We are a family farm, and in this week's Farm Notes we are talking about the children of and childhoods on the farm.
After a relatively mellow May and June, we finally got to the steamy part of July. It is so soggy—air and soil and clothing. First thing in the morning, the dew is thick on every leaf of basil. You can pick a bunch and then shake it, getting a quick cooling shower. The zinnias are tall enough now that the dew soaks through my long pants before 8:00 in the morning. We are beginning to notice just how saturated everything feels. But we know we shouldn't complain because just about every other region in the country and the world is suffering from drought.
Any farmer will tell you they would rather have a dry year than a wet one, though. Plants are happier when their feet can dry out. The fungus and mold can't get a grip. The weeds are slower to germinate. The tomatoes taste so much better when they don't get rain. Melons are divine in a drought year. But so far this is on the other end of the spectrum, and we are working in mud. The tomatoes taste okay.
Because we had a drenching storm yesterday, we got to pull the last bed of carrots with our bare hands. Usually we use a digging fork, standing on the top of the working part and wiggling back and forth, loosening the soil around the carrots. This time we just grabbed onto the carrot top and pulled. It was sheer joy, and they filled 23 crates in less than an hour. So much fun! So muddy!
We are just about a week from August, and that's when the nights start to cool down. It may still be scorching in the daytime but the tilt of the earth starts to work in our favor, giving us a break. All we have to do is survive the next two weeks and we will be on the slide toward fall.
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