"How's this crazy weather treating the crops?"
Hands down, that is the most asked question of me this season...and rightly so. So far this season, we had a very late winter set in. There was still snow on the fields the first week of April, delaying our planting in the fields by almost a month. I remember the first day that the apprentices started back in April. We were working in the greenhouse in our t-shirts while snow flurries blew around outside. The fava beans were planted much later than they should have been because of the snow and we lost that crop...the farm's first casualty. Things started to get better though and we had a wonderful mix of spring crops, despite my constant worrying that everything was planted too late. A farming mentor told me a while back; "plants want to grow" and they did.
Then the treacherous rain storms of June came and I thought that was it for the farm. We saw several beds of seeded crops just wash away, including parsnips, carrots, beans, herbs and greens. The cherry tomatoes drowned and died...luckily we had seeded extra tomatoes way back in April. Concerned that they were no nutrients left in the fields after the horrible rains, the crew and I re-fertilized the entire farm by hand since no equipment could get into the fields. We pulled out all the dead cherry tomato plants and re-planted into soil that one could describe as "chocolate pudding." I had my doubts that new batch would make it either, but they did and you have cherry tomatoes to pick this week.
Those rains made planting in our soil impossible until after the 4th of July...the latest I have ever planted heirloom tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, winter squash, or sweet potatoes. But I am happy to report that they have been growing, slowly, but they are growing. Night time temperatures dipping into the upper 40's here on the hill do not make tomatoes and peppers want to ripen. I certainly don't want those heat waves we had in July to come back but for the sake of the nightshade crops, I would take another one. You have had just a taste of tomatoes and eggplant so far, but if all goes well by the end of the month you will have copious amounts of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. That is later in the season than normal, but that's farming, especially in a time of climate change.
Some of you have been asking about when you will get to sign up for the winter share. We are going to have to keep you posted about that. Due to the heavy rains that we had in June in combination with the wet soils that we have here at the farm, we are very limited on the amount of land that we have to plant on this first season. In order to guarantee the success of the summer share, I had to make some very hard decisions on which crops to eliminate and a lot of the winter share crops were sacrificed. I should know by early September if we will be able to offer this option or not. If not, I am sure we will be able hold some Fall Harvest market days that you can come and purchase extra cold weather and storage vegetables at. I have been working with the NRCS (a government agency that helps farmers prevent erosion on their farms, among many other tasks) to make our soils better here at the farm. I feel confident in the long-term plan that we are developing for next season.
This week marks the 10th week of the CSA - we are almost half way through this crazy first season! It definitely has had its challenges but there have been many triumphs as well. I want to thank you for taking this first step with us on this journey to create a vibrant community farm that will continue to feed, educate and inspire for many generations to come.
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| Chicken coop at sunset |
This week at the farm you will enjoy a choice of parsley or basil, kale or chard, Asian greens mix, lettuce mix, scallions, choice of potatoes or beets, onions, hot peppers, cucumbers, summer squash. and tomatoes. Take a walk out to the fields for the first of those sweet cherry tomatoes and flower share members can expect an even bigger bouquet this week!
Farmer Molly and the crew
