We are feeling pretty fortunate this week with the outcome of tropical storm Isaias on Tuesday. We got about 3.5" of rain here on the farm but not too much in the way of winds or crop damage. We have to be extra diligent over the next couple of weeks to look for new pest and bacterial issues in the fields. Tropical storms and hurricanes have a tendency to bring new pests up from the south in the storm system and spread them into the Mid-Atlantic and further north. Tropical systems can spread something like late blight or downy mildew into Maryland much earlier in the season then we would otherwise see it. We are fortunate to have a great crew that has gotten very skilled at spotting the early signs of a problem in the fields, but it is always interesting to see what shows up in the wake of a tropical system this time of year.
We will have several tomato options this week and we are slowly getting into pepper season. The bell peppers are always maddeningly slow at turning truly red, orange, and yellow but we do have green bell peppers and the first of the Anaheims and jalapeños available this week.
