the pumpkin patch. The cereal rye is growing rapidly. Will be over 5’ tall by memorial weekend. Then we knock it down and plant into it. The gardens have come to life!

05/14/2026

Growing sweet corn is the 100 meter dash of the veggie world.

It’s always a sprint. Get it in the ground as early as possible, grow short-day maturity hybrids, some even cover rows with plastic to speed up the growth process.

A race to be the first farmer with dozens for sale.

Our April 22nd planting date paid off, it appears. Whew. We’re on track for a mid/late July harvest.

We’ve had multiple frosts, 38 degree highs, and darn cold soil temps. These are not conditions that are conducive to growing sweet corn. Yet it appears we gambled and won. Yee haw. Bring on the heat!

05/02/2026

Our 26th attempt at growing giant pumpkins. The hobby of crushed souls “Stockholm syndromes” us back to the table of punishment.

Excitement is always highest at this point, because nothing has gone wrong yet. Sorta.

Oh wait, I forgot to open the greenhouse on a rare sunny warm day last week and it was 113 degrees in there. 🤦 Seedlings must really like heat, cuz here they come.

When managed correctly, it’s a comfie 82 degrees in the styrofoam container nursery.

Out in the field, the mini greenhouses are cooking. Soil heating cables and good ole fashioned greenhouse effect raises soil temp to 80. Perfect.

Our goal is to beat the photo bottom right: grow the largest, prettiest pumpkin on Earth. And to keep “beauty of the north” trophy out of Shannon Engel hands.

04/25/2026

Garlic. We love growing this crop because it doesn’t line up with anything else on the calendar and aside from w**d control, can pretty much be ignored.

Cloves are seeded on first week of October and are usually the first thing to emerge once the frost goes out.

Because we’re adamant about not spraying herbicide or insecticide on anything that is eaten by our customers, w**d control is managed by oat straw mulch. A layer is added at planting and another in spring to boost w**d control.

That oversized orange beer can on the tractor hitch is a “bale shredder”. Drop a straw bale in the can and it gobbles it into a fine mulch that is easily spread into the crop rows.

Broadcast a little nitrogen/sulfer/boron fertilizer over the top and harvest in July!

04/21/2026

Greetings! It’s been a long time since November. But here we are with our earliest sweet corn planting date ever!

We are continuing with our soil health & and regenerative farming practices to create healthier, nutritious food and resilient soils.

We “no-till” our sweet corn, meaning no dirt was dug before planting. This helps preserve beneficial microorganisms in the soil that boost crop health. It also maintains soil structure that helps with water management.

Many naysayers will proclaim “no-till=no yield”. We say hogwash. When done right, this system pays dividends.

If all goes well, we’re looking at July 15-20th harvest date. Can you believe that?!?

02/01/2026

We like to grow stuff and make it available to you.

But probably won’t be selling these at the stand.

More help in training!

Congratulations to Joe, Ilisa, and their older boys on the arrivals of NEDC twins Micah Flynn & Allie Ann! Bits of both names are in honor of Ilisa's late mother, who knew her daughter's family was adopting embryos through the NEDC. These tiny image-bearers of God aren't genetically related, and they waited years for a chance to be born. Joe & Ilisa got a total of five embryos out of the freezer during their journey with the NEDC, three of whom are now in Heaven.

Joe & Ilisa feel honored to be Micah & Allie's parents. What if God were to call you to a similar journey? https://www.embryodonation.org/adoption

11/16/2025

Thank you, customers for a great pumpkin season. We so appreciate your business and we love serving you.

So much so that we’re expanding our Christmas decor offerings this holiday season.

We’ve got homemade porch pots for $20 with locally sourced dogwood, pine boughs and birch.

Quick story on these…we’ve repurposed old planters collected over the years and filled them with the soil from our mums that didn’t sell this season. We try not to waste anything! In fact, if you have large pots just taking up space, we’ll gladly take them!

We’ve got Christmas themed barnwood crafts, made from our own barnwood.

For do-it-yourselfers, we’ve got dogwood bundles (12 twigs for $5), spruce and white pine boughs ($2 each), and birch logs ($4 ea).

And as always, straw bales, firewood, deer corn, sunflower seed, cob corn, and critter apples in stock at our 24/7 pay on the honor system stand.

2226 Cty Rd T
Deer Park

11/01/2025

Farmers and wildlife enthusiasts…we’ve got a mountain of pumpkins remaining that are ideal for your favorite critters. Every pumpkin at the stand is $1.00. Load an entire pickup bed if you want!

Also, our final variety of mum is just entering its full bloom stage and it’s a perfect thanksgiving harvest color. We’re asking just $5/pot and they’ll make it to Thanksgiving with a couple small drinks of water.

Thank you everyone for a great season. Hope y’all had a Happy Halloween!

10/26/2025

Farmers and hunters- we’ve got a patch full of non-saleable pumpkins that are perfect for feeding animals. Sizes range from 5-50lbs

We’re asking $1/fruit, will entertain larger volume negotiations and we’ll help you load right in the patch.

DM to set upa time for pick up.

10/16/2025

We still have mums! Our best yet! The yellows with red are just beginning to bloom (to the right in the first photo) $12 each or 3 for $30.