Fall is definitely in the air around the farm. Last week, we tilled in a huge chunk of the spring beds and put down a winter cover crop of rye and vetch, which the very rainy weather over the last few days has already helped to germinate. The fall spinach in the hoop house is putting on it’s first true leaves and the last bed of outdoor salad mix is beginning to grow in the field. As the weather cools and the days grow shorter, more and more fall crops are appearing on our market table. Last week marked the first harvest from both our broccoli and cabbage plants. Cabbage...
A little sun
We finally got a bit of luck with the weather this week and the remnants of Hurricane Florence, which were initially supposed to hit us pretty badly, mostly passed us by. We ended up with sunny afternoons on Monday and Tuesday, despite forecasts for heavy rain both days. Still, even slightly more rain is not good news after the exceptionally wet year we have already had. We are seeing issues related to the persistent dampness everywhere, including on crops like kale, cabbage, broccoli, and carrots where I have never experienced this before. On the same note, the outdoor tomatoes are officially (and sadly) over for the season, done in by the...
And suddenly it’s fall
In less than a week, it seems we’ve transitioned from high summer right into autumn. Temperatures over the weekend didn’t climb out of the 60s, a nearly thirty degree difference from last week’s heat. All in all, we’re starting to get that end-of-season feeling on the farm, even though we still have several months of market to go. With cooler weather and no sun in the forecast for at least the next week, we finally removed the shade cloth that helped to keep our hoop house cool over the summer. This was just in time, as the first fall crops started going into the hoop house last week as we...
Endless Summer
I thought last week’s extreme heat would be the it for the year, but it looks like I was wrong. Writing this on Wednesday, we’re in the midst of our third day with temperatures into the 90s and heat indices much higher and we still have another day of the same forecast for tomorrow. Not that I want it to be winter yet, but I’m definitely hoping for some slightly cooler weather to come. Despite the heat, the market table is starting to turn towards fall. We’ve harvested in all of the Delicata and Acorn squash and will have the first scallions and fall radishes this week. And even with...