It's starting to feel like Fall on the Farm even though the "official" start is still a month away! We've been busy seeding Fall crops both in the greenhouse and in the field. The oak trees are starting to produce acorns and the birds seem to be starting to form groups in preparation for their Fall migration. It's staying dark out a little later and later in the morning and there is sometimes a chill in the morning air. But that chill goes away fairly quickly as day time temps climb into the 90s reminding us that it is still Summer time.
We're happy to report that the tomato field that we thought was almost a total loss (due to flooding) is actually starting to bare fruit and the cherry tomatoes are starting to make an appearance. Unfortunately the peppers and eggplant are a total loss this season!!! We will try and source peppers from one of our farmer friends though and possibly eggplant.
Yesterday I went to our monthly Gang of 5 gathering at Genuine Faux Farm in Tripoli, Iowa. The Gang of 5 consists of Wabi Sabi Farm, Blue Gate Farm, Scattergood Friends School Farm, Grinnell Heritage Farm and Genuine Faux Farm. During the year we gather at one of our farms each month to do a little work, share a meal and talk about farming. These get togethers are always a fun time and uplifting when we realize we are all experiencing the same issues (in different ways) and we are not alone. One big topic at yesterday's meet up was the weather! We all agreed this was the most challenging Spring any of us have ever grown through! Another thing we all could agree on was rain. Some of us were getting too much and some of us weren't getting enough! We are fortunate enough to be able to irrigate as needed, but the dry ground sure has made it a challenge to get cover crops to germinate in fallow fields. We all came to the conclusion by the end of the day that we still really enjoy what we are doing and have still had way more successes than failures this season!
