After a few weeks of very dry weather, the rain last week and the rain forecast for this week helps out a bit. It's not the perfect "gentle, one-inch per week" rain that would make part of our job easier, but we'll take it over just scorching hot and dry or repeated pounding rains.
The farm is in a lovely transition time that you only see if you are here to look at the fields: The fall brassicas (kale, cabbage, broccoli) are looking nice in the field! They are still weeks away from harvest, but they've made it past the very-vulnerable tiny seedling stage which is easily killed by August weather and pests. We celebrate their progress! (Last year at this time, all fall brassica plants were on the downward slide to death due to weather and pests. We ended up replanting ALL of them....thousands of seeds/seedlings/plants...in order to have a last-ditch harvest, albeit delayed by weeks.) Some summer crops are slowing down a little (tomatoes and peppers) but there is still a delicious abundance of summer fruits. Lettuce and Chard are still crunchy and sweet, summer squash, cucumbers, okra, and eggplant are still happy and fantastic, and our alliums (garlic and onions) are still enhancing every meal for our farm family. Herbs and flowers round it all out for us, making us feel rich and blessed.
Enjoy all this good eating, and thank you for eating what we grow!
-Janet & Dan
