Out of Summer, Into September

Astronomically it remains summer, meteorologically we've moved to fall, and with a low of 44 degrees at the bottom of our field on Friday morning, one would assume that we're deep in October. Highs in the 60s for a few days, followed by forecast highs in the mid-80s to start this week, then a roller coaster plunge later in the week and the weather ride continues. Agronomically the summer crops are waning, the fall ones are thriving, and everything is growing a bit slower with the lower temperatures and reduced daylength. Internally, our thoughts drift more towards preparing for fall and winter harvests, knowing that our time to plant is coming to a close for another season. We're beginning to prepare the hoop house, greenhouse, and high tunnel areas for Late Fall and Winter CSA crops, even contemplating adding another tunnel to the farm. A cover crop mixture of oats, buckwheat, daikon radish, and crimson clover was sown over a significant portion of the farm last week, prior to the midweek rain event. That event plus yesterday's were the ideal way for rain to fall, slow and steady. Both deposited about a half-inch, a perfect amount for the farm and to get those cover crops up and growing. This season we've benefitted from practically an ideal amount of moisture without heat, approximately 4.5-6.5 inches per month from May through August. There was only one week in there that we had to wait until Friday to actively work with the soil. Thank you mother nature weather woman!