About the Middle

Some of your farmers left the farm for a brief trip so this week's reflections will hopefully be brief. Harvest week 13 is underway which means we're about at this season's midpoint. Meanwhile I sit and look out at a rocky coastline during low tide while wearing a flannel shirt for warmth under cloudy skies. Our farm crew is currently hustling and bustling under a hot sun on a hot day on a busy harvest morning. Our incredible farm crew has enabled us to take an off-farm excursion. We're extremely appreciative of their efforts, knowledge, and hard work managing the farm in our absence. Cheers to everyone back at the farm!

The farm is currently stuck in a dry spell. In four week's time we've had less than an inch of rain. Plenty of 90 degree days and plentiful sunshine have left plants very thirsty. The bulk of my time last week was spent addressing those needs, adding drip tape tubing where possible and running irrigation almost everywhere. We even set up some overhead sprinklers which we haven't used for a few years. Newly germinated fall-harvested carrots would have a hard time accessing water from the drip tape but the sprinklers deposit water over an entire surface area.

Summer crops are at their peak (patiently waiting for eggplant and okra) and fall crops are being planted. Last week more napa cabbage, beets, chard, kale, and lettuce went in as well as arugula and daikon and storage radishes. The north facing aspect and pretty good organic matter in the soil helps our crops tolerate dry times. Even though it's stressful in its own right, we'd much rather it be too dry than too wet. Those same heavy soils that get us through a drought can drown and suffocate plants during unending wet times, which we've been through a few times over the years.

Hope you're well and are able to stay cool this week. Give an extra 'thanks' to your farm crew for us!