Hi there, Rivendale CSA members. We hope you are doing well and enjoying your farm share membership.
Well, I guess weather is on everybody's mind these days. With the hurricane arriving and the wild amounts of rainfall we experienced over the last week here as well.
As you can imagine, the weather is one of the most constant topics here at the farm. We think about it both on a day-to-today basis as well as a season-by-season and year-by-year basis too. On a daily basis we make our to do lists based on what has to get done as well as what the weather dictates is ideal. For example, we try to stay out of wet fields because muddy soil creates soil compaction, which is detrimental to plant growth. We are also thinking about frost dates and how to prepare for the beginning and the end of frost season.
And of course all of these weather factors and decisions greatly determine which crops do well from year to year. For example, our outdoor tomatoes would have loved a hot and dry summer. But as you know, that's not really what we got. So they struggled with fungal diseases, and our harvest season was much shorter than we had hoped for. Luckily, our cherry and cocktail tomatoes are inside of a greenhouse, so they are still doing quite well.
Part of the farmer's job is to mitigate risk and create contingency plans for the inevitable curveballs that weather will bring. And all of this weather related risk is also why we are so glad to have CSA members. Folks like you who are willing to eat what is fresh and local--and growing well at any given point in the season.
On behalf of the crew,
Neil
ps--This week's pic shows a similar picture to last week. But this time you'll notice that the rows of beans are under a few inches of standing water. Believe it or not, they are still doing pretty well in spite of the weather. We hope you enjoy them in the boxes. They were certainly an adventure to pick!
pps--Also, we want to mention that we are still happy to take back your brown produce boxes if they are in good shape. Please just flatten them and leave them at your pickup location. We cannot, however, use your egg cartons or other containers. Please do what you can to reuse and recycle. Thanks!
