We’re truly hoping for no more rain for a little while. The farm is a bit water logged and needs some time to dry out! We were disappointed to have to postpone the farm party, but what else could we do?! Let’s just hope that this weekend is going to be nice. We’re going to try it again this Sunday, 3-7pm.
As farmers we can actually deal with drought much better than we can deal with rain. If there’s been no rain we can turn on our irrigation system and turn it off when the plants have gotten sufficient water. We have a much harder time turning off the rain. It looks like we’ve gotten 4+ inches in the past week, when our crops only need about an inch in a seven day period. When the soil gets water logged, there’s no oxygen available to the plants through their root systems, stressing them and can start to kill the crops if the soil remains water logged. There are a whole host of other problems that we’re going to be facing if it continues to rain, but I won’t dwell on that now. So please, no more rain for a couple of days.
We’re starting to get tomatoes out of the greenhouses. We had a Brandywine the other day that was out of this world. Hopefully, very soon, there will be enough to get you all some out of this world tomatoes in your boxes. All the garlic is now up in the barn, curing. The Spring planted onions are getting close to being ready for harvest. The winter squash patch is looking pretty good, as are the melons. We’re starting to clean up the field which had the over-wintering and early Spring crops, pulling up drip lines, and getting the field ready to be disced and sown to buckwheat, before the Fall cover crop goes in, in late August or early September. It’s the first official day of Summer, but we’re already thinking about Fall. All the Fall sowings will start in the next couple of weeks. The greenhouse will fill up again with greens, onions, broccoli, cabbages, and the like.
The opening of the Montford Farmers Market went really well. There was a big turn out, lots of new faces, and easy parking for everyone! It was a good start to a new endeavor. So, if you’re looking for a mid-week vegetable or flower fix, come by the Chamber of Commerce parking lot on Wednesdays 2-6pm.
Dana and Fenwick will be leaving to move to Athens, Georgia this weekend. Fenwick will be attending graduate school for social work and Dana will get involved with some sort of gardening project. They will be missed. We have a new intern coming in on Sunday. So there’s lots of changes happening around here.
Cherry tomatoes ripening.
hoop house with growing tomatoes