Two Feet in the Dirt

After some autumn-like weather last week, we got another blast of summer this week with temperatures into the mid-90s and heat indexes even higher! While I’m sure all the summer crops will appreciate the hotter weather, it can be a little tricky keeping the fall crops happy in late summer through severe heat like this.  Even with hot, humid weather, the preparations for fall continue. As an early summer crop, the cucumbers and summer squash had their last hurrah last week, so on Monday Mike finished the huge job of mowing down, plowing, and tilling those beds so that I could get the first winter cover crop planted. Cover cropping...

We at least got to see sunshine this week, but even with sunnier weather, we still had torrential rains most days. After months of praying for the rain to stop, I’ve decided there’s no other option but to try to find the bright side of this less than ideal weather. As you may know, I love growing baby greens and the cooler, wet weather has created unusually agreeable conditions for growing salad mix and arugula at this time of year. Growing baby greens in the summer can be a challenge, as they prefer cooler weather. Over my years of farming, I have found specific varieties of lettuce and arugula that...

As I write this on Wednesday afternoon, I’m once again watching rain pour down outside, something that has just become the norm at this point. There’s a farm saying that, while too little rain can hurt you, too much rain can kill you, and we sure are seeing how that can be true this year. We’re spending at least as much time pulling rotted and split peppers and tomatoes off of the plants as we are harvesting sellable ones and it is extremely disheartening to see all of that waste after all the work we’ve put in. The one thing that is helping me stay positive is that planting for...