Let’s Get Real!
The last 10 days have dealt a searing blow to many in Southern Oregon and Northern California. We are especially thankful for your support of our local farms with your weekly purchases and hope you find it delicious, nutritious and valuable to support the local economy with your dollars. The Farm Collective’s 22 farms, ranches and small businesses create a unique support system to ensure your food is delivered each week.
As a farm share member, I thought I’d share with you a few real stories about what goes on behind the scenes to grow your food in triple digit weather.
Crops require careful monitoring for plant stress, continual watering rotations and shade cover to prevent sunburn. Even though some crops love the heat, tomatoes and peppers will get sunburned and aren't marketable as a result. Other crops like strawberries stop producing to conserve energy. This means your farmers are out in the 100 degree heat moving irrigation, rolling out row cover and harvesting at night with headlamps. Ross and Hollis at Marble Mountain Farm Harvested all night long the day before they evacuated from the Malone fire last Friday. REALLY!
Heat stress causes chickens to molt and reduce laying. You may notice there is more water inside the eggs – that’s because they are drinking more water. Heat stress also causes an increase in shell deformities. While chickens can endure cold weather fairly easy in this area, heat is very difficult. Daily Blessings Farm has already had two chicken deaths in the last week from heat stroke. REALLY!
Post harvest handling of crops is critical to ensure it stays fresh between harvest and delivery to the consumer. When Peach Rock Farm’s walk in cooler quit on Tuesday, they had to move all their orchard fruit to their living room to keep it cool until the cooler was fixed. REALLY!
Dairy animals also decrease milk production to preserve energy during heat waves. Mama Terra’s goats are following suit and this means there is less fresh chevre cheese to make and sell this week. They are also on a Level 2 wildfire alert and may be evacuating their goats in the next few days. Imagine moving 50 goats as a wildfire approaches your home. REALLY!
As a result of last weeks heat wave and evacuations, there is a TON of fresh food available at the Daily Blessings Farm farm stand in Grants Pass. This is the food hub for the Josephine County Farm Collective – the centralized point where your farm share boxes are packed. The Cave Junction Farmers Market and Williams Farmers Market have been cancelled due to smoke conditions, so our farms have no sales outlet during our peak harvest time. We call upon you to stop by and bring your friends Tuesday evening between 4 - 7 pm and share the abundance of food and appreciation for those who grow it for you. 485 Daily Lane, Grants Pass, OR 97527
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Blessings,
Farmer Carrie
