Two Feet in the Dirt

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...

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...

Apparently this year, when it rains, it pours. After several weeks of bone-dry weather, we’re getting inundated with multiple days of constant, heavy rainstorms reminiscent of those in May. Excessive rain creates a variety of challenges on the farm. With the soil saturated, it makes it a challenge to prepare beds for planting, which can push back our planned planting, and thus harvest, dates. Additionally, too much rain can cause a variety of issues in the plants that are already growing in the ground. At this time of year, particular culprits are the tomato plants. Tomato plants are particularly susceptible to fungal diseases and a general rule of thumb is...

We finished the big job of harvesting the garlic this week, which means that our longest planted beds are empty at last. Garlic goes into the ground in early November and spends over 8 months growing before being ready for harvest. As it’s our first year farming in this location, we had to put on our thinking caps to figure out where to dry all of the garlic, a process that is essential both for the cured garlic we are all used to buying and for saving our “seed garlic” which will be planted this fall for next year’s crop. After some research by Mike, we came up with a...